Marxist sociology
Encyclopedia
Marxist sociology refers to the conduct of sociology
from a Marxist perspective. Marxism itself can be recognized as both a political philosophy
and a sociology
, particularly to the extent it attempts to remain scientific, systematic and objective rather than purely normative
and prescriptive. Marxist sociology may be defined as "a form of conflict theory
associated with ... Marxism's objective of developing a positive (empirical
) science of capitalist
society
as part of the mobilization of a revolutionary working class
." The American Sociological Association
has a section dedicated to the issues of Marxist sociology; the section is "interested in examining how insights from Marxist methodology
and Marxist analysis can help explain the complex dynamics of modern society". Marxist sociology would come to facilitate the developments of critical theory
and cultural studies
as loosely-distinct disciplines.
, mode of production
, the relation between capital
and labour. Marxist sociology is significantly concerned, but not limited to, the relations between society and economics. Key questions asked by Marxist sociology include:
Within the field of sociological theory
, Marxist sociology, recognized as one of the major sociological paradigms, is associated with conflict
and critical theories
.
Compared to Marxism
, Marxist sociology has proven to put relatively little weight on making class revolution.
Compared with Marxist philosophy
, Marxist sociology aims to develop an objective, political economic science
of society instead of a critical philosophy of praxis
.
Compared with economic sociology
, Marxist sociology can be seen as a subset of that field, influenced by Marxism
.
. Marx is seen as one of the most influential thinkers in early sociology
, alongside thinkers such as Max Weber
and Émile Durkheim
. The first Marxist school of sociology was known as the Austro-Marxism and notable Marxist thinkers of that period included Carl Grünberg
and Antonio Labriola
. Much of the development in the field of Marxist sociology occurred on the outskirts of academia, and some pitted Marxist sociology against the "bourgeois sociology".
For a while, this division was reinforced by the Marxism-inspired Russian Revolution
, which led to the creation of the Soviet Union
; soon, however, sociology found itself a victim of the suppression of "bourgeois" science in the communist states. While after several decades sociology was reestablished under communist states, two separate currents of thought evolved within Marxist sociology: the Soviet Marxism, developed in the 20th century communist states (primarily in the Soviet Union
), serving the state's interests, and significantly crippled by forced adherence to the dogma
of historical materialism
, and the more independent school centered around the studies of Marxism in the West
. The Western Marxist
school (around 1940s) became accepted within Western academia, and over time fractured into several different perspectives, such as the Frankfurt School
or the school of critical theory
.
In post-communist states there has been a backlash against the Marxist thought due to its former state-supported favored position (see for example sociology in Poland
), but the Marxist thought is still dominant in the sociological research in the remaining communist countries (see for example sociology in China
).
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
from a Marxist perspective. Marxism itself can be recognized as both a political philosophy
Political philosophy
Political philosophy is the study of such topics as liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what, if anything, makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it...
and a sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, particularly to the extent it attempts to remain scientific, systematic and objective rather than purely normative
Normative
Normative has specialized contextual meanings in several academic disciplines. Generically, it means relating to an ideal standard or model. In practice, it has strong connotations of relating to a typical standard or model ....
and prescriptive. Marxist sociology may be defined as "a form of conflict theory
Conflict theory
Conflict theories are perspectives in social science that emphasize the social, political or material inequality of a social group, that critique the broad socio-political system, or that otherwise detract from structural functionalism and ideological conservativism...
associated with ... Marxism's objective of developing a positive (empirical
Empirical
The word empirical denotes information gained by means of observation or experimentation. Empirical data are data produced by an experiment or observation....
) science of capitalist
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
as part of the mobilization of a revolutionary working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
." The American Sociological Association
American Sociological Association
The American Sociological Association , founded in 1905 as the American Sociological Society , is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology by serving sociologists in their work and promoting their contributions to serve society.The ASA holds its...
has a section dedicated to the issues of Marxist sociology; the section is "interested in examining how insights from Marxist methodology
Methodology
Methodology is generally a guideline for solving a problem, with specificcomponents such as phases, tasks, methods, techniques and tools . It can be defined also as follows:...
and Marxist analysis can help explain the complex dynamics of modern society". Marxist sociology would come to facilitate the developments of critical theory
Critical theory
Critical theory is an examination and critique of society and culture, drawing from knowledge across the social sciences and humanities. The term has two different meanings with different origins and histories: one originating in sociology and the other in literary criticism...
and cultural studies
Cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
as loosely-distinct disciplines.
Concepts and issues
Key concepts of Marxist sociology include: historical materialismHistorical materialism
Historical materialism is a methodological approach to the study of society, economics, and history, first articulated by Karl Marx as "the materialist conception of history". Historical materialism looks for the causes of developments and changes in human society in the means by which humans...
, mode of production
Mode of production
In the writings of Karl Marx and the Marxist theory of historical materialism, a mode of production is a specific combination of:...
, the relation between capital
Capital (economics)
In economics, capital, capital goods, or real capital refers to already-produced durable goods used in production of goods or services. The capital goods are not significantly consumed, though they may depreciate in the production process...
and labour. Marxist sociology is significantly concerned, but not limited to, the relations between society and economics. Key questions asked by Marxist sociology include:
- how does the capital control the workers?
- how does the mode of production influence the social classSocial classSocial classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
? - what is the relation between workers, capital, the stateState (polity)A state is an organized political community, living under a government. States may be sovereign and may enjoy a monopoly on the legal initiation of force and are not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. Many states are federated states which participate in a federal union...
and our cultureCultureCulture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
? - how do economic factors influence inequalities, including those related to genderGenderGender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
and race?
Within the field of sociological theory
Sociological theory
In sociology, sociological perspectives, theories, or paradigms are complex theoretical and methodological frameworks used to analyze and explain objects of social study. They facilitate organizing sociological knowledge...
, Marxist sociology, recognized as one of the major sociological paradigms, is associated with conflict
Conflict theory
Conflict theories are perspectives in social science that emphasize the social, political or material inequality of a social group, that critique the broad socio-political system, or that otherwise detract from structural functionalism and ideological conservativism...
and critical theories
Critical theory
Critical theory is an examination and critique of society and culture, drawing from knowledge across the social sciences and humanities. The term has two different meanings with different origins and histories: one originating in sociology and the other in literary criticism...
.
Compared to Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
, Marxist sociology has proven to put relatively little weight on making class revolution.
Compared with Marxist philosophy
Marxist philosophy
Marxist philosophy or Marxist theory are terms that cover work in philosophy that is strongly influenced by Karl Marx's materialist approach to theory or that is written by Marxists...
, Marxist sociology aims to develop an objective, political economic science
Political economy
Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
of society instead of a critical philosophy of praxis
Praxis
Praxis is the putting of theory into practice. The term may refer to:* Christian theological praxis* Praxis , the practice of faith, especially worship* The Praxis School, a school of Marxist philosophy...
.
Compared with economic sociology
Economic sociology
Economic sociology studies both the social effects and the social causes of various economic phenomena. The field can be broadly divided into a classical period and a contemporary one. The classical period was concerned particularly with modernity and its constituent aspects...
, Marxist sociology can be seen as a subset of that field, influenced by Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
.
Historical development
Marxist sociology emerged around late 19th/early 20th century, influenced by the thought of Karl MarxKarl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
. Marx is seen as one of the most influential thinkers in early sociology
History of sociology
Sociology emerged from enlightenment thought, shortly after the French Revolution, as a positivist science of society. Its genesis owed to various key movements in the philosophy of science and the philosophy of knowledge. Social analysis in a broader sense, however, has origins in the common stock...
, alongside thinkers such as Max Weber
Max Weber
Karl Emil Maximilian "Max" Weber was a German sociologist and political economist who profoundly influenced social theory, social research, and the discipline of sociology itself...
and Émile Durkheim
Émile Durkheim
David Émile Durkheim was a French sociologist. He formally established the academic discipline and, with Karl Marx and Max Weber, is commonly cited as the principal architect of modern social science and father of sociology.Much of Durkheim's work was concerned with how societies could maintain...
. The first Marxist school of sociology was known as the Austro-Marxism and notable Marxist thinkers of that period included Carl Grünberg
Carl Grünberg
Carl Grünberg was the first director of the Institute for Social Research. He established and edited a journal of labour and socialist history today known as Grünbergs Archiv . He retired in 1929 and left the Institute to Max Horkheimer....
and Antonio Labriola
Antonio Labriola
Antonio Labriola was an Italian Marxist theoretician. Although an academic philosopher and never an active member of any Marxist political party, his thought exerted influence on many political theorists in Italy during the early 20th century, including the founder of the Italian Liberal Party,...
. Much of the development in the field of Marxist sociology occurred on the outskirts of academia, and some pitted Marxist sociology against the "bourgeois sociology".
For a while, this division was reinforced by the Marxism-inspired Russian Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
, which led to the creation of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
; soon, however, sociology found itself a victim of the suppression of "bourgeois" science in the communist states. While after several decades sociology was reestablished under communist states, two separate currents of thought evolved within Marxist sociology: the Soviet Marxism, developed in the 20th century communist states (primarily in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
), serving the state's interests, and significantly crippled by forced adherence to the dogma
Dogma
Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...
of historical materialism
Historical materialism
Historical materialism is a methodological approach to the study of society, economics, and history, first articulated by Karl Marx as "the materialist conception of history". Historical materialism looks for the causes of developments and changes in human society in the means by which humans...
, and the more independent school centered around the studies of Marxism in the West
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
. The Western Marxist
Western Marxism
Western Marxism is a term used to describe a wide variety of Marxist theoreticians based in Western and Central Europe, in contrast with philosophy in the Soviet Union...
school (around 1940s) became accepted within Western academia, and over time fractured into several different perspectives, such as the Frankfurt School
Frankfurt School
The Frankfurt School refers to a school of neo-Marxist interdisciplinary social theory, particularly associated with the Institute for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt am Main...
or the school of critical theory
Critical theory
Critical theory is an examination and critique of society and culture, drawing from knowledge across the social sciences and humanities. The term has two different meanings with different origins and histories: one originating in sociology and the other in literary criticism...
.
In post-communist states there has been a backlash against the Marxist thought due to its former state-supported favored position (see for example sociology in Poland
Sociology in Poland
Sociology in Poland has been developing, as has sociology throughout Europe, since the mid-19th century. Polish sociology is today a vibrant science, with its own experts and currents of thought...
), but the Marxist thought is still dominant in the sociological research in the remaining communist countries (see for example sociology in China
Sociology in China
In the People's Republic of China, the study of sociology has been developing steadily since its reestablishment in 1979...
).
Further reading
- Tom B. Bottomore, Marxist sociology, Macmillian, 1975
- Martin Shaw, Marxist sociology revisited: critical assessments, Macmillian, 1985
External links
- ASA section on Marxist sociology
- About the Section on Marxist Sociology
- Lucien Goldmann, Is There a Marxist Sociology?, International Socialism, Autumn 1968