Marxist Theories of International Relations
Chapter – 8
Table of Contents
Introduction: the continuing relevance of Marxism
- With the end of the Cold War and the rise of ‘free market’ capitalism, it became common to assume that Marxist thought was irrelevant and that capitalism was the future.
- Communist parties in China, Vietnam, and Cuba no longer posed a threat to global capitalism; instead, they adapted to market principles to retain power.
- The Soviet experiment was seen as a failure, and the lessons of the 20th century suggested that Marxism led to a dead end.
- Despite this, Marx and Marxist thought persist, with a renaissance occurring decades after the Soviet collapse.
- The first reason for this resurgence is the embarrassment caused by the Soviet Union, especially after Stalinism and its post-World War II actions in Eastern Europe.
- Early Marxists were loyal to the Soviet Union as the first ‘Workers’ State’, but Stalinism and the realities of socialismcontradicted the utopian vision.
- The break-up of the Soviet bloc allowed Marxism to be reappraised without the need to defend Soviet actions or Marxism-Leninism as a state ideology.
- Many Marxist concepts, like ‘vanguard party’, ‘democratic centralism’, and ‘command economy’, were not part of Marx’s original writings.
- The second reason for the revival of Marxist thought is its continuing analytical relevance in understanding capitalism and its inherent contradictions.
- Marx’s analysis of capitalism as a mode of production remains relevant, especially with the market mechanismincreasingly affecting all aspects of life.
- Marx’s analysis of crisis in capitalism, where free markets do not lead to stability, is more relevant today due to crises like the 1987 stock market crash and the Asian financial crisis.
- Marx’s theory suggests that such economic convulsions and their human consequences are inevitable in the capitalist system.
- Marxist thought offers a deeper perspective on world politics compared to Realism and Liberalism by focusing on the global capitalist system and its influence on events like wars, treaties, and aid operations.
- Marxist theories argue that global capitalism ensures that the wealthy and powerful prosper at the expense of the poor.
- Gross inequality in the world is exacerbated by the fact that the prosperity of the few is dependent on the misery and poverty of the many.
- Marx’s view: “Accumulation of wealth at one pole is, therefore, at the same time accumulation of misery, agony, toil, slavery, ignorance, and brutality at the opposite pole.”
- The following sections will outline Marxist principles (or historical materialism) and explore contemporary Marx-inspired thinking about world politics.
- Given the diversity of Marxist thought, the upcoming account will be partial and arbitrary, but will serve as a route map for further exploration.