ECONOMICS OF KARL MARX
Karl Marx – A Brief Life History
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, critic of political economy, economist, historian,
sociologist, political theorist, journalist and socialist revolutionary. Karl Marx was born on 5 May 1818 in
Trier in western German, the son of a successful Jewish lawyer. Marx studied law in Bonn and Berlin, but
was also introduced to the ideas of Hegel and Feuerbach. In 1841, he received a doctorate in philosophy
from the University of Jena. In 1843, after a short spell as editor of a liberal newspaper in Cologne, Marx
and his wife Jenny moved to Paris, a hotbed of radical thought. There he became a revolutionary
communist and befriended his lifelong collaborator, Friedrich Engels. Expelled from France, Marx spent
two years in Brussels, where his partnership with Engels intensified. They co-authored the pamphlet
'The Communist Manifesto' which was published in 1848 and asserted that all human history had been
based on class struggles, but that these would ultimately disappear with the victory of the proletariat.
In 1849, Marx moved to London, where he was to spend the remainder of his life. For a number of
years, his family lived in poverty but the wealthier Engels was able to support them to an increasing
extent. Gradually, Marx emerged from his political and spiritual isolation and produced his most
important body of work, 'Das Kapital'. The first volume of this 'bible of the working class' was published
in his lifetime, while the remaining volumes were edited by Engels after his friend's death.
In his final years, Karl Marx was in creative and physical decline. He spent time at health spas and was
deeply distressed by the death of his wife, in 1881, and one of his daughters. He died on 14 March 1883
and was buried at Highgate Cemetery in London.
His major works include The German Ideology (written in 1845 with Engels and published in 1932), The
Communist Manifesto (1848, with Engels), A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy (1859),
and Das Capital (various volumes published in 1867, 1885 and 1894).
Key Concepts in Marxian Economics
Dialectical Materialism
Marx and Engels gave primary importance to material conditions and affirmed that ideas could arise
only as products and reflections of material conditions. Marx held the view that truth about the world
and society can only be discovered by the use of empirical scientific methods. Marx’s and Engels’
conception of dialectics owes much to the German idealist philosopher G.W.F. Hegel. The word
‘dialectics’ is used to produce the meaning that all things contain contradictory sides or aspects, whose
tension or conflict is the driving force of change and eventually transforms or dissolves them. Hegel used
a ‘thesis-antithesis-synthesis’ chain of ideas. Thesis is the dominant idea prevalent in a society, antithesis
is the opposite ides. Their synthesis leads to a new thesis for which an antithesis would soon emerge.
Marx applied this tool for analysing human society from a materialistic point of view. Dialectic
Materialism can be seen as an approach towards studying human society and changes therein from the
, point of view of contradictions in the material conditions of life. According to Marx, the conflict between
forces of production and relations of production leads to structural changes in society which altogether
alter existing mode of production.
Historical Materialism
Historical materialism, also known as the materialist conception of history, is a methodology used by
scientific socialists and Marxist historiographers to understand human societies and their development
throughout history, arguing that historical changes in social structure are the result of material and
technological conditions rather than ideological changes. Marx’s general ideas about society are known
as his theory of historical materialism. Materialism is the basis of his sociological thought because for
Marx material conditions or economic factors affect the structure and development of society. His
theory is that material conditions essentially comprise technological means of production and human
society is formed by the forces and relations of production.
Marx’s theory of historical materialism is historical. It is historical because Marx has traced the evolution
of human societies from one stage to another. It is called Materialistic because Marx has interpreted the
evolution of societies in terms of their material or economic bases.
Mode of Production, Relations of Production and Forces of Production
Mode of production refers to the varied ways that human beings collectively produce the means of
subsistence in order to survive and enhance social being. Marx believed that human history could be
characterized by the dominant modes of production. In this sense the term refers to a specific economic
system. Any particular mode of production is the result of the distinctive articulation of a system that
involves specific relations of production and forces of production.
By "relations of production", Marx and Engels meant the sum total of social relationships that people
must enter into in order to survive, to produce, and to reproduce their means of life. As people must
enter into these social relationships, i.e. because participation in them is not voluntary, the totality of
these relationships constitutes a relatively stable and permanent structure, the "economic structure" or
mode of production. The relations of production define specific social relations predicated on the mode
of appropriation of surplus labor and a specific institutionalized practice concerned with the distribution
of the means of production. Social relations are primarily defined in terms of social classes, which form
the basis of the structural system that regulates human relationships. These relations become codified
in law and in more general terms legitimated by the hegemonic ideology.
Forces of production include human labour power and means of production (tools, machinery, factory
buildings, infrastructure, technical knowledge, raw materials, plants, animals, exploitable land). Of
particular note in assessing the level of development of the forces of production is the nature of the
technologies, machines, and scientific advances being deployed in the productive process.
Karl Marx – A Brief Life History
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, critic of political economy, economist, historian,
sociologist, political theorist, journalist and socialist revolutionary. Karl Marx was born on 5 May 1818 in
Trier in western German, the son of a successful Jewish lawyer. Marx studied law in Bonn and Berlin, but
was also introduced to the ideas of Hegel and Feuerbach. In 1841, he received a doctorate in philosophy
from the University of Jena. In 1843, after a short spell as editor of a liberal newspaper in Cologne, Marx
and his wife Jenny moved to Paris, a hotbed of radical thought. There he became a revolutionary
communist and befriended his lifelong collaborator, Friedrich Engels. Expelled from France, Marx spent
two years in Brussels, where his partnership with Engels intensified. They co-authored the pamphlet
'The Communist Manifesto' which was published in 1848 and asserted that all human history had been
based on class struggles, but that these would ultimately disappear with the victory of the proletariat.
In 1849, Marx moved to London, where he was to spend the remainder of his life. For a number of
years, his family lived in poverty but the wealthier Engels was able to support them to an increasing
extent. Gradually, Marx emerged from his political and spiritual isolation and produced his most
important body of work, 'Das Kapital'. The first volume of this 'bible of the working class' was published
in his lifetime, while the remaining volumes were edited by Engels after his friend's death.
In his final years, Karl Marx was in creative and physical decline. He spent time at health spas and was
deeply distressed by the death of his wife, in 1881, and one of his daughters. He died on 14 March 1883
and was buried at Highgate Cemetery in London.
His major works include The German Ideology (written in 1845 with Engels and published in 1932), The
Communist Manifesto (1848, with Engels), A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy (1859),
and Das Capital (various volumes published in 1867, 1885 and 1894).
Key Concepts in Marxian Economics
Dialectical Materialism
Marx and Engels gave primary importance to material conditions and affirmed that ideas could arise
only as products and reflections of material conditions. Marx held the view that truth about the world
and society can only be discovered by the use of empirical scientific methods. Marx’s and Engels’
conception of dialectics owes much to the German idealist philosopher G.W.F. Hegel. The word
‘dialectics’ is used to produce the meaning that all things contain contradictory sides or aspects, whose
tension or conflict is the driving force of change and eventually transforms or dissolves them. Hegel used
a ‘thesis-antithesis-synthesis’ chain of ideas. Thesis is the dominant idea prevalent in a society, antithesis
is the opposite ides. Their synthesis leads to a new thesis for which an antithesis would soon emerge.
Marx applied this tool for analysing human society from a materialistic point of view. Dialectic
Materialism can be seen as an approach towards studying human society and changes therein from the
, point of view of contradictions in the material conditions of life. According to Marx, the conflict between
forces of production and relations of production leads to structural changes in society which altogether
alter existing mode of production.
Historical Materialism
Historical materialism, also known as the materialist conception of history, is a methodology used by
scientific socialists and Marxist historiographers to understand human societies and their development
throughout history, arguing that historical changes in social structure are the result of material and
technological conditions rather than ideological changes. Marx’s general ideas about society are known
as his theory of historical materialism. Materialism is the basis of his sociological thought because for
Marx material conditions or economic factors affect the structure and development of society. His
theory is that material conditions essentially comprise technological means of production and human
society is formed by the forces and relations of production.
Marx’s theory of historical materialism is historical. It is historical because Marx has traced the evolution
of human societies from one stage to another. It is called Materialistic because Marx has interpreted the
evolution of societies in terms of their material or economic bases.
Mode of Production, Relations of Production and Forces of Production
Mode of production refers to the varied ways that human beings collectively produce the means of
subsistence in order to survive and enhance social being. Marx believed that human history could be
characterized by the dominant modes of production. In this sense the term refers to a specific economic
system. Any particular mode of production is the result of the distinctive articulation of a system that
involves specific relations of production and forces of production.
By "relations of production", Marx and Engels meant the sum total of social relationships that people
must enter into in order to survive, to produce, and to reproduce their means of life. As people must
enter into these social relationships, i.e. because participation in them is not voluntary, the totality of
these relationships constitutes a relatively stable and permanent structure, the "economic structure" or
mode of production. The relations of production define specific social relations predicated on the mode
of appropriation of surplus labor and a specific institutionalized practice concerned with the distribution
of the means of production. Social relations are primarily defined in terms of social classes, which form
the basis of the structural system that regulates human relationships. These relations become codified
in law and in more general terms legitimated by the hegemonic ideology.
Forces of production include human labour power and means of production (tools, machinery, factory
buildings, infrastructure, technical knowledge, raw materials, plants, animals, exploitable land). Of
particular note in assessing the level of development of the forces of production is the nature of the
technologies, machines, and scientific advances being deployed in the productive process.
