A Reflection of Marxism in the Modern World

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Marxism is presented as the comprehensive worldview necessary to understand the social world. It provides the theoretical armament necessary to attack capitalist hoaxes and the scientific vision necessary to mobilize the masses for struggle. The central task for Marxist intellectuals is to expound on the basic revolutionary concepts of Marxism in such a way that its influence grows, especially among the oppressed classes (Ulam, 2019). This is often done in the form of a dogmatic proclamation of Marxism as an all-powerful doctrine: “Marxism is one of the most influential intellectual movements in the history of ideas”(Kumar & Kumar, 2020, p. 15). The central issue is that Marxism should be made universally accessible so it is internalized as a subjectively vivid belief system.

Marxism is a major manifestation of the dialectic of modernity, both sociologically and theoretically. As a social force, Marxism was the full-fledged offspring of modern capitalism and Enlightenment culture. Karl Marx was a proponent of emancipatory reason; he respected the individual’s freedom from exploitation and oppression (Therborn, 2018). Marxist parties, movements, and intellectual currents became the most important ways of embracing the contradictory nature of modernity for at least a hundred years, from the nineteenth to the late twentieth century.

Marxism is an analytically strong tradition of social theory that is vital to the scientific understanding of the dilemmas and possibilities of social change and reproduction in contemporary society. Marxism is needed, especially for those who want to change the world in the spirit of egalitarian and emancipatory projects, and politics is a direct legacy of Marxism (Therborn, 2018). This does not mean, however, that every element in Marxism, as it now exists, is sustainable. If Marxism aspires to be a scientific social development theory, it must be constantly challenged and transformed. The construction of Marxism thus also means its restructuring. Marxism is not a dogma that definitively establishes the ultimate truth. At the same time, Marxism is also not simply a disparate collection of interesting ideas. Moreover, if our goal is to develop our understanding to change the world, then Marxism’s construction (development) should be a key task for us.

Liberalism and enlightened rationalism, more recently including post-Marxist social democracy and post-traditionalist conservatism, embodied the affirmation of modernity and did not raise questions about science, accumulation, growth, or development. Traditional religious and secular conservatism countered the negativity of modernity. Marxism defended modernity to create another, more advanced version of it: “Marxism was the theory of this dialectic of modernity as well as its practice” (Therborn, 2018, p. 67). Its theory focused on the rise of capitalism as a progressive stage of historical development and its “contradictions”: class exploitation, the movement toward crises, and the creation of class conflict.

Marxism and its ideas are particularly in demand in the 21st century. The global financial and economic crisis that shook the world in 2007-2010, as well as the end of capitalism and the triumph of socialism, were predicted by Marxists (Delanty, 2022). This crisis reminded us that we do not live simply in a market economy. The modern world is where economic and political power belongs not to the people but to capital. Capitalism, however, is a social system characterized by profound contradictions. Without studying them, it is impossible not only to conduct entrepreneurial activity successfully but also to live normally and stably; it is impossible to maintain the normal course of national and world economies.

Modern science goes far beyond what Karl Marx wrote a century ago. Moreover, Marxism helps to understand the underlying contradictions of capitalism and the forms of their resolution: “The deepening and expansion of capitalism seem to increase the predominance of unfree labor” (Rioux, LeBaron, & Verovšek, 2020, para 1). Marxism develops and answers the most urgent questions of our time: from the causes and alternatives of globalization to understanding the nature of the contemporary cultural and ecological crisis.

Marxism is a source of interesting and thought-provoking ideas, many of which remain useful for the scientific analysis of contemporary social relations. Marxism is the distinctive cognitive perspective of the modern world and society (Therborn, 2018). Some Marxist ideas may have been deeply flawed from the beginning, and others may have lost their significance for understanding contemporary society. However, the Marxist tradition still contains many useful ideas and arguments and should be preserved as an enduring legacy. Much of what is presented today under the rubric “Marxist sociology” is of the kind that allows selective use of particular concepts and themes from the Marxist tradition to understand particular empirical problems. However, one does not need to be a “Marxist” to use Marxism this way.

The construction of Marxism is a most ambitious view of the Marxist tradition, going beyond the mere use of explicitly or implicitly Marxist categories to address a range of sociological problems. The goal here is to promote Marxism as a unified theoretical structure by understanding its shortcomings and restoring the strength of its arguments. In practice, this engagement with Marxism involves making a serious normative commitment, not simply believing in the scientific merits of Marxist ideas: “Marxism has been part of an intellectual and sociopolitical history, with alternatives, rivals and opponents” (Therborn, 2018, p. 94). Marxism’s construction (development) as an intellectual project is closely linked to the political project of the struggle against capitalism as a social order.

Sociological Marxism without liberation Marxism degenerates into a cynical, pessimistic critique of capitalism that ultimately encourages passivity in the face of capitalism’s enormous potential for reproduction. Marxism, together with sociological Marxism, tends to reach a deep base in the real contradictions of capitalism, capture people’s minds and reach authentic humanity (Gili & Mangone, 2022). Only by building Marxism in a combination of these two components can we neutralize the influence of the present image of capitalism’s apparent naturalness and inevitability, which can turn all alternatives to capitalist relations into far-fetched projects that cannot be realized. Marxism is a powerful tool for developing theoretically sound, well-thought-out economic, social and cultural policies, making historically grounded and future-oriented practical decisions of vital importance for social structures and individuals.

Marx’s conclusions on the problem of transforming society were ambiguous, leaving much room for choosing forms of social transformation and a significant opportunity for their diverse interpretation. Only the conclusion about the objective necessity of these transformations was unambiguous and categorical. The orthodox followers of Marxism adopted only this and did everything to implement it. However, the ideas of Marx, the politician, turned out to be much less viable than the ideas of Marx, the economist. The contribution of Marxist economic theory to science is recognized by economists of all generations and in all scientific fields. Scientists still use many aspects of the theoretical-economic concept proposed by Marx because this concept is logical, built using a method based on the principles of dialectic and historicity, the combination of theory and practice, comparison and comparison, and the use of statistics and modeling. In many cases, Marx was a harbinger of modern economic theories. Therefore, Marxist economic theory can be considered a fruitful development of economic thought.

References

Delanty, G. (2022). Capitalism and crisis: Thinking through capitalist Crisis with Schumpeter and Polanyi. In Capitalism, Democracy, Socialism: Critical Debates (pp. 241-258). Springer, Cham.

Gili, G., & Mangone, E. (2022). Is sociology of hope possible? An attempt to recompose a theoretical framework and a research program. The American Sociologist, 1-29.

Kumar, R. & Kumar, P. (2020). Marxism in the 21^st century. Journal of English Language and Literature, 7, 14-17.

Rioux, S., LeBaron, G., & Verovšek, P. J. (2020). Capitalism and unfree labor: A review of Marxist perspectives on modern slavery.Review of International Political Economy, 27, 709-731.

Therborn, G. (2018). From Marxism to Post-Marxism? New York, NY, United States. Verso Books.

Ulam, A. B. (2019). The unfinished revolution: Marxism and Communism in the modern world. New York, NY, United States. Routledge.

Click Here To Order Now!

A Reflection of Marxism in the Modern World

Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?

We have qualified writers to help you.

We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.

You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)