This study presents an analytic overview of forty years of study of Western Marxism by Chinese scholars.Organised into four main sections,it begins with an emphasis on the wider institutional context of this Chinese r...This study presents an analytic overview of forty years of study of Western Marxism by Chinese scholars.Organised into four main sections,it begins with an emphasis on the wider institutional context of this Chinese research.Here,I deal with the beginnings of research on Western Marxism in China and outline the two main periods of this research,which turn on the important educational reforms of 2005.The next section focuses on the initial period of research on Western Marxism,from the early 1980s to the education reforms,which may be characterised in terms of the work of“wary onlookers”writing introductions and surveys of Western Marxist scholars.The following section covers the last two decades after the 2005 education reforms.This period is of most interest,so more attention is devoted to developments during this time.It has been a time of increasingly confident participants on the world stage,who focus on core issues,realistic demands,and problem-based research.The final section concerns assessments of the limitations of Western Marxism,which have been identified through the in-depth research of the second period.In conclusion,while Western Marxism may be seen as a legitimate development of Marxism in a capitalist context,it is a tributary from the mainstream.展开更多
This study presents an overview of the ideological framework of“Western Marxism.”This framework has a number of components,which are described in terms of a series of reductions,determinations,and the suspicions ent...This study presents an overview of the ideological framework of“Western Marxism.”This framework has a number of components,which are described in terms of a series of reductions,determinations,and the suspicions entertained by Western Marxists.The result was a truncated type of Marxism that cut itself off from the Marxist–Leninist tradition.It did so by reducing Marxism to the works of Marx alone and calling this“historical materialism,”which entailed a rejection of Engels’s significant contributions in history,science,and theory,and thus entailed a rejection of the subsequent developments of Marxism.This Western Marxism has been primarily promoted by“freelance intellectuals”with virtually no connection to Workers’or Communist Parties and was determined by an assumed ideological position before a proletarian revolution,was shaped by Western liberalism and imperialism,and has been constantly tempted into religiously inspired utopian versions of socialism.With deep suspicions of the state and national liberation,of science and technology,and of the importance of productive forces,this Western Marxism was always hoping for the ideal revolution(or even better,a peaceful transition)that would very quickly produce a utopian socialist society organised only by the people and without a state.This ideological framework also entailed a dismissal of the actual experience in developing countries of successful proletarian revolutions and the construction of socialism.展开更多
This study examines the proposition that the ideological structure of“Western Marxism”began to unravel after 1989 and the end of the Cold War,and that it is now largely falling apart.The argument proceeds in three s...This study examines the proposition that the ideological structure of“Western Marxism”began to unravel after 1989 and the end of the Cold War,and that it is now largely falling apart.The argument proceeds in three steps,the first of which is an overview of Western Marxism’s ideological structure.The second step analyses a number of deeply critical assessments of Western Marxism from within the contexts of the few countries of the world that make up the“West.”The fact that these critical and often polemical studies are appearing indicates the breakdown of Western Marxism’s former hegemony.The third step deals with more constructive material,including the Western“recovery”of Engels,and especially the dialectics of nature,as well as the impact of the major achievements in the theory and practice of Marxism from developing countries,in the context of socialism in power.展开更多
Since its advent in the early 1920s, Western Marxism has undergone a torturous process from anti-liberalism to virtually liberalism. The main theoretical deficiency behind this process is the over-estimation of Marx＇...Since its advent in the early 1920s, Western Marxism has undergone a torturous process from anti-liberalism to virtually liberalism. The main theoretical deficiency behind this process is the over-estimation of Marx＇s cultural critique of capitalism. As his economic research gradually deepened, Marx＇s dual critique of capitalism from economic and cultural perspectives matured. When the leading proponents of Soviet Marxism gave prominence to Marx＇s economic critique, as circumstances required, they and some key figures in the Second International misread his theory with emphasis on economic determinism. In contrast, Georg Luk^cs and most Western Marxists proceeded to develop a Marxian cultural critique with the consequence that his economic research being marginalized. Without the counterbalance of a continuous and consistent economic theory to challenge a confident international capitalism, cultural critique is consequently reorganized in confluence with liberalism, which is centered on an individual ontology. Re-excavating Marxian dual critical theory may help Western Marxism escape the dilemma.展开更多
文摘This study presents an analytic overview of forty years of study of Western Marxism by Chinese scholars.Organised into four main sections,it begins with an emphasis on the wider institutional context of this Chinese research.Here,I deal with the beginnings of research on Western Marxism in China and outline the two main periods of this research,which turn on the important educational reforms of 2005.The next section focuses on the initial period of research on Western Marxism,from the early 1980s to the education reforms,which may be characterised in terms of the work of“wary onlookers”writing introductions and surveys of Western Marxist scholars.The following section covers the last two decades after the 2005 education reforms.This period is of most interest,so more attention is devoted to developments during this time.It has been a time of increasingly confident participants on the world stage,who focus on core issues,realistic demands,and problem-based research.The final section concerns assessments of the limitations of Western Marxism,which have been identified through the in-depth research of the second period.In conclusion,while Western Marxism may be seen as a legitimate development of Marxism in a capitalist context,it is a tributary from the mainstream.
文摘This study presents an overview of the ideological framework of“Western Marxism.”This framework has a number of components,which are described in terms of a series of reductions,determinations,and the suspicions entertained by Western Marxists.The result was a truncated type of Marxism that cut itself off from the Marxist–Leninist tradition.It did so by reducing Marxism to the works of Marx alone and calling this“historical materialism,”which entailed a rejection of Engels’s significant contributions in history,science,and theory,and thus entailed a rejection of the subsequent developments of Marxism.This Western Marxism has been primarily promoted by“freelance intellectuals”with virtually no connection to Workers’or Communist Parties and was determined by an assumed ideological position before a proletarian revolution,was shaped by Western liberalism and imperialism,and has been constantly tempted into religiously inspired utopian versions of socialism.With deep suspicions of the state and national liberation,of science and technology,and of the importance of productive forces,this Western Marxism was always hoping for the ideal revolution(or even better,a peaceful transition)that would very quickly produce a utopian socialist society organised only by the people and without a state.This ideological framework also entailed a dismissal of the actual experience in developing countries of successful proletarian revolutions and the construction of socialism.
文摘This study examines the proposition that the ideological structure of“Western Marxism”began to unravel after 1989 and the end of the Cold War,and that it is now largely falling apart.The argument proceeds in three steps,the first of which is an overview of Western Marxism’s ideological structure.The second step analyses a number of deeply critical assessments of Western Marxism from within the contexts of the few countries of the world that make up the“West.”The fact that these critical and often polemical studies are appearing indicates the breakdown of Western Marxism’s former hegemony.The third step deals with more constructive material,including the Western“recovery”of Engels,and especially the dialectics of nature,as well as the impact of the major achievements in the theory and practice of Marxism from developing countries,in the context of socialism in power.
文摘Since its advent in the early 1920s, Western Marxism has undergone a torturous process from anti-liberalism to virtually liberalism. The main theoretical deficiency behind this process is the over-estimation of Marx＇s cultural critique of capitalism. As his economic research gradually deepened, Marx＇s dual critique of capitalism from economic and cultural perspectives matured. When the leading proponents of Soviet Marxism gave prominence to Marx＇s economic critique, as circumstances required, they and some key figures in the Second International misread his theory with emphasis on economic determinism. In contrast, Georg Luk^cs and most Western Marxists proceeded to develop a Marxian cultural critique with the consequence that his economic research being marginalized. Without the counterbalance of a continuous and consistent economic theory to challenge a confident international capitalism, cultural critique is consequently reorganized in confluence with liberalism, which is centered on an individual ontology. Re-excavating Marxian dual critical theory may help Western Marxism escape the dilemma.
