Is Marxism on the Rise?

AionPhanes

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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/04/the-return-of-marxism

Is Marxism on the rise?

Why Marxism is on the rise again
....
Today, 164 years after Marx and Engels wrote about grave-diggers, the truth is almost the exact opposite. The proletariat, far from burying capitalism, are keeping it on life support. Overworked, underpaid workers ostensibly liberated by the largest socialist revolution in history (China's) are driven to the brink of suicide to keep those in the west playing with their iPads. Chinese money bankrolls an otherwise bankrupt America.​

The irony is scarcely wasted on leading Marxist thinkers. "The domination of capitalism globally depends today on the existence of a Chinese Communist party that gives de-localised capitalist enterprises cheap labour to lower prices and deprive workers of the rights of self-organisation," says Jacques Rancière, the French marxist thinker and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Paris VIII. "Happily, it is possible to hope for a world less absurd and more just than today's."

 

AionPhanes

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Marxist philosophy certainly seems to be in a very active and fruitful phase. New currents of thought being worked out like the emerging Organic Marxist school that presents a constructive post modern take on Marxism combining Marxist theory with ideas from process philosophy, traditional Chinese thought (Daoist, Confucian, Mohist) and environmentalim. Overall I notice a move away from the authoritarian communism of the Soviet era and towards democracy and direct local control. Less orthodox dogmatism and more experimentation with new ideas coupled with fresh reexaminations of the writtings of Marx. Not so down on religion either.
 
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AionPhanes

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I'm becoming more interested in Marxism latley. I know Capitalism is far from ideal but I was really concerned that the alternate systems were even more problematic. I played it safe by advocating capitalism with a strong welfare system and worker protections. Seems I may not longer have to grit me teeth and support the status quo. Not sure yet though. Give me at least a year more to research.
 
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AionPhanes

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Aelred of Rievaulx

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Marxist philosophy certainly seems to be in a very active and fruitful phase. New currents of thought being worked out like the emerging Organic Marxist school that presents a constructive post modern take on Marxism combining Marxist theory with ideas from process philosophy, traditional Chinese thought (Daoist, Confucian, Mohist) and environmentalim. Overall I notice a move away from the authoritarian communism of the Soviet era and towards democracy and direct local control. Less orthodox dogmatism and more experimentation with new ideas coupled with fresh reexaminations of the writtings of Marx. Not so down on religion either.
Well, there have been a range of post-Marxist schools of philosophy even contemporaneous to Stalinist Communism and Maoism; the Frankfurt school is a good example (Walter Benjamin, Theodore Adorno, Herbert Marcuse). These theorists were critical of both Capitalism and Sovietism.

I'm becoming more interested in Marxism latley. I know Capitalism is far from ideal but I was really concerned that the alternate systems were even more problematic. I played it safe by advocating capitalism with a strong welfare system and worker protections. Seems I may not longer have to grit me teeth and support the status quo. Not sure yet though. Give me at least a year more to research.
As well as the Frankfurt theorists I'd also recommend reading Frederic Jameson, Aijaz Ahmad, Slavoj Zizek and the deconstructionists: Gayatri Spivak, Jacques Derrida (especially Spectres of Marx) and John Caputo.
 
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Aelred of Rievaulx

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I first ran into it reading about Christian Process Theology. John Cobb, a well known process theologian, was promoting it.
I've been meaning to read Whitehead's Process and Reality. I've had a copy for a very long time. Most feminist theologians tend to follow process theology as does the theopoetical movement of Catherine Keller, this has also incorporated a certain indebtedness to Marxist theory.
 
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Jonathan Jarvis

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Marxist philosophy certainly seems to be in a very active and fruitful phase. New currents of thought being worked out like the emerging Organic Marxist school that presents a constructive post modern take on Marxism combining Marxist theory with ideas from process philosophy, traditional Chinese thought (Daoist, Confucian, Mohist) and environmentalim. Overall I notice a move away from the authoritarian communism of the Soviet era and towards democracy and direct local control. Less orthodox dogmatism and more experimentation with new ideas coupled with fresh reexaminations of the writtings of Marx. Not so down on religion either.

I am an avid Chomsky reader and my own views tend towards that of a libertarian socialist.

Although how much I like the idea I cannot see the state withering away. In John Reeds book Ten Days That Shook the World he records that during the October revolution the leaders of the revolution instructed the employees of the Russian state to continue working.

Move forward to today we see the state even stronger. In the UK over the last 30 or so years we have imported from the US a variety of particularly pernicious form of capitalism - which Oliver James describes as English Speaking Western Capitalism in his book The Selfish Capitalist: Origins of Affluenza which he describes ties in the populus through aggressive consumerism into the capitalist system.

So will the rise of Marxism result in / militate towards change. We can only hope.
 
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AionPhanes

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Well, there have been a range of post-Marxist schools of philosophy even contemporaneous to Stalinist Communism and Maoism; the Frankfurt school is a good example (Walter Benjamin, Theodore Adorno, Herbert Marcuse). These theorists were critical of both Capitalism and Sovietism.


As well as the Frankfurt theorists I'd also recommend reading Frederic Jameson, Aijaz Ahmad, Slavoj Zizek and the deconstructionists: Gayatri Spivak, Jacques Derrida (especially Spectres of Marx) and John Caputo.

Thanks for the reccomendations. I've just ordered the book "Marxism and Totality: The Adventures of a Concept from Lukács to Habermas." It discusses a few of those people:

"Totality has been an abiding concern from the first generation of Western Marxists, most notably Lukács, Korsch, Gramsci, and Bloch, through the second, exemplified by the Frankfurt School, Lefebvre, Goldmann, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, and Della Volpe, up to the most recent, typified by Althusser, Colletti, and Habermas. "​
 
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AionPhanes

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I am an avid Chomsky reader and my own views tend towards that of a libertarian socialist.

Although how much I like the idea I cannot see the state withering away. In John Reeds book Ten Days That Shook the World he records that during the October revolution the leaders of the revolution instructed the employees of the Russian state to continue working.

Move forward to today we see the state even stronger. In the UK over the last 30 or so years we have imported from the US a variety of particularly pernicious form of capitalism - which Oliver James describes as English Speaking Western Capitalism in his book The Selfish Capitalist: Origins of Affluenza which he describes ties in the populus through aggressive consumerism into the capitalist system.

So will the rise of Marxism result in / militate towards change. We can only hope.

I've read a bit by Chomsky online but never any of his books. I spent some time a few years back checking out some Libertarian Marxist Web pages too but no real in depth study.

I also have my doubts about the state withering away.
 
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AionPhanes

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Let's hope not. 85 million lives lost seem more than enough for me.

Compare the writtings of Marx with what actually took place in the Soviet Union and it's obvious that wasn't what he was calling for.

It's the Democratic forms of Marxism I find most attractive . Leninism and Stalinism were never my cup of tea.

BTW Don't forget the piles of corpses amassed by capitalistic regimes and their wars either.
 
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Aelred of Rievaulx

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Compare the writtings of Marx with what actually took place in the Soviet Union and it's obvious that wasn't what he was calling for.

It's the Democratic forms of Marxism I find most attractive . Leninism and Stalinism were never my cup of tea.

BTW Don't forget the piles of corpses amassed by capitalistic regimes and their wars either.
Deleuze and Guattari controversially called schizophrenia, not an illness, but the form of personality created by Capitalism. Capitalism so engrained on social relationships does immense damage. I think if people realised that most of their human interactions were based on trade relationships they'd freak out; shop staff don't care about the individual nor does the consumer care about shop staff they play a game of interaction which in reality is the working of the market economy. This is fundamentally pure and simply how ideology works today.
 
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Charlie7399

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Compare the writtings of Marx with what actually took place in the Soviet Union and it's obvious that wasn't what he was calling for.

It's the Democratic forms of Marxism I find most attractive . Leninism and Stalinism were never my cup of tea.

BTW Don't forget the piles of corpses amassed by capitalistic regimes and their wars either.

"You must, therefore, confess that by 'individual' you mean no other person than the bourgeois, than the middle-class owner of property. This person must indeed, be swept out of the way, and made impossible."

Just a quote from Marx's "Manifesto of the Communist Party". People try to fool themselves by saying "oh, that was not REAL Marxism", but the truth is that it is. Even if you argue that he didn't mean anything violent with that quote (which is ridiculous, the man was calling for revolution), the logical outcome of any country that tries out orthodox Marxism is a bloodthirsty dictatorship. It happened every single time, from the USSR to Cuba and Cambodia.

Also, Capitalism is not an ideology. It's an economic system. You can't blame an economic system for wars. Ideologies that adopt Capitalism have caused much harm too, yes, but not for Capitalism. Maybe it was for money, but money has existed since Antiquity. If you talk about Marxism, you talk about the whole bag, revolutionary bloodthirstiness included.

Classical Democratic Marxism just means that the dictatorship "of the proletariat" will come through democratic means. It is more respectful than orthodox, revolutionary Marxism, but the end goal is the same. If you're talking about "modern" Democratic Marxism (i.e. Social Democracy), you do need to realise that this ideology can hardly be called "Marxist" anymore.
 
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AionPhanes

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Certain socioeconomic roles will no longer exist in a Marxist state. There won't be multiple economic classes. It's not uncommon for certain roles to dissappear when new ways of doing things take their place. The death of feudalism meant no more feudal lords. The change from mercantilism to capitalism has similar effects on previously established roles. No more bourgeois doesn't necessitate "kill them."
 
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Charlie7399

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Certain socioeconomic roles will no longer exist in a Marxist state. There won't be multiple economic classes. It's not uncommon for certain roles to dissappear when new ways of doing things take their place. The death of feudalism meant no more feudal lords. The change from mercantilism to capitalism has similar effects on previously established roles. No more bourgeois doesn't necessitate "kill them."

I addressed that in my post, if you didn't notice it. But in the end, it doesn't really matter what Marx wanted. It's utopic. You would need a literal "new man" to make Communism work. You can't just give all the power to the State and expect the people in charge not to abuse it or (even worse) to give it up for a stateless society.
 
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AionPhanes

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I don't believe the proposed "Organic Marxism" is "orthodox**" Marxism in every respect. I would probably have found it rather uninteresting were it merely a doctrinaire repeat of everything Marx wrote. Much has changed since the time of Marx and some of his ideas and predictions proved spot on while others have obviously missed the mark. Any living current of thought will evolve and take new directions over time.

** This alone would probably disqualify it for that label:

"It seems clear that there are times where market forces bring benefits within a nation and between nations; and there are other cases in which unrestrained markets produce injustices that neither local communities nor the global community should accept. A major contribution of Organic Marxism lies in its ability to blend elements from both of these two socioeconomic systems. "​

They also specifically call for constant transformation rather than sticking to yesterdays orthodoxy so I doubt they would be to upset with the label "unorthodox" :

"Each time categories of thought are embedded in a new context—be it a new culture, historical period, region, or political movement—they sprout and grow in new ways. Consequently, open process thinkers do not expect Marxism to be a static thing but to evolve continually, just as human social systems are constantly evolving."

 
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Charlie7399

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I don't believe the proposed "Organic Marxism" is "orthodox**" Marxism in every respect. I would probably have found it rather uninteresting were it merely a doctrinaire repeat of everything Marx wrote. Much has changed since the time of Marx and some of his ideas and predictions proved spot on while others have obviously missed the mark. Any living current of thought will evolve and take new directions over time.

** This alone would probably disqualify it for that label:

"It seems clear that there are times where market forces bring benefits within a nation and between nations; and there are other cases in which unrestrained markets produce injustices that neither local communities nor the global community should accept. A major contribution of Organic Marxism lies in its ability to blend elements from both of these two socioeconomic systems. "​

They also specifically call for constant transformation rather than sticking to yesterdays orthodoxy so I doubt they would be to upset with the label "unorthodox" :

"Each time categories of thought are embedded in a new context—be it a new culture, historical period, region, or political movement—they sprout and grow in new ways. Consequently, open process thinkers do not expect Marxism to be a static thing but to evolve continually, just as human social systems are constantly evolving."


It's still classified under the label of "utter nonsense" to me (not really in the mood to discuss it though), but point taken. I just tend to go directly to the orthodox definition when talking about Marxism.
 
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thecolorsblend

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I look around the west and see a rise in nationalism with minor hints of fascism. Maybe Marxism is a potential player in the future but at the present time it looks like other views are more dominant.
 
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Erik Nelson

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concerned that the alternate systems were even more problematic
Marx claimed "man makes religion" to exploit laborers. So then, religion (allegedly) reflects that exploitation.

And so, if Christianity bedrugs laborers under Capitalism today, then pre-Christian religion bedrugged laborers under the pre-Capitalist mode of production -- namely, slavery, as was widely practiced in the pre-Christian pagan Roman empire as well as the wider Classical era world of those days.

If Capitalism is (even slightly) less bad then slavery, then "even Marxists" would have to agree, that Christianity is (at least slightly) less bad than paganry?
 
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