Marxist sociology

The Marxist sociology is a form of sociology, which is committed to the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in their theoretical orientation. In the Soviet Union and the German Democratic Republic sociology was formally operated as a Marxist or Marxist- Leninist sociology and was committed to the programs of the prevailing Communist parties. In the West, however, the term no clear circumscribable school called " Marxist sociology ", but refers rather to the academic and political self- understanding of their representatives.

Origins

Marx developed his materialist dialectics in the early 1840s, the methodological and epistemological foundations of Marxist sociology. He later developed along with Friedrich Engels historical materialism These basics. At the beginning of the 20th century, various thinkers have developed new concepts of historical materialism, which should be the changed political problems into account. For the formation of the Marxist- Leninist Sociology in Eastern Europe in this respect especially Lenin and Josef Stalin relevant, while some Marxist sociologists in Western Europe, authors such as Leon Trotsky or Rosa Luxembourg felt obliged despite criticism of the communist parties ( for example in France or the U.S. ). The confrontation with the official line of the Communist parties had a significant impact on conflicts within the Marxist sociology.

Marxist sociology in the Federal Republic of Germany

Especially prominent representatives of Marxism in West Germany were the members of the Frankfurt School. The best known representatives of this school, Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno, however, not simply referred to their concerns as critical theory and as a pure Marxism. They relate Although much of Karl Marx and down with him special emphasis on ideology critique, however, the demarcation of dogmatic Marxism -Leninism was important for them. Accordingly, such sociologists have described as Marxist in West Germany, who included outside of the Frankfurt School fundamental aspects of Karl Marx's work in their work.