According to Marx, Class is structurally determined – what does
this mean? How does Marx’s theory of class relate to history and
the present - in your answers explain and discuss class
consciousness, false consciousness, and ideology.
Karl Polanyi and Karl Marx both argue that capitalism (or what
Polanyi calls market society) is a distinctive economic system that
is dramatically different from the economic systems that preceded
it. Explain how both of these thinkers understand the distinctive
nature of capitalism as opposed to other systems. Try to identify
the similarities and differences in their thinking(hint: Marx is
more damning in his critique than Polanyi).
According to Marx, what is the difference between socialism and
communism? How did Marx think that a nation would make the change
from socialism into communism.
Karl Marx begins Volume I of Capital with a discussion
of the “commodity”. How is this central to (a) the secret to
capitalist profits, (b) how capital circulates in the capitalist
economy, and (c) the nature of capitalist crises?