Class Theory And History

First Published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The twelve essays in this book demonstrate the importance of bringing history back into historical materialism. They combine the discussion of Marx's categories with historical work on a wide range of themes and periods (the early middle ages, 'Asiatic' regimes, agrarian capitalism, etc.).

In this provocative and famous book, now substantially revised and with much new material, Stanley Aronowitz lays bare the fundamental logical problems in Marxist theory with respect to nature, gender and race relations, the concept of class, and historical time. Aronowitz has written a stunning book offering an approach towards a new way of thinking about these problems, a book which will be addressed by other Marxist scholars and by students of social and cultural theory in many disciplines.

Critical theorist Aronowitz (sociology, CUNY) contends that the centrality of cultural categories, as raised by the feminist, ecology, and racial freedom movements, among others, provides the crucial difference for the late industrial world, demanding a break from the dominant tendencies of Marxism to reduce causality to its economic features. Acidic paper. Paper edition (unseen), $14.95. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

First published in 1978, this book rapidly established itself as a classic of modern Marxism. Cohen's masterful application of advanced philosophical techniques in an uncompromising defense of historical materialism commanded widespread admiration. In the ensuing twenty years, the book has served as a flagship of a powerful intellectual movement--analytical Marxism. In this expanded edition, Cohen offers his own account of the history, and the further promise, of analytical Marxism. He also expresses reservations about traditional historical materialism, in the light of which he reconstructs the theory, and he studies the implications for historical materialism of the demise of the Soviet Union.

This book brings together some of the more prominent recent analyses within the Marxian tradition that bear on the topics of class formation and social conflict in contemporary capitalism. After examining debates over historical agency, class structure, and electoral dynamics, it explores the provocative arguments of analytical Marxists, Claus Offe, Jürgen Habermas, and Immanuel Wallerstein. In light of these discussions, the author concludes that even if the variety of forces contemporary capitalism structurally generates do not promote the formation of a revolutionary "proletariat," class relations continue to be important for analyzing the historical trajectory of, and challenges to, capitalism—although not in the way that Marx imagined.

Class structure -- Class formation -- Consent, coercion, and resignation -- Agency, contingency, and all that -- How capitalism endures.

This republication gives a new generation of readers access to an important intervention in Marxism and social theory. Making History is about the question of how human agents draw their powers from the social structures they are involved in.