DR. PETROS KOSMASLECTURER, CASA COLLEGE

ACADEMIC YEAR 2010 - 2011

LECTURE 7

HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT

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Was there a Need for Reform?

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During the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution not only revolutionized the way things were made, but also created many problems.

Realism, Positivism, Marxism and Materialism.

In what ways did the failed revolutions of 1848 foster the idea of MATERIALISM?

In what ways was REALISM a sign of the times in painting and literature?

Identify what is Positivism—

And, finally, you will learn the important background that influence Karl Marx beliefs and its future impact on Russian History.

The revolutions of 1848 spread throughout Europe, and what began with hope was quickly suppressed by

reactionary, conservative governments.

After the failure of the revolutions of 1830 and 1848, the dreams of many Europeans

ended.

There had been some positive

outcomes of 1848—peasants were freed in Germany and Austria, and many moved to

America.

Many were bitter about government reaction after the revolutions. This new attitude was

called materialism: an idea that all things were a result of physiological or physical

forces. In art and music it was called realism.

Materialism and Realism

Realism included painters such as Courbet, Millet, and Daumier…

Courbet’s paintings were of the peasants—in the countryside, but they were displayed in the salons of

Paris, for the bourgeoisie to observe.

Perhaps this was a way of saying that “we may have been defeated in the revolutions, but we

are still here. Our needs are just.”

Realism found its way into the writings of

authors such as Flaubert. Flaubert’s Madame Bovary is a landmark novel that

mocked romantic illusions about marriage

and family life.

Both writers and painters broke away from the traditions of romanticism and said they wanted

“real facts.”

Similar to realism was the idea of positivism, which meant that one must insist on verifiable facts and not on wishful thinking.

In politics this became Real Politik--but we will learn more about that later

Positivism

But no other ideas came out of the post-Congress of Vienna era which would have more

influence than those of Karl Marx.

Karl Marx

Marx associated with other German radicals

—similar to the radicals we saw in our movie Les Miserables. This group was called the “Young Hegelians.”

“Young Hegelians.”

Marx met Friedrich Engels (1820-1893) who was the heir to a vast fortune.

Marx and Engels met in Paris in

1844. In 1847, they joined the

Communist league—which was, at that time, a tiny group of revolutionaries.

Marx and Engels

In 1848—a momentous date in publishing history, the Communist Manifesto was

published.

What was the Communist Manifesto?

It was a “manifesto” that encouraged workers to overthrow the systems that oppressed them.

Marx & Engels: The Communist Manifesto

Marx and Engels argued that human societies have always been divided into two warring classes:

The middle class, “haves” or employers, called the bourgeoisie The wealthy controlled the means of producing

goods

The working class, “have-nots” or employees called the proletariat The poor performed backbreaking labor under

terrible conditions.ECON-220

Marx wrote about the alienation of labor…when work becomes so mechanical that

people become estranged from the objects they produce. This was something he observed as the unregulated industrial

revolution continued in Britain and spread to Europe.

The alienation of labor…

A good example of this is factories where people would be doing repetitive tasks for very little pay.

Marx studied Hegel’s view of thesis, antithesis and synthesis.

Marx echoed that history was the

result of impersonal forces—

He wrote that conditions , mainly economic, produce the change

The Communist Manifesto was a summons to revolution…

The famous saying, “Workers

of the world, unite.” is one of the most famous

in history.

So remember, this saying has its roots in the unhappy conditions of France and other countries prior and after

the 1848 revolutions.

Karl Marx spent time in London—where he spent hours in the British Library Reading Room. There he began the research that led to his great works of political and economic analysis, including the monumental Das Kapital.

Marxism’s message began to diminish between 1848 and 1870—labor became organized, most men got the vote, and there were

other increases to wages and benefits.

And in fact, Marxism should have died out…but instead, he was read and re-read by a young man, Vladimir Lenin.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 would be a much later outcome of the writings of Karl Marx

—70 years after the revolutions of 1848.

Marx: CommunismMarx: Communism

Under communism, and the abolition of Under communism, and the abolition of property, will universal laziness take over? property, will universal laziness take over?

Marx: If that were true, then bourgeois Marx: If that were true, then bourgeois society would have stopped long ago. Under society would have stopped long ago. Under bourgeoisie society, those who work acquire bourgeoisie society, those who work acquire nothing, and those who acquire anything, do nothing, and those who acquire anything, do not work. not work.

Marx: CommunismMarx: Communism

What does Marx say about nations?What does Marx say about nations?

The workers have no country. Communism The workers have no country. Communism abolishes the bourgeoisie nation state. The abolishes the bourgeoisie nation state. The idea of the nation state is a product of the idea of the nation state is a product of the bourgeoisie. When the bourgeoisie have been bourgeoisie. When the bourgeoisie have been removed on an international scale, then there removed on an international scale, then there will be no need for nations. The exploitation will be no need for nations. The exploitation of one nation by another will end.of one nation by another will end.

Marx: Policies in ManifestoMarx: Policies in Manifesto

Heavy progressive and graduated income taxHeavy progressive and graduated income taxCentralization of credit in the hands of the Centralization of credit in the hands of the

state by means of a national bankstate by means of a national bankCentralization of the means of communication Centralization of the means of communication

and travel in the hands of the state.and travel in the hands of the state.Extension of factories and means of Extension of factories and means of

production owned by the stateproduction owned by the stateFree education for all children in public Free education for all children in public

schoolsschoolsAbolition of child labor in factoriesAbolition of child labor in factories