Marxism

Marxism is a social, political, and economic theory founded on the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It analyzes history and society through historical materialism, arguing that material conditions and class relations drive social change. The mode of production shapes the superstructure, including politics, law, and culture. The central class distinction in capitalist society is between the bourgeoisie, who own the means of production, and the proletariat, who sell their labor. Marx argued that exploitation arises from the extraction of surplus value from labor, leading to class conflict. Under capitalism, crises and alienation emerge as capital accumulates.

In theory, capitalism contains internal contradictions that will provoke its decline and collapse, eventually giving rise to a communist society without class distinctions or the state as a coercive institution. In such a society, production would be organized to satisfy human needs rather than to generate profit.

Marxism has been developed and interpreted in various ways. The revolutionary strand, associated with Lenin and later others, argued for vanguard leadership and the construction of socialist states; others, such as Western Marxists and analytical Marxists, emphasized culture, ideology, or formal analysis of social structures. Numerous movements—Marxist-Leninist, Maoist, Trotskyist, Gramscian, and more—have claimed to apply Marxist theory to politics and revolution.

Critics have challenged Marxism on grounds of economic determinism, political feasibility, and human freedom, while supporters argue it provides critical tools for understanding capitalist crises, inequality, and imperialism. Marxism remains influential in academic disciplines such as sociology, political science, and philosophy, as well as in labor movements and some state structures.