Marxism and Law

Karl Marx wrote that "society is not founded upon the law; this is a legal fiction." Rather, law develops out of the class conflicts in our society. Our legal system grew out of the successful efforts of the bourgeoisie to establish itself as the ruling class. While bourgeois law often proclaims the rule of law and universality of rights, it allows mass exploitation, chattel slavery, the subjugation of women, and so on. However, the working class and the oppressed have also fought to expand democratic rights and even to take state power. This presentation will provide a Marxist overview of law, a tool of class struggle.