What is Marxism? | Literary Theory: Marxism | Base & Superstructure | Capitalist & Communist Society
Summary
TLDRIn this educational video, the concepts of Marxism are explored, focusing on the base and superstructure, and the division of society into two classes: the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. The video explains how the bourgeoisie class exploits the working class, especially after the Industrial Revolution. It contrasts capitalist societies, characterized by private ownership and profit maximization, with communist societies that promote equal wealth distribution and a classless structure. The video concludes by highlighting the support of Marxism for a cooperative, rather than competitive, society, and mentions 'The Communist Manifesto' by Marx and Engels.
Takeaways
- 📚 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels are the founding figures of Marxism, which is a critical perspective on socio-economic conditions.
- 🏭 Post-Industrial Revolution society is divided into two main classes: the proletariat (working class) and the bourgeoisie (wealthy class who own the means of production).
- 💼 The bourgeoisie class exploits the proletariat by paying low wages and maintaining oppressive relationships, leading to a divide where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
- 🏢 The concept of 'base' in Marxism represents the economic infrastructure, including the means of production owned by the bourgeoisie, and the relations of production between the two classes.
- 🏬 'Superstructure' refers to social institutions like education, family, religion, politics, and mass media, which are used by the bourgeoisie to maintain and legitimize the unequal power relations of the base.
- 🌐 The superstructure serves as an instrument of power to convince the working class that the status quo is normal and acceptable.
- 🏦 In a capitalist society, the means of production are privately owned, operated for profit, and the government's role is minimal, focusing mainly on tax collection.
- 🌍 Marxism opposes capitalist society due to the inherent exploitation and oppression of the working class by the bourgeoisie.
- 🕊️ A communist society, exemplified by places like Denmark, is characterized by equal wealth distribution, government ownership, and a focus on collective advancement over individual gain.
- 🔄 In communism, there is no class distinction, private property is prohibited, and cooperation is emphasized over competition.
- 📜 The Communist Manifesto, written by Marx and Engels in 1848, outlines their vision for a communist society and the principles of Marxism.
Q & A
What is the main focus of the video on 'Marxism'?
-The video focuses on explaining the concepts of base and superstructure, the two types of classes (proletariat and bourgeoisie), and the differences between capitalist and communist societies as per Marxist theory.
Who are the founding figures of Marxism?
-The German philosopher Karl Marx and the German sociologist Frederick Engels are the founding figures of Marxism.
What does Marxism believe about human beings in relation to socio-economic conditions?
-Marxism believes that human beings are mainly divided by their socio-economic conditions, leading to the creation of different social classes.
What are the two main classes that emerged after the Industrial Revolution according to the video?
-After the Industrial Revolution, two main classes emerged: the proletariat class (working class) and the bourgeoisie class (rich people who owned the means of production).
What is the role of the bourgeoisie class in the capitalist society as described in the video?
-In the capitalist society, the bourgeoisie class owns the factories and means of production, hires the working class, and often oppresses them by paying low wages.
Can you explain the concept of 'base' in Marx's architectural metaphor?
-In Marx's architectural metaphor, 'base' refers to the ground floor of a building, representing the economic structure of society, including the means of production and the relations of production.
What is 'superstructure' and how does it relate to the 'base'?
-Superstructure is the first floor of the building in Marx's metaphor, representing social institutions like education, family, religion, politics, and mass media. It is shaped by the base and is used by the bourgeoisie to maintain and legitimize the unequal power relationships.
What is the main goal of a capitalist society according to the video?
-In a capitalist society, the main goal is profit maximization and wealth accumulation, with privately owned and operated means of production and minimal government intervention.
How does a communist society differ from a capitalist society?
-A communist society is characterized by an equal distribution of wealth, government ownership of all resources, and a focus on the advancement of the entire nation rather than individuals. It is a classless society with no bourgeoisie or proletariat classes.
What are some examples of communist society in literature mentioned in the video?
-Plato's 'Republic' and Thomas More's 'Utopia' are mentioned as early examples of communist society in literature.
What significant document did Karl Marx and Frederick Engels write together in 1848?
-Karl Marx and Frederick Engels wrote 'The Communist Manifesto' in 1848, which outlined their vision for a communist society.
Outlines
📚 Introduction to Marxism and Socio-Economic Classes
This paragraph introduces the topic of Marxism, focusing on the concepts of base and superstructure, and the division of society into two main classes post-Industrial Revolution: the proletariat (working class) and the bourgeoisie (wealthy class). It explains how the bourgeoisie owns the means of production and exploits the proletariat by paying low wages, leading to a system of oppression. The paragraph sets the stage for a deeper exploration of Marxist theory by discussing the impact of industrialization on class division.
🏛️ Base and Superstructure in Marxist Theory
The second paragraph delves into the architectural metaphor of base and superstructure to explain the economic and social dynamics in Marxist theory. The base, representing the ground floor of society, includes the means of production owned by the bourgeoisie and the production relations that define the exploitative relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The superstructure, likened to the first floor of a building, encompasses social institutions such as education, family, religion, politics, and mass media, which are used by the ruling class to maintain and legitimize the existing power structure. The paragraph also contrasts capitalist and communist societies, with capitalism being criticized for its inherent class oppression and communism being praised for its classless and cooperative nature.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Marxism
💡Base and Superstructure
💡Proletariat
💡Bourgeoisie
💡Means of Production
💡Relations of Production
💡Capitalist Society
💡Communist Society
💡Class Struggle
💡The Communist Manifesto
💡Industrial Revolution
Highlights
Introduction to the topic of Marxism in the context of literature and learning.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels identified as the founding figures of Marxism.
Marxism's view that human beings are primarily divided by their socio-economic conditions.
Post-Industrial Revolution emergence of two classes: the proletariat (working class) and the bourgeoisie (wealthy class).
The bourgeoisie class owning the means of production and exploiting the working class.
Industrialization leading to the oppression of the working class and the enrichment of the bourgeoisie.
Explanation of the base and superstructure as an architectural metaphor for economic production and its dependencies.
The base includes the means of production and the relations of production, controlled by the bourgeoisie.
The superstructure encompasses social institutions used by the bourgeoisie to maintain power and legitimize the base.
The capitalist society characterized by private ownership and profit maximization, opposed by Marxism.
Communist society described as having equal wealth distribution, government ownership, and no class distinction.
Marxism's support for a communist society due to its classless nature and cooperation over competition.
Historical examples of communist society ideals in literature, such as Plato's Republic and Thomas More's Utopia.
The Communist Manifesto of 1848, co-authored by Marx and Engels, outlining their vision for a communist society.
Announcement of a new online course on literary criticism and theory, featuring 32 recorded lectures and extensive notes.
Invitation to subscribe to the channel and hit the bell icon for updates on future videos.
Closing remarks with a promise of more topics on Marxism in upcoming videos and a thank you to the viewers.
Transcripts
hello everyone welcome to learning
literature with porba in today's video
we are going to look at Marxism we are
going to talk about base and
superstructure the two types of classes
and we are going to talk about
capitalist society and communist Society
so if you haven't yet subscribed to our
channels then do subscribe to it and hit
the Bell icon so that tune level is an
update the German philosopher Karl Marx
and the German sociologist Frederick
Engels are the founding figures of
Marx's criticism so Marxism believes
that human beings are mainly divided by
their socio-economic conditions so after
the Industrial Revolution we have two
types of classes so we have the
proletariat class the Working Class
People who worked in the factories that
were owned by the second class that is a
bourgeoisi class the rich people who
owned the factories who owned the means
of production that means the raw
materials land factories machines
Etc so they were the rich people so the
bourgeoisie they owned these factories
and they hired the Working Class People
to work for them and they used to give
very low wages to this working-class
people and that is how the operation
started so the bourgeoisie class people
they kept on oppressing the proletariat
class people and this division of
classes it happened after the Industrial
Revolution so we have two classes the
proletariat class the Working Class
People who were oppressed and the
bourgeoisi class people the rich people
who oppressed the Working Class People
so as you can see industrialization
resulted in the operation of the Working
Class People the rich became richer and
the poor became poorer now we're going
to look at base and superstructure so
Karl Marx gave us a beautiful
architectural metaphor in order to
explain the means of economic production
and other elements that depended on it
so we can consider base as a ground
floor and superstructure as the first
floor of a building
so what is there in base economics is
the base
so what do we have in base we have the
means of production
so the raw materials land machines
factories these are the means of
production and these are the means of
production that are owned by the
bourgeoisie class people so the
bourgeoisi class people they own the raw
materials they own the factories they
own the machine stay on the land right
the factories are built so this is the
means of production and then we have the
relations of production that means the
relationship between the bourgeoisie
class people and the proletariat class
people so the bourgeoisi class people
they own the means of production and
because they own the means of production
now they hire the Working Class People
to work for them so the Working Class
People they need money that is why they
work for the bourgeoisie glass people
but they are given very low wages and
they are constantly oppressed by the
bourgeoisie class people so we can see
this unequal relation ship that exists
between the two classes the bourgeoisie
class people and the proletarian class
people so economics is the base and in
the base we have the means of production
as well as the relationship between the
two classes and who controls the base
the base is controlled by the rich that
is the bourgeoisie class people
no base shapes the superstructure so
what is there in the superstructure all
the social institutions such as
education family religion politics and
mass media so superstructure is used as
an instrument of Power by either rich
people that is the bourgeoisie class
people to convince the Working Class
People that this is how things should be
that this unequal relationship between
the two classes is the most normal thing
so superstructure is used as an
instrument of Power by the ruling class
people to make the Working Class People
that nothing wrong is happening at all
so superstructure maintains and
legitimizes the base it naturalizes the
unequal power relationship between the
two classes so if base is a ground floor
of a building superstructure is the
first floor of the building and both of
them are controlled by the bourgeoisie
class people
now we are going to look at the two
types of society based on the economic
system so at first we have the
capitalist Society so here the means of
production are privately owned and
operated for-profit there is no
government intervention the only role of
government is to collect taxes from the
privately owned companies
so as you can see the main goal is
profit maximization and accumulation of
wealth the customer can choose the best
company out of many companies so this is
a capitalist society and Marxism is
always against capitalist Society
because in capitalist Society the
bourgeoisie class people can hire
working-class people and they can
oppress them so in a capitalist Society
Working Class People are constantly
oppressed and that is why Marxism is
against capitalist Society
next we have communist Society the type
of society we can see in Denmark
so in a communist Society there is equal
distribution of wealth government owns
everything and distributes equally among
all the people it is a classless society
people cannot own any private property
there and government focuses on the
advancement of the entire nation rather
than advancement of an individual a
communist society believes that human
beings should cooperate with each other
not compete with each other so it
believes in cooperation not competition
so Marxism supports Community Society
because it is a classless society so
there is no bourgeoisi class and
proletariate class people here and the
Working Class People obviously cannot be
oppressed here because it is a classless
society that is why Marxism always
supports communist Society
Plato's Republic and Thomas most Utopia
are the earliest examples of communist
Society in literature
also you must remember that in 1848 Karl
Marx and Frederick Engels together wrote
The Communist Manifesto but they talked
about the Communist society and what
they believe when they talk about
communism communist society and Marxism
so that was all about today's video
where we looked at Marxism where we
looked at base and superstructure where
we looked at the differences between
capitalist society and communist Society
in the next video we will continue with
some more topics related to Marxism
if you found the video helpful then do
like it and share with your friends I'll
be back very soon with a new video
and also I want to announce that we have
launched a recorded course of literary
criticism and literary Theory so this
course comprises of 32 recorded video
lectures and PDF notes of
1414 pages also in each recorded lecture
we have discussed important mcqs so do
check out this online course of literary
criticism and literary theory on our
Online Academy
www.learning literature with porba.com
thank you so much for watching I will
see you soon
[Music]
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