ULUSLARARASI İLİŞKİLER TEORİLERİ I

Dialectics is a term used to describe a method of philosophical argument that involves some sort of contradictory process between opposing sides.

Surplus value is the difference between the amount of exchange and value created by workers. The capitalist buys the worker’s labor force, as any other commodity. The capitalists’ control over this surplus value is the
basis of their power and wealth over the workers.

False consciousness, in Marxist philosophy, refers to the notion that members of the proletariat unwittingly misperceive their real position in society and systematically misunderstand their true interests within the social relations of production under capitalism. False consciousness, to Marx, denotes people’s inability to recognize inequality, oppression, and exploitation in a capitalist society.

Hobson (1858-1940) was an English economist influenced by liberal thinkers, such as John Stuart Mill and Herbert Spencer. In his classic study, Imperialism: A Study, first published in 1902, he attempts to explain the rise of new imperialism in the 1870s and 1880s when Great Britain, together with the other European powers, engaged in a scramble for colonies.

Gramsci developed the concept of “cultural hegemony”, through which capitalism perpetuates itself. Cultural hegemony, in a generic sense, is the dominant ideology of the society that reflects the beliefs and interests of the ruling class. More specifically, the term refers to the ability of a group of people to hold power over social institutions, and thus, to strongly influence the values, norms, and worldview of the rest of society.

The permanent members of the United Nations Security Council are the five states that the United Nations Charter grants a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. These are the United States, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, France and People’s Republic of China. Italy is not a permanent member.

The Group of Eight (G8) refers to the group of eight highly industrialized nations, which include the United States, Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, and Russia.

There are actually three sub-theories of Marxism, the theory of alienation, the labor theory of value, and the materialist conception of history. All these must be understood within the context of capitalist infrastructure.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced in a country in a period (usually yearly) of time.

Dialectics is a term used to describe a method of philosophical argument that involves some sort of contradictory process between opposing sides.

The critical question shaping in almost all aspects of Marxist theory is how the ways in which people earn their living affect their bodies, minds, and daily lives.

Marx believes that the system of economic production determines the institutional and ideological structure of society. Whoever controls the economic system also controls the political system. Each period of history contains clashing forces, or a dialectic, from which a new order emerges. In ancient times, there were patricians, free people and slaves; in the Middle Ages, there were feudal lords and vassals; and in the capitalist era, there are capitalists and workers. So for Marx, all history, indeed, is the history of class struggle between a ruling group and an opposing one from which a new economic, political, and social system emerges. Currently, capitalism is the main bondage from which people strive to be liberated and this will be occurring through the laws of historical social change.

In order to realize the aim of higher wages and better working conditions, workers need a new distribution of power. 

These two major classes constantly try to promote their interests at the expense of the other and their goals are truly incompatible.  In this battle, the capitalists are aided by their wealth, their control of the state, and their domination over other institutions, such as schools, media, and religious institutions that guide people’s thinking. On the workers’ side are their sheer numbers, trade unions, working class political parties, if exists, and the contradictions within capitalism that make current conditions increasingly irrational.

Hobson (1858-1940) was an English economist influenced by liberal thinkers, such as John Stuart Mill and Herbert Spencer.

In his classic study, Imperialism: A Study, first published in 1902, he attempts to explain the rise of new imperialism in the 1870s and 1880s when Great Britain, together with the other European powers, engaged in a scramble for colonies. This move was different from the previous British pattern where it exercised power through free trade and political control.

Neo-Marxism is not actually a theory on its own. Neo-Marxists consider themselves working within the Marxist intellectual tradition, but seek to broaden or revise Marxist thought to address topics not specifically addressed by Marx.

Dialectics is a term used to describe a method of philosophical argument that involves some sort of contradictory process between opposing sides. 

False consciousness, in Marxist philosophy, refers to the notion that members of the proletariat unwittingly misperceive their real position in society and systematically misunderstand their true interests within the social relations of production under capitalism.

Isolationism, in a generic sense, refers to a national policy of avoiding political or economic entanglements with other countries.

Economic planning is the process by which key economic decisions are either directly made or heavily influenced by central governments.

Empirical testing is a way of gaining knowledge through direct and indirect observation or experience.

Many neo-Marxists accuse the West that represents the world capitalist system of keeping underdeveloped countries in a position of subordination and dependence through limiting investments and bribing local elites. In other words, it is said that the neo-Marxists that blame the Western countries for the underdevelopment of less developed countries display a rather reductionist approach, oversimplifying the situation. Sometimes, this approach may not even be true.

Pelter T. Bauer states, for example, that there had been almost no economic growth in Africa before the Europeans arrived there. Indeed, trade and economic activities in Africa, especially in West Africa, vividly increased in conjunction with the commercial activities of the Europeans. Bauer further argues that the states that were not subject to Western colonialism, such as Liberia and Ethiopia, are currently more backward than those of their neighbors colonized. Moreover, the relationship between Western countries and colonial people is not just one-sidedly exploitative. On the contrary, through Western domination, colonial people began to experience literacy, education, science, even hygiene and sanitary methods.

These examples in the question are given to criticise the view of neo-marxism that blaming the West for badness only in not true.

As an extension of the Marxist thought, the North-South division is argued to be a serious problem in the world agenda as well. The North-South division refers to the structural inequalities in the international economy. The North is roughly composed of developed northern hemisphere countries, while the South is comprised of underdeveloped or developing Third World countries. This categorization ignores the geographic position of some countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, taking placing in the South, yet being labeled as part of the North.

The North-South division is criticized for splitting the world and segregating people along economic lines.

Marx and Engels predicted the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism by workers and the eventual attainment of a classless society (Mingst and Arreguin, 2011: 81).

Classic Marxist theory is essentially based on the evolution of capitalism and class conflict in the Western world. It is argued that the capitalism of 19th century in Europe emerged out of the earlier feudal system. In the capitalist system, private interests control labor and market exchanges.