Harrison, Monica, and I discussed the importance of the three theorists we learned during this weeks class. Marx, Williams, and Althusser all express important ideologies relating to the interconnected world around us. We thought that we would split up the three individualists and further explain what exactly they discovered.
Karl Marx was known for his revolutionary idea of state and mans mode of production. He was curious about how the division of labor was formed based on class structure. Marx, actively despised this kind of construction of classes through production of commodities and spoke against the capitalistic system. He illuminated that the more demand for production the more pressure the working class is put under. The working class will never stop producing because they need the money to survive. The bourgeois are exploiting the labor of the working class since they know the working class needs the money. As we discussed in class, this mode of production under Marx’s ideology is extremely detrimental to society.
Raymond Williams expanded on Marx’s ideas by trying to explain what determines the lower and upper classes. Moreover, he describes his explanation by examining the base and superstructure of states societies. The base of the structure presented by Williams contains the relations of productions. This is the relationship of the bourgeois exploiting the working class for surplus production. In correlation to Marx, without Williams base in society then there would be no superstructure. The superstructure contains family, education, religion, etc. Again, Marx and Williams express how we rely on the working class to support everyone else in society. Along with Marx and Williams, Althusser agrees and further questions what reproduction is within the mode of production. A question that is answered based on Marx and Williams theory of exploitation of the lower class.
All three of the theorists have the same baseline ideology of exploitation of the working class. Individually, they describe the exploitation in varying ways. By combining all three theorists we can fully understand why capitalism has faced backlash among populations. Why exploit people when it is not necessary?