Preface to the first edition
“… socialism, since it has become a science, demands that it be pursued as a science, that is, that it be studied.”
– Friedrich Engels[1]
We are repeatedly told, like some old gramophone record stuck in a groove, that Marxism is either irrelevant, out-dated, or even dead. Yet, if that were true, why are so many books and articles churned out year-on-year attacking Marxism? Clearly the powers that be are rattled or indeed frightened by these ‘dead’ ideas. This is because Marxism is far from dead. Marxism is, in fact, becoming more attractive in this epoch of instability, crisis, war and the ever-widening gulf between the classes. The old mole of revolution, to use Marx’s phrase, is burrowing deep into the foundations of society.
In typical fashion, a recent critic, Niall Ferguson, Professor of Political and Financial History at Oxford, vents his spleen on Marxism by attacking Marx as a “washout” and a “class traitor”, for siding with the working class instead of the bourgeoisie. Our learned Professor goes on to brand Marx as the advocate of a “socialist utopia [which] turned out to be a corrupt tyranny”, presumably a reference to Stalinism, which had nothing in common with Marx or his teachings. Consumed with spite, he then goes on to criticise Marx’s Capital as “long, verbose, abstruse” and ranking as one of the most “unreadable books of all time”.[2]
Another bourgeois critic, Dominic Lawson, recently peddled the old myth (yet again) that:
Karl Marx’s view was that we are all mere creatures of economic determinism. What we do and what we think have nothing to do with personal autonomy. We are simply cogs in a class-war machine.
Such cheap misrepresentations and distortions are pumped out on a daily basis in an attempt to discredit Marxism. However, Marx was never a vulgar economic determinist, where every action is reduced to simple economics. This is a complete distortion. As Engels explained:
According to the materialist view of history, the determining factor in history is, in the final analysis, the production and reproduction of actual life. More than that was never maintained either by Marx or myself. Now if someone distorts this by declaring the economic moment to be the only determining factor, he changes that proposition into a meaningless, abstract, ridiculous piece of jargon.[3]
Take note Mr. Lawson! Engels went on:
The economic situation is the basis, but the various factors of the superstructure – political forms of the class struggle and its consequences, namely constitutions set up by the ruling class after a victorious battle, etc., forms of law and, the reflections of all these real struggles in the minds of the participants, i.e. political, philosophical and legal theories, religious views and the expansion of the same into dogmatic systems – all these factors also have a bearing on the course of the historical struggles of which, in many cases, they largely determine the form. It is in the interaction of all these factors and amidst an unending multitude of fortuities (i.e. of things and events whose intrinsic interconnections are so remote or so incapable of proof that we can regard them as non-existent and ignore them) that the economic trend ultimately asserts itself as something inevitable.[4]
Trotsky also answers this nonsense:
On the question as to how the economic ‘base’ determines the political, juridical, philosophical, artistic and so on ‘superstructure’ there is a rich Marxist literature. The opinion that economics presumably determines directly and immediately the creativeness of a composer or even the verdict of a judge, represents a hoary caricature of Marxism which the bourgeois professordom of all countries has circulated time out of end to mask their intellectual impotence.[5]
However, despite all the distortions and lies of our enemies, even these critics cannot help blurting out the truth once in a while. Professor Ferguson writes:
Even so, Marx’s insights into capitalism can still illuminate. […] Marx got one thing right. [!] Behind the bubbles and busts of the capitalist system there is a class struggle; and that class struggle is the key to modern politics.[6]
This is a bold admission from such a biased source. Normally, such ideas are strenuously denied by all bourgeois apologists. Nevertheless, we should not get carried away, after all, one swallow does not make a summer.
So, what is this set of ideas that frightens the ruling class and its apologists so much? Put simply, Marxism, or Scientific Socialism, is the name given to the body of ideas first worked out by Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) more than 150 years ago. In essence, Marxism is a synthesis of the most advanced ideas at the time: English classical economics, German Hegelian philosophy and French socialism. In their totality, these ideas provide a fully worked-out theoretical basis for the struggle of the working class to attain a higher form of human society – socialism.
The component parts of Marxism fall under three main headings, corresponding broadly to philosophy, social history and economics – dialectical materialism, historical materialism and Marxist economics. These are the famous The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism of which Lenin wrote.
The present book comprises the ‘Education for Socialists’ series and other material which was launched a few years ago to promote the study of Marxism. They were originally intended to assist the student of Marxism by providing a basic introduction to the subject matter, with suitable Marxist texts, that we hoped would whet the appetite for further reading and study. This material, aimed at the first-time reader, is suitable for individual study or as the basis of Marxist discussion groups.
While these introductory articles are illuminating and provide a good start to the subject, there is no substitute for proceeding from there to tackle the classic works of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Trotsky, Plekhanov and others. The newer reader should not be put off by the sometimes difficult and abstract ideas expressed in these writings. Whatever the initial difficulty, a certain perseverance will pay just rewards. Marxism is a science with its own terminology, and therefore makes heavy demands upon the beginner. However, every serious person knows that nothing is worthwhile if attained without a degree of struggle and sacrifice, and that applies to Marxism as well.
The theories of Marxism provide the thinking worker and student with a comprehensive understanding of the world in which we live. It is the duty of those who wish to learn to conquer for themselves the main theories of Marx and Engels, as an essential prerequisite for the overthrow of capitalism and the establishment of a socialist society.
We recognise that there are real obstacles in the path of ordinary workers in their struggle to understand theory. Yet it was for the working class that Marx and Engels wrote, and not for ‘clever’ academics. As Engels explained:
If only these gentry knew how Marx used to regard even his best stuff as not nearly good enough for the workers, how he thought it a crime to offer the workers anything less than the very best![7]
‘Every beginning is difficult’ no matter what science we are talking about. To the class-conscious worker and the student who is prepared to persevere, one promise can be made: once the initial effort is made to come to grips with unfamiliar and new ideas, the theories of Marxism will be found to be basically straight-forward and simple. It will open your eyes to a new world, where the irrational workings of class society become clear. Once the basic concepts of Marxism are conquered, it introduces us to a whole new outlook on politics, the class struggle, and, in fact, every aspect of life.
Above all, Marxism is a guide to action. It prepares us theoretically for the struggle for a new society. These ideas will become the property of millions as the scientific programme of socialism connects with the revolutionary movement of the masses. In the famous words of Marx: “Philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it.”[8]
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Preface to the third edition
As the entire capitalist system plunges ever-deeper into crisis, the ideas of Marxism are being sought after by increasingly wider layers of the population. However, no body of ideas has faced such relentless slander and distortion, both by its enemies and even many of its alleged proponents. The purpose of this book is to uncover and explain the real ideas of Marxism.
Since it was first published in 2007, What is Marxism? has consistently been one of our most popular books. While it is aimed primarily at newcomers, it has proven to be well received by those who have encountered Marxist theory before, often in a mangled form.
For this new edition, we have added a new ‘What is Dialectical Materialism’ article, and further developed ‘What is Historical Materialism’. We have also updated the questions at the end of each section, and revised the suggested reading lists.
Endnotes
[1] Engels, ‘Supplement to the Preface of 1870 for The Peasant War in Germany’, Marx and Engels Collected Works (hereafter referred to as MECW), Vol. 23, p. 631.
[2] Ferguson, Niall, ‘Full Marx’, Financial Times, 16 August 2002.
[3] Engels, ‘To Joseph Bloch’, 21-22 September 1890, MECW, Vol. 49, p. 34, emphasis in original.
[4] Ibid., pp. 34-5.
[5] Trotsky, In Defence of Marxism, pp. 156-7.
[6] Ferguson, Niall, ‘Full Marx’, Financial Times, 16 August 2002.
[7] Engels, ‘To Conrad Schmidt’, 5 August 1890, MECW, Vol. 49, p. 9.
[8] Marx, Theses on Feuerbach, MECW, Vol. 5, p. 5, emphasis in original.