Presentation Transcript
Marxist perspectives on international politics: Marxist perspectives on international politics Social organization is driven by economics not security
Technology is the driving force
“Social relations” (aka politics) is the outcome
Capitalist society yields class conflict: Capitalist society yields class conflict Between the owners of capital and the workers… not between states
A deep conflict of interests that is the fundamental contradiction of capitalist society….
Why can’t it be reconciled?
The Labor Theory of Value: The Labor Theory of Value Forget about exchange value or use value. Labor is the source of value-added.
Relative prices reflect the quantity of labor that is embodied in a good.
Capitalism homogenizes labor and then extracts surplus value from the proletariat.
Labor theory of value predicts capitalism’s collapse: Labor theory of value predicts capitalism’s collapse Workers learn to resist exploitation.
Capitalists suffer a falling rate of profit. Increased productivity is actually the way in which capitalists undermine that which makes the system work.
Underconsumption drives prices down and accelerates the fall in the rate of profit.
What role do states play?: What role do states play? Instrumental Marxism
Structural Marxism
The Capitalist State in the International System: The Capitalist State in the International System The end of the colonial era should be the end… but it isn’t.
Dependencia -- neo-colonial logic?
The Socialist State in the International System: The Socialist State in the International System Lenin’s dilemma
Lenin’s non-solution
The Comintern
The Red Army
The rise of fascism forces Stalin to make a real choice
The Soviet Union as a ‘state’: The Soviet Union as a ‘state’ Military power yields détente and peaceful coexistence.
A hard case for realists to explain?
A good test of where and how ideology may matter…
But probably not at the level of individuals