2. History and Social Change

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this lecture, we think about Marx’s understanding of history and the evolution of societies, focusing in particular on: (i) the base and superstructure model, and Marx’s belief that all societies can be characterised in terms of their economic base and ideological superstructure; (ii) the key features of the economic base of societies; (iii) Marx’s writings on some aspects of the ideological superstructure, such as religion and politics; (iv) his idea that societies develop through different modes of production, from the ancient slave-based mode, through feudalism, to capitalism.

Course

In this course, Dr Ross Abbinnett (University of Birmingham) explores Karl Marx’s theory of society. In the first lecture, we consider Marx’s analysis of labour, its importance to humanity, and alienation from labour under capitalism. In the second lecture, we look at how Marx approaches history and social change, particularly his base and superstructure model and his notion of modes of production. In the third lecture, we think about Marx’s account of capitalism’s emergence and characteristics. Next, we think about the political forces which lead society from capitalism to communism. In the fifth and final lecture, we consider efforts to bring communism about in the real world, such as those of the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China.

Lecturer

Dr Ross Abbinnett is Senior Lecturer in Social and Political Theory at the University of Birmingham. His recent publications include The Neoliberal Imagination: Politics, Aesthetics, and Economics in the Evolution of Hyper-Industrial Capitalism (2021), The Thought of Bernard Stiegler: Capitalism, Technology and the Politics of Spirit (2018) and Marxism After Modernity: Politics, Technology and Social Transformation (2006).