IMPACT
OF MARXISM ON HISTORIOGRAPHY
The
view of life and of history developed by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels is the
philosophy of dialectical materialism. Dialectical materialism seeks the
essence of historical process in the changing material conditions of human life,
and Marx believes that all change comes through the clash of antagonistic
elements. Thus, to Marx, the basic causative factor in history is at all times
the economic factor.
Influence
of dialectical materialism:
It is
through the dynamics of dialectical materialism that Marxism has influenced
history writing. The central idea of the doctrine is that the knowledge of the productive
activity of man is essential in the understanding of the history of man, and change
in the forces and relations of material production resulted into class
conflicts by means of which any society develops. Therefore, Marx and Engels emphasised
on an inquiry into the mode of production and class analysis to understand the
society and it was their two basic contributions to historical studies.
Marx
theory of surplus value as an instrument of historical analysis and
reconstruction has been extensively employed to explain historical changes. The
base-structure model of historical analysis is a positive contribution to a proper
understanding of the past.
Causal
explanation:
The
materialist conception makes causal explanation in history easier. Marx himself
proposes class struggle as causative factor for historical change. Studies were thus made by some French and
American historians along the line of Marx’s interpretation of history that
contributed greatly to the 20th century historiography.
Emergence
of Economic history as a major discipline:
As Marx
emphasised on the influence of economic development upon the society, there was
a rapid development of economic history. At the beginning of the 20th
century, economic history gained institutional recognition in England, France,
and America and great works of economic history came to be written.
Conception
of history as study of society:
Marx
and Engels had pronounced history to be nothing but the activity of man
pursuing his aims. As a result, historical study gives larger space to the study
of the social phenomenon in its varied manifestations. With Marxism, history
became the study of society in the way in which modern social scientists
understand it.
Role
of the masses:
The
influence of Marxism on modern historiography could be seen in the emphasis it
laid on the role of the masses. Especially in revolutionary epochs, Marx even
gave them a leading role in history and predicted that the social revolution of
the proletariat would the capitalist class and they would take over the means
of production and abolish private property. Historical interest now began to shift its
focus from political history which is made up of the activities of the states
and individual rulers to larger and larger numbers of ordinary people.
Total
History:
In the major historical writings
of Marx and Engels, the different dimensions of life have been taken together
to understand the society. Historical materialism points to the relevance of
the parts and the totality of any phenomenon, since a proper understanding of
their relationship sets the key to the dialectical method. Marxism has provided
an organising principle and is now understood to suggest what has come to be
called ‘total history’.
******rh27032014******
Too hard to understand, think i gonna catch up soon...
ReplyDeleteYour explanation of dialectical materialism is one of the better ones that I have read. Cementing my understanding of the term is the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's explanation of dialectical, which expounds on the process, the exchange of conflicting viewpoints between Plato and his imaginary "interlocutors" and Hegel and his. Marx use of the term seems to twist that a bit, which added to my confusion of his use of the term. However, it is the economic conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat over economic value of labor, to which Marx is referring. Dialectical Materialism represents, in essence,the two sides of an economic conflict, similar like Plato and his interlocutors, extending the economics to a logical conclusion, in Marx's historiography, the end of capitalism.
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