The Rise of democracy in Europe and the fight against mass poverty in Latin America: the implications for marxist thought of some recent mainstream papers

Recently a number of mainstream papers have treated the rise of democracy in 19th century Europe and its instability in Latin America in an eminently Marxist fashion. This paper sets out their implications for Marxist thought. With respect to Europe, Marx's emphasis on political action backed by the threat of violence is vindicated but his justification for socialism is not. With respect to Latin America, the unequal distribution of wealth is the cause of political instability that is, in turn, the root cause of mass poverty. In addition it is possible to explain some of the paradoxical characteristics of neo-liberalism and to make a weak argument for socialism in spite of its rejection in Europe.

Reversal of opinion: the implications of the work of Acemoglu and Robinson for marxist thought

This paper describes the implications for Marxist thought of the work of Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson. In the first two periods of this they explained how the rise of democracy brought prosperity to Europe  and why the same process had not worked in Latin America because of the possibility of coups. The implication is that mass poverty can better be alleviated by safeguarding democracy rather than moving to socialism. In the last period A and R have formalized doubts about the efficacy of democracy in this role. The implication here is that Marxists should work to find a system of government that is immune to elite dominance. Hugo Chávez is taken as an example.

El sentit de la revolució segons Louis Althusser

Aquest TFG analitza el valor revolucionari que el filòsof francès Louis Althusser atorga a l'obra de Karl Marx, posant especial èmfasi en la caracterització del marxisme com una ciència objectiva, els criteris per abastir un veritable coneixement i les crítiques althusserianes a les corrents 'humanistes' del marxisme. El treball també ofereix una aproximació a l'adequació de l'obra d'Althusser com a eina per caracteritzar i recolzar el moviments de reacció ciutadana desenvolupats dins el context de la crisi econòmica de finals de la primera dècada del segle XXI.