Marxist Theory: Dialectical Materialism and Class Conflict

Introduction

Dialectical materialism and historical materialism form the foundation of Marxist philosophy. Grounded in the dialectical process of epistemology, Marxist theory evolved into principled sociology. Yet Marxist sociology rests on the dialectical understanding of the natural world, including that of human nature. Although Marxist philosophy is comprehensive and epistemological, Marx found its pragmatic application in focusing on the function of economic systems and the effect of those systems on socioeconomic class stratification. Implications of class stratification include class conflict and false consciousness, both of which are exacerbated by capitalist modes of production and the social and political institutions that support them.

Dialectical and Historical Materialism

Building on Hegelian dialectics, Marx and Engels proposed an epistemology in which the natural world is interconnected, systemic, pre-determined, and continually changing (Stalin, 1938). Dialectics is a method of reaching a truthful analysis based on the assumption that "historical progress is achieved through the clash of opposites and their ultimate resolution in the form: thesis + antithesis = synthesis" (Munro, n.d., p. 1). Within this logical framework, Marx offered an extension of Hegelian generalized dialectical methods to show how opposing forces or phenomena in nature create conflict, which catalyzes change. Both dialectical and historical materialism are also grounded in the efficacy of material reality. In other words, that which is tangible and immediately knowable is real. Materialism is categorically opposite to idealism — the philosophical worldview that frames the material world as an extension of, or imperfect reflection of, some ideal, unknowable, and ineffable primal reality.

Marx proposed dialectical materialism as a means of understanding the natural world, and historical materialism specifically as a dialectical approach to understanding human history. Thus, historical materialism is the practical application of dialectical materialism. Taken together with Marxist economics, dialectical materialism and historical materialism form the trinity of Marxist philosophy: what Sewell (2002) calls "scientific socialism" (p. 1). In 1938, Joseph Stalin published Dialectical and Historical Materialism to explicate the philosophical foundations of socialism and apply them directly to principled change in political, social, and economic institutions.

Also central to the Marxist dialectic is the implication that change is progressive; human society evolves toward states of improved quality. Based on scientific observations and analogies in the material world — such as chemistry — Marx and Engels showed how quantitative change leads to qualitative change (Sewell, 2002; Stalin, 1938). When applied to human history, the Marxist dialectic shows how societies evolved from slave-based and then feudal economic, political, and social institutions toward the capitalist systems. Marx then proposed that the dialectics of capitalism create new pressures, new conflicts, and new catalysts for change. Socialist and communist systems are the natural outcomes of this change (Munro, n.d.).

Marx applies dialectical materialism to an analysis of human economic systems. First, Marx shows how labor value is both arbitrary and socially constructed. The capitalist system is based on the concept of creating surplus value by "squeezing it out of the laborer," or exploiting the laborer (Lukacs & Lukacs, 1971, p. 94). Capitalism also depends on the labor theory of value, in which labor is the "sole source of value in production" (Munro, n.d., p. 1). Arbitrarily assigning value to timed labor alienates the worker from himself, from society, and from nature. Thus, Marx differentiates between the means of production and the social relations of production ("Karl Marx and Historical Materialism," n.d.). The means of production refer directly to the material means — technologies and tools — that enable human beings to produce goods. Social relations can be based on natural processes or on artificially constructed hierarchies of "dominion and servitude" (Lukacs & Lukacs, 1971, p. 86). Slavery, feudalism, and capitalism all represent the systematic exploitation of workers, but capitalism was a revolutionary economic system in that the owners of the means of production possess arbitrary power — power conferred far differently than it had been under prior economic systems.

The Economic System and Social Structure

Labor value changes over time, particularly as labor productivity or efficiency increases through technological improvements and other innovations (Marx, 2015). Technological advancements enable capitalist enterprises, allowing the value of human labor to fall while simultaneously enabling the rise in surplus value that the capitalist can accumulate. Capital accumulation equals political and social power. Whereas the owners of the means of production can simply drive down the market price of human labor, the laborers have no legitimate means by which to manipulate the value of labor unless they revolutionize the entire system. Therefore, the economic system of capitalism results in a socially stratified society in which the capitalist class (bourgeoisie) exploits the labor of the working class (proletariat).

Dialectical and historical materialism together show how capitalist economic systems lead directly to the stratified social structures that characterize modern society. Moreover, Marx firmly believed in economic determinism as part and parcel of both dialectical and historical materialism. For Marx, human nature and activity are in constant flux — evolving and progressive. Human nature responds to external forces and changes, such as those accompanying major shifts in economic and social structures. Capitalism was a reaction to previous social and economic structures like feudalism, and socialism is the response to capitalism.

Conclusion

Marxist economics cannot be understood without full appreciation for its epistemological framework. That epistemological framework is dialectical materialism, combined with its pragmatic application in historical materialism. Human societies have evolved, and continue to evolve. Moreover, human societies are structured in response to immediate material needs. Marx presents a view of human sociology that is firmly materialistic and deterministic, explaining why specific social, political, and economic systems exist, the assumptions and values upon which those systems depend, and how those systems can become outmoded and in need of change.