Module 03: Marxism & Structural Theories of Power

Module 3 introduces Marxism as a structural theory of power by arguing that politics cannot be understood only through leaders, laws, and institutions, but also through economics, class, labor, ownership, and production. The module explains how Karl Marx saw industrial capitalism as a system that created both great wealth and deep inequality, and how he argued that conflict between owners and workers was built into the structure of capitalism itself. It also introduces major Marxist ideas such as the mode of production, historical materialism, dialectical materialism, class struggle, alienation, socialism, and communism.