Baylis,, Smith and

d Owens: T
The Globa
alization of World Pol itics 6e
Re
evision guiide
Ch
hapter 9: Marxist
M
the
eories of internatio
i
nal relatio
ons

Ma
arxs work retains its relevance despite the collapse of Commuunist Party
y rule in
the
e former So
oviet Union
n.

Of particular importance is Marxss analysis of capitalis

sm, which hhas yet to be
betttered.

Ma
arxist analyyses of inte
ernational relations aim
a to reveal the hiddden working
gs of
glo
obal capitalism. These hidden w
workings provide the context in which inte
ernational
eve
ents occurr.

arx himselff provided little in term

ms of a the
eoretical an
nalysis of i nternationa
al
Ma
rela
ations.

Hiss ideas havve been interpreted a

and approp
priated in a number oof different and
con
ntradictoryy ways, res
sulting in a number off competing schools of Marxism
m.

Un
nderlying th
hese differe
ent schoolss are seve
eral commo
on elementts that can be traced
bacck to Marxxs writings.

arxist theorrists have consistentl

c
ly develope
ed an anallysis of thee global aspects of
Ma
inte
ernational capitalisman aspe
ect acknow
wledged by Marx, but not develo
oped in
Ca
apital.

Wo
orld-system
ms theory can
c be see
en as a dire
ect development of LLenins worrk on
imp
perialism and
a the Lattin America
an Depend
dency Scho
ool.

c
d to the ana
alysis of intternationall capitalism
m by
Feminist writers have contributed
foccusing on the
t specific
c role of wo
omen.

Dra
awing on the work off Antonio G
Gramsci for inspiration, writers w
within an IItalian
sch
hool of inte
ernational relations
r
h ave made a considerable contrribution to thinking
abo
out world politics.
p

Oxford Universityy Press, 2014.

Baylis,, Smith and

d Owens: T
The Globa
alization of World Pol itics 6e
Re
evision guiide

Gra
amsci shiftted the foc
cus of Marxxist analysis more tow
wards supeerstructura
al
phe
enomena. In particular, he exp lored the processes
p
by which cconsent forr a
particular soccial and po
olitical syste
em was prroduced an
nd reproduuced throug
gh the
ope
eration of hegemony
h
y. Hegemo ny allows the
t ideas and
a ideologgies of the ruling
stra
atum to be
ecome wide
ely disperssed, and widely
w
accepted, throuughout soc
ciety.

Thinkers succh as Robe

ert W. Cox have attem
mpted to in
nternationaalize Gram
mscis
ought by tra
ansposing several off his key co
oncepts, most
m
notablly hegemony, to the
tho
glo
obal contexxt.

Criitical theoryy has its ro

oots in the work of the Frankfurrt School.

abermas ha
as argued that emancipatory po
otential lies
s in the reaalm of
Ha
com
mmunication, and tha
at radical d
democracy
y is the way
y in which that poten
ntial can
be unlocked.

Andrew Linkllater has developed ccritical theo

ory themes
s to argue in favour of
o the
exp
pansion off the moral boundarie
es of the po
olitical com
mmunity, annd has pointed to
the
e European
n Union as
s an examp
ple of a pos
st-Westpha
alian instituution of
govvernance.

Ne
ew Marxism
m is charac
cterized byy a direct (rre)appropriation of thhe concepts
s and
cattegories de
eveloped by
b Marx.

Ro
osenberg uses
u
Marxs
s ideas to ccriticize realist theories of interrnational re
elations,
and
d globaliza
ation theory
y. He seekks to develop an alterrnative appproach tha
at
und
derstands historical change
c
in world polittics as a re
eflection of transformations in
the
e prevailing
g relations of producttion.

Oxford Universityy Press, 2014.