THEORY OF MARXISM

Karl Heinrich Marx FRSA was a German philosopher, critic of political economy, economist,
historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles
are the 1848 pamphlet The Communist Manifesto and the three-volume Das Kapital. Wikipedia

Born: May 5, 1818, Trier, Germany

Died: March 14, 1883, London, United Kingdom

Full name: Karl Heinrich Marx

Notable ideas: Marxism, Class conflict, Surplus value, Historical materialism, Marx's theory of
alienation, Labor theory of value

Children: Eleanor Marx, Henry Edward Guy Marx, Laura Marx, Edgar Marx, Jenny Marx Longuet,
Jenny Eveline Frances Marx

Nationality: German, Prussian

Who Was Karl Marx?

Karl Marx was a philosopher, author, social theorist, and economist. He is famous for his theories
about capitalism and communism. Marx, in conjunction with Friedrich Engels, published The
Communist Manifesto in 1848; later in life, he wrote Das Kapital (the first volume was published in
Berlin in 1867; the second and third volumes were published posthumously in 1885 and 1894,
respectively), which discussed the labor theory of value.

Marx's Inspiration
Marx was inspired by classical political economists such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo, while his
own branch of economics, Marxian economics, is not favored among modern mainstream thought.
Nevertheless, Marx's ideas have had a huge impact on societies, most prominently in communist
projects such as those in the USSR, China, and Cuba. Among modern thinkers, Marx is still very
influential in the fields of sociology, political economy, and strands of heterodox economics.
THEORY OF ALIENATION
Karl Marx's theory of alienation describes the estrangement of people from aspects of their human
nature as a consequence of living in a society of stratified social classes.

the process whereby the worker is made to feel foreign to the products of his/her own labor.

The concept of alienation identifies a distinct kind of psychological or social ill; namely, one involving
a problematic separation between a self and other that properly belong together. So understood, it
appears to play a largely diagnostic role, perhaps showing that something is awry with liberal
societies and liberal political philosophy. Theories of alienation typically pick out a subset of these
problematic separations as being of particular importance, and then offer explanatory accounts of
the extent of, and prognosis for, alienation, so understood. Discussions of alienation are especially,
but not uniquely, associated with Hegelian and Marxist intellectual traditions.

An example of alienation is when a cheating wife is discovered by her husband, and he

can no longer stand to be around her so he files for divorce. An alienating or being
alienated; specif., estrangement or detachment.

THEORY OF CLASS WAR/CONFLICT THEORY

Marxist conflict theory sees society as divided along lines of economic class
between the proletarian working class and the bourgeois ruling class. Later
versions of conflict theory look at other dimensions of conflict among capitalist
factions and among various social, religious, and other types of groups.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels say that for most of history, there has been a
struggle between those two classes. This struggle is known as class struggle.
After The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital, this concept became well
known.