by Gill Hands
In an ideal communist society, Marx believed there would be equal access for all to work and education. Adequate childcare facilities would mean that women would no longer have to be financially dependent on their husbands. Women would not be financially disadvantaged by bearing children and caring for them. Marx believed that bringing all women into the workplace was the first step in giving them equality. It would be the first step in getting them involved in planning the economy, and so changing society. It would also be the first step in abolishing prostitution, which he saw as a by-product of the capitalist system that viewed everything in financial terms.
Marx always thought that it was not enough just to pass liberal laws giving rights to minorities if the whole structure of society and the economy remains the same. Laws can be passed to give rights to women, but it is only when the ideology of the society changes, so that women do not bear the entire burden of care of the young and elderly, that women will be emancipated. This proved to be correct in many so-called communist societies where women did a day’s work, often in physically demanding jobs, but found that it was still their job to do the housework and the shopping. Modern capitalist society is quite often the same.
Feminism grew rapidly in the twentieth century from small beginnings in the nineteenth century, and although many modern-day feminists would disagree with the views of Marx and Engels and their analysis of the place of women, it cannot be denied that they were some of the earliest social reformers to look at the position of women in society in a systematic way. Marxist feminism is still an important part of the whole feminist movement and the emphasis of Marxist feminists is mainly on the belief that capitalism is the root of women’s oppression and that women’s subordination is really a form of class oppression. A lot of their work is centred around the workplace; examining why women still have low wages and the ways in which women’s domestic work is trivialized by capitalism. Many of them admire the way Marx exposed how social, economic and political structures can cause alienation.
* * *
Insight
Marxist and socialist feminism were important factors in the early years of the modern women’s movement that began in the 1960s. Groups such as Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party in the USA gave women a voice and organized grassroots activism.
* * *
Art and culture
Marx believed art and culture were important parts of any society. He believed an appreciation of these is vital for everybody in a society, for they help us to understand our society as well as ourselves. He was very fond of using quotations from Greek literature and Shakespeare in his work; Das Kapital is full of such references. This made it difficult for ordinary working people to understand; most preferred to read Engels, who wrote in a more straightforward manner. Of course many workers at that time could not read at all because they were not educated. This illustrates Marx’s first point:
Art is mainly for the minority. In a capitalist system, it is selected by a minority. Their freedom to enjoy art is at the expense of those who work to produce the wealth that gives them the money and leisure time to enjoy art. Artists have to supply art that will satisfy the requirements and taste of this minority. This leads to his second point.
Capitalist society tends to see everything in financial terms. Everything is given a financial ‘value’. Freedom of expression, craftsmanship and making things for their own sake become subordinated by time and money.
Marx believed that art, like society, developed as a series of dialectical contradictions.
As members of a society, artists, writers and musicians must also be influenced by the prevailing ideology. There will always be a few who struggle to express themselves in new ways, contradicting the old forms of artistic expression. In this way, art can subvert the bourgeois prejudices that prevail in a capitalist society.
Marx’s view was that, in the ideal communist society, everyone will have access to the cultural heritage of society and artistic activities will stop being the preserve of a privileged minority.
Freedom and the individual
Marx saw individuals as products of the society to which they belong. Each society has its own view on individuality because each society has its own ideology. Every different social system will place a different emphasis on the relationship between the individual and the society. In certain societies, for example capitalism, the rights of the individual are highly prized. In other societies the rights of the group are seen as more important than the rights of the individual.
Marx wrote of the alienation in the capitalist system, which led to competitive struggle between individuals. He felt this was a necessary stage on the way to communism, where people would find their true individuality without the need for destructive competitiveness. Because Marx believed it was the capitalist work system that stopped the individual reaching his true potential, he felt only the rise of the proletariat and the change to a communist society would allow the individual his full rights. In the proposed communist society:
Labour would be planned for producing the means of life, according to agreed needs.
Labour time would be reduced to increase free time for everyone. This would lead to artistic and scientific development for all and would lead to greater self-knowledge.
Marx did not think that greed and envy were intrinsic to human nature, and stated that if private property and capitalist ways of working were changed to a system of communal property and a communal means of production, then people would no longer be in competition with each other. There would be no false consciousness and no exploitation. He wrote in the Gotha Programme that communism would mean an end to the ‘enslaving subordination of the individual to the division of labour’. He believed that capitalism forced people into demeaning work and kept them from improving their status. He hoped that:
In a communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, shepherd or critic.
At the time Marx was writing, workers’ groups were fighting for the essential rights of freedom:
freedom of speech
freedom of assembly
freedom of the press
equality under the law
equal rights to vote.
Marx did not disagree with any of these rights, but he believed that as long as the economic base of society was still capitalist then people were not free, even if they had the rights by law. For example, although in the eyes of the law everybody is equal, those who are better off can afford better representation in court; there may be freedom of the press but only the very rich can afford to own a major newspaper. It is only when capitalism is overthrown by revolution that true freedom will occur.
* * *
THINGS TO REMEMBER
Society after the revolution would eventually be communist, after the initial stage of socialism. The means of production would be centralized, private property would be abolished and money would cease to exist.
Before a communist state existed, an intermediate socialist state would exist under the dictatorship of the proletariat.
Religion is the opium of the people. It helps people to overcome their feelings of alienation and to express their frustrations, but the support it gives is illusory.
Everyone in society should have equal rights. Women should not be excluded from the workplace because they care for children and the elderly.
Art and culture are important because they allow people to understand the society they live in but under capitalism they are a minority interest for the elite.
Art can be used to subvert the ideology of a society.
Individuality is a concept that changes with the ideology of a society.
In a capitalist system, individuality is important but alienation means that people are not free.
All the above injustices could only be remedied in a communist system.
People may be given rights under a capitalist system but, until the structure of society is changed, the advantages they gain are not true rights.
* * *
8
Marxism after Marx – ideas that changed the world
In this chapter you will learn:
about the spread of Marxist thought
how socialism developed away from communism
what led to revolution in Russia and China
about the Cold War
about the decline of communism
Marxism is a term that can be used in a number of different ways. It is used to describe political systems where the ideas of Marx are allegedly put into practice. It is also used to describe social, philosophical and political theories based on the ideas of Marx. Marx died over a century ago and his ideas have been discussed and have evolved in many different forms since then. Many branches of Marxist thought have developed throughout the world and schools of Marxism have flourished in academic circles. In this chapter, I will be looking at the way that Marx’s ideas spread around the world and influenced political systems. The development of communism as a political system, beginning with the Russian Revolution of 1918, led to Marx’s ideas becoming a major driving force in the history of the twentieth century. They were also a major part of the early socialist movement, which developed out of the labour movement.
In addition to his few books, Marx wrote numerous articles, pamphlets and speeches, many of which were not published until after his death. Because of the vast body of his work and its complexity, it is easy for people to interpret his ideas in their own way and claim that their interpretation is the ‘true’ meaning of Marxism. In some ways it is similar to interpretation of the Bible; there are many kinds of churches that call themselves Christian but they all have their own ways of worshipping God and many believe that their way is the ‘right’ way. Many different regimes call themselves Marxist or communist, but they do not necessarily have similar ideologies or political systems.
In fact, they may well have very little in common with the original ideas of Marx, except for the use of his name. Marx became so upset by the many misinterpretations of his ideas that it is reported that he said, ‘All I know is that I am not a Marxist’. Many countries declared themselves as communist, Marxist or socialist during the twentieth century: some after one revolution, some after successive coups and revolutions and some after no revolution at all. Each one of these countries could have several books written about them. It is not possible in a short chapter to go into detail about every communist state in the world and its relationship to the works of Marx. The intention is to look at some of the ways that his ideas were interpreted and disseminated after his death and how they led to a change in the political structure of the world.
The spread of Marxist thought
Karl Marx died in 1883 but his work carried on. Shortly before his death, Marx had been worried about what would happen to the volumes of Das Kapital he had started writing and had remarked that perhaps Engels would be able to ‘do something’ with his papers. Engels considered himself to be a ‘mere talent’ compared to the genius of Marx; he wrote to an old friend, F. A. Sorge, after Marx’s death, ‘the proletarian movement will go on, but the centre is gone’. Engels then had to become that centre. Marx had died without making a will, but the bulk of his correspondence and notes were passed on to Engels and he decided to devote most of the rest of his life into sorting them out and making them fit for publication. He shared some of the work with Marx’s youngest daughter Eleanor (Tussy). They were among the few people who could read Marx’s terrible handwriting and understand the symbols he invented in his notes. Although Engels edited and published the later volumes of Das Kapital, it was Eleanor who did a lot of the background work: researching, checking and annotating references. She also did a lot of translation work. Volume 2 of Das Kapital was first published in Germany in 1885 and Volume 3 was published in 1894. Although the first English translation sold badly, the second edition, brought out in 1895, sold out in a few months; the philosophy of communism that Marx and Engels had developed together began to spread around the world, mainly through the labour movement and working men’s groups.
Engels became a popular figure among the new Marxist groups that began springing up as a result of the translations of Marx’s works; he gave advice to labour movements and to those who were beginning to organize the new International Working Man’s Association. He wrote articles in German, Austrian and French publications and became involved with working men’s associations throughout Europe, including Spain, Denmark, Bulgaria and Serbia. As he knew Russian, he became a link between German and Russian Marxists. In 1889 he met Plekhanov, a Russian communist leader, who travelled to London especially to see him, and he began to write for the first Russian Marxist periodical.
When the Second International was formed, Engels didn’t take part in it directly but he was influential behind the scenes as an advisor and translator. The international labour movement was growing rapidly, and it was through this that the ideas of Marx began to take hold on the minds of workers throughout the world. Marx’s ideas became the basis of many socialist parties throughout Europe, although many of them did not advocate revolution, preferring to change society by means of reform. Marx’s analysis of the capitalist system and the way in which it exploited workers gave them a base on which to structure their justification for reform. From the widely differing versions of communism that developed after Marx’s death there emerged two main strands:
Evolutionary communism – Evolutionary communists believe in the power of the evolution of society. Communism will come about through the natural progress of society and the disintegration of the capitalist system, due to its internal flaws. Evolutionary communists resemble Social Utopians to some extent in their belief that society can be changed for the better without revolution. These ‘reformists’ want to work within existing political systems.
Revolutionary communism – Revolutionary communists believe the power of revolution is the only way to change society. Communism will come about only through the overthrow of the bourgeoisie by violent means, including terrorism. Terrorists do not necessarily believe the state can be defeated by their actions but hope to destroy the morale of the people and their support for the government.
As Engels travelled though Europe speaking to workers’ groups, the crowds coming to listen became larger and larger and he began to get standing ovations. In the fourth German edition of The Communist Manifesto, he expressed a deep regret that Marx could not see how much the international labour movement was growing. At the age of 75, Engels began writing the history of the First International when he became ill. He died in August 1895 of cancer of the oesophagus; he was cremated and his ashes were scattered off Beachy Head on the south coast of England.
It was then that Eleanor Marx and her partner Edward Aveling took possession of all Marx’s papers and sorted and stored them. They were well-known figures in socialist circles in London and had both been members of the Democratic Federation, led by Henry Hyndman, in the 1880s. They then became part of the Socialist League, led by William Morris.
* * *
Insight
William Morris tends to be remembered as an artist and designer today but he and his daughter May were some of the earliest socialists in Britain. He founded the Socialist League along with Eleanor Marx in 1884 and was approved of by Engels.
* * *
Eleanor Marx was a popular speaker on socialist topics and on women’s rights. She led mass rallies on the shorter working day in Hyde Park and played an active part in organizing strikes among women who worked in match factories. She wrote about her father and his work, fundraised in the USA for the German Social Democratic Party and in 18
89 she was a delegate for the Second International in Paris. Sadly, her work in disseminating her father’s ideas was cut short as she committed suicide in 1898; it was thought this was due to problems in her relationship with Edward Aveling.
The development of socialism
The socialist and communist movements in Europe at the end of the nineteenth century were closely intertwined. At first, they both mainly concentrated on workers’ rights and on universal suffrage. Both movements were based on the theories of Marx, but it became apparent as time went on that some people were more moderate than others and a split began between the followers of evolutionary and revolutionary strands of thought. This eventually led to the break up of the Second International. Those with a more revolutionary and communist interpretation of Marx broke away to form the Third International during the First World War, while the reformists developed social democracy or socialism. Socialism is a word that can be confusing in Marxist literature because the term in general use differs from the Marxist term. Generally it is taken to indicate belief in a socio-economic system with some kind of state or collective ownership of the means of production, but it is a very vague term that covers many diverse types of government. In the main, it differs from communism because this is usually identified with a one-party totalitarian state. In classical Marxism, Marx is often described as a ‘scientific socialist’ and socialism refers to the period occurring just after the revolution before true communism is reached. This is how confusion often occurs.