Post-Marxism
Encyclopedia
Post-Marxism has two related, but different uses: (i) the socio-economic circumstances of Eastern Europe
, especially in the ex-soviet republics after the Soviet Union
's end; and (ii) the extrapolations of the philosophers and social theorists
basing their postulations upon Karl Marx
's writings and Marxism proper, thus, passing orthodox Marxism. Philosophically, post-Marxism counters derivationism and essentialism
(e.g. the State is not an instrument that ‘functions’ unambiguously and autonomously in behalf of a given class' interests). Recent overviews of post-Marxism are provided by Ernesto Screpanti
, Göran Therborn
, and Gregory Meyerson. For a study of the major post-Marxist theorists Ernesto Laclau
and Chantal Mouffe
, see Warren Breckman.
n Communist soviet paradigm became evident beyond Russia. This happened concurrently with the international student riots in 1968, rise of Maoist theory, and the advent of commercial television
, which covered in its broadcasts the Vietnam War
.
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 himself upon Barthes' work, Baudrillard's
For a Critique of the Political Economy of the Sign criticized contemporary Marxism
for ignoring the sign value
of their philosophic discourse.
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, especially in the ex-soviet republics after the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
's end; and (ii) the extrapolations of the philosophers and social theorists
Social theory
Social theories are theoretical frameworks which are used to study and interpret social phenomena within a particular school of thought. An essential tool used by social scientists, theories relate to historical debates over the most valid and reliable methodologies , as well as the primacy of...
basing their postulations upon Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
's writings and Marxism proper, thus, passing orthodox Marxism. Philosophically, post-Marxism counters derivationism and essentialism
Essentialism
In philosophy, essentialism is the view that, for any specific kind of entity, there is a set of characteristics or properties all of which any entity of that kind must possess. Therefore all things can be precisely defined or described...
(e.g. the State is not an instrument that ‘functions’ unambiguously and autonomously in behalf of a given class' interests). Recent overviews of post-Marxism are provided by Ernesto Screpanti
Ernesto Screpanti
Ernesto Screpanti is a professor of Political Economy at the University of Siena. He worked on the “rethinking Marxism” research programme, in the attempt to update Marxist analysis by bring it in line with the reality of contemporary capitalism, on the one hand, and to liberate Marxism from any...
, Göran Therborn
Göran Therborn
Göran Therborn is a professor of sociology at Cambridge University and is amongst the most highly cited contemporary Marxian-influenced sociologists. He has published widely in journals such as the New Left Review, and is notable for his writing on topics that fall within the general political and...
, and Gregory Meyerson. For a study of the major post-Marxist theorists Ernesto Laclau
Ernesto Laclau
Ernesto Laclau is an Argentine political theorist often described as post-Marxist.He studied History in Buenos Aires, graduating from the Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires in 1964, and received a PhD from Essex University in 1977.Since the 1970s he has been Professor of Political Theory at the...
and Chantal Mouffe
Chantal Mouffe
Chantal Mouffe is a Belgian political theorist.-Work:Chantal Mouffe studied at Louvain, Paris and Essex and has worked in many universities throughout the world . She has also held visiting positions at Harvard, Cornell, Princeton and the CNRS...
, see Warren Breckman.
History of post-Marxism
Post-Marxism dates from the late 1960s. Its development was influenced by several trends and events of that period. The weakness of the RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Communist soviet paradigm became evident beyond Russia. This happened concurrently with the international student riots in 1968, rise of Maoist theory, and the advent of commercial television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, which covered in its broadcasts the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
Semiology and discourse
When Roland BarthesRoland Barthes
Roland Gérard Barthes was a French literary theorist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. Barthes' ideas explored a diverse range of fields and he influenced the development of schools of theory including structuralism, semiotics, existentialism, social theory, Marxism, anthropology and...
began his sustained critique
Critique
Critique is a method of disciplined, systematic analysis of a written or oral discourse. Critique is commonly understood as fault finding and negative judgement, but it can also involve merit recognition, and in the philosophical tradition it also means a methodical practice of doubt...
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 himself upon Barthes' work, Baudrillard's
Jean Baudrillard
Jean Baudrillard was a French sociologist, philosopher, cultural theorist, political commentator, and photographer. His work is frequently associated with postmodernism and post-structuralism.-Life:...
For a Critique of the Political Economy of the Sign criticized contemporary Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
for ignoring the sign value
Sign value
In sociology or economics, sign value is the value accorded to an object because of how it impacts the social status of the possessor, as opposed to the value derived from use for its primary purpose...
of their philosophic discourse.
Important post-Marxists
- Michael AlbertMichael AlbertMichael Albert is an American activist, economist, speaker, and writer. He is co-editor of ZNet, and co-editor and co-founder of Z Magazine. He also co-founded South End Press and has written numerous books and articles...
- Stanley AronowitzStanley AronowitzStanley Aronowitz is professor of sociology, cultural studies, and urban education at the CUNY Graduate Center. He is also a veteran political activist and cultural critic and an advocate for organized labor.-Social Text:...
- Étienne BalibarÉtienne BalibarÉtienne Balibar is a French Marxist philosopher. After the death of his teacher Louis Althusser, Balibar quickly became the leading exponent of French Marxist philosophy.- Life and work :...
- Jean BaudrillardJean BaudrillardJean Baudrillard was a French sociologist, philosopher, cultural theorist, political commentator, and photographer. His work is frequently associated with postmodernism and post-structuralism.-Life:...
- Gilles DeleuzeGilles DeleuzeGilles Deleuze , was a French philosopher who, from the early 1960s until his death, wrote influentially on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes of Capitalism and Schizophrenia: Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus , both co-written with Félix...
- Harry Evans
- Krisis GroupeKrisis GroupeKrisis, or the Krisis-Gruppe, is an anti-political journal and discussion group formed in 1986 as a "theoretical forum for a radical critique of capitalist society." Its members include Robert Kurz, Roswitha Scholz, Nobert Trenkle, Ernst Lohoff, Achim Bellgart and Franz Schandl.- History :The...
- Félix GuattariFélix GuattariPierre-Félix Guattari was a French militant, an institutional psychotherapist, philosopher, and semiotician; he founded both schizoanalysis and ecosophy...
- Antonio NegriAntonio NegriAntonio Negri is an Italian Marxist sociologist and political philosopher.Negri is best-known for his co-authorship of Empire, and secondarily for his work on Spinoza. Born in Padua, he became a political philosophy professor in his hometown university...
- Michael HardtMichael HardtMichael Hardt is an American literary theorist and political philosopher perhaps best known for Empire, written with Antonio Negri and published in 2000...
- Stuart HallStuart Hall-People:*Stuart Hall , British radio and television presenter*Stuart Hall , British cultural theorist and first editor of the New Left Review...
- Ágnes HellerÁgnes HellerÁgnes Heller is a Hungarian philosopher. A prominent Marxist thinker at first, she moved onto a liberal, social-democratic position later in her career...
- Paul HirstPaul HirstPaul Hirst was a British sociologist and political theorist. He became Professor of Social Theory at Birkbeck, University of London....
- Barry HindessBarry HindessBarry Hindess is an Emeritus Professor in the School of Social Sciences at Australian National University. He was for many years an academic sociologist in the UK and has published widely on social and political theory, and on the history of political thought.- Selected works :* Discourses of...
- Fredric JamesonFredric JamesonFredric Jameson is an American literary critic and Marxist political theorist. He is best known for his analysis of contemporary cultural trends—he once described postmodernism as the spatialization of culture under the pressure of organized capitalism...
- Boris Yuliyevich KagarlitskyBoris Yuliyevich KagarlitskyBoris Yulyevich Kagarlitsky is a Russian Marxist theoretician and sociologist who has been a political dissident in the Soviet Union and in post-Soviet Russia...
- Ernesto LaclauErnesto LaclauErnesto Laclau is an Argentine political theorist often described as post-Marxist.He studied History in Buenos Aires, graduating from the Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires in 1964, and received a PhD from Essex University in 1977.Since the 1970s he has been Professor of Political Theory at the...
- Catharine MacKinnonCatharine MacKinnonCatharine Alice MacKinnon is an American feminist, scholar, lawyer, teacher and activist.- Biography :MacKinnon was born in Minnesota. Her mother is Elizabeth Valentine Davis; her father, George E. MacKinnon was a lawyer, congressman , and judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit...
- Chantal MouffeChantal MouffeChantal Mouffe is a Belgian political theorist.-Work:Chantal Mouffe studied at Louvain, Paris and Essex and has worked in many universities throughout the world . She has also held visiting positions at Harvard, Cornell, Princeton and the CNRS...
- Moishe PostoneMoishe PostoneMoishe Postone is a professor of History at the University of Chicago, where he is part of the Committee on Jewish Studies. He received his Ph.D. from Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University in 1983...
- Jacques RancièreJacques RancièreJacques Rancière is a French philosopher, Professor of Philosophy at European Graduate School in Saas-Fee and Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Paris Jacques Rancière (born Algiers, 1940) is a French philosopher, Professor of Philosophy at European Graduate School in Saas-Fee...
- Helmut ReicheltHelmut ReicheltHelmut Reichelt is a German economist and philosopher of the Frankfurt School. Reichelt is one of the main authors of the “Neue Marx-Lektüre” and considered to be one of the most important theorists in the field of Marx's theory of value.He studied economics, sociology and philosophy in Frankfurt...
- Ernesto ScrepantiErnesto ScrepantiErnesto Screpanti is a professor of Political Economy at the University of Siena. He worked on the “rethinking Marxism” research programme, in the attempt to update Marxist analysis by bring it in line with the reality of contemporary capitalism, on the one hand, and to liberate Marxism from any...
- Alexander TarasovAlexander TarasovAlexander Nikolaevich Tarasov is a Russian Post-Marxist theoretician, sociologist and historian. Tarasov was a left-wing political dissident in the Soviet Union.- Biography :...
- Göran TherbornGöran TherbornGöran Therborn is a professor of sociology at Cambridge University and is amongst the most highly cited contemporary Marxian-influenced sociologists. He has published widely in journals such as the New Left Review, and is notable for his writing on topics that fall within the general political and...
- Cornel WestCornel WestCornel Ronald West is an American philosopher, author, critic, actor, civil rights activist and prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America....
- Slavoj ŽižekSlavoj ŽižekSlavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher, critical theorist working in the traditions of Hegelianism, Marxism and Lacanian psychoanalysis. He has made contributions to political theory, film theory, and theoretical psychoanalysis....
See also
- Arena (first series)
- AutonomismAutonomismAutonomism refers to a set of left-wing political and social movements and theories close to the socialist movement. As an identifiable theoretical system it first emerged in Italy in the 1960s from workerist communism...
- MarxismMarxismMarxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
and Marxist philosophyMarxist philosophyMarxist philosophy or Marxist theory are terms that cover work in philosophy that is strongly influenced by Karl Marx's materialist approach to theory or that is written by Marxists... - New Left ReviewNew Left ReviewNew Left Review is a 160-page journal, published every two months from London, devoted to world politics, economy and culture. Often compared to the French-language Les Temps modernes, it is associated with Verso Books , and regularly features the essays of authorities on contemporary social...
- Poststructuralism
- Rethinking MarxismRethinking MarxismRethinking Marxism is a Marxist quarterly journal of economics, culture and society. It was launched in 1988 and since 2003 it has been published by Taylor and Francis....
- Specters of MarxSpecters of MarxSpectres de Marx: l'état de la dette, le travail du deuil et la nouvelle Internationale is a 1993 book by French philosopher Jacques Derrida first published by Éditions Galilée and translated into American English as Specters of Marx: The State of the Debt, the Work of Mourning & the New...
- Open MarxismOpen MarxismOpen marxism is a "school" of Marxism which draws on anarchist critiques of Party communism and stresses the openness to praxis and to history, the "practical reflexivity" of Marx's own concepts. The "openness" in Open Marxism also refers to a non-deterministic view of history in which the...
- Frankfurt SchoolFrankfurt SchoolThe Frankfurt School refers to a school of neo-Marxist interdisciplinary social theory, particularly associated with the Institute for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt am Main...