Marxism-Quick Note

☭ Marxism – Comprehensive Quick Notes

A deep dive into the revolutionary thought of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Essential quick notes for Political Science and UGC NET preparation!

Founders & Historical Context

• Karl Marx (1818–1883) & Friedrich Engels
• Major works:
  • The Communist Manifesto (1848)
  • Das Kapital
  • German Ideology
• Response to 19th-century industrial capitalism and its exploitation.

🧠 Core Ideas of Marxism

• 1. Dialectical Materialism
  • Borrowed from Hegel but reversed: material conditions, not ideas, drive history.
  • Change = thesis → antithesis → synthesis.
  • Society evolves through contradictions in material life (economic relations).
• 2. Historical Materialism
  • Economic structure (means + relations of production) shapes history.
  • History = class conflict between oppressor and oppressed.
• 3. Base and Superstructure
  • Base = economy (forces & relations of production).
  • Superstructure = law, culture, politics, religion.
  • Base determines superstructure; the ruling class ideology dominates.
• 4. Class Struggle
  • Society = conflict between bourgeoisie (owners) vs proletariat (workers).
  • Liberation of proletariat = end of class-based exploitation.

🧱 Stages of Historical Development

Stage	Dominant Class	Oppressed Class
Primitive Communism	None	None
Slavery	Slave owners	Slaves
Feudalism	Landlords	Serfs
Capitalism	Bourgeoisie	Proletariat
Socialism	Proletariat	Remnants of bourgeois
Communism	Classless society	None

⚔️ Key Concepts

• 🔹 Alienation (from Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts)
  • Workers are alienated from:
  • Product
  • Labour process
  • Others
  • Human essence
• 🔹 Surplus Value
  • Workers produce more value than they’re paid → profit = exploitation.
• 🔹 Ideology as False Consciousness
  • Cultural systems justify exploitation (e.g., religion = “opium of the masses”).
• 🔹 Revolution
  • Proletarian revolution is inevitable.
  • Will lead to a dictatorship of the proletariat.
  • Ends with establishment of communism.
• 🔹 Communism
  • Stateless, classless, and moneyless society.
  • Principle: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”

🧭 Branches of Marxism

Type	Focus	Key Thinkers
Classical Marxism	Original thought by Marx & Engels	Marx, Engels
Orthodox Marxism	Revolutionary theory + party system	Lenin, Stalin
Western Marxism	Culture, ideology, civil society	Gramsci, Lukács
Structural Marxism	Structuralist approach to ideology	Althusser
Neo-Marxism	Social, cultural critique, Freud added	Marcuse, Adorno, Frankfurt School

🧠 Key Thinkers & Contributions

Thinker	Contribution	Key Work
Karl Marx	Class conflict, alienation, surplus value	Das Kapital, Manifesto
F. Engels	Utopian vs scientific socialism	Socialism: Utopian & Scientific
V.I. Lenin	Vanguard party, imperialism theory	State and Revolution
Antonio Gramsci	Cultural hegemony, civil vs political society	Prison Notebooks
Louis Althusser	Structural Marxism, ISAs	Ideology and Ideological State Apparatus
Herbert Marcuse	Repression in consumer capitalism	One-Dimensional Man

⚠️ Criticisms of Marxism

• Economic Determinism: Reduces all to class/economy.
• Neglect of agency: Underplays individual freedom.
• Utopian: Communism = vague, unrealized.
• Practical failure: Authoritarianism in USSR, China.

📚 Most Expected MCQ-type Concepts

• Surplus Value → profit from exploitation
• Base–Superstructure → economic determinism
• Alienation → loss of control over work/life
• Vanguard Party → Lenin’s innovation
• Gramsci → hegemony = domination via consent
• Althusser → ISAs: institutions that normalize ideology

📝 One-Liner Revision (Blitz Round)

• Marx = “Philosophers interpret the world; the point is to change it.”
• Engels = “Scientific socialism is the weapon of the working class.”
• Gramsci = “Civil society is the fortress of ruling class ideology.”
• Lenin = “Revolution needs a vanguard.”
• Marcuse = “Freedom is suppressed under consumer culture.”

Marxism, though criticized, remains a pivotal framework for understanding power, class, and social change.