Structural Marxism and Capitalist Societies

Critical School of Frankfurt

• Max Horkheimer (1895-1973), Theodor Adorno (1903-1969), Herbert Marcuse

(1898 - 1979)
• Critique of positivism is a major departure point in critical school.
• Marx was presented doing natural science, the producer of invariant law, in
Soviet Union,
• Weber was historicist and was skeptical of developing invariant law
• However Marx was concerned about alienation and Weber with rationalization
of society under capitalism
• Durkheim’s concept of social fact as thing encouraged positivism, founding
father of empirical methods (suicide study), pioneer of functionalist theory and
conservative concern social order and division of labor
• German Weimar Republic 1923, Frankfurt school, later in 1932 forced into exile
by Hitler
• Opposite to naturalistic objectivism of natural sciences.

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 Critical School of Frankfurt - continued

• Society as historical totality, not aggregate of mechanical determinants, or

abstract function
• Social analysis cannot be indifferent and value free, it will engage in the
process of social transformation
• First research group worked with Marxism, interdisciplinary, employed
traditional empirical technique
• Interdisciplinary materialism, accepted historical materialism but rejected
reductionism, culture added, social psychology of class consciousness
• Initially believed that working class will overthrow Hitler’s fascism but did
not happen

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 Hegemony

• Materialist understanding of Marx

• In German Ideology (Marx & Engels, 1846), idealism overturned, life is not
perceived by consciousness, rather opposite, “Life is not determined by
consciousness, but consciousness by life” GI
• German philosophy was influenced by religious philosophy, it came from
heaven.
• Historical and social circumstances largely determine the form of culture
• “The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas…the class
which has the means of material production at its disposal has control at the
same time over the means of mental production “ GI
• “…the sum total of economic relations constitutes the economic structure of
society, the real foundation, on which rises a legal and political
superstructure and to which correspond definite forms of social
consciousness.” Contribution

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 Hegemony 2

• To change society so you need to change the base of the society

• How neatly the base and superstructure are related?
• Religion, does not change, superstructure may be an effect several factors
• Culture and other superstructure themselves are capitalist industries
• Education: not only preserve capitalism but also build skill
• How capitalism survives: many intermediary classes are there, trade
unions, social-democratic parties, well paid labor aristocracy , may be
called political superstructure
• Developed capitalism have got democracy or such classes

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 Hegemony 3

• Civil society: religious institutions, school system, sports team, media,

family create values and meanings. Above superstructure are critical,
although Gramsci remained committed to capitalist contradiction thesis, it
creates new organization
• Italy and Russia were background
• Workers failed to rise against Mussoulini, because workers could not
establish a national coalition, particularly drew peasant into their fold
• Domination to hegemony, latter implies leadership with consent, in
domination consent is absent
• In Russia also Lenin understood: economic contradiction not enough,
there is cultural struggle, bourgeois also controls proletariat idea and
knowledge, alliance of all oppressed classes

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 Hegemony 4

• Coercion and consent: cultural, economic and political aspects of

hegemony. If civil society agrees to leadership it is hegemony with
consent. With political force leadership can always be accepted.

• Limited and expansive hegemony: all groups are included in leadership.

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 Ideological State Apparatus

• Reproduction is a condition of production: simple and extended

reproduction
• Every social formation reproduce conditions of production
• Bourgeois economist also talks of replacement what is used up
• Any relation of production is also relation of exploitation
• By Repressive State Apparatus (RSA) the relations of exploitation is
reporduced
• RSA: government, administration, army, police, courts, prisons etc
• Administrative repression or physical violence
• Apart from RSA, Ideological State Apparatus (ISA) is also used.

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 Ideological State Apparatus - 2

• ISA: religious institution, educational institution, family, legal institution,

political institution, trade union, communication (press, radio, television),
cultural (literature, arts, sports)
• RSA s main objective is to protect the relations of production hence it also
a social function, repression - violence
• ISA uses discourse
• ISA is also the site of struggle – opposition view is expressed here
• In RSA working class not visible
• In pre-capitalism church family main ISA, in capitalism school family main
ISA
• Institutions: practices and rituals give the material premise of Ideology

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 Ideological State Apparatus 3

• Bourgeois Ideology talks of individual or subect

• Pre-capitalism talked of Absolute subject
• Ideology precedes individual, and all subjects are subordinate to Absolute
subject

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