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Cards In This Set
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Marx did not see progress as a smooth and gradual evolution, unlike functionalists. Instead, what did he see as what?
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Marx saw historical change as a contradictory process in which capitalism would increase human misery before giving way to a classless communist society in which human beings would be free to fulfil their potential.
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According to Marx, how will the classless society be brought into being?
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According to Marx, the classless society will be brought into being by the conscious actions of human beings.
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What is materialism?
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Materialism is the view that human beings are with material needs, such as food, and must therefore work to meet them. In doing so, they use the forces of production (sometimes called means of production).
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What were the forces/means of production in the earliest stage of human history?
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Unaided human labour was the means of production.
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What do human enter when working to meet their needs? What is this?
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Humans enter into social relations of production as they cooperate with one another - social relations of production are ways of organising production.
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What has happened in terms of production over time?
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Over time, the forces of production grow and develop, as do the social relations of production. In particular, a division of labour develops and this eventually gives rise to a division between two classes: those who own the means of production and the labourers.
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Together, what are the forces and social relations of production referred to as? Give an example.
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Together, they are referred to as the mode of production. For example, currently we live in a society with a capitalist mode of production. The mode of profuction forms the economic base of society.
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This economic base shapes or determines all other features of society. What is this called?
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This is the superstructure of institutions, ideas, beliefs and behaviour that arise from the base. For example, it shapes the nature of religion, law, education, the state and so on.
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Marx desscribes the early classless society as what? What did this consist of?
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Early classless society was described as 'primitive communism' - everyone works and everything is shared.
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The class that exploits labour of others can control what? What is this?
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The class that exploits the labour of others can control society's surplus product. This is the difference between what the labourers actually produce and what is needed simply to keep them alive and working.
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What three successive class societies did Marx identify? Name and describe.
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-Ancient society: based on the exploitation of slaves legally tied to their owners
-Feudal society: based on the exploitation of serfs legally tied to the land -Capitalist society: based on the exploitation of free wage labourers |
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What are the terms used for the separate classes (w/c and r/c)?
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Bourgeoisie - r/c
Proletariat = w/c |
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Unlike serfs or slaves, what are the proletariat? Therefore, what?
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Unlike slaves or serfs, the proletariat are legally free and separated from the means of production. Because they do not own any means of production, they have to sell their labour power to the bourgeoisie in return for wages in order to survive.
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Why is this exchange of the proletariat's labour for wages not an equal exchange?
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This si not an equal exchange as the proletariat do not receive the value of the goods that their labour produces, but only the cost of subsistence - of keeping them alive. The difference between the two is the surplus value - the profit that the capitalist makes by selling the commodities that the proletariat have produced.
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Describe the effect of competition in capitalism.
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Competition between capitalists means ownership of the means of production becomes concentrated in fewer and fewer hands - this drives small independent producers into the ranks of the proletariat, until ultimately the vast majority are proletarianised. Competition also forces capitalists to pay the lowest wages possible, causing the immiseration (impoverishment) of the proletariat.
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