The Zero Hour of History: Is Neoliberalism Some Sort of ‘Mode of Production’? (original) (raw)

Contemporary Capitalism and Why We Need Marxism

The essay argues that a Marxist materialist analysis is fundamental in understanding and articulating the current international social/economic conjuncture. We sketch the theoretical framework underlying such an analysis, apply this framework broadly to describing the key phenomena defining our era, and draw some general strategic conclusions on what political approach and tasks revolutionary Marxists should be currently focusing on.

Beyond Marxism. The ‘Crisis of Marxism’ and the Post-Marxist Moment

Marx is nowadays widely recognized as a lucid and useful thinker of capitalism but, at the same, his political project is declared definitively failed. Such a diagnosis is rooted in the context of retreat of socialism and the worker’s movement that goes back to the late 1970s. The “crisis of Marxism”, declared by some of the main Marxist thinkers of that time, is the theoretical reflection of that conjuncture and “Post-Marxism” its immanent development. However, a turning point is reached when it appears that the Post-Marxist constellation is unable to stand to the challenges of the new era of globalized capitalism, strengthened by decades of neoliberalism. Despite the persistent weakness of the political movements claiming its legacy, Marxism still hosts a string a ambitious research projects aiming at understanding the world in order to change it.

Marxism. A contradictory legacy for the 21st century

This work aims to present a critical assessment of the trajectory followed by Marxism since its birth more than a century and a half ago. The fundamental contributions of Marx and Engels were enriched by numerous thinkers, leaders and practical experiences throughout this period. However, at the same time as it was being enriched, Marxism was diversifying into numerous tendencies and currents, and facing growing problems arising both from the practical refutation of some of its postulates and from the failure of the historical experiences carried out in its name. The book reviews the most important currents of Marxism, and analyses the problems that have arisen when historical experiments based on it have been carried out. The transformations that took place in capitalism and, above all, the degeneration and failure of the experiences carried out in its name ended up leading to what is known as the crisis of Marxism, which expresses the loss of influence of Marxism both in its critical theoretical aspect and as a guide to social transformation, and which raises questions about the future of what is the theoretical paradigm with the most elaborate emancipatory objectives in history.