The Hidden God by Lucien Goldmann is what Marxist genealogy ought to be. If you want to track ur-concepts such as the "authentic," "the good," "community" and so on, well where do you start? How do you situate the worldview of the ruling class of our own time in a historical trajectory? In what exemplary … Continue reading Notes on Goldmann and the faith of Marxism
The Materialism of Warm-Stream Marxism: Ernst Bloch on Ibn Sina
Here's a new review essay on German Marxist philosopher Ernst Bloch and his intriguing book Avicenna and the Aristotelian Left. It's long been an interest of mine to put the Marxist tradition into dialogue with Islamic thought so naturally such a text is of profound interest to me. Give the piece a read here and … Continue reading The Materialism of Warm-Stream Marxism: Ernst Bloch on Ibn Sina
Reading Kojin Karatani’s The Structure of World History
Readers of this blog are invited to join me and my good friend Gabriel Tupinambá for a facilitated reading group on one of the most important Marxist philosophers of our time, Kojin Karatani and his work The Structure of World History: From Modes of Production to Modes of Exchange. This reading group will include six … Continue reading Reading Kojin Karatani’s The Structure of World History
On Kołakowski and the Neoplatonist Pre-History of Marxism
With increasing interest in new forms of Marxism, the philosophical origins of Marx’s thought have been a topic of important debate with many studies locating Marx’s early thought in Christian theology. The early Marx often reads like a quasi-theologian when he discusses ideas of universality and the emancipation of the proletariat. But does Marx’s early … Continue reading On Kołakowski and the Neoplatonist Pre-History of Marxism
Why Do the Masses Posses Reason?
The figure of the masses in protest takes on a near mystical and highly rational logic in post-Leninist thought during the twentieth century. For example, one of the things that Althusser abandoned in his theory of overdetermination was that the general contradiction between forces of production and relations of production--embodied in the antagonistic relation between the two … Continue reading Why Do the Masses Posses Reason?
Sohn-Rethel’s Necessary False Consciousness and Marxist Epistemology
In the closing chapter of Alfred Sohn-Rethel’s masterpiece, Intellectual and Manual Labor, he invokes the concept of “necessary false consciousness.” This is a type of false consciousness that is not merely faulty consciousness, rather, necessary false consciousness is a type of false consciousness that is logically correct. It is what he calls, “inherently corrigible consciousness.” … Continue reading Sohn-Rethel’s Necessary False Consciousness and Marxist Epistemology
Overcoming the Fragmentation of Struggles
Now that the idea of an international proletariat is a thing of the past, Hardt and Negri, in Empire, invoke the specter of Hegel, or begin to flirt with Hegel in order to understand global capitalism. In order to apply Hegel, Hardt and Negri argue that as a structural system, global capitalism is "good in-itself … Continue reading Overcoming the Fragmentation of Struggles
