Karl Marx’ Communist Theory
Marxist Ideology &
Disenfranchised Groups
Karl Marx (1818 – 1883)
Marx & The Good Society
• Marx believed that progress could be achieved
and society transformed through the
application of human knowledge.
• Central to his concepts was the idea that
humans could never be free if society was not
built in a way that allowed for this.
• To this end, Marx had issues with class-based
Capitalistic methods of wealth production.
Production of Wealth
• For Marx, wealth is defined as the total of
material goods that a society generates.
• In Capitalism, the production of wealth always
takes place by means of the exploitation of the
majority, non-property owning class by the
minority, who own the means of production and
do not work.
• In America, we can loosely consider these two
classes to be workers and corporations,
respectively.
The Proletariat & The Bourgeoisie
• Marx called the lower, laboring classes “the
Proletariat.” Property owning employers were
called “the Bourgeoisie.”
• The Proletariat generates wealth for the
Bourgeoisie by selling the only thing they have
to sell: their labor. In order for their labor to
be worth anything, it must always be cheaper
than the value of what they produce.
• This is how wealth is generated in Capitalism.
Infrastructure & Superstucture
• Marx believed that the primary basis of reality
– the story we tell that defines how we think
about ourselves and the world – stems from
all economic activity, all generation of wealth.
He called this the Infrastructure.
• All other structures in society: education, the
family, even art, are based upon this primary
narrative. He called these the superstructure.
Superstructures
• Marx felt that superstructures didn’t only rest upon the
economic system, they supported them as well.
• Family supports labor power by providing safety for the
rearing of children and a relaxing environment to rest in
order to return to work the next day.
• Education creates adherence to following orders, being
given small bits of information, not an understanding of
the whole picture, and learning to get good grades rather
than learning for the sake of it. This easily translates to
the idea of working on only a portion of production, and
working for money rather than for your Self.
Superstructural Ideologies
• Most importantly, though, Marx was
concerned with how ideas coerce workers into
acquiescence with the dominant order.
• By creating a system of law that supports the
empowered and negates the disenfranchised,
and by blinding the population to the
externalities inherent in any capitalistic
system, the proletariat take part in their own
exploitation willingly.
Consumerism As Dominant
Superstructural Ideology
• In today’s Western society, Marxism would
point to consumerism as the most important
dominating ideology.
• By convincing workers that happiness is a
result of buying products, the dominant class
creates participation in the idea of work for
money. Marxism includes a critique of the
Entertainment and News industries also, as
they divert attention from true meaning.
False Consciousness vs. Class
Consciousness
• Marx described this confused interpretation of
meaning as a “false consciousness.”
• He suggested that, when a class-based mode
of production falters – when poverty and
disenfranchisement become noticeable – will
workers adopt the true understanding of
themselves as exploited, and develop “class
consciousness.”
Class Consciousness & Social Change
• Marx was convinced that once “class
consciousness” was developed, the proletariat
would rise up to eliminate their state of
subservience to the dominant class and
embrace Communism as a political system.
• This would include no ruling class, selfgovernment by workers who work for
themselves, and the freedom to make one’s
own destiny within a liberating group context.