Base and superstructure: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:43, 29 October 2022

Revision as of 23:12, 6 December 2022

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{{Short description|Model of society in Marxist theory}}

[[File:Base-superstructure Dialectic.png|thumb|300px|Diagram explaining the relationship between the base and the superstructure in Marxist theory.]]

{{Sociology}}

{{marxism}}

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=== Walter Rodney ===

[[Walter Rodney]], the Guyanese political activist and African historian, discussed the role of [[Karl Marx|Marx's]] superstructure in the context of development cycles and colonialism. Rodney states that while most countries follow a developmental structure that evolves from feudalism to capitalism, China is an exception to this rule and skipped the capitalism step.:<ref>{{cite journal|author-last=Campbell |author-first=Trevor A. |date=1981 |title=The Making of an Organic Intellectual: Walter Rodney (1942-1980) |journal=Latin American Perspectives |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=49–63 |doi=10.1177/0094582X8100800105 |jstor=2633130 |s2cid=145790333}}</ref> <blockquote>"The explanation is very complex, but in general terms the main differences between feudal Europe and feudal China lay in the superstructure – i.e. in the body of beliefs, motivations and sociopolitical institutions which derived from the material base but in turn affected it. In China, religious, educational and bureaucratic qualifications were of utmost importance, and government was in the hands of state officials rather than being run by the landlords on their own feudal estates."<ref>{{cite book|title=How Europe underdeveloped Africa |author-last=Walter |author-first=Rodney |others=Strickland, William, 1937-, Hill, Robert A., 1943-, Harding, Vincent,, Babu, Abdul Rahman Mohamed |isbn=9781574780482 |edition=Revised paperback |___location=Baltimore, Maryland |oclc=773301411}}</ref> </blockquote>By extension this means that the Marxist development cycle is malleable due to cultural superstructures, and is not an inevitable path. Rather the role of the superstructure allows for adaptation of the development cycle, especially in a colonial context.<ref>{{cite book|title=How Europe underdeveloped Africa |author-last=Walter |author-first=Rodney |others=Strickland, William, 1937-, Hill, Robert A., 1943-, Harding, Vincent,, Babu, Abdul Rahman Mohamed |isbn=9781574780482 |edition=Revised paperback |___location=Baltimore, Maryland |oclc=773301411}}</ref>

===Freudo-Marxism and sex-economy===

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* [[Craig Calhoun|Calhoun, Craig]] (ed), ''Dictionary of the Social Sciences'' Oxford University Press (2002)

* [[Stuart Hall (cultural theorist)|Hall, Stuart]]. "Rethinking the Base and Superstructure Metaphor." ''Papers on Class, Hegemony and Party''. Bloomfield, J., ed. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1977.

* [[Chris Harman]]. "[httphttps://www.marxists.org/archive/harman/1986/xx/base-super.html Base and Superstructure]". ''International Socialism'' 2:32, Summer 1986, pp.&nbsp;3–44.

* [[David Harvey (geographer)|Harvey, David]]. ''A Companion to Marx's Capital.'' London: Verso, 2010.

* Larrain, Jorge. ''Marxism and Ideology''. Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey: Humanities Press, 1983.