M2: Marx

Question 1

What was Marx’s overall goal with his sociology of capitalism?

Answer 1

-to critique capitalism

Question 2

What did Marx describe capitalism as?

Answer 2

-form of economic enterprise and a type of society

Question 3

What were the two essential elements of economic enterprise?

Answer 3

• capital

- wage labor

Question 4

What did Marx describe capital as?

Answer 4

-any asset that can be used to secure further assets

Question 5

What did Marx mean by a ‘type of society’ in his definition of capitalism?

Answer 5

-capitalism is defined by a class society based on the relationship between capital and wage labor

Question 6

What are class relations?

Answer 6

• relations of conflict or struggle

- they link economic relations to other institutions

Question 7

What did Marx equate a sociology of capitalism to?

Answer 7

-analysis of class structure

Question 8

What were the core ideas (6) of Marx’s analysis of class structure?

Answer 8

• relations of production
• concept of class
• polarization thesis
• social superstructure
• theory of surplus value
• pauperization thesis

Question 9

What are the characteristics of Marx’s relations of production?

Answer 9

• people must produce in order to develop capabilities and power as well as survive
• people always produce as members of a specific type of society (not as individuals)

Question 10

Under the relations of production definition what is every society founded on?

Answer 10

Definite set of relations of production;

• in order to produce people must enter into social relations
• these social relations are related to class

Question 11

no

Answer 11

no

Question 12

How does Marx define classes?

Answer 12

• defined by relationship to the means (forces) of production
• social classes are economic and founded on a material basis
• BUT classes are also defined by a social relationship

Question 13

What are the means of production under Marx’s definition of classes?

Answer 13

-Things you use in order to produce, raw materials etc.

Question 14

What is this ‘social relationship’ under Marx’s definition of classes?

Answer 14

-property (legal right over material object enforced by state)

Question 15

What, under Marx’s concepts of classes, does every society have?

Answer 15

A distinct form/system of;

• economic production and property
• classes

Question 16

What was the main form of property in capitalist societies?

Answer 16

-capital

Question 17

How are capitalist classes defined?

Answer 17

• groups of individuals defined by their relationship to ownership of private property in the means of production
• dichotomous in principle

Question 18

Why are classes dichotomous in principle?

Answer 18

-because 3 classes didn’t fit into either capitalist or workers, they were transitioning to them

Question 19

What were the 3 exceptions to the dichotomous principle?

Answer 19

• groups who played a major role in political and economic institutions but are marginal (peasants that own their own land)
• groups who are dependent on and identify politically with one of the 2 classes (high managerial worker)
• lumpen proletariat who are not fully integrated into one class (thieves, homeless people)

Question 20

How does Marx answer to the ‘in theory’ dichotomous class problem?

Answer 20

• with his notion of polarization

- as capitalism develops this will simplify

Question 21

How does Marx characterize capitalist society?

Answer 21

• analyzing its class relations

- locating its institutions in either the base or superstructure and specifying the relationship between the two

Question 22

What are the institutions in the base?

Answer 22

-economic institutions

Question 23

What are institutions in the superstructure?

Answer 23

-political, legal, educational etc.

Question 24

What does Marx define as the base?

Answer 24

-forces (means) of production and relations of production

Question 25

What does Marx define as the superstructure?

Answer 25

-rest of social institutions in a society

Question 26

What is the primary link between the base and the superstructure according to Marx?

Answer 26

-role of classes

Question 27

What does Marx mean in his quote, "The ruling ideals are the ideals of the ruling class?"

Answer 27

- the base exists to legitimize interests of ruling class - everyone in a capitalist society believes this is the way things should be - capitalists don't have to use force

Question 28

What inspired Marx to come up with his Surplus value theory?

Answer 28

-to show how the exploitation of workers occurred

Question 29

What question does Marx's theory of Surplus value answer?

Answer 29

-where do profits come from?

Question 30

Why does Marx focus on profits in his theory of Surplus value?

Answer 30

-the pursuit of profit is intrinsic to capitalism

Question 31

What makes a commodity valuable?

Answer 31

Two analytical separable values: - use value - exchange value

Question 32

What is use-value?

Answer 32

- the need the commodity was created to satisfy | - all products have use value

Question 33

What is exchange value?

Answer 33

- unique to commodity production - only find exchange values when you find capitalism - value when offered for other products

Question 34

What are commodities?

Answer 34

-products only made for exchange value on the market

Question 35

Does the exchange of the commodities relate to their use-value?

Answer 35

-`no, it is independent of their use

Question 36

Can you determine exchange value through use value?

Answer 36

No

Question 37

What does determine exchange value?

Answer 37

-the labor time it takes to produce

Question 38

Why is exchange value measured through labor?

Answer 38

- Marx believed labor to be an intrinsic part of human nature - you give something to the product through your labor

Question 39

Why isn't the slowest worker the most valuable then?

Answer 39

-not focusing on individual workers but the total expenditure or socially necessary labor time

Question 40

Define socially necessary labor time

Answer 40

- time required to produce a commodity under normal conditions - an average degree of skill and intensity

Question 41

Where does Marx argue profits come from?

Answer 41

- workers produce more in a day then is needed to satisfy their everyday expenses i.e. surplus value - what is produced over and above what is required for workers daily profit

Question 42

What is labor power?

Answer 42

-exchange value of a workers labor power

Question 43

Who takes the surplus value?

Answer 43

-capitalists use this to make a profit

Question 44

What struggle occurs over surplus value?

Answer 44

-struggle between capitalists and workers

Question 45

What is Pauperization?

Answer 45

- group of chronically unemployed individuals - necessary for capitalism - called the industrial reserve army

Question 46

What is the role of the industrial reserve army?

Answer 46

- keep wages low - fill increased demands for labor during prosperity keeping wages down - ensures workers are replaceable

Question 47

How does Pauperization help capitalist development?

Answer 47

- increasing disparity between workers wage and capitalists profits - growing reserve army living in extreme poverty

Question 48

What is Marx's theory of historical materialism about?

Answer 48

-reconstruction of the history of the human species

Question 49

Why did Marx come up with his theory on historical materialism?

Answer 49

-wanted to make a scientific account of social change

Question 50

What was Marx's point of departure for his historical materialist theory?

Answer 50

-labor and mode of production

Question 51

What two modes of production are there?

Answer 51

- forces (means) of production | - relations of production

Question 52

What did Weber use to understand Marx's social change theory?

Answer 52

-Weber's critique on transition from feudalism to capitalism

Question 53

What was Marx's theory of historical materialism?

Answer 53

- history is a coherent process with an order to its development other then chronology - social change is a deterministic causal sequence - divides human history into modes of production

Question 54

What modes of production did Marx outline in his theory of historical materialism?

Answer 54

-tribal to ancient to feudal to capitalist to socialist mode of production

Question 55

How did Marx explain the movement between stages

Answer 55

-thesis to antithesis to synthesis

Question 56

How did Marx define a society as one of the modes of production?

Answer 56

-was defined by the relationships between the people that worked

Question 57

Did Marx believe these modes of production were for only one society?

Answer 57

-no he believed they were universal

Question 58

What did the quote, "Each societal type contains within itself the seeds of its own destruction and the motive force for movement to a higher stage," mean

Answer 58

-the dialect between the forces and relations of production would cause each society to change into the next type

Question 59

What was thesis stage?

Answer 59

-the forces and relations of production are working together

Question 60

What is the antithesis stage?

Answer 60

- change in forces of production so that they come into conflict with the relations of production - conflict inhibits economic expansion causing a revolution

Question 61

What is synthesis stage?

Answer 61

-relations and forces are working together but are new types of both

Question 62

How does thesis, antithesis and synthesis relate to base and superstructure?

Answer 62

-we have a change in the base with a change in the superstructure following

Question 63

What was the mode of production in a feudal society?

Answer 63

-agrarian societies of the European middle ages

Question 64

What was the primary productive property in feudal societies?

Answer 64

-land with labourers legally bound to it

Question 65

Why do there have to be at least 3 classes in all other types of societies beside capitalism?

Answer 65

-capitalism is classified by being a single class division thus every other society must have at least 3 classes

Question 66

Who was the ruling class under feudalism?

Answer 66

-land owning aristocracy

Question 67

What were Serf workers in feudalism?

Answer 67

- workers that generally have a lot of control of the products they produced - worked on land and were legally bound to land owned by lord

Question 68

What was a key factor in the transition from a feudal society to a capitalist society?

Answer 68

-Serf workers became wage labourers

Question 69

What were the 3 main changes in the transition from Serf to wage labourer?

Answer 69

- separation from capital to landed property via growth of towns - formation of special classes of merchants - money reduces human qualities to exchange value

Question 70

What were the special classes of merchants?

Answer 70

- mercantile capital (trade) - usures capital (interest) - money (store of wealth)

Question 71

What does 'free wage earners' mean?

Answer 71

-free in sense of free from feudal ties and obligations

Question 72

When did Marx think the transition from capitalism to socialism would occur?

Answer 72

- he thought he was living close to it | - he lived in England

Question 73

Under Weber's interpretation was is a historical necessity?

Answer 73

- revolution | - when antithesis occurs

Question 74

How did Scholars argue that Marx was still right since capitalism to socialism hasn't happened?

Answer 74

- working class does not see capitalism for what it is - working class is a class 'in itself' - must become workers united, 'a class for itself' - false conscious