Question

1. How would you describe the perception of the Marxian School of Thought on global trade relations?

1. How would you use the Critical Theory of Social Relations to explain why some leaders of the Third World collaborate with the trade propositions of the powerful industrial nations, that may appear to exploit their own people?

2. What is the ideological foundation of Historical Materialism in IPE?

Answer 1

Marx’s Perception

Marx’s perception on economic globalization is contained in his philosophical views, his ideas on historical materialism and his theory of world history. His theory of world history throws light on the source, impetus and trends by which human societies transition from regional history to world history, and scientifically analyzes the position and role of capitalism in world history, furnishing an ideological weapon for understanding economic globalization. Marx’s thoughts on economic globalization mainly reveal the nature and trends of economic globalization; he emphasizes that economic globalization is a result of the global expansion of capitalism.

Most simply, historical materialism asserts that human beings – including their relations with each other and their environment – are determined by the material conditions in which they can survive and reproduce. Therefore, Marxism asserts that material conditions can be changed by the actions of human beings as well as by events – think of climate change for example, which depends on physical phenomena as well as human behaviour.

Critical theory of social relation

Critical theory incorporates a wide range of approaches all focused on the   idea of freeing people from the modern state and economic system – a concept known to critical theorists as emancipation. The view that there are social and political principles those are apparent to all people, everywhere. In the modern era, both authors became foundational figures for theorists seeking to replace the modern state system by promoting more just global political arrangements such as a federation of Free states living in perpetual peace (Kant) or communism as a global social and economic system to replace the unequal capitalist order. Inequality and capitalism- Social inequality limits the scientific process of learning both on the level of social conditions and on the level of practice. Arguably, it is the most significant problem of the social sciences. Critical theory incorporates Inequality & capitalism.

Historical Materialism

Central to Marx’s thought is his theory of historical materialism, which argued that human societies and their cultural institutions (like religion, law, morality, etc.) were the outgrowth of collective economic activity.

Marx’s theory was heavily influenced by Hegel’s dialectical method.

He disagreed with the notion that abstract ideas were the engine. Rather, Marx turned Hegel on his head and argued that it was material, economic forces—or our relationship to the natural, biological, and physical world—that drove the dialectic of change. More specifically, the engine of history rests in the internal contradictions in the system of material production (or, the things we do in order to produce what we need for survival).