Transcript ECON-220 HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT

HISTORY OF
ECONOMIC THOUGHT
DR. PETROS KOSMAS
LECTURER, CASA COLLEGE
ACADEMIC YEAR 2010 - 2011
LECTURE 7
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Was there a Need for Reform?
 During the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution not
only revolutionized the way things were made, but
also created many problems.
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Realism, Positivism, Marxism and
Materialism.
 In what ways did the failed revolutions of 1848 foster the
idea of MATERIALISM?
 In what ways was REALISM a sign of the times in painting
and literature?
 Identify what is Positivism—
 And, finally, you will learn the important background that
influence Karl Marx beliefs and its future impact on Russian
History.
The revolutions of 1848 spread throughout Europe, and what began
with hope was quickly suppressed by reactionary, conservative
governments.
After the failure of the revolutions of 1830 and
1848, the dreams of many Europeans ended.
There had been
some positive
outcomes of 1848—
peasants were freed
in Germany and
Austria, and many
moved to America.
Materialism and Realism
Many were bitter about government reaction after the
revolutions. This new attitude was called materialism: an
idea that all things were a result of physiological or
physical forces.
In art and music it was called realism.
Realism included painters such as Courbet, Millet,
and Daumier…
Courbet’s paintings were of the peasants—in the
countryside, but they were displayed in the salons of Paris,
for the bourgeoisie to observe.
Perhaps this was a way of saying that “we may have
been defeated in the revolutions, but we are still here.
Our needs are just.”
Realism found its way into the
writings of authors such as
Flaubert. Flaubert’s Madame
Bovary is a landmark novel
that mocked romantic
illusions about marriage and
family life.
Both writers and painters broke away from the traditions of
romanticism and said they wanted “real facts.”
Positivism
Similar to realism was the idea of positivism, which
meant that one must insist on verifiable facts and not on
wishful thinking.
In politics this became Real Politik--but we will learn
more about that later
Karl Marx
But no other ideas came
out of the post-Congress of
Vienna era which would
have more influence than
those of Karl Marx.
“Young Hegelians.”
Marx associated with other
German radicals—similar
to the radicals we saw in
our movie Les Miserables.
This group was called the
“Young Hegelians.”
Marx met Friedrich Engels (1820-1893) who was
the heir to a vast fortune.
Marx and Engels
Marx and Engels met in
Paris in 1844. In 1847,
they joined the
Communist league—
which was, at that time, a
tiny group of
revolutionaries.
In 1848—a momentous date in publishing history, the
Communist Manifesto was published.
What was the Communist Manifesto?
It was a “manifesto” that encouraged workers to overthrow
the systems that oppressed them.
Marx & Engels:
The Communist Manifesto
 Marx and Engels argued that human societies have always
been divided into two warring classes:
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The middle class, “haves” or employers, called the
bourgeoisie
 The wealthy controlled the means of producing goods
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The working class, “have-nots” or employees
called the proletariat
 The poor performed backbreaking labor under terrible
conditions.
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The alienation of labor…
Marx wrote about the alienation of labor…when work
becomes so mechanical that people become estranged
from the objects they produce. This was something he
observed as the unregulated industrial revolution
continued in Britain and spread to Europe.
A good example of this is factories where people would be
doing repetitive tasks for very little pay.
Marx studied Hegel’s view of thesis, antithesis and
synthesis.
Marx echoed that history
was the result of
impersonal forces—
He wrote that conditions , mainly economic,
produce the change
The Communist Manifesto was a summons to
revolution…
The famous saying,
“Workers of the
world, unite.” is one
of the most famous in
history.
So remember, this saying has its roots in the unhappy conditions of
France and other countries prior and after the 1848 revolutions.
Karl Marx spent time in
London—where he spent
hours in the British Library
Reading Room. There he
began the research that led to
his great works of political
and economic analysis,
including the monumental
Das Kapital.
Marxism’s message began to diminish between 1848 and 1870—labor
became organized, most men got the vote, and there were other increases to
wages and benefits.
And in fact, Marxism should have died out…but instead, he was read and re-read
by a young man, Vladimir Lenin.
The Russian Revolution of 1917 would be a much later
outcome of the writings of Karl Marx—70 years after the
revolutions of 1848.
Marx: Communism
 Under communism, and the abolition of property,
will universal laziness take over?
 Marx: If that were true, then bourgeois society would
have stopped long ago. Under bourgeoisie society,
those who work acquire nothing, and those who
acquire anything, do not work.
Marx: Communism
 What does Marx say about nations?
 The workers have no country. Communism abolishes
the bourgeoisie nation state. The idea of the nation
state is a product of the bourgeoisie. When the
bourgeoisie have been removed on an international
scale, then there will be no need for nations. The
exploitation of one nation by another will end.
Marx: Policies in Manifesto
 Heavy progressive and graduated income tax
 Centralization of credit in the hands of the state by
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means of a national bank
Centralization of the means of communication and
travel in the hands of the state.
Extension of factories and means of production
owned by the state
Free education for all children in public schools
Abolition of child labor in factories