The influence of Marxism on sociology in the 20th century was very great. Karl Marx sought to create a strictly objective theory of social development based on historical facts. Of course, he succeeded.
The sociology of Marxism in Russia has its own history. However, not only in our country, this teaching has gained great popularity. Marxism is one of the largest trends in sociology of the 20th century. Many well-known researchers of social life, as well as economists and other adherents of this doctrine, have contributed to it. At the present time there is extensive material on Marxism. In this article, we will talk about the main provisions of this teaching.
What Marxism is based on
To better understand what the sociology of Marxism is, let's briefly trace its history. Friedrich Engels, an associate of Karl and his friend, identifies three traditions that influenced this teaching. These are German philosophy, French historical science and English political economy. The main line followed by Marx is classical German philosophy. Karl shared one of the main ideas of Hegel, which is that society as a wholegoes through successive stages in its development. Having studied English political economy, Karl Marx (pictured above) introduced terms from it into his teaching. He shared some of his contemporary ideas, in particular the theory of labor value. From the socialists and historians from France, he borrowed such a well-known concept as the class struggle.
Having accepted the theories of all these scientists, F. Engels and K. Marx qualitatively revised them, as a result of which a completely new doctrine appeared - the sociology of Marxism. Briefly, it can be defined as a fusion of economic, sociological, philosophical and other theories that are closely related and are a single entity that expresses the needs of the working class. Marx's teaching, to be more specific, is an analysis of contemporary capitalist society. Karl explored its structure, mechanism, the inevitability of change. At the same time, it is indisputable that for him the analysis of the formation of capitalism was an analysis of the historical development of society and man.
Method of Marxism
The method used by the sociology of Marxism is usually defined as dialectical-materialistic. This method is based on a special understanding of the surrounding world, according to which both human thinking and the phenomena of society and nature are subject to qualitative changes. These changes are explained by the struggle of various internal opposites and are interconnected.
The sociology of Marxism claims that an idea is not a creator, not a creator. It reflects material reality. Therefore, in knowledgeand the study of the world must proceed from reality itself, and not from an idea. More specifically, when examining the structure of human society, one must start not from the way of thinking inherent in this society, but from the historical movement.
Principle of determinism
The sociology of Marxism recognizes the principle of determinism as one of the main ones, according to which there is a causal relationship in social phenomena and processes. Scholars before Karl found it difficult to determine the main criteria that determine all other social relations and phenomena. They could not find an objective criterion for such a distinction. The sociology of Marxism claims that it is economic (production) relations that should be considered as such. Karl Marx believed that the development of society is a change in the stages of production.
Being determines consciousness
Social life, according to Marx, is determined both by the previous historical development of a given society, and by socio-historical laws. The latter act independently of the will and consciousness of people. People cannot change them, but they can discover them and adapt to them. Thus, the idealistic idea that the development of society is determined by the will of people, that is, consciousness determines being, is refuted in Marxism. Being determines consciousness, and not otherwise.
The influence of Marxism on sociology
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels made a significant contribution to understanding what should be considered the subject of general sociology. This science, in their opinion, should analyze real lifepeople, what they really are, not who they imagine themselves to be. The classics of Marxism advocated such a certainty in which the subject of general sociology would be society, considered as a set of various practical relations that develop between people and are associated with the so-called generic essence of the individual. In this regard, for a correct understanding of its subject, such definitions given by K. Marx as the essence of man, nature, labor, and society are of great importance. Let's briefly consider each of them.
The Essence of Man
Marx and Engels, considering the individual from the position of materialism, tried to determine what is his difference from the animal. They also wanted to understand what is its specificity as a generic being. Karl noted that man is not only a natural being, but also a social being, which realizes the conditions of its social and material existence through an active attitude to the world. The essence of man, according to Marx, is his labor, production activity. He believed that his production life is a generic life. Karl emphasized that when people begin to produce the items they need, they begin to distinguish themselves from the animal world.
Labor
Now let's talk about how the sociology of Marxism relates to work. K. Marx and F. Engels considered it as a conscious activity of the individual, aimed at the exchange of substances with nature. Charlesnotes that a person, in order to appropriate a natural substance in a form suitable for his life, sets in motion the natural forces that belong to his body. Influencing external nature with the help of this movement, changing it, a person simultaneously changes his own nature. Labor, according to Marxism, created not only the individual, but also society. It appeared as a result of the relationship of people formed in the process of labor.
Nature
Representations about nature and its relationship with society in pre-Marxist sociology belonged mainly to one of the following categories:
- idealistic (society and nature do not depend on each other, have no connection, since these are qualitatively different concepts);
- vulgar materialistic (all social processes and phenomena obey the laws prevailing in nature).
The philosophy and sociology of Marxism criticize both of these theories. The doctrine proposed by Karl assumes that natural communities and human society have a qualitative originality. However, there is a connection between them. It is impossible to explain the structure and development of the laws of society based only on biological laws. At the same time, one cannot completely neglect biological factors, that is, turn exclusively to social ones.
Society
Karl Marx said that a man is distinguished from an animal by expedient laboractivity. He defined society (taking into account the fact that there is an exchange of substances between man and nature) as a set of people's relations to each other and to nature. Society, according to Marx, is a system of interaction between individuals, which is based on economic relations. People enter them out of necessity. It does not depend on their will.
It is impossible to say unequivocally whether the sociology of Marxism is right or wrong. Theory and practice show that certain features of society, described by Marx, do take place. Therefore, to this day, interest in the ideas proposed by Karl has not faded away.
Basic and superstructure
In any society, a basis and a superstructure are distinguished (according to such a doctrine as the sociology of Marxism). We will now consider the main characteristics of these two concepts.
Basis is the sphere in which the joint production of material goods takes place. It ensures the social and individual existence of man. Production is considered by Karl Marx as the appropriation of nature with the help of expedient activity within the framework of society. The scientist identified the following elements (factors) of production:
- labor, that is, the expedient activity of an individual, aimed at creating certain material benefits within society;
- objects of labor, that is, those that a person affects by his labor (these can be either processed materials or given by nature itself);
- means of labor, that is, with the help of which people influence certain objects of labor.
Means of production include objects and means of labor. However, they will only be dead things until people connect them with their work. Therefore, as K. Marx noted, it is man who is the decisive factor of production.
The basis of society is the means and objects of labor, people with their skills and work experience, as well as industrial relations. The social superstructure is formed by all other social phenomena that appear during the creation of material we alth. These phenomena include political and legal institutions, as well as forms of social consciousness (philosophy, religion, art, science, morality, etc.).
The economic basis, according to the teachings of K. Marx, determines the superstructure. However, not all elements of the superstructure are equally defined by the basis. The superstructure, in turn, has a certain influence on it. As F. Engels pointed out (his portrait is presented above), only in the end the influence of the basis can be called decisive.
Alienation and its types
Alienation is the objective separation of a particular subject from the process of activity itself or from its result. Marx deals with this problem in most detail in his work en titled "Philosophical and Economic Manuscripts", created in 1844, but published only in the 30s of the 20th century. In this work, the problem of alienated labor is considered as the main form of alienation. Karl Marx shows that the most important part of the "generic essence" (human nature)is the need to participate in creative, free labor. Capitalism, according to Karl, systematically destroys this need of the individual. This is the position taken by the sociology of Marxism.
Types of alienation, according to Marx, are as follows:
- from the result of labor;
- from labor process;
- from his essence (man is a "generic essence" in the sense that as a free and universal essence he creates himself (genus) and the world around him);
- from the outside world (nature, people).
If the worker does not own the result of his labor, then there must be something to which he belongs. Similarly, if the labor process (activity) does not belong to the worker, there is its owner. Only another person, called the exploiter, can be this alien being, and not nature or god. As a result, private property appears, which is also explored by the sociology of Marxism.
The types of alienation (according to Marx) listed above can be eliminated if a new society is created that would be freed from greed and selfishness. At least, this is what socialists say, who believe that economic development cannot be stopped. Karl Marx's ideas are known to have been used for revolutionary purposes. The sociology of Marxism has played an important role not only in science but also in history. It is not known how our country would have developed in the 20th century if the Bolsheviks had not accepted these ideas. Both positive and negative phenomena brought to lifeof the Soviet people the sociology of Marxism, and modernity has not completely freed itself from them.
By the way, not only the socialists used the ideas proposed by Karl. Are you familiar with such a trend as legal Marxism? Below are the basic information about him.
Legal Marxism
In the history of Russian sociological thought of the late 19th - early 20th century, a very prominent place was occupied by the sociology of legal Marxism. Briefly, it can be characterized as an ideological and theoretical trend. It is an expression of bourgeois liberal thought. Legal Marxism in sociology was based on Marxist ideas. They mainly concerned economic theory, in order to substantiate the fact that the development of capitalism in our country is historically inevitable. His adherents opposed the ideology of populism. The most famous representatives of legal Marxism: M. Tugan-Baranovsky, P. Struve, as well as S. Bulgakov and N. Berdyaev. The sociology of Marxism further evolved towards a religious and idealistic philosophy.
Of course, we only briefly talked about the teachings created by Karl. The sociology of Marxism and its meaning is a vast topic, but its main concepts have been revealed in this article.
