Recent Marxian Theory

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.

Over the last twenty-five years, Stephen Resnick and Richard Wolff have developed a groundbreaking interpretation of Marxian theory generally and of Marxian economics in particular. This book brings together their key contributions and underscores their different interpretations. In facing and trying to resolve contradictions and lapses within Marxism, the authors have confronted the basic incompatibilities among the dominant modern versions of Marxian theory, and the fact that Marxism seemed cut off from the criticisms of determinist modes of thought offered by post-structuralism and post-modernism and even by some of Marxism’s greatest theorists.

Marxism, Neo-Marxism, and U.S. sociology / by Rhonda F. Levine and Jerry Lembcke -- Crisis and vitalization / by Albert Szymanski -- New classes and old theories / by Peter Meiksins -- Class and class capacities / by Jerry Lembcke -- Bringing classes back in / by Rhonda F. Levine -- The limits of the world-system perspective / by Alex Dupuy and Barry Truchil -- Race, ethnicity, and class / by James A. Geschwender -- Recent ideological tendencies in urban and regional research / by Richard Peet -- Behind the veil of neutrality / by Peter Seybold -- Feminism / by Albert Szymanski -- Thinking about social class / by Scott G. McNall.

Brings together prominent recent analyses within the Marxist tradition that bear on class formation and social conflict in contemporary capitalism and concludes that class relations continue to be important for analyzing the historical trajectory of, and challenges to, capitalism, although not in the way Marx imagined.

International and interdisciplinary in range and scope, the "Critical Companion to Contemporary Marxism" provides a thorough and precise panorama of recent developments in Marxist theory in the US, Europe and beyond.

Piero Sraffa and Joan Robinson, both iconic Cambridge economists, were highly influenced by the economic theory of Karl Marx, and integrated important elements of Marx’s economic system into their theories. This book argues, based on published and unpublished documents, that the work of Sraffa and Robinson can in fact be considered as essentially post-Keynesian neo-Marxist. The first part of the book reviews the intellectual development of several key thinkers to this neo-Marxist current in economic thought: Kalecki, Steindl, Baran and Sweezy. Part One and Part Two separately examine Robinson and Sraffa’s works and questions how they fit into this specific neo-Marxist current, either building on it (in Robinson’s case), or following another direction (in Sraffa’s case). Part Three observes Robinson’s theory of economic growth and its relationship to the views of Marx and Kalecki. Overall, Cuyvers demonstrates how their thought processes share characteristics with neo-Marxist key ideological ideas, such as stating or implying the labour theory of value as either redundant or wrong, emphasising the role of class struggle in the distribution of income and rejecting Marx’s falling rate of profits. Following on from ideas briefly introduced in Cuyvers’s Economic Ideas of Marx’s Capital (2017), this book will particularly appeal to readers interested in the history of economic thought, the work of Sraffa, Robinson and Marx, post-Keynesian economics and neo-Marxism.

It is frequently asserted that Marxism as an intellectual tradition is in a state of crisis. The many defeats and disappointments suffered by socialist movements in the West, and the absence of a working model of a fully achieved socialist society, have prompted much self-questioning. In recent times, various strands of 'post-Marxist' thought have developed which surrender the ideological initiative to the radical right. This philosophical reinterpretation of Marxism seeks to explain the nature and historical origins of the current crisis, and to point a way forward to rebirth. McCarney argues that there are neglected truths about Marxism which need urgently to be restated. Rejecting the dominant interpretation that theory is essentially a critique of capitalist society, he reaffirms the classical Marxist model, in which socialist theory, uncovering a rational order emergent within existing society, reveals to the agents of socialist change their historical role.McCarney's meticulous analysis systematically examines the relationship between theory, critique and social agency to be found in classical Marxism; in the work of such leading Marxists as Lukacs, Adorno and Althusser; and in the recent analytical realist accounts of Marxist theory. The book concludes that theoretical, as well as social or political, advance depends upon the fate of the new proletarian movements, and identifies the developments in philosophy and political economy which are needed to ensure that Marxism remains a living intellectual force in the contemporary world.