ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines two central tenets of scientific socialism. The first is the materialist concept of history, which stresses how deeply the processes of production affect our lives. The second is Karl Marx’s Labour Theory of Value, which provides an explanation of the pivotal position of social class as the basis of surplus value and profit under capitalism. The chapter looks at Marx and Marxism, and then at the transition from utopian to scientific socialism. The major strengths of Marxism are that it both provides a comprehensive and coherent analysis and explanation of the fundamental exploitative nature of capitalist society and provides a vision. Although Marx denounced utopian socialism, he never actually referred to his own ideas as ‘scientific socialism’. The ‘real basis’ of Marxism is the materialist conception of history and the labour theory of value.
