Marxist+Theory

Title:Marxist Theory Associated with Teacher Unionism Submitted by: Darrin Porcher

//Alternate Names//:

Central Tenets: In 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles collaborated to create the //Das Kapital,// which depicted the struggles between bourgeoisie and proletarians within society. Marxism was a political philosophy and economic world view based upon a materialist interpretation of history and social change. Marxism gave birth to unionization based on the fears associated with bargaining between management and the labor force. Education is a part of social change. Therefore, the struggles of society were absorbed by educators as well. Marxism stated that the conflict between labor and management is constant and can only amount to revolution. Marxism was unable to forecast the future and could not predict the later acceptance of collective bargaining. Collective bargaining afforded management and labor equal protections. Therefore, the aspect of revolution diminished within the workforce. In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed and the new Russian state ceased to identify itself with Marxism. Other nations around the world followed suit. Since then, radical Marxism or Communism has generally ceased to be a prominent political force in global politics, and has largely been replaced by more moderate versions of democratic socialism or, more commonly, by neoliberal capitalism. Marxism has also had to engage with the rise in the environmental movement. A merging of Marxism, socialism, ecology and environmentalism has been achieved, and is often referred to as Eco-socialism. Traditionally, teachers fear exploitation by management and the executive leadership within the field of education. The executive branch of education fears a stagnation of production by the faculty. Teachers adopted unionism and collective bargaining because they were experiencing economic stress which causes schools to cut costs, and teachers wanted to prevent layoffs. Unionization within the field of education is forever expanding, and the teachers’ unions have become a powerful and influential entity in education, dedicated to collective bargaining, rather than to revolution to achieve their goals for the teacher members.

References:

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