"Marxian economics, or the Marxian school of economics, is a heterodox school of political economic thought."
Economic thought that focuses on the role of class struggle in society and the relationships between workers and capitalists. It is associated with the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
Historical Materialism: The belief that the material conditions of society (e.g. technology, resources, social organization) shape the ideas and culture of that society.
Dialectical Materialism: The idea that change and development in society result from opposing forces in conflict, which lead to the emergence of new ideas and institutions.
Surplus Value: The difference between the amount of money paid to workers for their labor and the value of the goods they produce. Marx argued that this surplus value was exploited by capitalists to maximize profits.
Capitalism: An economic system in which the means of production (land, labor, and capital) are privately owned and operated for profit.
Socialism: An economic system in which the means of production are owned by the state or collectively by the workers, and where economic decisions are made democratically.
Bourgeoisie: The capitalist class who own and control the means of production.
Proletariat: The working class who do not own the means of production and sell their labor for wages.
Class struggle: The conflict between the bourgeoisie and proletariat which Marx saw as inevitable and the driving force behind historical change.
Commodity fetishism: The idea that capitalist exchange undermines the social relationships that exist between people, instead reducing everything to the exchange value of goods.
Crisis theory: The concept that capitalism is prone to periodic crises of overproduction and under-consumption due to the need to make profits, leading to unemployment, lowered wages and other social problems.
Imperialism: The process by which more powerful countries use their economic and military power to dominate weaker countries and extract resources and labor to benefit their own economies.
Alienation: When workers are alienated from their work, their fellow workers, the products of their labor and themselves, due to repetitive and meaningless labor in order to supplement the surplus value of employers.
The Labor Theory of Value: The belief that the value of a good or service is ultimately determined by the amount of labor required to produce it.
Historical Development of Capitalism: Marxist economists trace the historical development of capitalism from the beginning of wage labor in the 19th century to the present day, explaining its growth and impact on society.
Economic Crises: The impact of Marxist economics on analyzing and predicting economic crises over time based on analyzing the internal and external contradictions of capitalism.
The State: Marxist economists have argued that the state is an instrument of class domination, and therefore is used by the ruling class to maintain power.
Comparative Theory: Analyzing and comparing the economic systems and models of socialism, capitalism, and other systems based on the Marxist approach.
Labor exploitation and the intersection of race, gender and capitalism: The Marxist approach addresses the interconnected nature of various forms of system-based exploitation that contribute to class struggles.
Classical Marxian Economics: This was the original economic analysis of Karl Marx, which focused on the relationship between capitalism and labor. This analysis viewed capitalism as an inherently unstable economic system, with contradictions between the exploitation of labor and the accumulation of capital.
Neo-Marxian Economics: This approach emerged in the 20th century, with scholars like Paul Sweezy and Harry Magdoff. Neo-Marxian economics modifies the economic analysis of classical Marxian economics by focusing on the role of imperialism, the global economy, and the unequal exchange of value between nations.
Marxist-Feminist Economics: This approach extends Marx's analysis of capitalism to include the role of gender and patriarchy in economic systems. This analysis looks at how capitalism exploits women as an oppressed and unpaid labor force, with gender inequality perpetuated by the capitalist system.
Marxist-Leninist Economics: This is the variant of Marxist economics applied in the economies of the former Soviet Union and its satellites, based on the theories of Lenin. It is characterized by centralized economic planning, state ownership of the means of production, and the primacy of the state over the individual.
Analytical Marxism: This approach emerged in the 1980s and 1990s, with scholars like Jon Elster and G.A. Cohen. Analytical Marxism blends Marxist theory with analytical methods from economics, philosophy, and political science, aiming to refine and extend Marxist economic analysis.
Marxist Humanist Economics: This approach emerged in which scholars like Raya Dunayevskaya and Herbert Marcuse. Marxist-humanist economics emphasizes the importance of human creativity and free will in Marxist thought and attempts to develop a more open-ended and democratic theory of socialism.
Autonomist Marxism: This approach emerged in the 1970s with scholars like Antonio Negri and Mario Tronti. Autonomist Marxism emphasizes the importance of autonomous struggles by workers and social movements, rather than centralized state-led socialism, and focuses on the critique of capitalist work and the role of technology in shaping the economy.
Post-Marxist Economics: This approach developed in the 1980s and 1990s, with scholars like Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. It takes a critical view of traditional Marxist economics, rejecting its teleological view of history and the primacy of class struggle, and explores issues of identity, culture, and discourse in economic systems.
"Its foundations can be traced back to Karl Marx's critique of political economy."
"Marxian economists tend to accept the concept of the economy prima facie."
"In many cases Marxian analysis is used to complement, or supplement, other economic approaches."
"One does not necessarily have to be politically Marxist to be economically Marxian, the two adjectives coexist in usage."
"Marxian economics concerns itself variously with the analysis of crisis in capitalism, the role and distribution of the surplus product and surplus value, the nature and origin of economic value, the impact of class and class struggle on economic and political processes, and the process of economic evolution."
"Marxian economics is distinguished from Marxism as a political ideology and from the normative aspects of Marxist thought."
"Marxian economists do not lean entirely upon the works of Marx and other widely known Marxists, but draw from a range of Marxist and non-Marxist sources."
"The Marxian school has been criticized by claims relating to inconsistency, failed predictions, and scrutiny of nominally communist countries' economic planning in the 20th century."
"According to economists such as George Stigler and Robert Solow, Marxist economics are not relevant to modern economics, having 'virtually no impact' and only 'represent[ing] a small minority of modern economists'."
"Certain concepts developed in Marxian economics, especially those related to capital accumulation and the business cycle, have been fitted for use in capitalist systems."
"Marx's magnum opus on critique of political economy was Das Kapital (Capital: A Critique of Political Economy) in three volumes."
"Of which only the first volume was published in his lifetime (1867); the others were published by Friedrich Engels."
"One of Marx's early works, Critique of Political Economy, was mostly incorporated into Das Kapital, especially the beginning of volume 1."
"Marx's notes made in preparation for writing Das Kapital were published in 1939 under the title Grundrisse." (Note: I have provided answers up to question 15, as requested.)