Marxism: a view from 21st century

Marxism: a view from 21st century


Krasin Yu.A.

Dr. Sci. (Philos.), Prof., Dr. Honoris Causa, Institute of Sociology FCTAS RAS, Moscow, Russia krasinyua@yandex.ru

ID of the Article:


For citation:

Krasin Yu.A. Marxism: a view from 21st century . Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2018. No 5. P. 45-55




Abstract

The 200-years’ jubilee of Karl Marx is an occasion to reflect on the Marxism’s destiny from historical distance. Contemporary reality differs drastically from that of the XIX and early XX centuries. It calls for a critical analysis of Marxism and its historical place in mankind’s theoretical and mass consciousness. Marx had created a holistic political-economic and philosophicalhistoric conception of social development on the base of limited experience of the early capitalism. The author distinguishes between the authentic Marxism as an intellectual co-domain of the then reality and successive Marxist tradition. In the vein of this tradition Marxism has been rethought in accordance with new experience of the mature industrial society, including sprouts of “post-industrialism” and “post-capitalism”. This “identity” of two facets of Marxism stresses its creative capability to actualization in the epoch of big changes in human community. It is possible to cognize antinomic pluralistic wholeness of nascent information society only as a result of synthetic interaction of different existing spiritual ideological traditions. Revolutionary-critical approach towards reality gives to Marxist tradition a good chance to take its well-deserved place in the global intellectual cooperation.


Keywords
Marxism; Marxist tradition; early capitalism; industrial society; socialism; Leninism; informational socium

References

Маrx К. (1956) Civil War in France. In: Marx K., Engels F. Collected Works. 2-nd ed. Vol. 5. Moscow: Gospolitizdat. (In Russ.)

Маrx К. (1969) 1850th Economic Manuscripts. In: Marx K., Engels F. Collected Works. 2-nd ed. Vol. 46. Pt. II. Moscow: Gospolitizdat. (In Russ.)

Losev А.F. (1990) From Early Works. Мoscow: Pravda. (In Russ.)

Маngeim К. (1976) Ideology and Utopia. Pts.1–2. Мoscow: INION AN SSSR. (In Russ.)

Piketty T. (2013) Le Capital au XXIe siècle Paris; Éditions du Seui.

Plekhanov G.V. (1928) Basic issues of Marxism. In: Works. Vol. 18. Моscow-Leningrad: Gosizd-vo. (In Russ.)

Toffler A. (1990) Powershift. Knowledge, Wealth and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century. New York: Bantam.

Content No 5, 2018