Marxism and Its Contribution to the World Politics Essay Example
Introduction:
Since the emerge of the societies and social life, political theorists tried to develop frameworks and ideas in order to explain main causes of incidents that occur in international relations. Two German thinkers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels developed a theory mainly based on a materialist view of history and society in early 1900s, which is commonly referred as Marxism. Since its' introduction to the political science Marxism have become one of the core schools of thoughts in international relations.
However, Marxism in practice has evolved and shown differentiations from the initial thoughts and ideas argued by Marx and Engel. Especially Bolshevik leaders such as Lenin and Stalin have interpreted Marx’s ideas differently after the October Revolution in Russia, while they were governing the Soviets. Due to the differences between the theory and the practice, Marxism can be considered as one of the most controversial approaches of political science.
Another argument is the question of contribution of Marxism to the world politics. Although Marxist ideas were influenced and accelerated the diversity between the Western the Eastern hemispheres in the past, especially during the Cold War, some notable political scientist like Martin Wight asserted “neither Marx, Lenin nor Stalin made any systematic contribution to international theory...[1]”.
Due to these problems mentioned previously, it is a difficult task to develop a universally accepted Marxist understanding of international relations.
The aim of this paper is to explain and present a critical analysis of the Marxist theory. To do so, this essay will first explain the Marx’s thought and vision by comparing them with past and current practices. Later on in order to understand the Contribution of the Marxist theory to the international relations it will provide a historical overview of past and current practices of Marxist theory on state level. Finally this essay will present a
Since the emerge of the societies and social life, political theorists tried to develop frameworks and ideas in order to explain main causes of incidents that occur in international relations. Two German thinkers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels developed a theory mainly based on a materialist view of history and society in early 1900s, which is commonly referred as Marxism. Since its' introduction to the political science Marxism have become one of the core schools of thoughts in international relations.
However, Marxism in practice has evolved and shown differentiations from the initial thoughts and ideas argued by Marx and Engel. Especially Bolshevik leaders such as Lenin and Stalin have interpreted Marx’s ideas differently after the October Revolution in Russia, while they were governing the Soviets. Due to the differences between the theory and the practice, Marxism can be considered as one of the most controversial approaches of political science.
Another argument is the question of contribution of Marxism to the world politics. Although Marxist ideas were influenced and accelerated the diversity between the Western the Eastern hemispheres in the past, especially during the Cold War, some notable political scientist like Martin Wight asserted “neither Marx, Lenin nor Stalin made any systematic contribution to international theory...[1]”.
Due to these problems mentioned previously, it is a difficult task to develop a universally accepted Marxist understanding of international relations.
The aim of this paper is to explain and present a critical analysis of the Marxist theory. To do so, this essay will first explain the Marx’s thought and vision by comparing them with past and current practices. Later on in order to understand the Contribution of the Marxist theory to the international relations it will provide a historical overview of past and current practices of Marxist theory on state level. Finally this essay will present a