Complete SUMMARY of PART II of 'History of Political Ideologies' (Ba1 Social Science Prof. Dr. Zemni)
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Module
History of Political Ideologies
Institution
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
This file is a summary of PART II of the extensive syllabus of Prof. Zemni course, "History of Political Ideologies". This is perfect if you need a little extra help or want to gain time solely on part II of the syllabus. I got a 19/20 on this exam using these summaries. Please enjoy!
1. Origins and evolution of contemporary socialism
*1850s is the time where the heyday of the industrial revolution took place. Capitalism that we have
seen emerging and rising throughout the centuries before was by then fully moving forward
(expansion) not only in Europe but also abroad.
1.1 “Scientific” Socialism
Marx
Marx made something completely new out of (already known) socialism.
→ Built further on 3 legacies:
1. Utopian socialism.
- Engels and Marx coined the term utopian socialism
- Counter-response to the ‘normal’ (early) socialism
- Not good enough - Marx wanted to introduce his scientific approach to
it.
- Capitalism had a certain logic to be analyzed → translate that into a political program (
= ‘scientific’ approach to capitalism).
- Previous thinkers could not counter capitalism because they lacked the
scientific understanding of it - epistemological break from the past
- Understand the laws of capitalism without the laws of morality
- Not starting from pity over inequalities, but from science
- Marxism and utopian socialism can be distinguished mostly because of the
idea/concept of Praxis
- = a critical activity that aims to bring about a historically relevant
transformation of the world
- So, through science (the critical activity of thinking)
- By understanding the logic of capitalism - make things clearer for the
people → easier for a social movement to work on that
- “this is how capitalism works, this is the problem, this is what we need
to do in order to go to a socialist society where the state would
gradually disappear”.
2. The legacy is referred to Hegel’s dialectical thinking.
→ Marx and Engels will completely change that even though they hold to this idea of historical dialectics
= tension between thesis and antithesis.
, - For Marx, historical evolution: “history is always pushed forward by its own logic” = historical
materialism
- ><Hegel’s Idealism.
Historical materialism = a succession of modes of production/ a process that is driven by the
development of productive forces and relations of production.
- → The economic basis of society and how it functions
- within this process, there is always tensions → dialectical tension between the
means of production (how works and how sells the labour)
- Organized between the base and superstructure
- Simplified view of society than Hegel’s version
→ Linear evolution of society (natural) determined by the means of production (economic determinism)
3. Third legacy – Ricardo.
- The traditional doctrine of the theory of labour value
- → The purchase and the sale of labour = a specific case of a general theory on equal
exchange
- For liberal thinkers (in the 19th century) the fact that human beings have labour power
(and could sell it) = an equal exchange.
- >< According to Marx (given the same line of thinking as Ricardo), labour as a
commodity has a unique quality – it creates value by using it
- Labour = unique: value is created by use
→ Surplus value/Surplus Labor (Ricardo et al.) vs. Profit/Exploitation (Marx)
Questions:
How does transition take place?
- Marx places the current contradiction in a historical perspective
- Class struggles and class contradictions: not just a factor specific to capitalism, BUT
it is the engine that determines the entire course of history
From feudalism straight to socialism?
- Whether the people want it or not (back to the idea of utopian socialism), you cannot invent
socialism, said Marx.
- Socialism can only occur/grow as an idea because capitalism has been introduced
- Certain logics about capitalism that comes above in the economic organisation become
visible
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