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Theoretical Works

The Communist Manifesto

Das Kapital

Sociology and Anthropology

Alienation

Bourgeoisie

Class consciousness

Commodity fetishism

Communism

Cultural hegemony

Exploitation

Human nature

Ideology

Proletariat

Reification

Relations of production

Socialism

Economics

Marxian economics

Commodity

Labour power

Law of value

Means of production

Mode of production

Productive forces

Surplus labour

Surplus value

Transformation problem

Wage labour

History

Anarchism and Marxism

Capitalist mode of production

Class struggle

Dictatorship of the proletariat

Primitive accumulation of capital

Proletarian revolution

Proletarian internationalism

World Revolution

Philosophy

Marxist philosophy

Historical materialism

Dialectical materialism

Analytical Marxism

Marxist autonomism

Marxist feminism

Marxist humanism

Structural Marxism

Western Marxism

Young Marx

Important Marxists

Karl Marx

Friedrich Engels

Karl Kautsky

Georgi Plekhanov

Vladimir Lenin

Leon Trotsky

Rosa Luxemburg

Mao Zedong

Georg Lukács

Antonio Gramsci

Karl Korsch

Frankfurt School

Louis Althusser

Che Guevara

Criticisms

Criticisms of Marxism

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Guevarism is a theory of communist revolution and a military strategy of guerrilla warfare associated with Ernesto "Che" Guevara, one of the leading figures of the Cuban Revolution. During the Cold War, the United States and Soviet Union clashed in a series of proxy wars, especially in the developing nations of the Third World, including many decolonization struggles. After the 1959 triumph of the Cuban insurrection led by a militant "foco" under Fidel Castro, his Argentina-born, cosmopolitan and Marxist-Leninist colleague Guevara parlayed his ideology and expericences into a model for emulation (and at times, direct military intervention) around the globe. While exporting one such "focalist" revolution to Bolivia, leading an armed vanguard party there in October 1967, Guevara was captured and executed, becoming a martyr to both the World Communist Movement and the New Left. His ideology promotes exporting revolution to countries where any leader with support of the United States that had fallen out of favor with its citizens. Guevara talks about how constant guerrilla warfare taking place in non-urban areas can overcome leaders. He introduces three points that are representative of his ideology as a whole: that the people can win with proper organization against a nation's army; that the conditions that make a revolution possible can be put in place by the popular forces; and that the popular forces always have an advantage in a non urban setting.^[1] Marxismtakes its name from the praxis — the synthesis of philosophy and political action — of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ... Image File history File links Karl_Marx. ... The Manifesto of the Communist Party (German: ), usually referred to as The Communist Manifesto, was first published on February 21, 1848, and is one of the worlds most influential political tracts. ... Das Kapital (Capital, in the English translation) is a very lengthy treatise on political economy written by Karl Marx in German. ... Marxs theory of alienation (Entfremdung in German), as expressed in the writings of young Karl Marx, refers to the separation of things that naturally belong together, or to antagonism between things that are properly in harmony. ... Bourgeoisie (RP [], GA []) is a classification used in analysing human societies to describe a social class of people who are in the upper or merchant class, whose status or power comes from employment, education, and wealth as opposed to aristocratic origin. ... Class consciousness is a category of Marxist theory, referring to the self-awareness of a social class, its capacity to act in its own rational interests, or measuring the extent to which an individual is conscious of the historical tasks their class (or class allegiance) sets for them. ... In Marxist theory, commodity fetishism is an inauthentic state of social relations, said to arise in complex capitalist market systems, where social relationships are confused with their medium, the commodity. ... Communism is an ideology that seeks to establish a classless, stateless social organization based on common ownership of the means of production. ... Cultural hegemony is a concept coined by Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci. ... The term exploitation may carry two distinct meanings: The act of utilizing something for any purpose. ... Marxs theory of human nature occupies an important place in his critique of capitalism, his conception of communism, and his materialist conception of history. Marx has sometimes been held to deny the existence of any human nature, though this view is now generally accepted to be mistaken. ... An ideology is an organized collection of ideas. ... The proletariat (from Latin proles, offspring) is a term used to identify a lower social class; a member of such a class is proletarian. ... Reification (German: Verdinglichung, literally: ver-, over + ding: thing + -lichung: as english, -ify) is the consideration of an abstraction or an object as if it had human or living existence and abilities; at the same time it implies the thingification of social relations. ... Relations of production (German: Produktionsverhaltnisse) is a concept frequently used by Karl Marx in his theory of historical materialism and in Das Kapital. ... Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to social control. ... Note: Marxian is not restricted to Marxian economics, as it includes those inspired by Marxs works who do not identify with Marxism as a political ideology. ... Note: Marxian is not restricted to Marxian economics, as it includes those inspired by Marxs works who do not identify with Marxism as a political ideology. ... Commodity is a term that refers to goods that are mined or agriculturally produced. ... Labor power (in German: Arbeitskraft, or labor force) is a crucial concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy. ... The law of value is a concept in Karl Marxs critique of political economy. ... Means of production (abbreviated MoP; German: Produktionsmittel), also called means of labour are the materials, tools and other instruments used by workers to make products. ... In the writings of Karl Marx and the Marxist theory of historical materialism, a mode of production (in German: Produktionsweise, meaning the way of producing) is a specific combination of: productive forces: these include human labor-power, tools, equipment, buildings and technologies, materials, and improved land social and technical relations... For the specific theoretical justifications behind the Great Leap Forward and the Five Year Plans, see Theory of Productive Forces. ... Surplus labour is a concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy. ... Surplus value, according to Marxism, is unpaid labour that is extracted from the worker by the capitalist, and serves as the basis for capitalist accumulation. ... In Karl Marxs economics the transformation problem is the problem of finding a general rule to transform the values of commodities (based on labour according to his labour theory of value) into the competitive prices of the marketplace. ... Wage labour is the socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer in which the worker sells their labour under a contract (employment), and the employer buys it, often in a labour market. ... Even though anarchist communism and Marxism are two very different political philosophies, there is some similarity between the methodology and ideology of some anarchists and some Marxists, and the history of the two have often been intertwined. ... The capitalist mode of production is a concept in Karl Marx’s critique of political economy. ... Class struggle is class conflict looked at from a Marxist, libertarian socialist, or anarchist perspective. ... The dictatorship of the proletariat is a term employed by Karl Marx in his 1875 Critique of the Gotha Program that refers to a transition period between capitalist and communist society in which the state can be nothing but the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat. The term refers to a... Primitive accumulation of capital is a concept introduced by Karl Marx in part 8 of the first volume of Das Kapital (in German: ursprungliche Akkumulation, literally original accumulation or primeval accumulation). Its purpose is to help explain how the capitalist mode of production can come into being. ... A communist revolution is a social revolution inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism, normally with socialism (public ownership over the means of production) as an intermediate stage. ... International Socialism redirects here. ... World revolution is a Marxist concept of a violent overthrow of capitalism that would take place in all countries, although not necessarily simultaneously. ... See also Marxian economics Marxist philosophy or Marxist theory designs work in philosophy which is strongly influenced by Karl Marxs materialist approach to theory or which is written by Marxists. ... See also Marxian economics Marxist philosophy or Marxist theory designs work in philosophy which is strongly influenced by Karl Marxs materialist approach to theory or which is written by Marxists. ... Historical materialism is the methodological approach to the study of society, economics and history which was first articulated by Karl Marx (1818-1883), although Marx himself never used the term. ... It has been suggested that Marxist philosophy of nature be merged into this article or section. ... Analytical Marxism refers to a style of thinking about Marxism that was prominent amongst English-speaking philosophers and social scientists during the 1980s. ... For other meanings of autonomism, see autonomism (disambiguation) page Raised fist, stenciled protest symbol of Autonome at the Ernst-Kirchweger-Haus in Vienna, Austria Autonomism refers to a set of left-wing political and social movements and theories close to the socialist movement. ... Marxist feminism is a sub-type of feminist theory which focuses on the dismantling of capitalism as a way to liberate women. ... The term Marxist humanism has as its foundation Marxs conception of the alienation of the labourer as he advances it in his Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844--an alienation that is born of a capitalist system in which the worker no longer functions as (what Marx terms) a... Structural Marxism was an approach to Marxist philosophy primarily associated with the work of the French philosopher Louis Althusser, although the thought of Lucien Goldmann is sometimes seen as a precursor. ... Western Marxism is a term used to describe a wide variety of Marxist theoreticians based in Western and Central Europe (and more recently North America), in contrast with philosophy in the Soviet Union. ... ‘Young Marx’ is one half of the concept in Marxology that Karl Marx’s intellectual development can be broken into two board categories, the other being ‘Mature Marx’. There is disagreement though as to when Marx thought began to mature, Lenin claimed Marxs first mature work as “The Poverty... Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818, Trier, Germany – March 14, 1883, London) was a German philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary. ... Friedrich Engels (November 28, 1820, Wuppertal – August 5, 1895, London), a 19th-century German political philosopher, developed communist theory alongside his better-known collaborator, Karl Marx, co-authoring The Communist Manifesto (1848). ... Karl Kautsky (October 18, 1854 - October 17, 1938) was a leading theoretician of social democracy. ... G. V. Plekhanov Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov (Георгий Валентинович Плеханов) (December 11, 1856 – May 30, 1918; Old Style: November 29, 1856 – May 17, 1918) was a Russian revolutionary and a Marxist theoretician. ... “Lenin” redirects here. ...   (Russian: Лев Давидович Троцкий, Lev Davidovich Trotsky, also transliterated Leo, Lev, Trotskii, Trotski, Trotskij, Trockij and Trotzky) (November 7 [O.S. October 26] 1879 – August 21, 1940), born Lev Davidovich Bronstein (Лев Давидович Бронштейн), was a Ukrainian-born Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist. ... Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg (March 5, 1870 or 1871 – January 15, 1919, in Polish Róża Luksemburg) was a Jewish Polish-born Marxist political theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary. ... “Mao” redirects here. ... Georg Lukács (April 13, 1885 – June 4, 1971) was a Hungarian Marxist philosopher and literary critic in the tradition of Western Marxism. ... Antonio Gramsci (IPA: ) (January 22, 1891 – April 27, 1937) was an Italian writer, politician and political theorist. ... Karl Korsch (August 15, 1886 - October 21, 1961) was a German Marxist theorist. ... Max Horkheimer (front left), Theodor Adorno (front right), and Jürgen Habermas in the background, right, in 1965 at Heidelberg The Frankfurt School is a school of neo-Marxist social theory (which is more akin to anarchism than communism), social research, and philosophy. ... Louis Pierre Althusser (Pronunciation: altuË¡seʁ) (October 16, 1918 - October 23, 1990) was a Marxist philosopher. ... Ernesto Guevara de la Serna (June 14,[1] 1928 – October 9, 1967), commonly known as Che Guevara or El Che, was an Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary, medic, political figure, and leader of Cuban and internationalist guerrillas. ... This article is on criticisms of Marxism, a branch of socialism. ... It has been suggested that Proletarian revolution be merged into this article or section. ... Military stratagem in the Battle of Waterloo. ... Look up guerrilla in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Che Guevara Dr. Ernesto Rafael Guevara de la Serna ( June 14, 1928¹ – October 9, 1967), commonly known as Che Guevara, was an Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary and Cuban guerrilla leader. ... The Cuban Revolution refers to the revolution that led to the overthrow of Fulgenchio Batista’s dictatorial government on January 1, 1959 by the 26th of July Movement and other revolutionary elements in the country. ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... A proxy war is a war where two powers use third parties as a supplement or a substitute for fighting each other directly. ... A developing country is a country with low average income compared to the world average. ... For the Jamaican reggae band, see Third World (band). ... Colonialism in 1945 Decolonization refers to the achievement of independence by the various Western colonies and protectorates in Asia and Africa following World War II. This conforms with an intellectual movement known as Post-Colonialism. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Insurrection could refer to: * in a general sense, it means Rebellion * it is also a title of a Star Trek film, see Star Trek: Insurrection ... The foco theory of communist revolution by way of guerrilla warfare, also known as focalism (Spanish language: foquismo), was developed by Ernesto Che Guevara, based upon his experiences surrounding Fidel Castros 1959 victory in the Cuban Revolution. ... Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (born on August 13, 1926) is the current President of Cuba but on indefinite medical hiatus. ... Look up cosmopolitan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Vladimir Lenin in 1920 Leninism is a political and economic theory which builds upon Marxism; it is a branch of Marxism (and it has been the dominant branch of Marxism in the world since the 1920s). ... An ideology is an organized collection of ideas. ... A vanguard party is a political party or grassroot organization at the forefront of a mass action, movement, or revolution. ... Look up October in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The New Left is a term used in different countries to describe left-wing movements that occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. ...

Guevara had a particularly keen interest in guerrilla warfare, with a dedication to foco techniques, also known as "focalism" (or "foquismo" in Spanish): vanguardism by small armed units, frequently in place of established communist parties, initially launching attacks from rural areas to mobilize unrest into a popular front against a sitting regime. Despite differences in approach--emphasizing guerrilla leadership and aduacious raids that engender general uprising, rather than consolidating political power in military strongholds before expanding to new ones--Che Guevara took great inspiration from the Maoist notion of "protracted people's war" and sympathized with Mao's People's Republic of China in the Sino-Soviet split. This controversy may partly explain his departure from Castro's pro-Soviet Cuba in the mid-1960s. Guevara also drew direct parallels with his contemporary comunist comrades in the Viet Cong, exhorting a multi-front guerrilla strategy to create "two, three, many Vietnams." In the context of revolutionary struggle, vanguardism is a strategy whereby an organization (usually a vanguard party) attempts to place itself at the center of the movement, and steer it in a direction consistent with its ideology. ... A Communist party is a party which promotes Communism. ... Popular Fronts comprise broad coalitions of political and other groups, often made up of oppositioners or left wingers, and often united against particularly stringent circumstances. ... Maoism or Mao Zedong Thought (Chinese: 毛澤東思想, pinyin: Máo Zédōng Sīxiǎng), also called Marxism-Leninism–Mao Zedong Thought or Marxism-Leninism-Maoism (MLM), is a variant of communism derived from the teachings of Mao Zedong (1893&#8211... Peoples war (also called protracted peoples war) is a military strategy invented by Mao Zedong. ... Mao could refer to: Mao Zedong, (Mao Tse-Tung in Wade-Giles) leader of the Communist Party of China from 1935 to 1976. ... The Sino-Soviet split was a major diplomatic conflict between the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), beginning in the late 1950s, reaching a peak in 1969 and continuing in various ways until the late 1980s. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... Communism is a term that can refer to one of several things: a social and economic system, an ideology which supports that system, or a political movement that wishes to implement that system. ... A Viet Cong soldier, heavily guarded, awaits interrogation following capture in the attacks on Saigon during the festive Tet holiday period of 1968. ...

In Guevara's final years, after leaving Cuba, he advised communist paramilitary movements in Africa and Latin America, including a young Laurent Kabila, future ruler of Zaire/DR Congo. Finally, while leading a small foco band of guerrilla cadres in Bolivia, Che Guevara was captured and killed. His death, and the short-term failure of his Guevarist tactics, may have interrupted the component guerrilla wars within the larger Cold War for a time, and even temporarily discouraged Soviet and Cuban sponsorship for foquismo. The emerging communist movements and other fellow traveler radicalism of the time, however, either switched to urban guerrilla warfare before the end of the 1960s, and/or soon revived the rural-based strategies of both Maoism and Guevarism, tendencies that escalated worldwide throughout the 1970s, by and large with the support from the communist states and the Soviet empire in general and Cuba's Castro regime in particular. A paramilitary organization is a group of civilians trained and organized in a military fashion. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... Note: if you came to this web page after seeing it in a SPAM email, please be advised that (a) we have nothing to do with that spam and (b) the person who sent you the message is a criminal who is trying to steal your money. ... Look up cadre in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A fellow traveller is a person who sympathizes with the beliefs of a particular organization, but does not belong to that organization. ... Urban guerrilla refers to someone who fights a government using unconventional warfare in an urban environment. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... This article is about one-party states ruled by Communist Parties. ... Map showing states that had communist governments during the Cold War in bright red, and other states the USSR believed to be moving toward socialism in dark red Soviet Empire was a controversial, politically charged and pejorative term used to critically describe the actions and nature of the Soviet Union. ...

Another proponent of Guevarism was the French intellectual Régis Debray, who could be seen as attempting to establish a coherent, unitary theoretical framework on these grounds. Debray since broke with this. Jules Régis Debray is a French intellectual, journalist, government official and professor. ...

Criticism

It was criticized from a revolutionary anarchist perspective by Abraham Guillen, one of the leader tacticians of urban guerrilla warfare in Uruguay and Brazil. Guillen claimed that cities are a better ground for the guerrilla than the countryside. Guillen was a veteran of the Spanish Civil War). He criticized Guevarist movements of national liberation (like the Uruguayan Tupamaros, one of the many groups that he helped as a military advisor) for trying to impose a dictatorship instead of self-management. Urban guerrilla refers to someone who fights a government using unconventional warfare in an urban environment. ... Combatants Spanish Republic With the support of: Soviet Union[1] Nationalist Spain With the support of: Italy Germany Commanders Manuel Azaña Francisco Largo Caballero Juan Negrín Francisco Franco Gonzalo Queipo de Llano Emilio Mola José Sanjurjo Casualties 500,000[2] The Spanish Civil War (Spanish: Guerra Civil Espa... Tupamaros, also known as the MLN (Movimiento de Liberación Nacional or National Liberation Army), was an urban guerrilla organization in Uruguay in the 1960s and 1970s. ... Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by a dictator. ...

See also

• Cold War
• Cuban Revolution
• Foco
• Fidel Castro
• Guerrilla warfare
• Protracted people's war
• Urban guerrilla warfare
• Wars of national liberation

For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... The Cuban Revolution refers to the revolution that led to the overthrow of Fulgenchio Batista’s dictatorial government on January 1, 1959 by the 26th of July Movement and other revolutionary elements in the country. ... The foco theory of communist revolution by way of guerrilla warfare, also known as focalism (Spanish language: foquismo), was developed by Ernesto Che Guevara, based upon his experiences surrounding Fidel Castros 1959 victory in the Cuban Revolution. ... Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (born on August 13, 1926) is the current President of Cuba but on indefinite medical hiatus. ... Look up guerrilla in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Peoples war (also called protracted peoples war) is a military strategy invented by Mao Zedong. ... Urban guerrilla refers to someone who fights a government using unconventional warfare in an urban environment. ... It has been suggested that Colonial war be merged into this article or section. ...

Notes

1. ^ Guevara, Ernesto (1998). Guerrilla Warfare. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1961, 8. 0-8032-7075-5.