Poli 64 Modern Political Thought

TURN YOUR PHONE OFF!November 29 1950

Chinese overwhelm Allies in North KoreaThree weeks after U.S. General Douglas MacArthur first reported Chinese communist troops in action in North Korea, U.S.-led U.N. troops begin a desperate retreat out of North Korea under heavy fire from the Chinese.

Near the end of World War II, the "Big Three" Allied powers--the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain--agreed to divide Korea into two separate occupation zones and temporarily govern the nation. The country was split along the 38th parallel, with Soviet forces occupying the northern zone and Americans stationed in the south. By 1949, separate Korean governments had been established, and both the United States and the USSR withdrew the majority of their troops from the Korean Peninsula. The 38th parallel was heavily fortified on both sides, but the South Koreans were unprepared for the hordes of North Korean troops and Soviet-made tanks that suddenly rolled across the border on June 25, 1950.

Central themes in the socialist tradition

“Communism” is an ideal with a long history, stretching back (at least) to Plato and early Christianity. “Communism” implies common holding and equal sharing of material goods and social authority

“Socialism” is a particularly modern tradition of the communist ideal. “Socialism” is a communal ideology for modern, mass, industrial societies.

Philosophical foundations:

1. Critique of existing societyMoral critique: present as “unjust”Material critique: present as “inefficient”

2. Belief in human perfectibilityMoral critique: change “hearts and minds”Material critique: change institutions and practices

3. Belief in virtues of communal lifePastoral vision: small, face to face, self-sufficient communitiesTechnocratic vision: large, technologically advanced communities

4. Belief in revolutionary changeNon-violent ideal: change by protest and educationViolent ideal: change by open violent conflict

5. InternationalismNational differences/identities replaced by class differences/identities

The presuppositions of Marx’s Materialist Conception of History

1. A dialectical philosophy of history (Hegel’s legacy)

o    History as progressive realization of reason

o    Realization of reason through dissolution of alienation

o    Historical change as overcoming of contradictions

Historical change

UniversalFreedom

Alienatedexistence

REASON

Stage ofdevelopment

Intellectual/MoralConditions

Intellectual/MoralConditions

Material conditions/Practices

Material conditions/Practices

PROGRESS

PROGRESS

“contradictions” PROCESS REPEATS until“emancipation” is realized

OLD NEW

The presuppositions of Marx’s Materialist Conception of History

1. A dialectical philosophy of history (Hegel’s legacy)

    

  2. A historical materialist theory

o    Against idealism (against Hegel)

o Against “essentialist” materialism (against Feuerbach)

   o    Human nature is historical

      What makes humans capable of “history” is the human capacity for labor      (NB: contrast “human” and “natural” history)      Realization of reason is the dissolution of conditions of alienated labor

     Historical progress is driven by overcoming of material contradictions between realities and possibilities of productive activity

 

The presuppositions of Marx’s Materialist Conception of History

1. A dialectical philosophy of history

  2. A historical materialist theory

3. A critical theory or form of critique (Ideologiekritik)

o    A “scientific” theory with practical, political intent. Dimensions: Descriptive: Analysis of social formations

Explanatory: Analysis of social change Practical: Analysis of capitalist society

Marx’s Materialist Conception of History

Descriptive: What is society, how is it structured?

Society = “Mode of Production”

IdeologyRelations of production

Forces (means) of production

Superstructure

Base

Analytical points: Base “conditions” superstructure

“Ruling ideas” reflect interests of “ruling class”

Revolutionary change: resolving the “primacy puzzle”

Causal effects?

OR

Explanatory: How do societies change?

Logic of change: StabilityForces change Crisis Revolutionary

consciousness

Revolution

Contradictions

material class ideological

Conditions of changeobjective subjective

Analytical points:

Ruling classes try to “fetter” development of productive forces

Revolutionary classes try to advance development of productive forces

Revolutions can only succeed when all necessary conditions are present

Marx’s Materialist Conception of History

Marx’s Materialist Conception of History

Practical: How can we emancipate ourselves?

Prerequisite of action: knowledge of historical possibilitiesThe development of human societies

Social structure Material conditions “Mode of production”

Pre-class/classless Extreme scarcity “primitive” communism

Class based Unequal scarcity Ancient

Feudal

Capitalist

Artificial scarcity

Early capitalism

Late capitalismPost-class/classless Abundance Communism

Marx’s Materialist Conception of HistoryPractical: How can we emancipate ourselves?

Prerequisite of action: knowledge of historical possibilities

Analytical points:

Historical change “simplifies” class structures

Historical progress advances development of productive forces

Capitalism enables – and is – the realization of the possibility of abundance

In capitalism, classes are “reduced” to 2: those who own, and those who work the means of production. Relations are “reduced” to economic exploitation

Capitalism must be overthrown for progress – and freedom – to be realized. Capitalism is the first mode of production predicated on the development of productive forces. Capitalism cannot continue by developing productive forces.

Marx’s critique of capitalismCapitalism is self-subverting:

The premise of capitalist production is continuous development of productive forces, BUTThe social relations of capitalism cannot sustain continued development of productive forces

The logic of capitalist production“Capital” (productive capacity) has two components:

“Constant” capital (resources, tools, machinery);

“Variable” capital (human labor)

Process of competition:1. Goal of capitalist: maximization of profit. Means: raise prices and/or cut costs

2. Competition makes price raising untenable; costs must be cut

3. Cost cutting achieved by reducing “variable” expenses, increasing ratio of “constant” expenses to “variable” expenses

4. Successful firms are “efficient” – producing more for less

5. Effects on social relations: for capitalists, “proletarianization”; for workers, “emiseration”

6. Effects on productive activity:Concentration of capital: growth of monopoliesContraction of markets: less wealth available for consumption of productsDecline of profits, further sharpening of competitionCRISIS OF “OVERPRODUCTION”Repeated cycling of process

7. Solution to crises of overproduction: Suppress demand (“dictatorship of bourgeoisie”) and/or suppress production

Capitalism cannot enable the continued development of productive forces, or the realization of freedom for all. Capitalism is “self-subverting.”

Marx’s critique of capitalism

Process of competition (continued):

The effects of “alienated labor” (or, the moral dimension of the material critique)

1. Alienation from the product of labor (products become commodities, and objects “control” people)

2. Alienation from the process of labor (labor becomes “work,” controlled by others)

3. Alienation from one’s “species being” (labor is stripped of individual meaning;relations between individuals are stunted, mediated by objects)

4. Alienation from other laborers (labor becomes basis of competition)

The point of Marx’s account of alienation:In conditions of scarcity, alienation is inevitable. In conditions of abundance, alienation is inefficient – and morally reprehensible

Marx on Communism

Transitional stage: “Socialism” – the “dictatorship of the proletariat”

-- Working class uses state power to suppress the interests of the bourgeoisie, and eliminate the vestiges of capitalist social relations

-- “The only way for individuals to control modern universal interaction is to make it subject to the control of all”

-- The proletariat is the “universal class”; its interest is the interest of freedom for all

-- As the need for class competition decreases, the state “withers away”

Communism: The end of “prehistory” and the beginning of human freedom

-- “The administration of things replaces the administration of men”

-- “The free development of each is the condition for the free development of all”

-- A “Society of free social individuals”

-- In a condition of abundance and freedom, the principle of production and distribution should be “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need”

The failure of Marxism in practice: Bad theory or inappropriate application?