ABSTRACT
It is possible, though difficult, to imagine a capitalist world rid of the inequalities of gender, ‘race’, sexuality, and disability. However, without social class exploitation, capitalism could not exist. This is because it is underpinned by and depends for its very existence on the exploitation of one class, the working class, by another, the capitalist class. This chapter begins with a brief exposition of neoliberal capitalism, currently hegemonic in most of the planet, before turning to Marxism as an alternative. In so doing, a biography of Karl Marx is presented, followed by a resume of the trajectory from utopian to scientific socialism (how Marx’s co-writer Friedrich Engels described Marxism). Scientific socialism encompasses both a materialist conception of history, which stresses how deeply the processes of production affect our lives, and Marx’s value theory, that provides an explanation of the pivotal position of social class as the basis of surplus value and profit under capitalism. The unique strengths of Marxism are then considered, as both an analytical framework, and as a harbinger of a non-exploitative future world. Here, some historical challenges to it are briefly discussed. Next, the chapter turns to some common objectives to Marxism and gives a Marxist response. Finally, some principal features of socialism are addressed, concluding with an exposition of an ecosocialism for today, that is ecofeminist, antiracist and fully inclusive.
