Communism
2 articles filed under this keyword.
Coronavirus from Slavoj Žižek's perspective: From Capitalism to Communism
Muslim Hasan Mohammed, Nawdar Zeyad Ridha
The world system has followed capitalism. According to Slavoj Žižek, capitalism is facing many crises. One of the crises created by this system is the coronavirus pandemic. Since capitalism thinks only in terms of profit and the market, it cannot overcome this pandemic with its own rules. Moreover, the main culprit is the political model of capitalism, neoliberalism, as it becomes increasingly barbaric through privatisation, corporations, media and social media. Meanwhile, the coronavirus has instilled fear in people's hearts and expanded the power of the state over citizens. Žižek argues that all these help to sprout socialism and pave the way for a new form of communism. This stems from the fact that capitalist mechanisms and tools cannot prevent a crisis such as the coronavirus. Instead, states, organisations and individuals must resort to communism. This communism embodies more cooperation and coordination, because in times of crisis, neither the state alone and without the cooperation of members of society can overcome the crisis, nor can any state face the crisis alone. However, it is important for the state to avoid implementing a particular ideology, as ideology can lead to totalitarianism and restriction of freedoms. In return, Žižek says that if countries move beyond the nation-state stage and move towards a post-nation state by implementing a new form of communism, our liberation, survival and defence will grow and become stronger. Žižek is also interested in the concept of catastrophe and believes that catastrophe helps to rebuild and revive. Although the coronavirus has caused catastrophe, it carries the seeds of revival.
Volume 6 · Issue 1 · June 2019Sociological Comparative Study to Vladimir Lenin and Antonio Gramsci's views on the State
Mahir A Aziz, Saleem P Elias
This theoretical study tries to illustrate, evaluate and compare Vladimir Lenin and Antonio Gramsci’s views on the state. In doing so the study will try to answer this vital question: to what extent Gramsci’s ideas were dependent upon those of Lenin and more specifically, to what extent is Gramsci’s analysis of the capitalist state ultimately no more powerful than that of Lenin? It should be emphasised that this study has been done according to a comparative methodology of the history of theory applied in the fields of sociology in general and political sociology in particular. Basically, this study has been done according to an explanatory approach applied in both fields of politics and political sociology. This study divided into eight sections. The first section devoted to the introduction. The second section deals with Lenin’s view on the revolution, power and the socialist state. The third section explains Gramsci’s view on the hegemony of the party and the state. Section four treats Gramsci’s view on hegemony and the civil society. Section five, however, is explaining Gramsci’s view on the proletariat, the leadership and the passive revolution. Section six will be dealing with Gramsci’s view on Western countries and his conception of civil society. Section seven evaluates and reviews both Lenin and Gramsci’s theories of the state. The last section presents the conclusion of the study.