Contemporary Social Sciences (Jul 2022)
Marx’s Theory of World History Explained: Basic Connotations and Contemporary Context
Abstract
Marx’s theory of world history is an important part of his materialist conception of history (i.e., historical materialism). Marx and Engels summarized the evolution of social history and the laws behind it based on their observations and analyses of human activities and their material conditions in real life and raised the realistic possibility of “transformation of history into world history” in the future. From the Marxist perspective of world history, we attempt to catch a glimpse of his profound, scientific criticism of capitalism and understand the contemporaneity and supercontemporaneity of Marxism. Also, we try to perceive new issues of our time and develop a new theory grounded in the scientific, rational, and universal insights from Marxism. The study of Marx’s theory of world history and criticism of capitalism can help understand today’s major issues such as globalization and anti-globalization. In short, Marx’s theory of world history is of profound theoretical and practical significance.
