Marxism is a political theory based on the ideas of German philosopher Karl Marx, who lived during the 19th century (1818-1883)1. Marxism is widely known as a conflict theory because it states that society is in conflict with each other and the main two sides to this conflict are between the rich and the poor2. This theory largely consists of ideas based off of socioeconomic analysis that took place during the mid to late 1800’s. Recently Marxism has been on the rise again in popularity and will most likely make a return as a major ideology in the 21st century. One major indicator that Marxism is returning and on the rise is due to the chaos that ensued economically and politically due to the global capitalist system in the late 20th century3.
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The old Feudal System which allowed ordinary people to have the freedom and rights to almost any piece of land was coming to an end through a few Enclosure Acts7 that were passed by the government in the 1800’s. This forced many people to move into the towns and the cities which were growing due to the many factories and textile mills that were popping up. These people who used to be able to keep their own animals and grow their own crops on common land, were now forced to work in the factories with very low wages. Many factory owners wanted to maximize their profits by giving out low wages to their workers, therefore it was also very common to employ children as cheap labour8. The time period of the Industrial Revolution, promoted a capitalist way of thinking among society and also created two distinct groups of people, which Marx called the Bourgeoisie (middle class) and the Proletariat (working class). Marx didn’t only see the Proletariats as being treated unfairly, but he also thought the whole capitalist system was partial, due to the fact that he believed that the system was keeping the poor, poor and making the rich, richer9. This is why it is called a conflict theory, society is constantly at conflict between the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. Marx believed that through education and personal development, the …show more content…
When the world entered the 21st century, only four official Marxist shaped countries remained: China, Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam17. Although these countries were all self proclaimed Marxist nations, they all operated in their own different Marxist form. Once the 21st century took off, many Latin American nations decided to make a change and elected socialist and anti-imperialist parties into their governments. This change in governments across Latin America has adopted the name, the ‘Pink Tide’18. This trend was heavily dominated by the election of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and later the election of Rafael Correa in Ecuador, Evo Morales in Bolivia, and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua. These four elections heavily influenced the Marxist movement in Latin America as these four new socialist nations forged a political and economic alliance through international organizations which allowed them to ally themselves with Marxist-Leninist Cuba. Although none of these nations supported a Leninist path directly, they all admitted to being significantly influenced by Marxist political theory19. Clearly the turn of the 20th century has heavily influenced many world leaders to make a change in how their country is governed. Italian Marxist politician and philosopher Gianni Vattimo explains it best in his 2011 book Hermeneutic Communism, Vattimo
The old Feudal System which allowed ordinary people to have the freedom and rights to almost any piece of land was coming to an end through a few Enclosure Acts7 that were passed by the government in the 1800’s. This forced many people to move into the towns and the cities which were growing due to the many factories and textile mills that were popping up. These people who used to be able to keep their own animals and grow their own crops on common land, were now forced to work in the factories with very low wages. Many factory owners wanted to maximize their profits by giving out low wages to their workers, therefore it was also very common to employ children as cheap labour8. The time period of the Industrial Revolution, promoted a capitalist way of thinking among society and also created two distinct groups of people, which Marx called the Bourgeoisie (middle class) and the Proletariat (working class). Marx didn’t only see the Proletariats as being treated unfairly, but he also thought the whole capitalist system was partial, due to the fact that he believed that the system was keeping the poor, poor and making the rich, richer9. This is why it is called a conflict theory, society is constantly at conflict between the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. Marx believed that through education and personal development, the …show more content…
When the world entered the 21st century, only four official Marxist shaped countries remained: China, Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam17. Although these countries were all self proclaimed Marxist nations, they all operated in their own different Marxist form. Once the 21st century took off, many Latin American nations decided to make a change and elected socialist and anti-imperialist parties into their governments. This change in governments across Latin America has adopted the name, the ‘Pink Tide’18. This trend was heavily dominated by the election of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and later the election of Rafael Correa in Ecuador, Evo Morales in Bolivia, and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua. These four elections heavily influenced the Marxist movement in Latin America as these four new socialist nations forged a political and economic alliance through international organizations which allowed them to ally themselves with Marxist-Leninist Cuba. Although none of these nations supported a Leninist path directly, they all admitted to being significantly influenced by Marxist political theory19. Clearly the turn of the 20th century has heavily influenced many world leaders to make a change in how their country is governed. Italian Marxist politician and philosopher Gianni Vattimo explains it best in his 2011 book Hermeneutic Communism, Vattimo