SOC Notes

Alienation
-When Marx is writing- harsh conditions for working people Western society is
divided between two large social classes
-Bourgeoisie: those who own and control industrial production
-Proletariat: those who own and control labor power
-the proletariat no longer felt a connection to their work, they were alienated
from it
alienated from
-labor and its products
-fellow workers
-themselves, their species being
-self alienation means that most people are unable to develop their full
human potential and
dont realize it
-class consciousness, ideology, and false consciousness
-the Bourgeoisie and Proletariat are different classes, so according to
materialism they
should see the world differently, have different class consciousness
-Consciousness is based on the relationship to material life. The
Bourgeoisie own and
control the production of material life, therefore they should be able to
own and
control consciousness.
-all consciousness is class consciousness, but that of the proletariat is false
consciousness
-ideology: ideas that makes power and oppression seem natural, inevitable
and correct, so that
physical force is not needed. Ideas that perpetuate false consciousness
-Marx is a revolutionary. If the workers are all alienated and stuck in false
consciousness, how is
the revolution possible?
-The Bourgeois revolution and the rise of capitalism had its good points

-technology develops quickly, and at least the nobility are no longer the
ruling class
The Communist Revolution
-Marx believed that capitalism was fatally flawed and was doomed to
eventually collapse
1. the motivation of the individual capitalist (businessperson) is profit
2. profit is also the motivation of every other capitalist
3. all capitalists are in constant competition with each other
4. capitalists must complete in terms of
-increased efficiency of production
-expansion of production
5. the fatal flaw according to Marx, is the belief that these processes
can go on forever
6. increased efficiency comes in two forms
-exploitation of labor
-technological innovations
7. labor exploitation is limited y human activity
8. technological innovation are soon adopted by others
9. those who do not exploit their labor enough or adopt new
technologies quick enough
fail
10. they lose their businesses and drop down into the Proletariat class
11. their lost businesses are taken over by remaining capitalists
(Bourgeoisie) with
contributes to expansion
12. as this cycle continues, fewer capitalists own more and more
businesses
13. eventually the entire economy is controlled by a small number of
enormous
companies
14. at the same time, more people have fallen into the Proletariat class
and can no
longer afford to buy products

15. the economy is now centralized, super-efficient, and noncompetitive; it no longer

resembles capitalism
16. the great mass of people; poor, unemployed Proletariat, rise up in
revolution
17. this is the only way, according to Marx, that a true communist
revolution can
occur. This end point of capitalism must be reached.
18. the communist societies of the 20th century did not go through this
process, and so
were doomed to fail
19. the first real revolution should happen in the first country to go
through the who
process
20. why has no society reached this point?
Why has there been no true revolution?
-possible answers
-Marxs theories were wrong
-capitalism has changed so much that Marxs theories no longer apply
-imperialism (globalization)
The problem of internal over-production
-dump surplus goods into foreign markets
-develop a stable foreign market
-export production and/or capitalism itself
Rosa Luxemburg
-1871-1919
-imperialism is part of the system from the beginning
-capitalism requires a constant supply of non-capitalist areas in which to
expand
Trading with China
-European imperialism in 19th century in China
-European countries hungry for Asian goods

-Dutch conquer Indonesia, French Indochina

-China: most desirable goods, not interested in Europe trade
-first trading post conceded in Portugal
-access to Canton
-China would sell goods, but not trade
-flow cash (silver) from Europe into China drains national treasures opium
-British cultivated huge fields of opium poppies in India
-American merchants purchased opium in Turkey, then brought it to China
-British East India Company
-producing enough opium every day to keep 200,000 addicts smoking
for a month
-by 1835 over 2 million Chinese addicts
-now China trades treasures (silk) and buys opium
-trade defect reverse
-Chinese government places embargo on opium
-Britain declares war, and defeats China
-advanced military ships
-result: money and trade concessions
-5 Chinese ports opened
-Established Hong Kong