Communism and
Post-Communism
Communism
• Set of ideas that view political, social, and
economic institutions in a fundamentally
different manner that most political thought
Father of Communism:
Karl Marx
• Encourages equality
and cooperation
• Governments would
disappear
Father of Communism:
Karl Marx
• Human beings are able to create objects of
value by investing their own time and labor into
their creation
• “Surplus value of labor:”
– Value invested in man-made goods
– Create objects with their own innate value sets people
apart from animals
• Human beings develop their own knowledge and
technological skills
• Human action flowed from the relations between
the haves and have-nots
Father of Communism:
Karl Marx
• Human history and human relations are being
based on what he terms “base” and
“superstructure”
– Base: system of economic production; including
technology and the kind of class relations that exist as
a result
– Superstructure: all human institutions
• Politics and the state
• National identity and culture
• Religion and gender
• “false consciousness” people are deluded by the
superstructure imposed by capitalism
– Failure to understand the nature of one’s exploitation
Father of Communism:
Karl Marx
• Communist Manifesto in 1848
– Saw Capitalism as an economic system that
exploited workers and increased the gap
between rich and poor.
– Believed workers would join together and
revolt
– Social class would disappear
– Ownership of private property would be
banned
Revolution and the “Triumph” of
Communism
Feudalism
Rise of the property
owning class
Revolution:
Rise of the proletariat :
the working class
Revolution:
Capitalist
Democracy
Dictatorship of the proletariat
Communist utopia
Withering of
the state
Communism into Practice
• Departures from Marxism
– Lenin (Vladimir Ulyanov) (rev. 1917 Russia)
– Mao Zedong (rev. 1949 China)
– Both believed the revolution could be carried
out in less-developed countries
– Departed from Marxist theory
• Reality meant communism spread where the level
of economic development was relatively low
– Made headway in less developed versus
advanced countries
Communism into Practice
• Expanded by leaps and bounds
– 1980’s accounted for approx. 1/3 of worlds
population
– Striking fear in capitalist countries everywhere
• How did one go about building
communism?
– Need to build a new state, society, and
economy
– Pave the way for a “communist future”
Politics and State
• Entrusted to the communist elite
– Direct and staff the state
– “vanguard of the proletariat” 10% or of the
population
• Role is written into the constitution
• No constitutional way to remove party from power
– Party embodies what it sees as the “correct”
view of human history and future relations
– alternative organizations and ideologies treat
to communism
Politics and State
• System cannot survive under treat alone
• Maintain control through repression
– Allocate power throughout the country’s political,
social, and economic institutions (cooptation)
– Nomenklatura: sensitive or influential jobs in the state,
society, or the economy appointed by communist
party
• Jobs include: head of university, editor of a newspaper,
military officer, a film director
– Party approval requires party membership
• Joining the party shows one’s loyalty
• Better housing, ability to travel abroad, access to scarce
consumer goods
Politics and State
• Use nomenklatura co-opt talented or ambitious
people in society
• Party membership is driven by opportunism
– Join to pursue certain careers
– System works against Marxist quest for collective
equality
• Division of class are smaller that found in
capitalist countries
• Equality is still greater
– Everyone = poor
Politics and State
• Communist party and the nomenklatura
– Creates a powerful relationship
– Power rest in the party; not the state and
government
– i.e.: Leader of a communist country is
referring to the general secretary of the
communist party
– Top party leaders do not hold top positions in
the state
• Government positions are secondary
Politics and State
• “Party-State” replaces the term
government
– Power flows from the party directly to the state
– Bypasses the government structures
– Leadership turnover takes place through
power struggles among the elite not elections
Structures under Communism
Politburo
General Secretary
Central Committee
Regional Committees
Flow of control
Basic party
organizations (cells)
Flow of information
Politics and Structure
• Party and nomenklatura control key
organizations
– Communist ideology shapes policy and seeks
to legitimize the government
• Elimination of inequality
• Promotion of economic development
• Requires unquestioning faith in a set of beliefs and
sacrifice for a future reward
• Penetration of the state and society by the
party proved to be dangerous and lethal
Communist Political Economy
• Characterized by central planning
ownership of private property and the
market mechanism were replaced with the
allocation of resources by the state
• Two problems:
– Logistical Difficulties
– Lack of worker incentives
Gender Relations
• Traditional gender role
– Women in subservient roles to men
– Inequality
• By 20th century: women in comm.
Countries worked outside the home