Wealth-Power Related Economic and Socialist Theories

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The different theories of political economy had attempted to explain international political economy through formulating a clear relation between the interaction of wealth and power. Is political power more significant on the international level for the stability of the state compared to economic development? How does power and wealth shape the society, and as a result shape the international sphere? The questions regarding the relationship between power and wealth are, in my opinion, the most important questions, not only in the sphere of international political economy, but also in the social sciences sphere as a large. It significance comes from it’s essential role in determining the structure of the society and the nature of every social relation in a given society. In the sociological field, the earliest problems that concerned sociologists were the problems of the societal formations-and that included studying the relation between wealth and power and its important effect on the social relations between individuals and the nature of the society. Many thinkers during these early times, Smith (2003, 2013), Ricardo (2012), Weber (2001, 1978, 2012, 1993), Marx (2013, 2011, 2011), Lenin, (2011, 1987) to name only a few, had dedicated their careers as social scientists in economics, political science, philosophy, or sociology to answer these important questions regarding the nature of the relation between wealth and power and its effect on the formation of the society and its institutions. In resent years however, there was a shift towards different subfields within the discipline, such as issues of gender, race, education, etc. Despite this shift, the importance of studying the wealth-power relationship will always be highly sign...

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... isolation of the laborers, due to competition, by the revolutionary combination, due to association. The development of Modern Industry, therefore, cuts from under its feet the very foundation on which the bourgeoisie produces and appropriates products. What the bourgeoisie therefore produces, above all, are its own grave diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable. (Marx 2013:30)

It is difficult to limit the Marxist theory into one or two paragraphs; for many reasons, from the incredible impact Marxist theory had on our understanding of social relations, to the amount of controversy it generated. Marx has argued that economic experiences must be understood from their historical context, and I will argue similarly that in order for us to fully understand Marxist theory, then we must understand the theory in its historical context.

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