Revealing Common Misconceptions in Marxian Sociology

Abstract

Sociology is one of the social sciences disciplines which analyses various social issues for the benefit of the society. However, for this assumption to materialize, sociologists must consume and disseminate undistorted knowledge. This paper provides a reflection of Marxian sociology by showing how contemporary scholars have tried to produce a misleading version of the same, and therefore, distorts the central argument of Marxian sociology. To reveal these misconceptions, this paper focuses on three common concepts namely conflict, structure and economy. For contemporary scholars, these concepts are said to characterize Marxian Sociology. So, they claim, Marxism is a conflict theory, a structural theory and also a theory of economic determinism. To what extent are these claims true? This paper provides answers by reviewing the original premises of Marxism together with these claims. It then provides the root causes of the misconceptions and advises contemporary sociologists to work on original premises of Marx rather than consumee these distorted versions. The author has used qualitative–interpretive methodology and documentary review method of data generation to analyze this complex phenomenon.

Keywords: Marxism, Conflict theory, Structural theory, Economic determinism, Ideology