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The Marxist Interpretation of History

The Marxist Interpretation of History. What determines history?. Not great men Not pivotal moments Social class Economic realities HISTORY FROM BELOW. Marxist interpretations: Telelogical. Everything moves towards a certain end, a final result The final result: a classless human society.

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The Marxist Interpretation of History

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  1. The Marxist Interpretation of History

  2. What determines history? • Not great men • Not pivotal moments • Social class • Economic realities • HISTORY FROM BELOW

  3. Marxist interpretations: Telelogical • Everything moves towards a certain end, a final result • The final result: a classless human society

  4. What is ‘Historical materialism’? • In order to understand human society and historical development you have to study how humans produce and reproduce the material requirements of life • To successfully produce these material requirements people have to enter into ‘production relations’ – the relationship between those who do the work and those who own the ‘means of production’

  5. The stages of historical materialism • Marxists identified several historical stages of this relationship: • Tribal (primitive communism) • Ancient (slaves and slave owners) • Feudalism (serfs and landowners) • Capitalism (owners and workers) • Society (politics, culture, laws etc) is shaped by these relationships

  6. How does society change? • The dominant class is overthrown by a new emerging class

  7. Why was this interpretation different? • Introduced the idea of ‘coherence’ into human history • Suggests that historical change is as a result of the struggle between different classes • Examined ‘history from below’

  8. Criticisms

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