Cultural Understanding and the Marxist Model

The Clash of Civilizations, according to Samuel Huntington, will be the most significant barrier to the investigation and comparison of political systems for the foreseeable future. More fundamental than those of differing ideologies, the assumptions, values, and attitudes which define a culture are so basic that it makes commonalities very difficult to distinguish. In order to understand the functions, institutions, and processes of individual political systems one must understand the underpinnings which are borne of language, religion, tradition and other cultural trademarks. The lack of universal values and traditions makes communication, conflict resolution, and cooperation nearly impossible as we seek to compare and contrast political systems worldwide.

Marx concludes, in his work The German Ideology, that these cultural differences are mere epiphenomena of differing relations between classes and their relationship to the means of production. According to his theory, we simply need to analyze the differences in the economic structures around the world to understand and overcome cultural barriers. However pragmatic, this materialistic view of culture is too in line with the “traditionalist” view of comparative politics to be helpful to our endeavors. Marx focuses only on the western economic history and systems such as feudalism or capitalism. Do his theories apply to Confucian, Islamic, or Hindu cultures as it does (or does not) in the west? Do these cultures even share the materialistic western ideals which give way to capitalism? Cultures worldwide seem far too diverse to be based solely on the relationship to the means of production.

Though materialism plays an important role in defining history and the foundation of culture, it seems that we are in need of a more complex model or a number of models in order to understand and overcome the cultural barriers to comparative politics. Whether we are practicing comparative politics for reasons that may be normative, diplomatic, or for basic understanding, we will need to establish commonalities and channels of communication between cultures.