Post-Marxism

Post-Marxism is a trend in philosophy and social theory based on Karl Marx's writings and Marxism proper, and bypassing orthodox Marxism. Philosophically, post-Marxism counters derivationism and essentialism (for example, it does not see the State as an instrument that ‘functions’ unambiguously and autonomously on behalf of the interests of a given class).[1] Recent overviews of post-Marxism are provided by Ernesto Screpanti,[2] Göran Therborn,[3] and Gregory Meyerson.[4]

History

Post-Marxism dates from the late 1960s; several trends and events of that period influenced its development. The weakness of the Russian Communist Soviet paradigm became evident beyond Russia. This happened concurrently with the occurrence internationally of the student riots of 1968, the rise of Maoist theory, and the proliferation of commercial television, which covered in its broadcasts the Vietnam War.

Semiology and discourse

When Roland Barthes began his sustained critique of mass culture via semiology — the science of signs — and the book Mythologies, some Marxist philosophers based their social criticism upon linguistics, semiotics, and discourse. Basing his approach on Barthes' work, Baudrillard wrote For a Critique of the Political Economy of the Sign (1972), criticizing contemporary Marxism for ignoring the sign value of its philosophic discourse.

Important post-Marxists

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Iain Mclean & Alistair Mcmillan, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics (Article: State), Oxford University Press, 2003
  2. ↑ "The Postmodern Crisis in Economics and the Revolution against Modernism", “Rethinking Marxism”, 2000
  3. ↑ From Marxism to Post-Marxism. London: Verso, 2008, 208pp.
  4. ↑ Meyerson, G. (2009). Post-Marxism as Compromise Formation. Retrieved from: http://clogic.eserver.org/2009/Meyerson.pdf

References

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