Marxism And History Christopher Hill Summary

In “Marxism and History” by Christopher Hill, Hill begins his article with the assertion that Marxism has influenced history more than any other branch of knowledge. Hill offers six points to describe how the ideas of Marx have transformed history and historians in the (then) 100 years since the creation of The Communist Manifesto. By analyzing these six points laid out by Hill, one can come to understand Marx’s legacy for historically understanding social class and economy. First and foremost, Hill claims that Marx influenced historians by causing them to recognize the importance of economic history. This recognition of economic history has led historians to better understand the ways in which the wealth of a community is produced and distributed. By understanding economic production and distribution, Hill claims that historians can recognize how economics must affect the overall structure and livelihood of a given community. Secondly, Hill writes about the growing recognition with regards to the role social class plays in historical development. Using a Marxist interpretation of history, Hill claims that one will find a theme of social class struggle whenever “writing a serious history of the 19th century (at least).” With this, Hill …show more content…
Scott’s “Seeing Like a State,” one can appreciate their convergent themes of political organization and governmental control. Scott writes, “I shall argue that the most tragic episode of state-initiated social engineering… is the administrative ordering of nature and society.” This administrative ordering spoken of by Scott goes hand in hand with the idea of national control brought to mind in Hill’s Marxist responses to the ways in which governments have been run. This ordering of society restricts the freedoms laid out in Marxist ideologies, perpetuating the idea of necessary governments and class