Lec 9-Jurisprudence (3rdsem)

MARXIST APPROACH TO LAW
By:
NEELAM KUMARI
Assistant Professor (Guest)- Law
Patna Law College, PU, Patna
 Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, journalist, economist, historian,
sociologist, political theorist and social revolutionary.
 He was born on 5th May 1881. He was oldest of his nine siblings.
 Heinrich Marx was his father, who was practicing lawyer and Henriette Press
burg was his mother and both were Jewish.
 In 1816 his father converted from Jewish to Lutheranism due to contemporary laws
which bars Jews from higher society and when Karl Marx was of only 6 years was
baptized in the same church but afterward he became atheist.
 He studied Law and Philosophy from University of Berlin and completed his Ph.D. in
1841.
 In 1842, he became a paper editor after accomplishing and receiving his degrees.
 Marx became stateless and lived in exile with his wife and children in London due
to his Political Publications.
 In London, he met with Friedrich Engels. He was his new neighbour.
 In 1848 one of Marx and his fellow friend Friedrich Engels work Pamphlet “The
Communist Manifesto” was published.
 Further the three volume of “Das Kapital” (1867-1883) was published. In his first
volume which was published in 1867, he laid out his vision of Capitalism.
 He was died on 14th March 1883 at London, United Kingdom.
 Marxism is a theory developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the 19th
century.
 Marxism is a method of socio-economic analysis that frames Capitalism through a
paradigm of exploitation. It analyzes class relations and social conflict using
materialistic interpretation of historical development and takes the logical
discussion of ideas and opinions of social transformation.
 In other words, his theories are critics on social, economic and political conditions
which are collectively known as Marxism and holds that human societies develop
through class struggle.
 According to Marx, social development was influenced by material, economic,
social and environmental conditions.
 The Marxist Theory of Law was developed by Karl Marx and his fellow as well as
friend Friedrich Engels.
 It is also known as Communist Theory of Law because Marx developed the
political system known as Communism.
 The word Communism is derived from Latin word ‘Communis’ which means
‘common universal’.
 Communism is a theory or system of social organization in which all property is
owned by the community and each person contribute ruins according to their
ability and needs.
 The ultimate goal is to establishment of communist society.
 The Marxist theory of law seeks to unfold a pattern of evaluation of law focusing on
economic substratum of contents of law.
 In his work “The Communist Manifesto” pointed out that “the history of all hitherto
existing society is nothing but the history of class struggle”.
 He means to said that the development of society is essentially an outcome of class-
struggle between the dominant and the suppressed classes of the society.
 We have to consider 3 Cs which provides a baseline to understand the Marxist Theory
are:
1. Class
2. Conflict
3. Capitalism
 Marx was concerned by the inequalities between the classes in the society.
 He divided the society into two classes, namely:
1. Bourgeoisie:- Those wealthy people who were very small in proportion of

population but owned huge amounts of land and factors they owned the means of
production. These people named as Bourgeoisie.
2. Proletariat:- Proletariat were those poor people who worked for Bourgeoisie as
waged laborer and earned only enough money to survive.
 These inequalities between social classes subsequently changed into the conflict
between the privileged class and the suppressed class of the society.
 Further this class struggle transformed into a clash of interest between the
capitalist and the working class, i.e., ‘haves’ and ‘haves not’ due to the evaluation
and development of trade, commerce and industries.
 His theory attempted to improve the conditions of poor, suppressed and working
class people which became out of order due to the Austin’s Positivism theory which
defined command of sovereign as law regardless of justice or injustice.
 Thus, those people who were dissatisfied by the then conditions of the society
opposed Austin’s Positivism theory and regarded it as shield to cover up injustice
by the feudal lords.
 In result, Marxist theory of law considers law as an instrument which provides
safeguards to the interests of the ruling class and maintain social inequality for its
benefit.
…..TO BE CONTINUE

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MARXIST APPROACH TO LAW

 He divided the society into two classes, namely:

1. Bourgeoisie:- Those wealthy people who were very small in proportion of

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