A Future for Marxism?: Althusser, the Analytical Turn and the Revival of Socialist Theory

Description

Not long ago, Marxist philosophy flourished. Yet in recent years theorists have turned away from Marxism. This book aims to revive Marxist theory, and show how it offers a rich foundation for radical socialist thinking in the forseeable future.To do this, Andrew Levine examines two recent departures in Marxist thought -- Althusserian and Analytical Marxism. The former is currently defunct; the latter, very nearly so. He assesses the shortcomings of each, while emphasising their considerable, and still timely, merits. The discussion is framed against an analysis of socialism's place in the political life of the past two centuries. Levine assesses the apparent historical defeat of the Left generally since the consolidation of the Reagan-Thatcher era and speculates on current signs of renewal. He argues that both Althusserian and analytical Marxism represent new and deeply important philosophical departures within the Marxist tradition as they force a rethinking of Marxism's scientific and political project. For all their differences in style and substance, these strains of Marxist thought share important thematic and sociological features and Levine concludes that both traditions provide a legacy upon which a revived Left can build. Contents Introduction to Part I 1. After the Revolution 2. The Last Left Conclusion to Part I Introduction to Part II: Historicist Marxism 3. Althusser and Philosophy 4. The Break 5. The Analytical Turn 6. The Legacy Conclusion: A Future for Marxism? Notes Select Bibliography Index Adorno, Theodor 182 American model 39-41 Anderson, Perry 182 antihumanism 77-8 77-8 92 117 Aristotle 139 Augustine, Saint 15-17 15-17 30 174 Babeuf, Gracchus 175 Bachelard, Gaston 93-9 93-9 180-1 Balibar, Etienne 98 98 181 185 Bandung conference 177 Berlin, Isaiah 183 Bodin, Jean 155 Brudney, Daniel 176 Buchanan, Allen E. 183 Burke, Edmund 17 17 174 Causality 115-16 expressive 115-16 linear 114-15 notions of 29 structural 115-18 teleological 29-32 Center 8-9 Chinese variety 48-50 48-50 60 Cohen, G.A. 123 123 132 149-53 176 182 184-5 communism 38-41 Communist Manifesto 154-9 connections with liberalism 24-6 connections with socialism 23-6 conservatism 14 14 varieties of 15-18 varieties of 24 varieties of 59 contested notion 22-3 Cornu, Auguste 92 counterculture 45-6 45-6 52 Cuba 42 42 47 177 Democratic Party 5 Descartes, René 17 17 84 dialectical logic 102-5 102-5 130-2 economic development 43-4 Economics, professional 141-4 Elster, Jon 143 143 151 183-5 Engels, Friedrich 28-9 28-9 116 154-5 157 176 181 fact/value distinction 70-1 Feuerbach, Ludwig 181 Frankfurt School 53 53 127 French Revolution 14-22 impact on political theory 14-22 impact on political theory 59 Freud, Sigmund 46-7 46-7 174 Fukuyama, Francis 174 Goldwater, Barry 6 6 178 Gramsci, Antonio 182 Great Society 6 Habermas, Jürgen 127 Hayek, Friedrich von 142 Hegel, G.W.F 30-2 30-2 66-73 89 176 182 account of Rechtstaat 105-9 account of Rechtstaat 137-9 account of Rechtstaat 159-60 dialectic 103-5 relation to Marx 99-103 relation to Marx 109-13 hippies 54-5 historical materialism 33-4 33-4 132-7 147-53 historicism 65-73 history 30-2 philosophy of 30-2 philosophy of 132-4 Hobbes, Thomas 16 16 153 156-9 174 186 holism 68-9 Hume, David 70 70 75 179 Husserl, Edmund 182 idealism 84-90 identity politics 5 Kafka, Franz 160 160 186 Kant, Immanuel 184 Kempton, Murray 51 Keynesian economics 52-3 52-3 179 Kolakowski, Leszek 176 Korsch, Karl 77 Kuhn, Thomas S. 184 Lecourt, Dominique 180-1 Left 8-9 8-9 12 169-71 Leninism 78-9 78-9 in philosophy 83-90 in philosophy 99 in philosophy 118 in philosophy 180 in political theory 155-9 in political theory 161 in political theory 185 liberal democracy 38-41 liberalism 14 14 59 162-6 171 Locke, John 18-19 18-19 175 Lukes, Steven 183 Lukács, Georg 77 77 101-2 182 Lyssenko, T.D. 88 88 180 Machiavelli, Nicolo 155 Maoism 48-50 48-50 55 79-80 99 117-18 185 Marcuse, Herbert 52-7 52-7 178-9 182 materialism 76 76 84-90 Merleau-Ponty, Maurice 182 methodological individualism 142-4 Mills, C. Wright 177 Mitterrand, François 177 moral theory 137-9 Oakeshott, Michael 174 Packard, Vance 179 Paris Commune 155 Popper, Karl 130 130 142 183 positivism 66-73 66-73 81 postmodernism 10 10 126 progress, idea of 10 proletariat, absence of 54-8 54-8 60 puritanism 45 Quine, W.V.O. 179 rationalism, political 17-18 Rawls, John 128-30 128-30 140 164 183 realism 86-7 regimes, types of 36-41 Republican Party 6-7 Right 8-9 Roberts, Marcus 182 Roemer, John 144 144 165 183-4 186 Rousseau, Jean-Jacques 139 Sartre, Jean-Paul 182 scientific and utopian 26-30 26-30 60 scientism 69-70 sixties 50-6 Sober, Elliott 184 socialism 14 14 21-2 59 Soviet model 39-41 39-41 third worldism, 41-7 third worldism, 60 Thompson, E.P. 174 Tocqueville, Alexis de 17 17 174 Trotskyism 48-9 48-9 utopianism 11-12 utopianism 148 Vietnam War 42 42 46-7 56 177-8 Weber, Max 153 153 185 Western Marxism 125-8 Wright, Erik Olin 184 Young Heglians 32-3 32-3 91