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Marxism is a method of socioeconomic analysis, originating from the mid-to-late 19th century works of German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, that analyzes class relations and societal conflict using a materialist interpretation of historical development and a dialectical view of social transformation. Marxist methodology originally used economic and sociopolitical inquiry to analyze and critique the development of capitalism and the role of class struggle in systemic economic change. According to Marxist analysis, class conflict within capitalism arises due to intensifying contradictions between highly productive mechanized and socialized production performed by the proletariat, and private ownership and appropriation of the surplus product in the form of surplus value (profit) by a small minority of private owners called the bourgeoisie. As the contradiction becomes apparent to the proletariat, social unrest between the two antagonistic classes intensifies, culminating in a social revolution. The eventual long-term outcome of this revolution would be the establishment of socialism – a socioeconomic system based on social ownership of the means of production, distribution based on one's contribution, and production organized directly for use. As the productive forces and technology continued to advance, Marx hypothesized that socialism would eventually give way to a communist stage of social development, which would be a classless, stateless, humane society erected on common ownership and the principle of "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs". Marxism has since developed into different branches and schools of thought, and there is now no single definitive Marxist theory. Different schools place a greater emphasis on certain aspects of classical Marxism while de-emphasizing or rejecting other aspects, and sometimes combine Marxist analysis with non-Marxian concepts. As a result, different schools of Marxism might reach contradictory conclusions from one another. Marxist analyses and methodologies have influenced multiple political ideologies and social movements, and Marxist understandings of history and society have been adopted by academics in the disciplines of archaeology, anthropology,〔Bridget O'Laughlin (1975) ''Marxist Approaches in Anthropology'' Annual Review of Anthropology Vol. 4: pp. 341–70 (October 1975) . William Roseberry (1997) ''Marx and Anthropology'' Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 26: pp. 25–46 (October 1997) 〕 media studies,〔S. L. Becker (1984) "Marxist Approaches to Media Studies: The British Experience", Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 1(1): pp. 66–80.〕 political science, theater, history, sociology, art history and theory, cultural studies, education, economics, geography, literary criticism, aesthetics, critical psychology, and philosophy.〔See Manuel Alvarado, Robin Gutch, and Tana Wollen (1987) ''Learning the Media: Introduction to Media Teaching'', Palgrave Macmillan.〕 ==Overview== The Marxian analysis begins with an analysis of material conditions and the economic activities required to satisfy society's material needs. It is understood that the form of economic organization, or mode of production, gives rise to, or at least directly influences, most other social phenomena – including social relations, political and legal systems, morality and ideology. The economic system and these social relations form a base and superstructure. As forces of production, most notably technology, improve, existing forms of social organization become inefficient and stifle further progress. As Karl Marx observed: "At a certain stage of development, the material productive forces of society come into conflict with the existing relations of production or this merely expresses the same thing in legal terms with the property relations within the framework of which they have operated hitherto. From forms of development of the productive forces these relations turn into their fetters. Then begins an era of social revolution''."〔A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, Introduction 1859〕 These inefficiencies manifest themselves as social contradictions in society in the form of class struggle.〔''Comparing Economic Systems in the Twenty-First Century'', 2003, by Gregory and Stuart. P.62, ''Marx's Theory of Change''. ISBN 0-618-26181-8.〕 Under the capitalist mode of production, this struggle materializes between the minority (the bourgeoisie) who own the means of production, and the vast majority of the population (the proletariat) who produce goods and services. Taking the idea that social change occurs because of the struggle between different classes within society who are under contradiction against each other, leads the Marxist analysis to the conclusion that capitalism exploits and oppresses the proletariat, which leads to a proletarian revolution. Capitalism (according to Marxist theory) can no longer sustain the living standards of the population due to its need to compensate for falling rates of profit by driving down wages, cutting social benefits and pursuing military aggression. The socialist system would succeed capitalism as humanity's mode of production through workers' revolution. According to Marxism, especially arising from crisis theory, socialism is a historical necessity (but not an inevitability).〔Free will, non-predestination and non-determinism are emphasized in Marx's famous quote "Men make their own history ..." The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, Karl Marx 1852.〕 In a socialist society private property in the means of production would be superseded by co-operative ownership. A socialist economy would not base production on the creation of private profits, but on the criteria of satisfying human needs – that is, production would be carried out directly for use. As Engels observed: "Then the capitalist mode of appropriation in which the product enslaves first the producer, and then appropriator, is replaced by the mode of appropriation of the product that is based upon the nature of the modern means of production; upon the one hand, direct social appropriation, as means to the maintenance and extension of production on the other, direct individual appropriation, as means of subsistence and of enjoyment."'〔Socialism, Utopian and Scientific, Chapter three 1882〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Marxism」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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