Political Sociology: Classic Paradigms and Contemporary Issues

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Political Sociology Classic Paradigms and
Contemporary Issues
Dr Christopher Kollmeyer

• Sociology 4530
• 8 Feb. 2007

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Historical Materialism (Review From Last Lecture)

• Historical change brought about by
• Class conflict
• battle over surplus value
• Structural contradictions in society
• Communism will be the End of History, but
• requires class consciousness
• class-in-itself ? class-for-itself

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Communist Manifesto (1848)
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Structural Contradictions of Capitalism

• Social
• Cash-nexis replaces reciprocal social relation
• callous cash payment
• humans become commodities (wage-labour)
• Economic
• Under-consumption or over-accumulation crisis
• Political
• Capitalism producers its own gravediggers

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Implications of Political Contradiction (1)

• Friedrich Engels (Tactics of Social Democracy,
  1895)
• Communists debate political strategy for class
  struggle (legal vs. illegal methods)
• Engels argues
• Universal suffrage (voting) sharpest political
  weapon and instrument of emancipation
• Armed conflict losing strategy

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Implications of Political Contradiction (2)

• Marx on State and Democracy
• The executive of the modern state is but a
  committee for managing the common affairs of the
  bourgeoisie (CM).
• Capitalism and democracy are incompatible
• Economic power political power
• Question Why does state favor capitals
  interests?

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Contemporary Marxism Democracy and the State

• Conclusion Democracy under capitalism must be
  partial
• Why Economy occupies structural privileged
  position in society.
• Workers need jobs and want social benefits
• State needs tax revenue
• Result Economic policy is depoliticized. Who
  governs matters little for class politics.

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Marxist Definition of Power

• The ability of a social class to realize its
  (objective) class interests.
• Politics class politics