Starting with the conjectural premise that social change occurs as result of the struggle between different classes within society who contradict one another, a Marxist would conclude that capitalism exploits and oppresses the proletariat, therefore capitalism will inevitably lead to a proletarian revolution.
What is the Marxist theory of revolution?
The Leninist branch of Marxism argues that a proletarian revolution must be led by a vanguard of "professional revolutionaries", men and women who are fully dedicated to the communist cause and who form the nucleus of the communist revolutionary movement.
What is the main idea of Marxism?
Marxism posits that the struggle between social classes—specifically between the bourgeoisie, or capitalists, and the proletariat, or workers—defines economic relations in a capitalist economy and will inevitably lead to revolutionary communism.
What did Marx think about the French Revolution?
In this relatively early work from 1852, Marx compares the French Revolution of 1789 with that of 1848. Marx considered the French Revolution the classic example of the "bourgeois revolution," in which capitalism overthrew feudalism, creating the legal conditions under which capitalism could flourish.
What did Karl Marx think about the industrial revolution?
Marx argued that the Industrial Revolution had polarised the gap between the owners of the means of production and the workers even more. This would change, when the proletariat, developing a class consciousness would rise up and overthrow capitalism.
What do revolutions do?
Typically, revolutions take the form of organized movements aimed at effecting change—economic change, technological change, political change, or social change. The people who start revolutions have determined the institutions currently in place in society have failed or no longer serve their intended purpose.
What does Marxism mean in simple terms?
The definition of Marxism is the theory of Karl Marx which says that society's classes are the cause of struggle and that society should have no classes. An example of Marxism is replacing private ownership with co-operative ownership.
What are the two key concepts of Marxism?
According to Marxism, there are two main classes of people: The bourgeoisie controls the capital and means of production, and the proletariat provide the labour.
What were the main ideas of Karl Marx quizlet?
Marx believed that history moved in stages: from feudalism to capitalism, socialism, and ultimately communism. "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles." Each system, up to and including capitalism, was characterized by the exploitation of one class by another.
Did Karl Marx study the French revolution?
Like so many German intellectuals of his generation, Marx was literally fascinated by the French Revolution: in his eyes it was quite simply the Revolution par excellence or, more precisely, 'the most colossal revolution that history has ever known'.