AIM: Examine the contribution of Marxism to the study and practice of international

relations.-Discuss the internationalization of Marxist ideas(philosophies) and their relevance to

the modern day study and praxis of IR

MARXIST THEORIES OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Introduction Focus: Relationship between Capital and Labour, Global Economic

Relations and Development Patterns of the World(that is economic and material aspects of world politics)

First target group for Marxist ideas were the workers of the world and later it turned out that his focus was on development and the global political economy.

Marx’s ideas were later globalised by the bulk of scholars who later became known as the Marxist school of though( Raul Prebisch, Gramsci, Lenin, Andre Gunda Frank, Walter Rodney etc.

Marx’s work was merely journalistic as he was writing in the 1864 and his ideas captured global attention as he promised to address and articulate social economic inequalities within the global communities.

The First Dictum co-authored by Marx and Frederich Angels while in Prison, The Communist Manifesto, they noted that there are social stratifications in every society and that Class plays a role.

Marx and Angels adopts a sociological approach in a bid to unpack the causes of conflicts among societies.

Acc to Marx and Angels(1967)-There is no harmony of interests between social classes and as a result, society is prone to conflict-That social stratifications are the main cause of conflict within and among societies.

For Marx and Angels, “ The history of all hitherto existing societies is a history of class struggle”-(Marikana)

Marx claimed that Capitalism is the main source of evil especially for creating social classes; between the proletariat(workers) and the Bourgeoisie (Capitalists)

According to Marx’s Dictum, the Capital(Das Capita), the Rich gets Rich while the poor gets poorer because of the unbalanced relationships between Capital and Labour

Marx challenged the realists and Liberals and other Greek Philosophers who concentrated on interpreting what the world is, Marx advances the message of changing the world and the human condition of the workers of the world.

Marx brings the Message of emancipation in order to change the existing social, political and economic inequalities in the world.

According to Marx, mankind can only liberate themselves through radical changes ie overthrowing the exploitative Bourgeoisie class.

This explains the contention that the history of mankind is a history of class struggle.

For Marx, emancipation means changing the existing social order and replace it with a communist society-a society in which wage labour and private ownership of property are abolished (Community of equals)

This is perceived to be the only way to transform social relations , hence the message of social transformation.

According to Marx, social transformation should start at the economic level and that once society is emancipated economically, change is inevitable(Unlike democratic peace theorists who think that Democracy is the answer).

Marxism on Development DisparitiesMarx looked at the role of capitalism or imperialism on

development arguing that the uneven development between the developed and the developing world is a result of capitalism, Reason why capitalism is the highest state of imperialism.

Derived lessons from the 19th century British system of capitalism especially its implications of trans-borders imperialism

That development of any state will be affected by its relations with a capitalist system of states-that development will be uneven because the rates of development will not follow uniform pattern.

The Capitalist system of states will always develop faster than the rest and this explains the centre (core) –periphery relations

That there is too much accumulation of capital by the centre and this suffocates the periphery.

Rosa Luxemburg(Marxist Scholar) In her book, The Accumulation of Capital, laments that

capitalism thrives at the cost of pre-capitalists societies (parasitic relations) and that the pre-capitalist states provide markets for goods from the advanced capitalist countries and are sources of cheap labour.

LENIN (1917), IMPERIALISM, The Highest Stage of Capitalism, Notes that there is too much monopoly of capitalism within the world economy.

Attributed this to exploitative relations between the developed and the developing world. –That capitalism has reached its final stages since the Bourgeoisie in the core countries are now using profits or proceeds derived from exploiting the periphery to improve their own ploritariate conditions

The pt is that capitalist could now pacify their won working class by further exploiting the periphery (through repatriation of proceeds in order to improve the conditions of workers in Europe).

In that case, Lenin dismiss that there is no harmony of interests among workers of the world as touted by Marx.

Lenin’s thesis was further developed by the Latin American scholarship or the Dependence School of thought(Raul Prebisch, Andre Gunda Frank and Henrique Fernando )

Raul Prebisch for example noted that unevenness in the patterns of development were being perpetuated by the declining trade terms between the countries in the periphery and the core.

That the price of manufactured goods increase rapidly than the price of raw materials

Acc to Gunda Frank, the dependency type of relationship between the centre and the periphery is such that the development of the less industrialised societies is to be dependent on the development of the industrialised societies

For 3rd world states, it is argued that despite having independence most Africa states obtained their independence and entered the world economy with impoverished status

WORLD SYSTEMS THEORY OF MARXISM BY IMMANUAEL WALLERSTEIN(1979)He gives a geographical dimension of the world economyWallerstein advances the view that the global system is

characterised by the rise and demise of several systems of the world, by a process of expansion and incorporation by capitalism

That all institutions of the social world are continually created and recreated eg from colonialism- globalisation to ne-o colonialism

That the system has a beginning, the middle and the endThat in the past-could talk about the core and the

periphery and now there is a semi-periphery resembling both features of the core and the periphery

SEE Diagram below

THE COREo

o SEMI-PERIPHERY

o THE PERIPHERY

Democratic gvts, high wages, import

raw materials , export

manufactured goods, high investment,

welfare services Autocratic governments, export: mature manufactures,

Import raw materials, low

wages, low welfare services

Non-democratic gvts, Export:

manufactures, below

subsistence wages, no

welfare services

Explaining the semi-periphery modelThat it has the hybrid nature of possessing

both core and periphery featuresPlays an intermediary role between the core

and the periphery becoz of its relatively vibrant indigenous. owned industrial base

It provides a source of labour that counteracts any upward pressure on wages in the core and is now home for those malfunctioning industries in the core(car assembly and textile industries egs)

The semi-periphery still exploitative, reason why the rich gets richer while the poor remain poorer.

Gramscianism on Marxism(1891-1937)Antonio Gramsci –renowned as the 20th Century

creative Marxist thinker.Italian by Birth, He was jailed in 1926 for political

reasons in ItalyIn his Prison Notebooks, Gramsci explained why

worker revolution as preached by Marxi failed in Wn Europe?

Previously, Marxi had predicted that socialism will take place in most advanced societies (capitalist states)

Contrary, it was only the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia that was molded around Marxist ideas

Acc to Gramsci, a revolution failed in Europe because of hegemony or the mixture of cohesion an consent

Unlike Marx who alleged that the fear of cohesion (power) kept the exploited and alienated of society from rising up in order to overthrow their oppressors, Gramsci notes that in Western Europe, the system or status quo was maintained because of consent.

That consent is created by the hegemony of the ruling class in society and that through hegemony, the moral, political and cultural values of the dominant group are widely dispersed throughout the society and these are embraced by the ordinate groups as their own.

Gramsci and other Gramscians talk about the role of civil society or networks of institutions in bringing social, economic and political change

It is posited that if the hegemony of the ruling class is key to perpetuating its dominance, then an equal power structure in the name of civil society should be created in order to challenge it.

Such institutions include, the church, workers union, media, education systems NGOs etc.

Since these institutions and practices enjoy some degree of autonomy from the state, and can organise and express themselves, then they can successfully challenge and bring a revolution as anticipated by Marx.

Acc to Gramsci, what is needed is a counter hegemonic struggle in the name of civil society with the capacity and capability of undermining the existing hegemonic structures

Reason why today COSATU, Civic soc grps etc can unseat the gvt.

RADICAL MARXIST FERMINIST SCHOLARSHIPThat Marxist in its analysis of the relationship between

capital and labour trivialized the plight of womenDrawing inspiration from Frederic Angels’ work, The

Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State(1884), ---------feminists looked at the role of women both at work and home and realised that they provide unpaid domestic labour necessary for reproduction of capitalism

Miles(1998) argues that women are essential for maintenance of capitalist relations

That in the developed world, there is sexual division of labour first as house wives whose labour is unpaid for, but vital for reproducing the labour force

That in developing world –women are a source of cheap labour and this shows that they are “the last colony” to be emancipated.