Marx: Emancipation from Illusions
As I read Karl Marx’s writings within The Marx-Engels Reader, four key terms became apparent in order to understand his theories regarding religion, politics, and economics: emancipation, alienation, species-being, and proletariat. While I do not intend to summarize his ideas, this essay will resemble an almost ‘thinking out loud’ type of process, helping me to better comprehend Karl Marx, his vision for the world, and his impact on the discipline of religious studies.
Unlike Durkheim’s approach to religion, which emphasizes the importance of religion’s role in the collective consciousness, the substance that animates society, Marx interprets religion as a phenomenon that occurs primarily within the individual. …show more content…
Instead of being an oppressor, religion can be a source of resistance to economic and political oppression and can even act harmoniously with Marxism. In Antonio Gramsci’s essay, “The Intellectuals,” he discusses the role in which intellectual’s themselves have in both the new and dominant social order. Gramsci’s primary question and analysis revolves around “the distinction between intellectuals as an organic category of every fundamental social group and intellectuals as a traditional category” (15). Do intellectuals develop naturally within society’s various social classes or are they representatives of a much larger social institution that works to preserve the predominant world order? While Gramsci acknowledges that this development of intellectuals may actually be an assimilation of both “organic” and “traditional” intellectuals (15), he also acknowledges in his section “History of the Subaltern Classes” that in order for the lower classes to achieve dominance, they must be assisted by “allies,” or other institutions, in order to defeat their subjugators and become unified amongst the lower classes (53). Here, at this moment, the role of religion and intellectuals proceeds to the forefront of opposing the world order. (Please do stop me if I misunderstood Gramsci’s entire point). For example, in Central and South America during the latter half of the 20th century, a new religious …show more content…
While his theory of religion is not always the case and indeed his theory about the proletariat itself holds religious undertones, I understand the significance of his work for religious studies scholarship
As I read Karl Marx’s writings within The Marx-Engels Reader, four key terms became apparent in order to understand his theories regarding religion, politics, and economics: emancipation, alienation, species-being, and proletariat. While I do not intend to summarize his ideas, this essay will resemble an almost ‘thinking out loud’ type of process, helping me to better comprehend Karl Marx, his vision for the world, and his impact on the discipline of religious studies.
Unlike Durkheim’s approach to religion, which emphasizes the importance of religion’s role in the collective consciousness, the substance that animates society, Marx interprets religion as a phenomenon that occurs primarily within the individual. …show more content…
Instead of being an oppressor, religion can be a source of resistance to economic and political oppression and can even act harmoniously with Marxism. In Antonio Gramsci’s essay, “The Intellectuals,” he discusses the role in which intellectual’s themselves have in both the new and dominant social order. Gramsci’s primary question and analysis revolves around “the distinction between intellectuals as an organic category of every fundamental social group and intellectuals as a traditional category” (15). Do intellectuals develop naturally within society’s various social classes or are they representatives of a much larger social institution that works to preserve the predominant world order? While Gramsci acknowledges that this development of intellectuals may actually be an assimilation of both “organic” and “traditional” intellectuals (15), he also acknowledges in his section “History of the Subaltern Classes” that in order for the lower classes to achieve dominance, they must be assisted by “allies,” or other institutions, in order to defeat their subjugators and become unified amongst the lower classes (53). Here, at this moment, the role of religion and intellectuals proceeds to the forefront of opposing the world order. (Please do stop me if I misunderstood Gramsci’s entire point). For example, in Central and South America during the latter half of the 20th century, a new religious …show more content…
While his theory of religion is not always the case and indeed his theory about the proletariat itself holds religious undertones, I understand the significance of his work for religious studies scholarship