Rethinking Marxism is a Marxist quarterly journal of economics, culture and society. It was launched in 1988 and since 2003 (Volume 15) it has been published by Taylor and Francis

Taylor and Francis

Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in the United Kingdom which publishes books and academic journals. It is a division of Informa plc, a United Kingdom-based publisher and conference company.- Overview :...

.

Founded mainly by the professors and graduate students of the Department of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst

University of Massachusetts Amherst

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...

, the first issue of Rethinking Marxism appeared in 1988, just before the dissolution of 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....

 began. The journal quickly became an influential academic platform for Althusserian Marxism in the North American context.

Even though the journal is launched by a group of economists (among others, Stephen Resnick

Stephen Resnick

Stephen A. Resnick is a North American heterodox economist. He is well-known for his work on Marxian economics, economic methodology, and class analysis.- Biography :...

, Richard D. Wolff

Richard D. Wolff

Richard D. Wolff is an American economist, well-known for his work on Marxian economics, economic methodology, and class analysis.- Early and personal life :...

, Jack Amariglio, David Ruccio) and continues to regularly publish articles in the various sub-fields of Marxian economics

Marxian economics

Marxian economics refers to economic theories on the functioning of capitalism based on the works of Karl Marx. Adherents of Marxian economics, particularly in academia, distinguish it from Marxism as a political ideology and sociological theory, arguing that Marx's approach to understanding the...

, such as the labor theory of value

Labor theory of value

The labor theories of value are heterodox economic theories of value which argue that the value of a commodity is related to the labor needed to produce or obtain that commodity. The concept is most often associated with Marxian economics...

, class analysis

Class analysis

Class analysis is research in sociology, politics and economics from the point of view of the stratification of the society into dynamic classes...

, and crisis theory

Crisis theory

Crisis theory is generally associated with Marxian economics. In this context crisis refers to what is called, even currently and outside Marxian theory in many European countries a "conjuncture" or especially sharp bust cycle of the regular boom and bust pattern of what Marxists term "chaotic"...

, Rethinking Marxism does not have an exclusive economics focus. It is perhaps better to describe it as a journal of Marxian theory that makes it a point to rethink and develop Marxian analyses of capitalism

Capitalism

Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...

, imperialism

Imperialism

Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...

 and alternatives to capitalism.

Rethinking Marxism is also well-known for its sustained efforts to showcase contemporary art

Contemporary art

Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...

 practices. Each issue of the journal presents an original work by a contemporary artist (e.g., Martha Rosler

Martha Rosler

Martha Rosler is an American artist. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, where she now lives. She graduated from Brooklyn College and the University of California, San Diego . Rosler works in video, photo-text, installation, and performance, as well as writing about art and culture...

, Mark Lombardi

Mark Lombardi

Mark Lombardi was an American Neo-Conceptualist and an abstract artist who specialized in drawings attempting to document financial and political frauds by power brokers, and in general 'the uses and abuses of power'.- Biography :...

).

From 1989 to 1998, the editor of the journal was Jack Amariglio. Since then, David Ruccio serves as the editor of Rethinking Marxism.