Overview
This lecture covers the main ideas, origins, and impact of the Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels, emphasizing class struggle, historical development, revolutionary aims, and proposed changes to society.
Origins and Genesis of the Manifesto
- Written in late 1847 for the Communist League, published in 1848.
- Marx and Engels saw the proletariat as the leading revolutionary force.
- The Manifesto replaced secret-society catechisms with a public party manifesto to clarify the aims of communism.
Key Concepts of the Communist Manifesto
- History is defined by class struggles: oppressor vs. oppressed.
- Modern society reduces to two major classes: bourgeoisie (capitalists) and proletariat (workers).
- The bourgeoisie rose from the ruins of feudalism through commerce, industry, and exploitation.
- Constant revolutionizing of production and crises are characteristics of bourgeois society.
- Proletariat, created by capitalism, is exploited and destined to overthrow the bourgeoisie.
Communists’ Role and Aims
- Communists are not a separate party but are the most advanced section of the working class.
- Goal: abolition of bourgeois property and class society.
- Immediate aims: formation of the proletariat into a class, overthrow of bourgeois supremacy, conquest of political power.
Measures Proposed by Communists
- Abolition of property in land; state control of rents.
- Progressive income tax, abolition of inheritance rights.
- Confiscate property of emigrants/rebels.
- State monopoly of credit, transport, and communication.
- Extension of state-owned industry, free public education, and abolition of child factory labor.
Types of Socialist Literature
- Feudal Socialism: aristocratic critique aiming to regain lost privileges.
- Petty-Bourgeois Socialism: seeks to restore pre-capitalist conditions.
- German/True Socialism: adapts French socialist ideas to preserve the status quo in Germany.
- Conservative/Bourgeois Socialism: reforms to preserve bourgeois society without altering its foundations.
- Critical-Utopian Socialism: early socialists who ignore the necessity of class struggle.
The Paris Commune and Amendments to Doctrine
- Paris Commune (1871) showed the need for workers to create new state forms, not simply use existing state machinery.
- Commune was a model for working-class political rule and social reforms.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Bourgeoisie — The class of modern capitalists, owners of production, and employers of wage labor.
- Proletariat — The class of modern wage laborers, selling their labor power to survive.
- Class struggle — Ongoing conflict between opposing social classes.
- Communism — Doctrine advocating classless society and common ownership of production.
- Paris Commune — 1871 workers' government in Paris, seen as a model for future proletarian rule.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review the ten key measures for advanced countries as outlined in Section II.
- Read the summaries of different types of socialism for comparative understanding.
- Study the role of the Paris Commune in shaping Marxist theory on the state.