Marxism and Culture - Essay Example

The Culture of Marxism Culture, political ideology, economics, and social structures co-mingle and become the representation of who we are and form our social identity. While these facets can be examined as stand alone components to some degree, they are all interdependent and part of a larger social context. When we speak about culture, we see it in terms of the culture that has been created by our politics, as well as the politics that have been created as a result of our culture. Separating economics from ideology or culture is like trying to take the color out of the kool-aid.

Marxism is not a culture, but has necessarily created a culture that Marxism depends on to self-replicate across time and throughout the class stratifications. Classical Marxism was a strict theory of labor and economics and was for all practical purposes devoid of any culture. Structural Marxism began to see the interactions of social classes and their impact on production. The media portrays the classes that are necessary for an orderly economic system and they become a part of our culture.

Economic status, occupation, and social position all become cultural values. According to Butler, "Marx himself argued that pre-capitalist economic formations could not be fully extricated from the cultural and symbolic worlds in which they were embedded" (42). Values, norms, history, and heritage all become the ingredients of a culture that provides a willing and capable workforce for the ruling class. The culture, social structure, intellectual debate, and economic system cannot be divorced or stand independently.

The world is made up of social groups that work either independently or interdependently to create their own culture. Groups may be formed and maintained on the basis of family, economics, geography, education, or occupation. Closely related to these social groups is the functional quality that they contribute to society's ability to produce and sustain. Children form groups at schools where they learn not only a means of production, but also culture (Althusser 59). In this regard they are very closely tied to employment, which is the dominant activity in most peoples' lives.

Families will have a given cultural capital that will limit upward mobility and replicate the culture across generations. While classical Marxism saw capitalism as a stark and bleak method of production, the class system that Marxism defines is what gives society its culture. In the course title "Marxism and Culture" the 'and' is an indication of the inseparable nature of Marxism and culture. Marxism needs a culture to support its means of production and is an integral part of it. The 'and' is much like the 'and ' in 'body and soul', not as used in 'salt and pepper'.

Marxism and culture occupy the same time and the same place. In conclusion, Marxism would cease to exist without a culture to provide the necessary education and the orderly pathways into the workforce. While it is often characterized as a permissive culture, these are simply social reactions to a system that uses the workers and in doing so creates a protest against the social stratification. Marxism depends on a culture of an orderly educational system, media control, and a consumer class, which are inseparable from the theory.

The remnants of protest and revolution that are often characterized as the Marxist culture are merely fluid reactions to the exploitation of the working class by the ruling elite. Works CitedAlthusser, Louis. Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays. New York: Monthly Review Press, 2002.Butler, Judith. "Merely Cultural." Bryn Mawr. 20 Dec. 2008 .