Marx explains that society needs to be understood by studying real, existing human beings. We think about individuals historically to gain an understanding of reality. Physical survival is the key component; moreover, individuals need to survive to create history in which Marx studied to create explanations. Social production is a fundamental part of Marx’s theory of historical materialism. He asserts that individuals need to organize themselves and create some sort of order to survive. In Antz, they organize themselves by their profession, whether it is worker, soldier, or royalty. Social production also depends on an individual’s physical environment. The third foundation of historical materialism is the geographic environment and human needs. …show more content…
Marx asserts that the economy is the most essential and important part of society, as everything is created and shaped around it. Economy is all about human survival and comes before everything else, including the superstructure. Economic organization is the main survival goal in which each society needs to strive towards. The elite personnel that control the economic base therefore control the superstructure. Our culture is entirely created by these economic elites. Eventually, when the workers realize the importance of their work to the economy, the capitalist society will then crumble (Misina 2015). This is evident in Antz when Z says, “The authorities don’t want us to know about it, but we don’t have to work on the tunnel anymore. It’s the workers who control the means of production”(Darnell and Johnson 1998). Without a solid base, society cannot function properly. At the end of the movie, Weaver held the entire colony on his shoulders to save them from being washed away (Darnell and Johnson 1998). This can be understood as a metaphor asserting that the base of society keeps every other aspect running smoothly. It is important to note that in the preface of A Critique of Political Economy, Marx failed to sate a clear difference between a commodities exchange value and use value (McIntosh 1997). This distinction is the basis for how we determine value and is an essential part of the social economic …show more content…
The superstructure is essentially the culture and politics of society. The superstructure is built on the basis of the economic foundation. In Antz, it is shown that all of the workers and soldiers spend their free time together, however the elite members of the monarchy do not associate with the others. For example, when the workers begin to dance in a specifically choreographed fashion, at the same time and in the same way, Princess Bala decides to sneak in and dance with them. When the general finds out about this, he is extremely angry that Bala associated herself with the proletariat (Darnell and Johnson 1998). Marx argues that the economic base, which would include the workers, creates the social and political foundations of societal norms. Therefore, it is inappropriate for the elite to interact with the workers based on their economic stance within society (Misina 2015). That is an example of how the superstructure is influenced by the base. In the preface of A Critique of Political Economy, Marx argues that it is society that determines our consciousness. He states, “It is not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness”(McIntosh 1997:66). This relates back to Marx’s assertion that the superstructure, which is distinguished by the base, creates whom an individual consciously is. This is idea is reiterated in the German Ideology.
The dominant classes in society accumulate wealth off of expropriating the labor of society. One German economist Karl Marx has said, “The ideas of the ruling class are, the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force. The class, which has the means of material production at its disposal, has control at the same time over the means of mental production, so that thereby, generally speaking, the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production are subject to it. The ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material relationships, the dominant material relationships grasped as ideas.” Karl Marx shows that when you are considered a higher class, which means you produce the resources need by society, you control what happens to society.
Marx interpreted the “superstructure” as being, “…not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness” (Ball eat
Preconditions and Contradictions of a Capitalist Society According to Karl Marx, the revolutionist and sociologist, there are preconditions as well as contradictions in a capitalist society. In this essay there will be the identifying, defining and the discussion of key concepts as discussed in the Tutorials and in the module of the course as Sociology. There will be discussed who Karl Marx was, the influences in his life, the theory he studies named Marxism, conflict and contradictions, dialectic thinking, Materialism, Society, What Capitalism is?, and the critique based on Marx’s work from others. At the end I will come to a conclusion to prove that there are preconditions and contradictions in a capitalist society.
It can thus be suggested that Marx's theory of the 'state' is a social relation, however, how the individual interprets the 'state' lies within their perception and observation during periods in past and present situations where such said 'state' implements ideologies and policies which
One of the reasons that Marx work is relevant today is because the exchange and value of items is very important in our world today. In today’s world everything is about buying products and and exchange is very important in today 's world. Which leads to the fact that Marx writing about the values of the 21st century is
Marx ideology for meaning of life was inspired from the time and place he grew up and lived. Marx believed that culture, government, religion, politics, and laws are all structures. The base of the structure is made up of materials used for production. Changes in base would result in changes in the superstructure and who people view their life.
To which the economy influences these aspects of society. Marx, comparatively to Plato and Hegel, emphasizes material reality over the ideal reality. Individual consciousness comes from the ruling class, the bourgeoisie. To Marx, the ideas of the bourgeoisie that trickles down to the proletariats, are from the "dominant material relationships" (169) in society. In summary, Marx inverts Plato and Hegel 's ideologies by rejecting the concept of God and that it is only human nature that drives
Marx believed that the class struggle forced social change. Marx’s theory is based on a class system
Bourgeoisie, which gains the power, defines superstructure “including all social and legal institution, all political and educational systems, all religions and all art” (Bressler, 162), and articulate the ideology which is based on profits of bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie ideology leads to alienation of individuals, especially proletariats. This bourgeoisie ideology creates the clash between the two classes. Marx supported the working class and their victory over dominant class. Marxism believes in providing equal opportunity to the working class as that are available to the
Marx believed that without this structure the capitalistic view would create a classless society. This led him to become very interested
He further states that he who controls the economy at the top levels, controls society. Marx calls this “means of production” which is defined as all physical elements, other than human beings, that go into producing goods and services. He goes further to describe “means of distribution”, such as stores and while this many change over time, it is elemental in any discussion on how wealth is created or maintained. The Bourgeoisie elite enjoy an affluent lifestyle on the backs of the Proletariat workers. Adam Smith (the Father of Economics) expressed this in 1776 in his book Wealth of Nations.
Class conflict, Marx believed, was what encouraged the evolution of society. To quote Marx himself, The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one
Karl Marx was a man who was earthy in a way and yet extremely millenarian in other ways. He was a combination of absolute certitude and searching analysis. Marx was a prophet in a sense, but a philosophical and rational one. Marx’s weapons were historical analysis and a firm materialist and determinist philosophical grounding. He connected humanistic concerns to materialistic roots, in this he was not only a positivist but an evolutionist.
So, why is this relevant in my personal life? Human growth and development is what we need to survive if we didn’t have this we could evolve as humans. I personally believe that because of the people around me I have specifically become the person I am today because of them, because if I wasn’t surrounded by my family and friends who knows that kind of person I would’ve become. Another strong point that Marx makes in his essay is his view on the “Political Economy,” mainly Communism.
According to Karl Marx, “Society does not consist of Individuals but expresses the sum of interrelations, the relations within which theses individuals stand”. Karl Marx, being one of the leading figures in economics, understood society as a sum of relations between individuals and other social phenomena like economic development, religious institutions. He was able to figure out the importance of relations of man with his land, with other individuals and with the larger society in general. This can also be interpreted as the inter-relatedness of institutions governing men and the role they play in the development of society in general. Though Marx focuses on the relations of man, it cannot be ignored that the basic unit of society is an individual