By Freya B. If there is anything that can be identified as “Marxism,” it is the Marxist method, both in theoretical and political practice. On the level of theory, this Marxist method is dialectical materialism—or if one prefers, a materialist dialectic (emphasizing that what makes a theory materialist are the mechanics of the dialectic itself). […]
An important question in revolutionary theory and practice is the question of violence. Indeed, one of the advancements of Maoism over social-democratic politics is the recognition that political power is always power guaranteed by means of the gun and not just cultural hegemony. From the social-democratic tradition we can see two main ways of resolving […]
First and foremost let’s begin by recognizing the historical importance of anarchism as a broad political philosophy. While anarchism is fundamentally flawed in many ways most anarchists can be seen as allies in the struggle against monopoly capital. The contradiction between anarchists and communist forces on the ground can be characterized as non-antagonistic, a contradiction […]
The notion of power is one which has existed throughout the history of class society. The features of power and the motion of its development has meant exhausting study in the field of philosophy and social theory; being the subject of immense investigation early in the tradition of metaphysics and later up until the current […]
The following comments by French philosophical luminary Jean-Paul Sartre were part of a 1969 interview included in the anthology entitled Between Marxism and Existentialism. While we normally do not highlight existential philosophy or existential philosophers, the following comments are noteworthy for the inclusion of Marxist methodology and prescient view with regards to the GPCR. As […]
Being that today is Malcolm X’s birthday, I thought it was incumbent upon me to share these reflections. First and foremost, I think it’s necessary that I explain why I, as a “white man,” a euro-amerikan, feel such a profound reverence for Malcolm, someone who said to be a “black militant” and accused of being […]
Bell hooks was a leading figure in establishing ‘third-wave feminism’: a philosophical and practical branch of feminism centered around the history, experience, and interests of ‘women of color.’ Her writings are directly critical of previous feminist movements which favored white middle-class women, and she is generally critical of the standard feminist framework while finding cause in altering the scope of its discourse. Her central thesis in Feminist Theory, from Margin to Center is that the objective of feminism is not simply for equality between sexes but for an end to sexist oppression and the broader “ideology of domination” which supports it. In the process, she gets many things right in regards to the struggle against oppression while bringing a lot of detail and nuance into the discussion. In some regards, her critiques of feminism are applicable to nominally left-wing movements in the US today. Yet her explicit understandings of larger economic questions are lacking. Though she raises many salient points, these ideas are best understood as part of a broader yet more incisive critique of general social practice and relations between classes and groups.
Betty Friedan is often credited with founding second wave feminism, what is today sometimes mockingly referred to as ‘white, middle-class feminism’ or ‘bourgeois feminism.’ Beyond whatever rhetorical value can be found in such phrases, what do they mean? What is the implication of Friedan’s work in relation to other outstanding social relations besides gender? More […]
