Re-Thinking Marxs History Theory - Essay Example

 In his construction of the theory of history, Carl Marx utilized the idea that social change was central to the construction of history. He insisted that people make their own history and that the same history does not rely on their extra-human agency such as providence or objective spirit. He noted that, “Man makes his own history…but out of such as he finds close at hand.” (Marx 1). He considered history as a process of transformation of humans even while people find themselves in constant opposition with nature.

Therefore, in their process of making history, humans transform nature, which later transforms them. This work is an exploration of two of Marx’s pieces of work. The works includes the18th Brumaire and the German Ideology with view of determining relationships in both similarity and contrast. Both accounts hold one thing; that social classes are responsible for changes in human history. He also notes that conflict of contradiction is the root of historical change, which is the case in both propositions.

In his explanations, there is a striking acceptance that humans are different from other animals because apart from adjusting to their environments, they establish constant relationships with them. According to both accounts, men are in constant bids to transform themselves through production and only do so while associating with others. Such relationships as the ones established between people and their environments become manifest in human relationships. For instance, he notes in the German Ideology that, “…the first fact to establish is the physical relationship of …to nature.

” (Max and Friederich 42). In their bid to fight against nature and their unified labor relations, people from social relations that are in line with the modes of production in their society. However, there is some form of variation between the two theories, which emanates from the idea of self-consciousness. As much as there is an acknowledgement of the effect of social class, The German Ideology considers production as being the main cause of historical transformations. Marx still considers contradictions as the cause of history, but in a different format from the 18th Brumaire.

According to German Ideology, true socialism evolved from the continued conflicts within the capitalist economies such as those of France. At that time, France was more economically advanced than Germany, his home country. He therefore thought that while there were conflicts in the political scene of France was because of their economic progressions and the conflicts accrued. In the same, Marx considered that all forms of conciseness, which is the basis of revolution, lies in the identity of social class.

In the 18th Brumaire, Marx, while sticking to the idea of generation of conflicts within the social classes, embraces the idea that historical transformation relates to self-consciousness. The 18th Brumaire documents the accounts of President Louis Bonaparte the coup that established dictatorship in France. Out of thought, there is an establishment that the new world is one full of struggle, which created revolutionaries. Therefore, the 18th Brumaire would imply that revolution is what makes history and transforms humanity and their relationships.

From this account, there is a realization that the new latter theory invites people to struggle and fight against the odds of their environment to make and transform history. Works CitedMarx, Karl. Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte by Karl Marx. New York: Cosimo, 2008. Print. Marx, Karl, Friedrich Engels, C J. Arthur, and Karl Marx. The German Ideology: With Selections from Parts Two and Three, Together with Marx's "introduction to a Critique of Political Economy". New York: International Publishers, 1970. Print.