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cW wOrds 0rc ncCcss0r tO cXg0n thc OCC0sOn 0nd n0turc O th8
shOrt tcXt. rtn n c0r tgq t w0s dcs_ncd 0s 0n ntrOduObOn tO
8COcCtOn O s08 b V0rOus 0uthOn On mCcnt thcOrsN O LurOgc0n
M0msm. OrtutOus thc cduC0tOn0 gubshn_ hOu whCh h0d
OOmmssOncd ths `m0dcr Oscd tO cXst 8 mOnth 0tcr. hc C0n-
Oc0tOn O thc grO[cCt dcgrVcd thc tcXt O t8 Or_n0 gurgO8c. hcsc
CrCumsnC 0CCOunt Or Ccrt0n O thc 0nOm0 O thc sutc bcOw
thc dO nOt ncCcsr cXCusc thcm. Or thc s0 gubshcd hcm s
COnCcmcd wth thc _cncm COOrdn0m O `cstcm M0msm 0s 0
COmmOn ntctu0 tmduOn t dOcs nOt COnn 0 sgcChC sCmun Or
0 COmg0mtVc cV0u0uOn O 0n O thc g0rtCu0r thcOmtC0 sstcms
wthn t. hs w0s tO bc thc grOVnCc O thc studcs tO whCh t w0s 0
grc0mDc. hcsc wcrc tO COnsttutc 0 scrcs O Crt cXgOsuOns O
c0Ch O thc m0]Or sChOOs Or thcOrsts O ths tr0duOn ~ rOm LuKCs
tO LmmsC b0ruc tO thusscr M0rCusc tO Lc0 YOgc. hc grcscnt
tcXt OCuscd On thc Om0 stmCturcs O thc M0rXsm th0t dcVcOgcd n
thc cst 0tcr thc LCtObcr cVOutOn 0bsns rOm subsntVc
[uO_cmcnts O thc rc0uVc mcrts Or gu0tcs O ts m0n mgrcscnuVcs.
1n 0Ct O COursc thc h0Vc nOt bccn cguV0cnt Or dcnt.
hstOrC0 b00nCc-shcct O thc unt O cstcm M0msm dO% nOt
grcCudc thc ncd Or dsCrmn0tn_ csum0tcs O thc dVcrst O
0ChcVcmcnts wthn t. Lcb0tc OVcr thc mgOssbc hcm s csscnu0
0nd Dtm Or thc Lct.
1[ bcOnd thc g0rtCu0r mOmcnt O ts COmgOsuOn thc tcXt Ws
mOtV0d b mOrc 0sun_ gmOCCug0uOns whCh gcrmt ts gubC0tOn
tOO0 t w0s bcC0usc t mhcCtcO Ccrn grObcms cnCOuntcrcd n thc
COunc O wOrk On 0 sOC0st [Oum0 N:=L:R::e=,OVcr thc _n.
n cs wrttcn n thc 0tc sXtcs Or ths mVcw h0d ucd tO dcmt
. . .
YU
8nd 8n8l8c 8 g8tbCul8t COn_ut8tOn O n8tOn8l Cultutc n n_l8nd
8nCc thc tt8t NOtld 8t.
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Lnc O t8 gtnCg8l thcmc8 W88 th8t
n_l8h Cultum h8d 8_nhC8ntl l8Ckcd 8n tt8dtOn O `Nc8tcH
m88m n th8 cgOCh ~ 8n 8b8cnCc tc_8tctcd n 8n uncQuVOC8ll
nc_8tVcl_ht. muChOthcWOtkONsLsfRsv|snth8gcrOdW88
dcVOtcd tO 8 COn8COu8 8ttcmgt tO 8t8tt n 8Omc 8cn8c tO tcmcd th8
n8bVc dchCcnC ~ b gubl8hn_ 8nd d8Cu88n_ Otcn Ot thc ht8t
tmc n tt8n thc WOtk O thc mO8t 88lcnt thcOt8t8 tOm LcH8n
t8nCc8nd1t8l.h8gtO_mmmcgut8ucd mcthOdC8llW88 tc8Chn_
t cndb thc c8tl 8cVcnt. O_C8ll 8 COnCludn_ b8l8nCc-8hcct O
thc lc_8C WhCh thc ]OuH8l h8d 8Ou_ht tO m8kc 8V8l8blc n 8n
ot_8nzcd O W88nccdcd. tW88nth8 gct8gcCtVc th8t thc thcmc8
COn8dctcd hctc Wctc hmt cVOlVcd. hc 88 bclOW On 8 `COntncnt8l
U8dtOntOm utOgc 8 thu8 n g8tt 8 8cgucl tO thc c8tlct 8CCOunt o
8n `n8ul8t g8ttcH n n_l8nd. t W88 thc gtOduCt O 8n nCt8n_
8Wcn8 th8t Uc hctt8_c th8t tt8n h8d m88cd tO dcUmcnt
W88 t8clm88n_ n Cctn o thc Cl888Cltt8t8 O h8tOtC8l m8tct8l
8m.A_tc8tct cgut ojud_Cmcnt n 888c88n_ thc n8tOn8lV8t8bOn8
8ndntcH8tOn8l8tcOm88mnth8cgOChW888t8CtCOn8cgucnCc.
umn_ 88 t dd Onc O thc Ccntml COnCcH8 O thc jOutn8l Uc
tcXt W88 d8Cu88cd 8nd CttCzcd b COllc8_uc8 On NsLsRsv|s,
tOm8Wdc mn_c OVcWgOnt8 8hOttl 8tct thc `tc8dct Ot WhCh t
h8d bn Wtttcn W88 8b8ndOncd. n tcVn_ thc tcXt Ot gublC8bOn
h8Vc Ucd tO t8kc 8CCOunt O thct tchcCtOn8 8nd CttC8m8. h8Vc
8l8Ocmcndcd tWhctc thOu_ht lOC8l mgtOVcmcnt8COuld bc m8dc tO
t8 8t_umcnt 8nd _Vcn tcctcnCc8 tO l8tct dcVclOgmcnt8. hc
dOCumcnt th8t tcm8n8 h88 bccn mOdcd 88 8t 88 t8 nttn8C Orm
gctmt8. bnCc t8nt8l COmgO8tOn hOWcVct Cctt8n Ot8cmgh88c8
nOW 8ggc8t tO mc tO gO8c gtOblcm8 th8t 8dmt O nO tc8d 8OlutOn
Wthnthctmt.hc8cm8_Vn_88tc nOt8mcn8blctO8ntcWOtkn_O
thc gcnt c888. hc 8m thctcOtc COn8_ncd tO 8n 8tcOtd WhCh
8ct8 Out mtthct un8n8Wctcd guc8tOn8 Ot 8n cngut ntO thc ututc
O h8tOtC8l m8tct8l8m.
'Components of the NauonaI CuItute', ew 1e evtew o, juIy-August
rq68. Cettain eIements in tbis text wouId be sub[ect to modihcation today.
" Notes in squate btackets ate those which tefet to texts ot events subsequent
to the wung ol the essay.
CtCWCtd tC thC Cutth tdtCn
e
J
P dCCadC atCt ts Ct_nal CCmQCsmCn ths Cssay Cas Ct a CW
suQQCmCntaty nCs. hC CCCCtCn Ct WhCh t Was ntay dCs_nCd
as an nIrOduCtOn aQQCatCd as a sCQatatC bCCk n t;; lc:tcru
crxt:m~ Lrtttccl Jccdcr [L] tCQtntCd n 18j [NCtsC]. hat
vCumC Wth ts dCtalCd studCs C ndvdua thnkCts tCQtCsCnts thC
ntCndCd CCmQanCn and CCnttCl C thC _CnCta sutvCy attCmQtCd hCtC.
hC Cssay Cn LtamsC8 thCCty C hC_CmCny QtCmsCd as a mCtC
QCtsCnal QCndant tO ths tCXt Was QubshCd n cw Jc /vtcw O
CvCmbCt - ]anuaty 1)} as `hC PntnCmCs Ct PntCnO
Lt0msC. hCsC WCtC thC mmCdatC CCmgCmCnts tO Ceai:aiea
eac:tcrn crxt:m.
PmCng thC sQCChC tCHCCtCns Wth WhCh thC tCXt Cnds Was thC
CXQCCtatCn and hCQC th8t MatXst hstCty and QhCsCQh WCuld
CC8sC tC lCad suCh sCQatatC lvCs and statt tC mCCt n a CCmmCn
sCCast CututC n WhCh CaCh tCCk thC ChalCn_C and stmuus C thC
CthCt. hC htst majOt CCCasCn C ths CnCCuntCt Was thC subjCCt C
subsCQuCnt bCCk rgumcnt: wtthtn Lnglt:h J1crxt:m [18C) WhCh
rCVcWs thC CumuatvC WCtk C tdWatd hCmQsCn and thC s_-
nICanCC C ts CttQuC C thC thCu_ht C Cus PthussCt. hC WdCt
QattCtn C dCvClCQmCnt C MatXsm n thC NCst snCC thC md
sCvCntCs havC trCd tC tCsumC n thC lCCtutCs CnttlCd 1atk: Jrccks
0 Jt:t0rtcnl rcrtnlt:m, QubshCd n 18j-a study that 8 nCt
QutC a sCQuCl tC L0n:tdcrctt0n: 0n /c:tcrn crxt:m, snCC ts CCus
nCludCs CuttCnts C thCu_ht tva Ct anta_CnstC tC hstCtCa matCtal-
sm as WC as thC utC C atXsm tsCl. ut t dCCs statt Wth thC
sCCs C CtCCasts WIh WhCh thC CatCt WCtk CCnCudCs and thCn
CCks at hCW thC tCa hstCty ntCCCtual and QCtCa C thC sub-
scQuCnt dCCadC ttCatCd thCm. Many C thCsC QtCdCtCns at_uC havC
bCCn uhCd CthCts s_nhCantly havC nOt. hC CCtutCs dsCuss thC
ditCCtCns and tCasOns C thC Chan_Cs dd nCt CtCsCC and n dCn_
sC makC a numbCt C CttCsms C QattCuat jud_CmCnts C thnkCts
Gt ttadtOns n thC tCXt at hand. Ct tCadCts ntCtCstCd tC QutsuC my
prCsCnt vCW C thC HCd thCn 1a Ihc 1rcck: 0j /t:t0rtccl ctcrtclt:m
C0n bC tCad as a CCntnuatCn C L0n:tdcrctt0n: 0n l/c:tcrn crxt:m
Ct tC_CthCt Wth Zrgumcnt: wtthtn Lnglt:h 1dcrxt:m, thC thtCC studCs
Can bC t0kCn as an unQtCmCdtatCd ttlC_y. LCtCbCt IQ8q
Lorrect revouttono_ theo_ or:ume: _no :hoe ong tn co:e
connectton wtth the rocttco ottvt_ oj o trug mm: ond trug
revouttonory movement.
LL1
1he mutttude mtho:e oj tke o::ton: wtth the mutttude 1
mk not to reod my hook, noy woud rother thot they :mud
utterg negect tt th thot they :houd mt:tnterret tt oer
thrtr ont.
b11LZA

hc \!uCu! radtCn
hc hstOr O M0msm sn b brth 0 ttc OVcr 0 hundd c0n 0_O
h0s ct tO bc Wrttcn. ts dcVcOgmcnt sb rc0bVc brc n sg0n h0s
ncVcrthccss bccn COmgcX 0nd dsg0d. hc us 0nd Oms O b
suCssVc mct0mOrghOs 0nd u0nscrcnC rcm0n 0r_c uncXgOm.
hc mtcd sub[cCt O thc COnsdcr0bOns hc W bc `tcm
M0msm 0 tcm th0t n bc ndt nO gmsc sg0Cc Or bmc. hc
0m O ths brc s0 W thcOrc bc tO stu0tc 0 Ccrt0n bOd O
thcOb WOrk hstOr 0nd tO su__t thc suuCtum COOrdn0t
WhCh dchnc ts unt ~ n Othcr WOrds th0t COnsttutc t dgtc
ntcm0 dVcr_cnC 0nd OggOsuOns 0s 0 COmmOn ntccCtu0
tr0duOn. O dO sO nVOV sOmc nb0 rccrcnCc tO dc grOr cVOubOn
O M0msm bcOrc thc cmcr_cnCc O dc thcOrsts n QutOn Or ths
0Onc W cn0bc us tO scc thc sgcChC nOVct O thc g0ttcm thc
rcgrmt. Pn 0dcgu0tc 8CCOunt O thc WhOc c0rcr rcCOrd O hstOrC0
m0tcr0sm WOud O COunc dcm0nd muCh mOrc cXtcnsVc trc0tmcnt
th0n s gOssbc hcrc. MOWcVcr cVcn 0 summ0r rctrOsgcCuVc skctCh
W hcg tO brn_ subscgucnt shb ntO 0 Cc0r OCus.
hc Oundcn O hstOrC0 m0tcr0sm M0m 0nd Ln_cs Wcrc bOm
n thc hnt dcC0dc 0tcr thc 0gOcOnC 0rs. M0O [11-8]) W0s thc
sOn O 0 0Wcr n rcr Ln_cs [1zO) O 0 m0nu0Cturcr n
0mcn: bOth Wcrc hnc0ndcrs b Or_n rOm grOsgcrOus bOur_cOs
b0Ck_rOunds n thc mOst 0dV0nCcd 0nd Wtcr rc_Ons O Lcm0n.
hcr c 0nd WOrk st0mgcd On gubC mcmOr nccd ttc hc0n0
hcrc. t s Wc knOWn hOW undcr thc _r0Vt0ttOn0 gu O thc hrst
grOct0r0n ugsur_ 0tct thc ndusu0 rcVOuuOn M0O n hs twcnu
grO_rcssVc scttcd hs 0CCOunts Wth Uc ghOsOghC0 @0C O
M
HegeI and leuerbach, and the poIiucaI theory ol Proudhon, wiIe
EngeIs dscovered the reaIiues ol the workingcIass condition in
EngandanddenouncedtheeconomicdoctrinesthatIegitimatedithow
the to te the Commaois: m:fes:o on the eve ol the great
conunentaI upheavaI ol1q and lought on theexuemeIelt ank ol
the inteationaI revoIts olthat year, lor the cause olrevoIuuonary
sociaIism how they were hunted by a victorious counterrevoIution
into eiIe in EngIand in their thirues how Man drewthe historicaI
baIance-sht olthe lrench revoIution that had ended in the econd
Empire,whiIe EngeIssummedup thaolthelaiIureolthecontempor
aneous German revoIuuon how Man, aIone in London, in etreme
penury,embarkedonthemonumenta|heomucaItaskolreconstructing
the capitaIis mode olproducuon as a whoIe, aided onIy by the in
teIIectuaI and materiaI soIidrity olEngeIs in Manchter how alter
hlteen years olIabour, the hrst voIume ol Caital as pubIished just
belore Manreached theageolhltyhowtowards theend olthesame
period,heparticipatedintheloundationoltelirstnteaonaI,and
theninvested themostintenseeortinIeadingipmctiIworkas8
organied sociaIist movement how he commemorated the Paris
Commune, and insuucted the newIy unied Germanworkers' party,
estabIishingthegeneraIprincipIes olaluture proIetarianstate hoin
theIast years olMa's Iileand alter his death, EngeIs produced the
rst systemauc epositions ol historicaI materiaIism that made it a
popuIarpoIiticaIlorceinEurope,andinhissevenuespresidedoverthe
growth ol the Second nteationaI, in which it became the ociaI
doctrineolthmorworking-cIassparties olthe Conunent.
he enormous achievement ol these interwoven Iives is not our
directconcehere. lorourpuoses, it wiIIbe enoughtoemphasie
certainsoc/a| haIImarksolthetheoreucaIworkolManandEngeIs,that
may see as a sndard olcomparison lor Iater deveIopments. Man
and EngeIs were isoIated pioneers within their ow generauon no
contemporary olanynationaIitynbesaidto have IIyunderstood
or shared their mature views. At the same time, their worwas the
productolaIongointendeavour,an inteIIectuaIpartnershipwithout
anycIoseparaIIeI inthe history olthought to this day. The o men
together- through eiIe, impovishmentand ddgery- neverost
contactwiththemaorstggIesoltheproIetiatoltheirmedespite
7\e Clmsi:al 1rc|tt0n
Q
theirvirtuaIIycompIeteIackolanyorganizauonaIbondwithitlorover
adecade. Jhe depth olthehistoricaI connecuon between thethought
olMan and ngeIs and the evoIuuon olthe working cIass was best
provedbytheveryordeaIoltheyears lrom t 8oonwardswhenthey
were both appareny lorced ack in private' existence the period
was used by Man with the consnt materiaI aid olngeIs lor the
preparauon olCaital, and ended with his naturaI coopuon into the
lirstntaonaIwhisoon bamea pracuI Ieademhip olit n
theotherhandtheordinyunityoltheoryandpmcuceachieved
againstaIIadvemiuesintheIivesolM andngeIswasbythesame
tokenneveranunbrokenorimmediateidenuty.JhesingIerevoIuuon
upheavaIinwhichtheypersonaIIyparucipatedwaspredominantIy
arusan and peasant in i mass chamcter the uny Gean proIeriat
pIayed onIy a smaII roIe in the events olI88. Jhe mostadvanced
sociaIinsurrecuonwhichtheywitnessedlroalarwasIikewisemainIy
arusanaI in chamcter the Paris Commune deleat ensured the
dissoIution ol the lirst ntemationaI and the retum ol Man and
ngeIs to mereIy inlormaI poIiucaI activity once again The reaI
emergence olindusuiaI working cIass parues occurred alter Man's
deathJhereIauonshipbetweenMan'stheoryandproIerianpractice
was thus aIways uneven and mediate there was very mreIy a dimct
coincidencebetweenthetwo.JhecompIexityoltheobecuvearucuIa
uonbetweencIass and'science'inthisperiodstiIIvirtuaIIyunstudied
todaywas inturn reected inthe nature and late olMan's writings
themseIves lortheIimioltheworkingcIass movement olthetime
set certain boundaries to the work olMan and EngeIs his can be
seen at two IeveIs- both in thereceptionand thescopeoltheirtexts
Man's theomticaI inuence in the suict sense rmained reIativeIy
resuicted in his own Iile The greater buIk olhis wriungs - at Ieast
threequarters olthem - Iay unpubIished when hedied whathe had
pubIished was scattered haphazardIy over a number olcounuies and
Ianages without being avaiIabIeas a whoIe in any olthem.t was
" 5 Theodore Hamerow, ertoroton evomton eocton rinceton t y 8,
pp t y}-6 thebsthistoricalanalysis oIthesocial composion oIthe German
Revolution oIt 88
" Among the works unpublishd in mX8 own liIetime wre Lrtgue oj
/eger horophy o_ght (t 8y 1conomu-mropu onurcrgU (t 8
tobeanotherhaIlcenturybeoreaIIhismajororksereinthepubIic
domain,andthehistryoltheirposthumousappearanceastolora
centraI suand in the Iater cissitud ol Manism. Jhe register ol
Man'spubIicauons inhison timeisanindex olthe barriers to the
dihusion olhis thought among the cIass to hom it as addressed.
ConverseIy,hoever,theinexperienceoltheproIetariatoltheepoch
stiII haIlay beteen orkshop and lactory, IargeIy devoid een l
uadeunion organizauon, ithout hope olinning poer anyhere
in urope rcumscribed the outer Iimits olM's thought itseI
undamenmIIy, Man Ielt behind him B coherent and deveIoped
ecanamictheoryolthecapitaIistmodeolproducuon,setoutinCqital,
but nocomparIepalial theory me scres olthe bourgeois
State orolme suategyand tacu olrevoIutiona sociaIist sggIe
by aorkingcIassparty loritsoverto. At mos hebequeathed a
lecrypticanucipauonsinthet 8osandIaconicprincipIesinthe t 8os
dictatorshipolheproIetariat'),togemerimhislamousconjunctumI
anaIyses oltheSecondmpire. nthisresect, Man'sorkcouIdnot
outmn the reaI historicaI pace olmemasses, in theinvenuon oltheir
oninstrumentsandmodaIiesolseIlemancipauonAtthesametime,
and this as a more obvious Iacuna to contemporari, Man never
provided any extended generaI account olhistoriI materiaIism a
such. JhisasthetaskthatngeIstookupintheIate t 8osand t 88os,
iththeXot/-Dar/oy anditssequeIs,inresponsetothegromolne
orking-cIass organizationson theconunent. or thehnaI paradool
mehistoricaIreIationshipolmetheoreticaIorkol Manandnge|sto
thepracticaIstruggIesoltheproIetariatIayinthedistinctivelormolits
intemationaIism. either manaseverrooted in a nationaI po|iticaI
party alr t 8q8. ased in ngIand, here they remained Iargey
outside the IocaI cuIturaI and poIicaI lrameork, both consciousIy
decidedagainstretumingtoGermanyinthe 86os,heneithercouId
have done so. Abstaining lrom any direc roIe n the bui|ding o
nationaI organiations ol the orking-cIass in the major indusaI
countries, they advised and guided miIitants and Ieaders throughout
uropeandortAmer.JheircorrepondeneextendedeortIessIy
7/etet on euerbac (t8q) 7/e German Jeologj {i8q6) GranJre {i8-8)
7eoriet o]5urplut- alue (i86z~) Capitalols II md III Critiqae o]tGotha
roram {i8]Aote on aner {i88o].
7eCs/:m2rad/an
fromMoscoto Chicago, and apIes to sIo Jheve narroness
andimmaturityoftheorng-cIassmovementoftheepochpermitted
them to reaIie, at a prie, a pumr intemationaIism than as to be
possiIe thentphaseofideveIopment
Jhegroup oftheoristshosucceededMandngeIsin thegenera-
uonafterthemassuIImaIIi nnumbertascomprisedofmenho
for the mst partetohistoriI materiaIism reIauveIyIate in their
personaI deveIopment Jhe for maor es of this period e
LabrioIa o in t 8), ehng o in t 86), autsky o in
8) and PIekhanov o in t 86)AIIere from the morebak-
ard astem or Southem regionsofuroe Mehringas the son of
aunkerfromPomenia, PIeano ofaIandoner fromJambov,
LabrioIa ofa Iandoner from Lampania, autsy ofa painter from
ohemia PIhano as onverted to Masm, after a dede of
cIandestine arodnik acuvity, in eIe in SiterIand in the t 88os
LabrioIaanestabIishedegeIianphiosopherin Kome,homoved
overtoMism in t 8goMehringhadaIongcamerasaIiberaIdemo-
ct and pubIcst n Pssa, before oining the German SociaI-
emocratic arty in t 8gt autsky aIone had no preMast past,
entering the orkem' movement as a sociaIist ouaIist in his earIy
tenties one oftheseinteIIectuaIsere to pIaya centI roIe in the
Ieadership of the nationaI parues oftheir country, but hey ere aII
cIoseIy integated into their poIiucaI and ideoIogicaI Iife and heId
ociaIpositionsin them,iththeeceptinofabriIaho remained
aIooffrom the foundauon ofthe taIian SociaIist arty Iekhano
afterheIpingtofoundtheGroupforthemancipauonofabour,as
on thehmtditoriaIbod of sraandtheCenraI Commiteeofthe
Kussian SociaIemocuc Labour arty eIected at its Secod
Longress autsky as editor ofO/eAee Ze/t, hich became the
" estein (8 yyz), inteIIectuaIIy a minor gure,beIonged to the sae
generationMorris (t 8 yq6),oIderthananyol thisgroup,was olmuchgreater
signicance, butunustlyremained withoutmuch inuenceeen within his on
couny, and wasunownoutsideit.
LabrioIa had been insuumental in urging Turati towards e creation ol a
sociaIistpartinItaIy,onthe GermanmodeI,butattheIastminutedecidedotto
arcipateinthelondingcongressol eP5Iat Genoa n 8y, becauseol his
eseaons aboutiideologic claty

maintheoreucaIorganolthSPO nddraltedtheociaIprogme
the pty at the rlurt Congress. Mehring as a prominent con-
ibutor t Oie Aeae Zeit, LabrioIa to its lrench counterpart Le
Oeeim.AIIlourmnpemonaIIycoespondedithngeIs,ho
asa loauveinhuence on them. Jhe main direction oltheirork
L beseen, in lact,as a conunuation olngeIs's on hnaI period. n
othe ords, they ere concmed in diherent ays to jstemaie
hstoricaI materiaIism 8 a comrehensiv theory ol man and nature,
capabIe ol repIacing riva bourgeois iscipIines d providing the
orkers'movementithabroadandcoherentisionoltheorIdthat
couIdeasiIygraspedbyitsmiIitants. JhistasinvoIved them,as it
haddone lorngeIs, ina toloId commitment toproduce generaI
phiosophiaIstatementsolMarxismasaconcepuonolhisto,and to
etenditintodomainsthathadnotbeendirectIytouchedbyMan.Jhe
simiIarity ol the utIes olsome ol their main expositions indicates
their common proccupations OnHistari:aIateriaIm Mehring,
Essajs an tke aterimis Can:epti a] Histarj LabrioIa), 7ke
OeveIapmen a] tke anist Can:eptian a] Hista PIekhanov), 2ke
ateriaIist Can:eptian a] Htarj Kautsky. At the same time,
MeingandPIekhanovroteessaysonIiteratureandart(2keZssing
Legen1and Xrta:iaIL), hiIe Kautsky turned a study ol
reIigion (2ke Urs a] Ckristiai) aII themes hich the Iater
ngeIshadbrieyprobedJhe generaI sense oltheseorks as that
ola compIetion, more than a deveIopment, olMarxsheritage. Jhe
srt olschoIarIy pubIicauon olMan's manuscripts and biographcaI
studyolhisIile,iththe intenuon olrecoveringanddspIayingthem
in luIIto the sociaIistmovementlorthehrsttime,aIsobeIongsto this
generation. ngeIs had pubIished the Second and Jhird oIumes ol
tapim, Kautsky then edited the 2kearies a]arpIas-aae, Mehring
subsequentIy coIIaborated in the pubIication ol the ar-Enge/s
Carrespand:n:e, and at the end olhis Iile he produced the hrst maor
biogphy ol Man. Systematiauon and recapituIauon ol an in-
Mehringsessay was pubIished in t 8yy, PIekhanov's in t 8y, LabrioIa's in
t 8y6. Kautskys eatise, onalarIargerscaIe,waspubIishedmuchIater,in t y.
Thesetextswere writtenrespectiveIyin t 8yyMehring), t y8autsky)and
t yt ty (PIekhanov ).
` Lopto oI. II appeared in t 88 , and oI. III in t 8y6 /neoruz ojurpz
oze lrom t y Lorrerpodence in t yt y Mehin'sJor orx t t
T: Clral Ta Q
heritance stiII very ne and cIose behind theme the predominant
aims olthesesuccessors.
MeanhiIe, hoever, the hoIe internationaI cIimate ol orId
capitaIism as aItering. n the Iast years ol the nineteenth century,
thereasasharpeconomic upsingin themaorindustiaI countries,
asmonopoIizaontookgripathomeandimperiaIistepansionacceIer
ated abroad, inauguting a tense era ol impetuous technoI ogicaI
innoation, rising mtes olproht, increasing accumuIation olcapitaI,
and escaIating miIitary rivaIry beteen the great poers. These
obectiveconditions ereverydierentlrom thecomparativeIytran
quiI phase olcapitaIist deveIopment during the Iong recession lrom
t 8 to t 8gq, alter the deleat olthe Commune and belore the hrst
outbreakolinterimperiaIistconhictsin theAngIooer and Spanish
merican Wars soon loIIoed by the Kussoapanese War. The
immediate heirs olMan and ngeIs had been lormed in a period ol
mIatie IuII. The net generation olMarxists came olage in a much
ore turbuIent environment, as European capitaIism began to scud
toardsthe tempest olthelirstWorId War. The theoreticians olthis
Iev ere much more numerous than their redecessors and th
conrmed stiII more dramaticaIIy ashiltthathadaIreadystarted tobe
isibIe in the previous period - the translerence ol the hoIe geo
graphicaI aisolMarist cuIturetoardsEastern and entraI Erope.
The dominant hgures olthenegeneration cae ithoutecetion
lromrgionseastolerIin. Leninastheson olaciviI servantlrom
Astraan,LemburgthedaughterolatimbermerchantromaIica,
Trotsky the son ol a larmer lrom the raine, Ilerding ol an
insurance lunctionar and auer ola tetiIemanlactrer in Atria
AIIoltheserotemaororksbelorethelirstWorIdWar. ukarin,
thesonolateacherinMosco,andPreobrazhensky,hoselatheras
a priestlrom re, made their mark alter it, butcan be considered as
Iaterproducts olthesame lormation The dating and distribution ol
thedeveIopmetolMarxisttheoryuptothispointcanthusbetabuIated
as loIIos
Man
ngeIs
t 8t 8t 88
t 8t 8g
Trier KhineIand
armen WestphaIia
8
LabrioIa
Mehring
autsky
PIekhano
Lenin
Luxemburg
iIlerding
Jroky
aue
Preobhensky
ukharin
t 8q-t goq
t 8q6-t gtg
t 8q-t g8
t 86-t gt 8
t 8t g
t 8t-tgtg
t 8-tgqt
t 8gtgq
t 88ttg8
t 886-t g
t 888tg8
Cassino Campania
SchIaePomerania
Prague ohemia
Jbo CentraI Kussia
Simbirsk VoIga
osc GaIicia
Vina
herson Ukraine
Vinna
reI CentraI Kussia
Mosco
VirtuaIIy aII the younger genetion ol theoris ere to pIa a
commandingpartintheIeadershipoltheirrespecuvenauonaIparues
aroIelarmorecentraIandactivethanthatoltheirpredecesso.Lenin,
olcourse,asthecreatoroltheoIshevikPartyinKussiaLuxemburg
astheguidinginteIIectltheSociaIOemocraucPartyinPoIand,and
Iater the most authoritauve lounder ol the Communist Party ol
Germy. Jrotsky as a centI gure i n the laconaI disputes ol
KussianSociaIOemocracy, and ukharinarisingIieutenantolLenin,
belore the lirst WorId War. auer headed the secretariat ol the
parIiamenta group oltheAustrian SoaIOemocrauc Party, hiIe
iIlerdingbecameaprominenteichstagdeputyoltheGermanSociaI
Oemocrauc Party. A common leature olthis hoIe group as the
exordinaryprecoctyoltheireveIopment everysingIe one olthe
hguresjustmentioned had ritten abasic theoreucaIorkby theend
oltheir tenues.
What ere the ne departures hich their riung represented
OeteinedbythequickeningolthehoIehistoricaI tempolrom the
tuolthecenturyonards, theirconcemsIayessenuaIIyintonoveI
diruons. irstIy,themanilestansloations olthecapitaIist mode
ol production that had generated monopoIiation and imperiaIism
demandedsustainedeconomic anaIysis and expIanation. M'sork
no,moreover,comingunderprolessionaIcriticismlromademic
T/e CIas/:aI 7rad/t/an
economistslorthehrsttime CaptaIcouIdnoIongerbesimpIyrested
onithadtodeveIoped.Jhehrstmaorattemptinthisdirctionas
actuaIIyundertaken by Kautsky, th hisXrar|an Qaest|an in gg,a
seeping categoraI expIoation ol the changes in uropean and
AmericanagricuIturehichsuggested thatheasnothememberol
the oIder generauon most sensitive to the nds olthe contemporary
situation, and seaIed his authorityamong younger Maists. Later i
the same year, Lenin pubIishd Tke OeveIapment afCap|taI|sm n
s-amassivestudyolamIeconomy,hoselormaIinspirauo
was ery cIose to that olthe Zgrar/an Qaest|an, but hose specic
obecuveasinsomeaysboIderandmomnoveI orthisorkas,
ehect, the hmt serous appIication ol the geneI theory ol the
pitaIist mode olproduction set out in Cap|taI to a concmte sociaI
lormation, combininga numberolmodes olproduction in aarticu
IatedhistoricaItotaIity.Lenin'sinvestigationoltheJsristcountryside
muspmsetedacriucaIadvancelorhistoricaImateriaIismasahoIe
heastentyninehenhecompIeteditbD yearsIater,HiIlerding
ho had on his spurs in t goq ith an eecuve mpIy to hm
aerk's marginIist critiqe ol Ma hnished his pathbmng
studyolF/nr:eCap/ta,attheage oltentyeightPubIishedin tgto,
Ilerding's orkentbeyondeitherasectoI'oranationaI'appIi
tion olCap/taI, such as had been achieved by Kautskyand Lenin, to
present a luIIsca|e updating' ol it, to take account ol the gIobaI
changes inthecapitaIistmodeolproductionassuch,intheneepoch
oltrusts, taris and tradears Centringhis anIysis onthe groing
ascendancy olbanks, the acceIerating hmst ol monopoIiation, and
the incmasing use olste machinery lor the aggressve epansion ol
capitaI, HiIlerding stressed the moutng internationaI tension and
anarchy that as the concomitant olthe tghtening organiaton and

The rst serious neocIassicaI critque o| Marx was hmawers Zum

Mrcnurr d orrcnen grtemr (t 8y6). hmawerk was threetimes linance
Minister in the Austrian Emire, and heId the chair ol oIiticaI Economy at
ienna niversitylrom t yqto t yt q.
" Debate onagrarian probIems within the5PD wasin Iarge measure orign
aIIy setobyMax Webers sdy ol the conditions ol agricuIturaI Iabourers in
East Germany pubIished by the IiberaI erenr ogto/o/ttk in t 8y. 5ee
GiuIiano Proaccis exceIIent inuoducon to the recent IIian reediton ol
u r 1o @utone Mgono MiIan t ytpp. LII,LIII
t0
enIiauonoleachnauonaIcapitaIism.MeanhiIe,in1Qg alterthe
ompIeuon olFice Capitm but belore its pbIiuon, auer had
pubIished euaIIy Ire voIeon T\sNx:/:ass Qess:/:a
5ciaIOemcracj,henheastenty-six.nthis,hemckIedaruciaI
poIiucaI and theomucaI probIem that had srIy bn touhed b
ManandngeIs,andthatnoIoomingIargerthaneverbelomthe
sociaIist movement in this virtuaIIy ne eId, he deveIop an
ambiuous snthesis toexpIain the origin ndomposiuonolnauons,
concIudingith ananaIysisoltheontempo srge olimperiaIis
nnexationism outside urope. mperiaIism ieIl n bOe me
obectolamaortheoreucaIaentinitsorightinLuxemburg'
ZccamaIati fCapita, pubished on meveeveoltherstWord
Wari n1Q1. Luxemburg'sinsistence on the indispensabIe roIeolthe
non-capitaIisthinterIands olpitaIism in reaIiing surpIus-vaIue, d
therelore olthestructumInecsity olmiIitaryimperiaIexpansionby
themetropoIitpoers intheaIans, Asia andAlrica, marked her
ork despite itsanaIyticaIerrors as the most radicaI and originaI
ehort to mthink and deveIop the tegoriaI system olCapita| on a
orIdscaIe,intheIightoltheneepoch.taspromptIycriticiedin
Oie Aeae Ze/t by auer, ho had lrom 1QOq onards aIso been
orkingontheprobIemolMan'sschemaslortheexpandedreprodu
uon olcapitaI. linaIIy, alter theWaritseIlhad broken out, ukharn
presented his on account olthemarcholintemationaI capitaIism in
Jmperm and tke rId Ecn

, ritten i n 1Q1[]

hiIe in the
loIIoingearenin pubIishedhis lamousshortstudyJmperim/sm-
7keH/kesttqe ]CapitaIm, hich both provided a descriptive
summary ol the common economic concIusions ol the preceding
debate, and lor the hrst timelramed them ithin a coherent poIiicaI
anaIysisolimperiaIistbeIIicismandcoIoniaIexpIoitation,derivedlrom
the generaI Ia ol unen deveIopment ol the capitaIist mode ol
production.
hehrstdecadeandahaIlolthecenturythussaagreathorescence
olMarst economicthought in Germany, Ausuia and Kussia. very
major theorist ol the ume too lor granted the vitaI importance ol
"" uharin Iater aIso ubIshed his own extended critique ol Luxemburg'
theory, in Ig1qj thistexthas recentIy beenansIatedntoEngIish n K. Tarbuc
(ed.),meromm mthe Mccumuoton ojLoto ondon Ig}I.
7e C/ass/:a/ 1rodtrt0n 11
deciphering the ndamentaI Ias olmotion olcapitaIism in its ne
stageolhistoricaIdeveIopment At the same time, hoever themas
aIso a meteoric emergence ol a Maistpa//t/ca/ theory lor the hrst
time Whereas theonomicstudiesoltheperiodcouId buiIddirectIy
on the imposingoundations olCap/ta/, neither Ma norngeIs had
beeath y compaIe corpus ol concepts lor the poIiticaI
stmtegy d tactics ol me proIetarian revoIution Jheir objective
situauon8ehavesnprIudedthis.Jhempidgrotholorking
cIass paruesin LentmIuropeandthestormyriseolpopuIarrebeIIions
against the ancien rgim olastern urope no created the con
ditions lor ane type oltheory based directIy on massstmggIesol
theproIetariat and integmted naturaIIyintopar organiations. Jhe
KussinKevoIuuonoltQO[ cIoseIyatchedthroughoutGermanyand
Austria produc the rst stratg poIiticaI anaIysis ol a scientihc
type in the history ol Maism Jrotskys Resats 1 Praspecs.
GroundedinamarkabIeinsightintothestmcture olthestatesystem
olorIdimperiaIismthisshortorkIaiddonith briIIiantaccuracy
the luture chamcter and course olthe sociaIist revoIution in Kussia
WrittenbyJrotsyattheageoltenty-sevenitas notloIIoedby
any lurther contribution ol importance lrom him belore the irst
WorIdWargiven hisisoIation lrom theoIshevikParty alter tQOy.
Jhe stemat/c constrction ol a Maist poIiticaI theory ol cIass
sggIe,attheorganizauonaIandtacticaIIeveI,astheorkolenin
Jhe scaIe olhisaccompIishmenton this pIane tnslormed thehoIe
architecture olhistoricaI materiaIism, permanentIy elore enin, the
poIiucaI domain propr as viuaIIy unexpIored ithin Maist
theory.nthespaceolsometentyyea,hecreatedtheconceptsand
methodsnecessarylortheconductolasuccsIproIetarianstmggIe
forpoerin Kussia, Ied bya skiIIed and devotedorkersparty. he
specihcays olcombining propaganda and agitauon, Ieading strikes
and demonsuations, lorging cIass aIIianc cementing party organ
izationhandIingnationaI seIl-determination interetingintemaIand
intemationaI conjunctures, situatng types oldeviauon, using parIia
mentaryork,pmparinginsurrectionaryassauIt aIItheseinnovations
olten sn as simpIy pracucaI measures, in lact aIso represented
disive te//ectaa/ advances into hitherto uncharted terin kat /s
ta ls Oane, One 5tep Faar1 7a 5teps Bmk, 7wa 7act/cs a]
@
5ac/al-Oemacrj, 7keLessansa]tkeascaw Upr/ng, 7keZgrar/
Pragrme a] Rms/a ac/al-Oecracj, 7ke R/gkt a] Aat/a ta
eOeterm/na/an 8ll thcc 8nd 8 hundtcd Othct `OCC88On8l`
8ttClc8 Ot 888 bcOtc thc tmt NOtld N8t n8u_ut8tcd 8 m8tX8t
8CcnCc O gOlt hcnCcO8td C8g8blc O dc8ln_ Wth 8 V88t mn_c
O gtOblcm8WhCh h8d gt0Ou8ll8nOut8dc 8n t_OtOu8 thcmtC8l
[ut8dCtOn. hc gOWct Ocnn8 WOtk n thc c8m W88 O COumc
mg8ttcd tO t b thc mmcn8c tcVOlutOn8t cnct_ O thc u888u
m888c8undctthcl_htO 88t8m.Lnlthctclcmcnt8l8gOnt8ncu8
gt8CtCc gtc88n_ cVct ClO8ct tOW8td8 thc OVctthtOW O u888n
b8Olut8m tcndctcd gO88blc thc_tt cnl8t_cmcntO m88t thcOt
8ChcVcd b cnn.
o88tl tOO t W88 OnCc 8_8n thc tc8l m8tct8l COndtOn8 O
8 ntcllcCt8l d8COVct WhCh dctcHncd t8 Ob[cCtVc bOund8tc8.
hcm 8 nO 8g8Cc hctc tO d8Cu88 thc lmtOn8 8nd OVct8_ht8 O
cnn8WOtk. t C8n mctcl88dth8tthc8c Wctc 8ll b88C8ll tcl8tcd
tOthcg8ttCul8tb8CkW8tdn8Othcu888n8OC8lOtm8tOn 8nd thc
btchCh _OVcHcd t 8nd WhCh 8ct thc 88t8t Lmgtc OhtOm thc
tc8t O gW8r utOgc. cnn 8t mOtc dgl tOOtcd n 8 n8tOn8l
WOtkct8 mOVcmcnt th8n m8m h8d cVct bccn W88 nOt drcCtl COn-
CctncdWththc ncCc888tl d8tnCt mcWOtkO8ttu__lccl8cWhctc n
thc COntncnt WhCh W88tOm8kc thctO8d tO tcVOlutOn gu8lt8tVcl
mOtcdmCultth8n nu888t8cl. hu8nLctm8nndu8tt8ll muCh
mOtc8dV8nCcdunVct88lm8lc8uhm_c8nd CVClbcttc8h8dCtc8tcd 8
gutcd8tnCt 8t8tc8UuCtutctOm thc Om8nOV 8utOCt8C 8nd hcnCc 8
gOltC8lb8ttlc-hcld th8t ncVct ClO8cl tc8cmblcd th8t O u888. hctc
thc tcmgct O thc Ot_8nzcd WOtkn_ Cl888 W88nOt8bl lc88tcVOlutOn-
8tWhlc8tthc88mctmct8CultutcW88COn8dct8blmOtcdcVclOgcd
tO_cthct Wth thc n8ttutOn8l mcWOtk O thc WhOlc 8OCct.
uXcmbut_ thc Onc m8m8t thnkct n mgct8l Lctm8n tO gtOduCc
8n Ot_n8l bOd O gOltC8l thcOt 8u__c8tVcl tchcCtcd th8 COn-
U8dCtOn n hct OWn WOtk ~ 8lthOu_h t W88 8lW88 8l8O g8tt8ll
nOtmcdb hctcXgctcnCcOthcmuChmOtcn8ut_cnt Ol8hundct-
_tOund mOVcmcnt O thc tmc. uXcmbut_8 gOltC8l Wttn_8 ncVct
8tt8ncd thc COhctcnCc Ot dcgth O thO8c O cnn Ot thc Otc8_ht O
thO8c O tOt8k. hc8Ol Othc Lctm8n mOVcmcnt ddnOt gct 8
COmg8t8blc_tOWth. ut uXcmbut_8 g888On8tc ntctcntOn8 Wthn
7e C|ass/:a7raJt t
Q
the SO against its groing sIide toas relormism (hose extent
enin i n exiIe notaby laiIed to perceive nevertheIess contained
eIements olacritique olcapitaIistdemocracy, a delence olproIetarian
spontaneity, and a conceptionolsociaIistIiberty thatereinadvance
olLenin'saamnessolmeseissu,inhermorecompIexenvironment.
5/al R]rm r Rlat/n, the tnchant poIemic with hich she
repIiedtoemstein'sevoIuuonismattheageoltentyeight,Iaunched
er on her distnctive course successive theorizations olthe generaI
strkeas thearchetaI aggressiveeapon olthesel-emancipationol
the working cIass loI Ioed, reaching their concIusion in a lateluI
debate ith Kautsky in 1QOQ~to in hich the basidividingIinesol
lureorking-cIasspoIiticserehnaIIydmn.
orthe irstWorId Warastopart the mnks olManist theory in
LuropeasmdicaIIyasitspIitthe orking-cIass movementitseI Jhe
whoIedeveIopmentolMarxismintheIastdecadesbeloretheWarhad
reaIized a much cIoser unity oltheory and practice than in the pre-
ceding period, because olthe ascent olthe oganized sociaIistparties
olthe time. he integration othe eading Marist theorists int the
practice ol their nationaI parties did not, hoever, provinciaie or
segreatethemlromeach other mecontrary, internationaI debate
andpoIemiceresecondnaturetothemilnoneachievedtheoIympian
universaIism olMan orEnges, thisas a necessary consequence ol
their more concrete racination i n the particuIar situation and e ol
theircounties - mediated,i nthecaseol teKussiansandtheoIes,by
IongspeIIsolexieabroad,recaingthoseolteloundersolhistoricaI
materiaIism Withintheneconditionsoltheepoch,theyneverthe
Ie lormed a reIativeIy homogeneous medium ol discussion and
communication,inhichtheIeadingritersolthemaindetachmentsol
theSecondntauonaIintheEasternandCentraIEuropeancountries,
whereManismasnoconcentratedasaIiingtheory,kneoleach
other's ork at rst or second hand, and cticism respected no
11
omeidea oltheRussianemigrationissuggestedbythecountriesinwhich
Lenin, Trotsk and uharin Iived or trave| |ed beore Ig1! They inc|uded
Germany EngIand, rance, eIgium, iterIand and Austria (enin and
rotsk)ItaIandPoIand(Lenin)Rumaniaerbia,uIgaria,pain (Trotsk)
rotskznd uhn) enmar, or zndweden (ukharin).
lrontiers. Jhus hen Warbroke out in 1Qtq, the scission over it mn
through mther than beteen the various nationaI contingents ol
Manist theorists ho had dominated he parcene. ltheoIdr
genemtion, Kautsky and Iekhanov cIamorousIy opted lor sociaI
chauvinism and support lor their respective opposing imperiaIist
latherIandsMehring,ontheotherhand,steadlastIyrelusedtohaveany
tck ith the capiIation ol the SO in Geany. Among th
youngergeneration, Lenin, Jrotsky, Luxemburg and ukharin ung
themseIves into aII-outresistance to the War and denunciation olme
betmyaI olthecontendingsociaI-democmticorganizaonswhich had
ranged themseIves behind theircIass opprsors in thIong-predicted
hoIocaustolcapitaIism.iIlerding,hohadinitiaIIyopposedtheWar
in the Keichstag,soonaIIoed himseIlto be dralted intotheAustrian
ArmyauerpromptIyraIIiedlorseicagainstKussiaonthLaste
lront, here he as quickIy captred. Jhe unity and reaIity olth
Second ntemationaI, cherished by LngeIs,as destroyed in aeek.
Jhe continentaI consequences olAugust 1Q1q are eII knon. n
Kussia, a spontaneous rising ol hungry and ar-eary masses in
etrorad toppIed Tsarism in ebra tt. Within eght months
theoIshevikartyunderLeninsIeadershipasreadytoseizepoer.
n ctober Jrots mahaIIed it in etrograd lor the SociaIist
revoIution hehad loreseen eIve years earIier. Jesilt victory ol
ttassoonloIIoed byimperiaIist bIockade, interventionand the
civiI ar olt t 8z t. Jhe epic course olthe Kussian KevoIution in
theseears lound i ts theoreticaI compass in theritings olenin, in
hompoIiticaI thoughtandacon nolused intoa quicened unity
ithoutprecedentorsequeI. lromtheXpr|l 7kesesthroughtaed
Fevolai|oa and A|sm aad Iasareci|oa to Je-B|ag Commaaism
and 7ke 7 / A/d, Lenins orks olthese years estabIished ne
nos ithin historicI materiaIism - the concrete anaIsis ol a
concrete sitaton hich he caI|ed the Iiving souI ol Manism
acquingsuchadynamiclorcein themthatthetermLeninismassuch
came into use shortIy aleards n this heroic perod ol the pro-
Ietarian revoIution in Kussia, ol course, the rapid deveIopment ol
Marxist theoy as by no means conned to Lenins o ork.
rotskyrotendamentaItextsontheartolar{HawtkeReraIa/a
Zrme1Jtse)and thedtinyolIiterature(L/teratare 1ReraIt/a).
7\e Cls`cal !ad t
ukharinattemptedtosummarizehistoricaImateriaIism8 asystematic
socioIogyinawideIydiscussedtreatise(Tkeory o( H|s:r|cal aer|al-
ism). ShortIy aars, reobrhensky, with whom he had
coIIabomtedonthepopuIaroIshevikmanuaI 7\e XBC o( Comman|sm,
sta to pubIish the most originaI and radicaI economic study ol
thetasksbeloretheSovietStatei nthensitiontowardssociaIism a
eId hitherto natumIIy untrespassed by Manisttheory the rst parts
oltheNwEconom|:s appeared in t zq At the same time, the inter
naonaIcentre olgravity olthe historicaI schoIamhip devoted to the
discove and editing ol Man' s unpubIished writings shilted to
Kussia. Kyazanov, who aIready belore the irst WorId Wa had
stabIished his reputation lor arhivaI research on Ma, now took
chargeoltherstcompIeteandscienticedition oltheorksolMan
ndLngeIs,thebuIkolwhosemanuscriptsweretranslerredtoMosco
nddepositedintheMarxLngeIsnstituteolwhichhehadbecomethe
director AII these men heId, ol course, prominent positions in the
ractica stggIe lor the tumph othe revouio in ussia, and in
the constction olthe ascent Soviet state Ouring the CiviI War,
Lenin was haian te ounciI oepIes mmissars, rtsky
wasCommissar lorWar, ukharinwaseditroltheartnewsaer,
reob

azhenskywas eectiveIy the rst head olthe ar secreariat,

Kyazanov was orgaier ol the tradeunions Jhe p|eiad l this
generation, intheirprimewhentheCiviI Warwasloughttoasuccess
I concIusion,appeared to assure the luture olist cuture in the
neorkes' lortress olthe USSK
ntherestolLurope, hoever, the greatrevoIuinarywavewhic
broke out in t t 8at theend oltheWar, and Iasted uniI t o was
deleated CapitaI proved decisive|y stronger everywhere outside
Kussia Jhe intemationaI counterrevoIutionary encircIment ol the
Soet Statein the years t t 8zt did not succeed in overthrwing i t,

uharin'smanual osociologywaspubl|shed in yt Trotk'ssudy o

iteraurein t y

Oavid Ryazano real name olden'dakh ws o in t }o. t ws a

dispute ove his adission to the econd onres o the wh|ch
itiallysplitMartov Iromenin,|ustpiortoteirconicoverteru|esoprty
organization. AIter the t yo evolution Ryazanov hd pub|ihed Ireuen
ticles in Jre Jeue /ert and had worked on the editing oI the arEngels
ospondence.
I
aIthough the LiviI M inhicted enoous damage on the Kussian
workingcIass. ut itdidseaItheKussian KevoIutionughtIy ohlrom
therestolLuropeduringthethryrsolmostacutesociaIcrisislor
the imperiaIist orderin thewhoIe connen and so aIIowed the pro
etarian risings outside the Soviet Union to be succsIIy checked.
Jhe hrst and most ndamentaI threatto the much moentrenched
capitaIiststat oltheconunent thegreatseriolmass voIts i n
Geanyi n1Q18-1Q. uxemburg,obseingthecoueoltheKussian
KevoIuuon lrom prison, characterisIIy disce n ol the
dangersolthedictatohipinstaIIedduringeLiviI MmorecIearIy
thananyoIshevikIeaderoltheme,whiIeatthesametimeaIsoolten
revIing the Iimits ol he own g ol those issues nationaIity,
peasantryhosesignihcancewasIessobviousinthehighIyindusuiaI
izedzonesolLurope.

KeIeasedlromimprisonmentwiththecoIIapse
olthe Second Keich, uxemburg immediateIy threwherseIlinto the
task ol organizing the revoIutionary Ielt in Geany as the most
authoritative gure in the loaon olthe a month Iar, she
wrotetheprogrammeolthepartyanddeIivered the poIicaIportat
itsloundingConlerence.oeeksIater,she assassinatedhena
conlused,semispontaneousrisingstartedamongstthelamishederIin
crods was put don by the lreiorps at the behest ol a SociaI-
Oemocmucgovement.Jherepressionoltheanuaryinsurrectioni n
erIinassoonloIIowedbythemIitaryreconquestolMunichbythe
Keichsehr, alter IocaI sociaIistandcommunistgroupshadcreated an
ephemeI avarian Soviet KepubIic there in ApriI. Jhe Gean
KevoIuuon bo olthe orers and soIdiers' counciIs olovember
1Q1 had been decisiveIydeleated by 1QzO.
MeanhiIe, in the AusoHungarianLmpire, a comparabIe patte
oleventshad unloIded.n themorebackard ruraIstateolHungary,
Lntente demands had Ied to thevoIuntaryabdicationolthebourgeois
govement set up alter the Armistice, and the briel creation ol a
Soiet KepubIic under j oint SociaIemocrauc and Communist
eadship six months Iater, Kumanian oops had suppressed the
Hungarian Commune and restored a hite rgime. n Austria, the
objective weightoltheindustriaIoringcIassasmugreaterthan
^
" Her essay, 1 Rattn Relation written |n t yt 8, was rst pubIished by
PauI Levi in yzz
7e C|as/:a| 7rm/n t_
in ungary as it had been inrussia compared to avaria, but the
SociaI-Oemocmtic arty unchaIIenged in its command ol the
I oyaIues ol the proIetariat opted against a sociaIist revoIuuon,
enteringinsteadintoaboueoiscoaIiuongovernment,andgmduaIIy
dismantIing the orke' d soIdier' counciIs lrom above, on the
ptt olavoidingLntente inteenuon y tQzo ithad abandoned
the govement, but capimIist resiIizauon as by then assured.
auer, h soon bOe the dominant gure ithin the

SO,
seedasoreign Minister olthe KepubIicin tQ t Q and subsequentIy
rtethemajortherecaIdelenceolthepartysrecordalterthear,
a oIume miscaIIed 7ke Zastr/ R|at/n, in tQzq. is loer
oIIeae iIlerding, meanhiIe,astice to be Minister ofinance
inthe WeimarKepubIic.Jheunityoltheoryandpmcticecharacteisic
ofthisgenemtionassustainedeven intheloistranksofAustro
anism.

arther south, the Iast major proIetarian upsurge olthe

post-ar uiennium occurred in taIy. Jhe homeIand olLabrioIa had
aIays had a much smaIIer sociaIist party than Geany or Austro
unga, butamommiIitantoneithadresisted sociaIpatriotismand
and a baI aaIm dng he W. u he gne strike
and tumuItuousave ollactory occupations hich gripped Jurin in
t QzO nvertheIessloundit,too,compIeteIyunpreparedloranaggressive
revoIuuonary strategy the mpid counter-measures ol the LiberaI
govementand theempIoyerseventuaIIyparaIyzedthemovement,in
the absence ol any cIear poIiticaI Ieadership. Jhe de ol popuIar
insurgencyebbedaay,IeavingthearmedsquadsolcounterrevoIution
topmparetheadventollascism intaIy.
JhelateI setbacks in Geany, Austria Hung and taIy - the
cIassicaIzone olinuenceolpre-arMaism, togetherith Kussia
occurred belore the oIshevi KevoIution as itseIl sucientIy dis
engaged lromimperiaIist inteention to be abIe to exercse a direct
organizationaI or theorecaI inunce on the corse o te cIass
suuggIe in these counuies Jhe Jhird nteationaI was technicaIIy
lounded in tQtQ henMosco suII a citybeIeaguemd byhite
^

Two od:er prominent economists, one an ex-Marxist and the otber a critic
of Manism, beId govementaI posts in tbis epocb in East-CentraI Europe. In the
Ukraine, Tugan-Baranovsky was Minister o| Finance in tbe counter-revoIutionary
Hada yt 8wh|le in Ausma, 5chompeter held the same position |n t yt y
I
armies its reaIcreaon dates lm i Second Congress in uIy 1QzO.
ythenitastoo Iate tohaveanyimpacton thepivotaIbattIesolthe
post-ar conunctum. Jhe advance ol the Ked Ay nto PoIand,
hichbrieyseemed topromisehepossibiIity olamateriaI Iinki
the revo|uonary lorc |n CenI urope, as tron back |n
same month and ithin 8 l ks, he Jurinese occupations had
co||apsed, hi|e Len|n as appeaIing by teIegmph to the PS or
nationaIacon|ntaIy.Jhesedeleatserenot,ocourse,primariIydue
tosubecvemistakesorlaiIustheIattereasignoltheobjectiveIy
superiorstrengtolcapitaIismn Cen|and Westemurope,here
itshistoricaIascendancyovertheorking cIasshad suived thear.
tas not untiI alterthese battIes had been lought and Iost, that the
JhirdntemationaI becamesoIidIy|mpIanted in themajorcontinentaI
countries outside the USSK. nce the bIockade olthe Soiet State
as naIIy broken, ol course, the enormous const beeen the
debac|e olthe sociaIdemocraic apparatuses and deleat ol the spon
taneous risings in CentraIand Southem uope ontheone hand, and
thesuccessoltheoIshevi Party in Kussiaon theother,ensred the
reIativeIy rapid lormation oa centmIized revoIuonary ntematonaI
based on prncipIes dralted by Lenin and Jrotsk. n 1Q11 Lenin
composedhislundamentaItheoreticaImessage'tothenewCommunist
arties that had now been lounded virtuaII everwhere in the ad
vanced capita|istwor|d Ze]mioy Commcnism- Xo Iqmt:le Disordet.
n thshe synthesized the historicaI Iessons oloIshevi expeiencein
Kussaorsocia|istsabroad,andstarted toaddresshimseIllor the rst
time to the prob|ems olMarxist strategy in more advanced envion
ments than that ol the Jsarist mpie, in hich bourgeois pa|ia
mentariswaslarstrongerandorkingcIassreloismmuchdeeper
thanhehadrea|izedbelorethelirstWor|dWar. ystematictransIation
no, too lor the rst time reveaIed Lenin's ork as 8 organized
theoreucaI system to miIitants throughout urope, coming as a
sudden o|itica| iIumination to thousands olthem. Jheconditionslor
an internationaI diusion and lerti|izaon ol Maist theor, on a
wo ne sca|e nowseemed to be present and the Comintern the
guaaneolits mateiaIIinkagewith the dai|ystugg|es olthe masses.
n lact, this prospect as rapid|y annu||ed. Jhe savage bIos
inictedbyimpeia|ismon theKussianKevoIutioni tseIlhaddecimat
7ke 6!asi:o!T:ai::oa t
me Soviet orking cIass, even amidst its miIitary victo ovr the
te lorces in the CiviI War ter tg20 no immediate reIilcouId
be pted lrom the more deveIoped countries ol urope Jhe
USShas condemned toisoIauon, itsindustry mined,itsproIetariat
eened,itsagricuItureIdaste,itspeasanydisahected. CapitaIist
retabiIizauo had been accompIished in CentraI urope hiIe
revoIuuonahussiaascutohlrom it No soonerhadencircIement
bnbroken and conmctreestabIishedimtherestolthecontinent,
than me Soviet state ught in thevice olhussian backardness,
ithout poIiticaI aid lromabroad started to become endangered at
home.JhehardeningusurpauonolpoerbythePartyapparatus,the
ughtening subordinaon olthe orking cIass, the mounting tide ol
ociaIchauvinism,beIatedIybecameevidenttoLeninhimseIl,alrhe
had laIIen mormIIy iII i n tg22. His Iast rings - lrom his articIe on
Fmktm to his 7estaent - can beseen as a despemte theorecaI
attemp to hnd the lorms to permit a revivaI ola genuine poIiticaI
practice olthe masses, hich couId expIode the bureaucratism olthe
ne Soviet Smte, and restore the Iost unity and democracy ol
ctober
nearIy tg2q LenindiedWithinthreeyears,Sta|in'svictoinside
theCPSUseaIedthelateolsociaIism,andMarxism,ithineSS
lor decades to come StaIin's poIitiI appamtus active|y suppressed
voIutionary mass racuces i n hussia itseIl, and incasingIy dis
couragedorsabotagedthemoutsidetheSovietUnionTheconso|ida
tion ola bureaucraticaIIypriviIeged stratm above the orking cIass
assecured bya poIic regime oleverintensiyingerocit n the
condiuons, the revoIutionary unity ol theory and practice that had
made possibIe cIassicaI oIshevism as ineIuctabIy destroyed The
masses beIo ere interdicted, their autonom and spontaneity
etinguished by thebureaucrac caste that had conscated poer in
the country. Jhe partyabove as graduaIIy purged othe Iast com
panions olLenin. AII serious theoreucaI ork ceased in the Soviet
Union alter coIIecuvization. Jrotsky as driven ito exiIe in tg2g
and assassinated in tgq0 hyaznov as stripped ol his positions in
tgt anddiedinaIabourmpin tgg ukharinassiIenced in Ig2g
I

cnn Locted Horkz cI. __ gg. 8t-oz, VoI. _ gg. g,

2O
andshoti nt8Preobrazhensky brokenbyt andperishedi
aiIin t 8 MarxismasIargeIy reduced to a memento inKussia as
StaIins mIe reached its apog. Jhe most advanced country n
orId inthedeveIopmentolhistoriImateriaIism,hichhadoutdo
aIILuropebythevarietyandvigourolitstheorists,astumedithi
adecadeintoasemIiteratebacater, lormidabIeonIybytheeiht
olitscensorshipand thecmdityolitspropaganda.
MeanhiIeoutside eSSK, hiIe StaIinismleIII ie ahood over
SvietcuItum, epoIitiIphysiognomyolLuropean pitaIismas
comin incmasingIyvioIentandconvuIsed. Jhe orkngcIasshad
eryhere suhered deleat meatpost armvoIutionarsis
but it remained a poerluI threat o the bourgeoisies throughout
LenuaIand Southemurope. JhecronoltheJhirdntemaonaI
andthegrotholdiscipIinedCommunistpares,bearingthestandard
olLeninism,inspiredlearineveryruIingcIassoltheorigiaIepicentres
olt t 8-z Moreover, theeconomicrecovery olimperiaIismthathad
succeeded and secured the poIicaI miIiaon ol th VersaiIIes
orderproved shortIived. n t z, thegreatestcrash in thehistoryol
capitaIismoveheImed thecontinent,spreadingmassunempIoyment
and intensilying cIass sggIe. SociaIcounterrevoIuon no mobiI
ized in its most bmI and vioIent lorms, aboIishing parIiamenmry
democracy in couny alter couny, to eIiminate aII autonomous
organizaons ol the oring cIass. he terrorist dictatorships l
scism ere thehistoricaI soIuonolcapitaI tothedangers olIabour
is rgin tey ere designed to suppress eery uace olpro
Ietarianresistanceandindependence,inaninteationaIconjuntureol
escaIatinginteriperiaistanmgonisms. taIy as te hrstcount to
experience the luII lorce ollascist repression by t z MussoIini had
endedaIIIegaIoppositionithinthecountry. azismseizedpoeri n
Germany i nt , alter the Comintem had i mposed a suicidaI course
on e O e Gean Iour moement as annihiIated. A year
Iater, cericaI lascism nIeashed an aed assauIt in Austria hich
dtroyedtheparand deunionsuonghoIdsoltheoring cIass.
n Hungary, ahitedicmtorship hadaIready IongbeeninstaIIed. o
the Sout, amiIitary putsch m Spain inauguted tre years olciviI
arwhich ened ith thetriumph olSpanish lascism,assisted yi
neighbourin ortugaI and itsaIIiesintaIy and Germany.Jhdecade
2eCIa|ca 7adn 2I
ended ith the Nazi occupaon and conuoI olCzechos|ovakia, and
thelaIIol rane
n this atastrophic epoch, hatas the late olMarxist theory in the
LenuaIuropeanzonehichhadpIayed suchanimportantroIeinthe
deveIopment olhistoricaI materiaIism belo the irst WorId War
eninist poIicaI mought, as e have seen, as n sooner dihus
outsideKussiathan itassteriIized by the StaIinizaonoltheThird
ntaonaI, hich progsiveIy subordinat the poIicies ol its
onsutuentpares to the loreignpoIicyobjectives oltheUSSK Jhe
oaIdemocmc or cenuist parues outside the Lomintem natumIIy
ohered no space lor the appIion or tension olLeninism either
husithintheambitolthemassorkingcIassorganizations olthis
one, Marxist theoryolsubstance inhe interarperiod as IargeIy
onhned toeconomicanaIysis, inaIine thatasadirectdescendantol
he great prear debates. n the Weimar KepubIic, an independent
nstitute olSociaI Kesearch, endoed by a eaIthy grain merchant,
as created at mnklurt in t g topromote Maniststudies ithin a
quasiacademic lmmeorkthe nsute as lormaIIyattached to the
University ol mnklurt) ts hrst director as the IegaI historian
CIGrnberg,hohadheIdachairattheUniversityolViennabelre
the irst WorId War. om i nTransyIvaniain t 86 , Grnbergas a
typicaI member ol the oIder genemuon ol Marxist scho|ars lrom
astem urope he had lounded and edit the hmt majorjouaI ol
I abourhistory inurope, theXrc]r 1|e Cesck 1es5|a/|ss
11erXrbe|terbeweg, hichheno translerred to raurt Tis
disnguished mpresentative ol the AusoMarxist dition hence-
loard loed abridge to a youngergenemtion olsociaIist inteIIec-
uaIsinGeanyOuringthetenes,thensututeolSociaIesearch
over hich he presided had both Communists and SociaIOemocts
on its stah, and maintained a reguIar Iiaison ith the MangeIs
nstituteinMosco,dispatchingarchivaImateriaIto Kyazanovlorthe
hmtscienhcediuonolthe orksolMarxand ngeIs. The inauguraI
voIume ol the arr-Enge Cesataasga MGA) as, in lact,
"" or the origins ol the rznkrt Institute o 5ocizI Research, see the II
md schoIzrIyzccounti nMzn z Dia!::i:a!Iaa:ioa,onon y},

-

22
Qubshcd n rankrt n t zy undcr thc ]Ont ausQccs Ot thc tO
nsttutOns.
urng thc samc QcrOd thc nsttutc asO sQOnsOrcd thc maOr
sngc QrOduct OtMamst ccOnOmc thcOry n thc ntcr-ar ycars thc
Ork Ot Mcnryk LrOssmann - anOthcr cmgrant trOm thc Lastc
bOrdcrands Ot thc cOnnncnt. b n t 88t n LracO thc sOn Ot a
Lacan mnc-Oncr LrOssmann as thc samc agc as baucr and
scvcn yca Odcr than bukharn - n Othcr Ords Onc Ot thc Out
standng gcncrattOn that had rscn tO such hcghts bctOrc t t q.
LrOssmannhOvcrhaddcvcOQcdmOsOy:Orgnayastudcnt
ndcr bhm-bacrk n Ncnna hc had]Oncd thc Os

h LOmmunst
artyattcrthcrstOrarand OccuQcd aharOtOnOmcs at
arsaw Lnvcrst. n t z QOtcal rcQrsOn drOvc hm tr
Oand tO Lcrmany nd n t z6 hc dcvcrcd a sccs Otcctrcs at
thc mnkturt nstutc hch crc atcr cOcctcd tO tO a Ong
vOumccnttcd 7ke1aw]X::amaIat/nwd CIapse]tkeCap/taI/st
stem. ubshcd n thc vcry ycar Otthc Lrcat cQrcssOn Ott z,
LrOssmanns Ork summarzcd thc cass Qrc-ar dcbatcs On thc
a O OOn Ot tc caQitaistmOdc OtQrOductOn n thc tcntcth
ccntury and advanccd thc mOst ambtOus and systcmatc attcmQt sO
tartO dcduccts Ob]cctvccO aQsclrOmthcOgcOtMamsschcmasOt
rcQrOducnOn. ts ccntra thcscs hchaQQcarcd tObcsO nmcycrc
QrOmQtychacngcd by thc yOungcr ccOnOmst rtz otccrg a clt
sOca-dcmOcmt. otcbcrgs On wOrKJmperaI/sm z6),hch had
argcy bccn a rcstatcmcnt OlLuXcburgs QcrsQctvc cXtcndcd by a
nOvc anayss OlthctunctOns and uctuatOns Olthc rcscc army Ol
Our n caQtasm had carcr bccn attacKcd by LrOssmann. bOth
Qartcs crc n turn crttczcd by anOthcr MarXtst Ol Osh Orgn
atc MOszkOska n a sOrt bOOK On mOdc thcOrcs Ot crtss
r ttcnaltcrthcazsczurcOtQOwcr n Lcrmany. 'nthc lOOng
car aucr Qushcd hs ast thcOrctca OrK QrOQhctcay cnttcd
Beteeo 7a rI1 ars?, n c n LzcchOsOva. " n ths
I8
re kkumuorronz- und /uzommenbrum1ge1erj dez korrourr1men _1rem1,
Le|g r|ssued in lranlurt t }t .
" Zur 1rtrtk moderner 1r1emneorten Prague Mosowsa was born i
arsaw in 886 and em|grated to SwiterIand in t o8, whete she Iived in
ur|ch unt|I her death | n t 68
80
/wucen /we Hetkrregen: rat|sIava ty6
1hc Loaaco 1rodtt0n 2g
QOtca and ccOnOmc tcstamcnt thc mOst gttcd cXQOncnt Ot thc
ustrO-MarXst schOO Qcrtcctcd a tc-tmc Ot cXQcrmcntatOn th
Mas cQrOucOn schcmcs tO cOnstruct thc mOst sOQhstcatcd casc
tOr an undcrcOnsumQtOnst thcOry Ot caQtast crscs yct Qrcscntcd
and rccOrdcd hs na dsusOnmcnt th thc graduast rctOrmsm
hch hc had sO Ong Qractscd as a Qarty cadcr cang tOr a rc-
unhatOn Otthc sOca-dcmOcratc and cOmmunst mOvcmcnts nthc
struggc aganst tascsm.
n t 8, baucr dcd n ars shOrty attcr thc Munch Qact had
drvcn hm trOm bratsava. thn a tc mOnths thc occOnd Ord
ar had brOkcn Out and thc az cngutmcnt OtLurOQc cOscd an
cQOcOtMamsm n thc cOntncnt. n tq , MtcrdngQcrshcd atmc
ands Ot thc LcstaQO nars. t as nO Ony n thc ngs Othc
attc-cd that thc QOst-scrQts tO thc tradtOn thcy had ncaatcd
cOud bc rttcn. n t q n otzcrand MOszkOska Qubshcd hcr
ast and mOst radca Ork Oo thc Z_nomc 0_ 1otc Lotoam.
8J
Mcanhc n thc Lntcd otatcs thc yOung mcrcan ccOnOmst au
occzy rctraccd and summarzcd thc hOc hstOry Ot thc Mamst
dcbatcs On thc as tmOtOn OtcaQtasm trOmuan-baranOvsky
tO LrOssmann msctcndOrsng baucrs ast sOutOn Otthc QrObcm
Ot undcrcOnsumQtOn n a Or Ot mOdc carty 1hc 1hc0r_ 0_
Loroat Zcvcl0mcnt. MOcvcr occzys bOOk rttcn n thc
cnvrOnmcnt Ot thc cw 1ca mQcty rcnOunccd thc assumQtOn
that crscs Ot dQrOQOrtOnaty Or undcrcOnsumQtOn crc nsur
mOuntabc thn thc caQtast mOdc OtQrOductOn and acccQtcd hc
QOtcnta ccacy Ot cyncsan cOuntcr-cycca ntcrvcntOns by thc
otatc tO assurc thc ntcrna stabty Ot mQcrasm. hc utmatc
dsntcgratOn OtcaQtasm as tOr thc hrst tmccntrustcd tO a Qurcy
ctca dctcrnant - thc suQcrOr ccOnOmc QcrtOrmancc Ot thc
oOvct LnOn and thc cOuntrcs hch cOud bc cXQcctcd tO tO Ow ts
QathatthccndOtthcar hOsc`QcrsuasOn ccct Oudcvcnay
rcndcr QOssbc a Qcacctu transtOn tO sOcasm n thc Lntcd otatcs
tsc th ths cOnccQtOn 1hc 1hc0r_ 0_Lotout Zcvc0mcnt
markcd thc cnd Olan ntccctua agc.
I
/ur _nomk des ]tko]trotxmus urich Iyq].

Seeywasthirtytwo when it was pubIshed in Igqz.

"" Jm Jmor_o_Lotolut evco]ment Neworkt y68reedton,pp.yq86
2
3hC PdVCnt O
NCstCtn N8rXsm
Jhe tide olthe Second WorId War du|y med at the Vo|ga. Jhe
victoriesoltheKedArmyovertheW ehachtin tgq2~ ensured the
IiberationoluropelmNidominaon. y tgqy lascismhadbeen
deleatedeveryhere,except in ts berian region.JheUSSK,eno
ous|ystrengthened in internationa|poer and prestige, as mastero
the late olastern urope, ith the exception olthesouthemmost
a|kans. Communistrgimeseresoon inta||ed inPrussia, Cecho
s|ovaka, Po|and, ungary, Kumia, uIgaria, ugosIavia and
A|bania the IocaI capita|ist cIasses ere propriated Soviet-styIe
ndustriaIization as |aunched. An integrated socia|ist camp no
covered haIlthecontinent. JheotherhaIlas rescued lorcapita|ism
by the American and ritish armies. n lrance and ta|y, hoever,
theirIeadingroIe in the Kesisnceconverted thenationaI Communist
Partieslorthersttimeintothemaorityorganizationsoltheworking
cIass. n Weste Germany, on the other hand, the absence ol a
comparabIe resistance experience and the division ol the country
permittedasuccessluIeIimination olthepre-arCommunisttradition
inthepro|etariatby therestoredbourgeoisSte,undertheprotection
olAngIo-American occupaon. Jhe next twenty years exhibited an
economicandpoIiticaIpattemdiametricaIIycontrastediththatolthe
interwar period. Jhere ere no reversions to mi|itary or poIice
dictatorships in he maor West uropean countries. Par|iamentary
democracy, based on lu||yuniversa| suhrage, lor the rst time in the
history ol capita|ism became sab|e and normaI throughout the
advaned indstriaI worId. oras there any repetition olthe ca-
strophic sIumps ol the twenties and thires. n the contrary, or|d
capita|imenoyedaIongboo lnpcedenteddynamism,themost
7keX1vet :[ estern arm
rapidandprosperousphaseolepansioninitshistory. Meanhi|e,the
repressivebureaucraticregimeseercisingteIage overthepro|etariat
in the Soviet nion and astem ope underent successivecrises
andadjusentsalteredeatholStaIin,butnolundamenta|modica-
tionoltheir stmcture Jerroras abandoned as asystematiceapon
olthe State but armed coercion continued tosubdue popuIrevoIts
in thiszone. conomicgroth assilt, lrom itscomparativeIyIo
startingpoints, but reprented no poIiticaI chaIIenge to thesbiIity
0thepitaIistbIoc.
t as inthisaItered universematrevoIuona theory compIed
themutationhichproducedhatntodayreospective|ybeca|Ied
Western Manism'. lor the body olork composed by the authors
ithhomeshaIInobeconcerned,ineectconstitutedanentireIy
ne inte|IectuaI conhguratio ithin the deveIopment ol historicaI
materiaIism. n their hands, Manism beme a type ol theo in
certain citicaIspectsquitedistinctlromanythingthathadpreceded
it. n particuIar, the characteristic themes and concerns olthe hoIe
ensemb|e oltheorists who cametopoIitica| maturitybelore the lirst
Wor|d War were drasicaIIy dis|aced, in a shilt that as at once
generationaIandgeographicaI.
Jhe history olthis dispIacement as a Iong and compIe one, its
inception starting in theinterarperioditseIl, and over|appingith
thedecIensionolanearIiertrition.Jhec|earestayoapproahg
this probIem may via a simpIe initiaI tabuIation olthe dtes and
distribtionolthetheoristsnounderdiscussion
Lukcs t 88tgt dapest
Korsch t 86tg6t TodstdtWet Saon)
Gramsci t 8gttg AIes Sardinia)
enamin t 8g-t gq er|in
Horkhemer t 8g-tg Sttgart Saia
OeI|aVo|pe t 8gt g68 moIaomagna
Marcuse t 8g8 er|in
Lelebvre t gt Hageau Gascon)
Adomo t gt g6g lranklurt
Sar
GoIdmann
AIthusr
LoIIet
t

tgt

-t g
t gt
aris
ucharest
iandreisAIgeria
home
JhesociaIorigins olthesethinerserenot dissimi|ar to thoseol
theirpredecesso. GeographicaIIy,hoever,thepattemolthisroup
maksaradicaIcontrastiththatoltheManistinteIIectuashocame
toprominencealterngeIs.Asehaveseen,virtuaIIyeveryimportant
theoristolthe to succeeding generations ter the lounders olhi
torica materiaIism theseIves, s lrom astem or astLenua
uropeevenithintheGermanicmpires,itasiennaand Prae
rather than erIin that provided the major Iuminaries olthe Second
ntemationaI. romtheendoltheirstWorId Wonards,onthe
other hand, the position as reversed. With the cenua eception ol
ukcs,andhispupiIGoIdmann,everysigihcanthgureinthetradition
indicated aove as lrom larther West. ukcs himseIlas IargeIy
lormed at HeideIberg, and aIays remained mom Gean than
HungarianincuIturehiIeGo|dmannIivdinmnceandSitzer|and
throughout his aduIt Iile. lthe to Germans ho ere born in
erIin, enjamin as notabIy and se|l-conscious|y GaIIic in cu| tura|
orientation hiIe Marcuse received his main tmining at reiburg in
Sabia TogenertionaIdivisionscanbemadeithinthistradition
" Lukcs wastheson olabanker8en|aminolanartdeaIerAdornoolawine
merchant Horkheimer ola textiIemanulacturer eIIa oIpe ola Iandowner
Sartreola navaI ocer Korsch and AIthusser olbank managers CoIIetti ola
bankcIerke|ebvreolabureaucrat GoIdmann ol a Iawyer Gramsci,uniqueIy,
was brought up in conditions olreaI poverty his grandlather had been a poIice
coIoneI, buthis latherscareeras a minor civiI servantwas uined when he was
jaiIed lor corruption, and the lamiIy suered greathardship therealter
" Southest Germany seems to have pIayed an important roIe as a distint
cuturaIoneinthistradition AdooandHorkheimerwerenativeo it,Luks
and Marcusewere trained in it HeideIberg and lreiburghad cIosephiIosophicaI
Iinks lromthetimeolthe SecondReichonwards lor en|amin's lrancophiIia,
see his remark as earIy as tQ2t n Germany, leeIquite isoIated in myeorts
and interets among tose olmy generation, whiIe in lrance there are certan
lorces @ @ @ inwhich see at workwhatoccupies me too' 1umnotons ondon
IgC p 22.

AnygenerationaIcIassicationmusteased onapproximateIy twentyear

T/sZo[0ss:s:-Maxs 2
The hrst group ol|nteIIectuaIs ere those hose oat|ve poI|t|caI
exr|ence as the l|rst WorId War |tseIl, or the |nuence ol the
Kuss|anKevoIut|onh|choccurredbelore|thadendd|ogh|caI Iy,
ucsas thr yrs oIder han uhar|n, Korsch to years oIder.
uthatseparat them lromthe pre-ar generat|on olMa|stsas
that they came to revoIut|onarysoc|aI|smmuchIater h|Ie uhar|n
as aIready an act|ve and tempered I|eutenant olen|n eII belore
tgt, they ere rst rad|caI|z by the Great War and th mass
upheavaIs h|ch loIIoed |t, eme|ng as Ma|sts onIy alter t gt
Gmmsc|, on the other hand, as aIready am|I|tant| nthePSon the
eve olthe l|rst WorId War, butasst|IIa young and |mmatu one,
hose |nexper|ence Ied h|m to comm|t ser|ous m|s at |ts outset
henhecamecIosetoadvocat|ngtaI|an|nteent|on|nthehoIocaust,
at a ume hen h|s party |gorousIy denounc |t Marcuse as
dralted |nto the German Ay belore the age oltentyone, br|ey
enter|ngthe USPO|n tgt-t enjam|nevaded m|I|taryse|cebu
as sng Ieltby thear. y contrast, thesecond generat|onaI set'
|th|n the trad|t|on olWestem Ma|sm as compr|sed olmen ho
came to matr|ty eII aler the l|rst WoId Wa and who were
poI|t|caIIy lormed by the adance ollasc|sm and the Second WorId
War.Therstothesetod|scoverh|stor|caImateaI|smwaseebvre,
|n manyways an unusuaIgre|n th|s group, who o|ned the lrench
omn|saty|n gAorno,adecade youngrthanarcuseor
enam|n, does not seem to have turned towards a|sm unt|I ater
the a| se|zure ol power |n tg Sarre and | tusser, a| though
w|de|y separated |n age, aear to have been rad|caI|zed at the same
t|me, by the|mactothe San|sh |v|I War, e lnc debcIe ol
tgo, and |mr|soment |n Germany oth compIeted the|r oI|t|caI
eoIut|on alter t g, |n the rst years olthe oId War AIthusser
o|ned the l|n t gq, wh|Ie Sartre aI|gned h|mseIlw|th the |nter-
nat|onaI ommun|st movement |n t go. GoIdmann came under the
spe| I ol ucss or belore and dur|ng the Second WorId War,
encounter|ng h|minSw|terIand alter |t |n t gq6. OeIIaoIelorms a
intervasoviousIytheprobIemis toknowwhere toIocaetereIevantstoa|
breakswtbinthebioIogicaIcontinuumolIiveinanyepohThereisnoroomto
expIore the subect adeqateI here he criicaI |ines ol division in this case,
oweer,arelairIyIearIydrawnythesuccessiepoItcaIupheavaIsoltheme.
ChtOnOlO_l eCcgbOn th8t ncchcl8 COnhH8 thc _cncmbOn8l
gOlbl g8ttc: n @c-_tOug 8 mcmbct O thc ht8t _cncmbOn hc
mm8ncd COmglctcl untOuChcd b thc t Otld 8t W88 l8tct
COmgtOm8cd b t8l8n 88C8m 8nd Onl bcl8tcdl mOVcd m thc
dmCbOn O m8tX8m m tQq~j 8t thc cnd O thc bcCOnd Otld 8t
Wmn hc W88 n h8 l8tc Otb. n8ll 8 8n_lc bOtdctlnc C88c O 8
thtd _cnct8bOn 8 d8CcHblc: LOllctb WhO W88 tOO Oun_ tO bc
dgl m8txcd b thc bcCOnd Otld 8t 8nd bcC8mc 8 gugl O
cll8Olgc n thc gO8t-W8t gHOd jOnn_ thc Ln tQjo.
8nb8lltWllbcntOmthcc8tlcnbc8OnW8td8utOgc8n
m8m8m bcmc nn_l COnCcnutcd n Lctm8n mnCc 8nd
t8l ~ thtCOunU WhCh cthcrbcOm Ot 8tct thc boOnd Otld
8t COmbncd 8 m888 LOmmun8t 8ttCOmm8ndn_ thc 8llc_8nCc
O m8jOt bOn8 O thc WOtxn_ Cl888 Wth 8 numctOu8 8nd mdl
nll_m8. hc8b8cnO OncOOthctO thc COndbOn8blOo
thc cmct_cnCc O 8 dcVclOgcd m8m8t Cltum Out8dc 8 Onc. m
tn 8Wdgtc8d mdC8lz8bOnOCCuttcd 8mOn_ ntcllcCtu8l8 n thc
ntct-W8t gtOd but thcm888 O thc WOtxn_ Cl888 tcm8ncd 8tc8dl
lO8l tO 8OC8l-dcmOCmbC tclOH8m. n bg8n thc gtOlct88t gtOVcd
mOtc mVOlubOn8t n tcmgct th8n 8n Othct WOtkn_ Cl888 n thc
COnbncnt dutn_ thc thtbc8 but thctc Wctc Vct c ntcllcCtu8l8 n
thc l8but mOVcmcnt. cthct COuntt gtOduCcd 8n 8_nhC8nt
m88t thcOt 88 8uCh n th8 gcHOd.
The 5panish case, howevet, temains an impottant histoticaI enigma. Why did
5pain nevet ptoduce a LabtioIa ot a Ctamsci ~ despite the exttaotdinaty com-
bativity of its ptoIetatiat and peasantty, mote than equaI to those of lIy, and a
cuItutaI hetitage ftom the nineteenth centuty which, aIthough cetinIy Iess than
that of ltaIy, was fat om negIigibIe? gteat deaI of futthet teseatch is needed
into this compIex ptobIem. soIution of it wouId be centtaI to any widet anaIysis
of the condiuons of emetgence and deveIopment of histoticaI matetiaIism as a
theoty. Hete it may meteIy be noted that - so fat as the ptobIem of teIative
cuItutaI hetitages is concemed - sttikingIy, whiIe Ctoce studying and
advettising the wotk of Matx in ltaIy duting the t 8os, the neatest anaIogous
inteIIectuaI in 5pain, Unamuno, was Iikewise convetted to Matxism. Unamuno
indeed, unIike Ctoce, activeIy patticipated in the otganization of the 5panish
5ociaIist Patty in t 8~y. Yet wheteas Ctoce's engagement with histoticaI
matetiaIism to have ptofound consequences fot the deveIopment of Matxism
in ltaIy, Unamuno's Ieft no naces in 5pain. The encycIopaedism of the ltaIian, so
conosted with the essayism of the 5panid, was suteIy one of the tsons fot the
di0etentiaI tesuIt of the two episodes. Unamuno a Bt Iesset thinket. Mote
genetaIIy, his Iimitations wete symptomanc of the much wldet absence in 5pain
Tke Xdvent o] Bestern Mxis 2
Jhe historica| dates and geogphica| disbuon ol 'Westem
Maism' provide the pre|iminary loa| lrameork or sitating it
ithin the evo|ution ol socia|ist thought as a ho|e t remains to
dentilythe specicsubstantive tmitshichdeneand demarcate itas
anintegratedtradition.Jherstand mostndamen|olitscharacter-
istics has been the stuctura| divoe ol this Manism lrom po|itica|
pcticeJheorganicunityoltheoryandpracticerea|izedinthec|assica|
genetionolMaistsbelomtheirstWor|dWar,hoperloedan
insepab|ypo|iticointe||ecta|luncuonithintheirrpectiveparties
i nastem and Centra| urope, as to be increasing|y sevemd in me
ha|lcentury lrom t gt 8 to g68, in Weste urope. Jhe mpture
beteen the to as not immediate or spontaneous in the ne
generationa| and geographica| context ol Maism alter te irst
Wor|dWar.tass|o|yandprogmssive|ybroughtaboutbymassive
historica|pressums,hichon|yachievedthena|breakageolthebond
beteen theoryand pcticeduringthe g. ytheepochalter the
Second Wor|dWar,hoever,thedistancebeteentheasso great
that it seemed virtua||y consubsna| ith the tdition itse|l. n
lact, hoever, the rstthree important theoretcians olthe post gz
generation the rea| originators ol the ho|e patte ol Westem
Maism - ere a|| initia||y maor po|ica| |eaders ithin theiron
partiesukcsKomchandGmsc. ach,too,asadiectparticipant
an organier in the revo|uonary mass upheava|s olthe me the
eergece ol their theory cannot, indeed, be understood ecept
aganst this po|itica| background.
Lukcs as a Oeputy eo|e's Commissar lor duation in
ol any maor tradition ol systematic phiIosophicaI thought sometng tat
SpanishcuIture,lorIIthevirtuosityolitsI|terature,paintingormusic,hadIacked
lrom the Renaissance to the EnIightenment t was perhaps the absenceolthis
cataIyst whih prevented the emerence olany Marxist work ol note in the
Spanish Iabour movement ol the twentieth century his m|ght aIso heIp to
expIain the curious laiIureolMarismto eveIopaconventionIconsteIIaionol
heoryi nngIand w|th its nativetradition olempiricism abruptIyandshapIy
accentuatedlter t ,whiIe itproducedarmakabIecorpusolh|storiography
he impotnce la h|IoophicaI eIement within the compIex soc|aI snthesis
necessary to generate a IiveIy Marxism in any given nationaI lormation was ol
course, asicaIIy emphasized by EngeIs. Anawareness ol th| shouId temper
critiaI assessment ol the predominance ol phiIosophy n West e Maris
Irein ro,seyed Iatet Deed notinhibitt
Q
0
HungarianSoviethepub|icin 1gIg and loughtithitsrevoutiona
ay on the Jisza lront against the ntente attack on it. xi|ed in
Aiadingheenties,hesa|eadingmemberoltheHungarian
Lommunist Partyand al a decade ollactiona| sugg|e ithin ts
organization, briehy became genemI secretary olthe Party in I g2.
orschasLommunistMinisterolusticeintheJhuringiangovern
mentin Ig2] charged ith regionaIparamiIimrypreparauons lorthe
insuectionolthe POin LenIGermay duringthatyear,hich
preempted by the heichsehr. He then became a prominent
heichstagdeputylorthepartytheeditorofitstheoreuca| ouaIand
oneolthIeadersolitsIeltlacuonin Ig2. Gramsci, olcoue,pIayed
al moresignhcantroIethaneitherolthesetointhemasssuggIes
olthe immediate postar epoch. Jhe cenaI organizerand theorist
oltheJurin lactorycounciIsandeditorolL'Urd|neArain IgIg~2D
he as one olthe lounding members olthe PL the loI|oingye
andgmdua||yrosetobecomethedominantIeadolthePartyin Ig2q
hen i t s hghting a dicu|t delensive stmggIe against lascist
consoIidationinta|y. Jhelate oleacholthesethreemensymbo|ized
thelorces thateretosp|itManisttheoryide apartlromanyc|ass
practice in thesbsequentyears. orschasexpe||ed lromthePO
i n I g2 lor denying that capita|ism had been stabi|ized, demanding
reneed agitationa| emphasis on orkers conci|s, and criticizing
Soviet loreign po|icy lor accommodation with wor|d capita|ism. He
theniedtomaintainanindependentpo|itica|groploroyears,and
even alt its disso|ution remained active in Manist inte| |ecta| and
pro|etariancirc|es up to I g whenthevictoryoazismdrovem
lrom Germanyintoexi|eandiso|ation incandinaiaandthenited
States. Lukcs, on the other hand, dralted the ocia| theses lor the
Hngarian Communist Party in I g2 hich imp|icit|y reected the
catasrophistperspectivesstadptedattheixthCominteCongress
- thenotorioushird Period'|ineithitsvio|entattacksonrelormist
workers' organiaionsas ' socia|lascist', and its nihi|istdenia| olany
distinctionbetween borgeoisdemocratic rgimes andmi|i tarypo|ice
dictatorships as instruments ol capita|ist |e. Lkcs's attempt to
or hisraectoy see eddKorsch, MemoriesolKarIKorsch Aee
Reve, No.)6, NoeberOecember t )z, pp. {z~{.
5ee the ey pasages ol the socaIIed Ium Theses (aler Lucss under
7ke Xdveot a[ #este mmsm _t
sketch adiherentia| typo|ogy olcapita|istpo|itica|systemsin the ne
conuncture, and hisemphasis on the need loruansitiona| democratic
s|ogans in the stgg|e against Horthy's tymnny in Hungary, as
vio|ent|y denounced by the Cominte Secretariat, and he as
threatenedith summaryeectionlromtheParty.Joavoid expu|sion,
he pub|ished a recantationithoutmodilyinghis privatevies)but
theprice olhisdisavoa| asa permanentrenunciationolorganiza-
tiona|responsibi|ities ithin his partyorthentemationa|. lrom tg
onards, Lukcsceasedtobeapo|itica|mi|itant, conninghimse|lto
|iterarycriticismand phi|osophyinhisinte||ectua| ork.lter8 briel
periodin er|in,theNaziseizureolpoerlorced him toointoexi|e
in the opposite direction, to the USSK, here he remained un| me
end oltheSecond Wor|d War.
ramsci's destiny as darker. Arrested at Musso|ini's orde i
Komein 6,henta|ianlascismna|ized itscomp|etedictatorship
overthecountry, he spent nine terrib|e years in prison, in conditions
hicheventua||yki||ed him in t g so|ated by imprisonment lrom
participation in the c|andestine |ile olthe PC, he as saved lrom
directconlrontation ith the consequences olthe Sta|inition olthe
om|ntern. ven so, his |ast po|itica| act beore arrest as torite 8
sharp protestto Jog|iatti in Moscoagainstthe|atter'ssuppressiono
the ta|ian Party's |etter to the Centra| Committee ol the CPSU
argu|nglorgreater to|erance in its interna| d|sputes, on theeveolthe
expu|s|on olthe elt ppos|t|on | nKuss|a hi|e lromithin prison
he|atercategor|ca||opposedthe'th|rdperiod|inelrom t gonwards,
mntn|ng pos|t|ons not un| ke those ol Luks in tgz8 hich
stressed the |mportance o | ntermedate democratic demands under
lasc|sm and the vita| need to in the a|||ance ol the peasantry to
overthrowit. Jhe c|imate olthetieithin theJhird nternationa|
was such that h|sbrother, to hom heentrusted his vies lor tras
m|ss|on to the party centre outs|de ta|y, rema|ned si|ent in order to
save h|mromthe r|sk olepu|s|onhe twogreattraged|eshich in
such d| erent ways overtook the uropean work| ngc|ass movement
round pseudon n Georg Lukcs, 1ottco Hrtngs II2 ondo
L tg2 pp. 2qO.
` See Guseppe liori ntonio romsc, London L tgyO_ pp. zqy8.
_2
in the inter-ar period, ascism and StaIinism, thus combined to
scatter and destroy the potentiaI bearers ol an indigenous Maist
theoryunitedtothemasspracticeoltheWestemproIetariat.Gramsci's
soIitudeand death intaIy, orsch'sandLucs's isoIation and exiIe
intheUSAandUSSh,maredtheendolthephaseinhichWeste
MarxismasstiIIathome amongthemasses. Henceloard, itasto
speaits onenciphered Ianguage, atanincreasingIyremotedistance
lromthecIass hoselortunesitlormaIIysoughttoeoucuIate.
Jhe deepchange that as no to occur loun its rstepression in
Geany. ts Iocus thenstitelorociaI hesrcat,
hoseearIyrigisanddeveIopmenthaeaIreadyenn.Ithouh
its conception as 8 ademic cetre lo M h imi
apitaIist smte as a ne depaure in the history ol sociaIism
mpIying8 instituuonaIseparaolrompoIiucsthatLembr, lor
exampIe, ouId neer hae accepted belore the it had been
deoted throughout the tenes to t

aditionaI probIems ol the

ore' moement, combining soIid empiricaI or ith rious
theoreticaI anaIysis. ts director specihcaIIy amed olthe dangers ol
its becominga schooI lor' mandarins' in hisinauguI address, and its
staincIuded actiemembersoltheproIetarianpartiesoltheWeimar
KepubIic,especiaIIythePO.Jhenstitute'sjouaIpubIishedork
by orsch and Lucs, side by side ith essays by Grossmann or
Kazanov. t thus lomed the nodaI point ol juncture at hich
'Westem and 'astem' currents etithin Maism i the tenties.
ts trectory as consequentIy to be ol critiI importance lor the
evoIution olMaist theory as a hoIe, in inter-ar urope. n I g2g
Grnberg, the Austro-Marxist historian hohad dicted it since its
loundation, retired. n 1gC orheimer became thenedirector ol
thenstitute a year alter Lukcs had been siIenced, inthe year that
Gramsciwascensoredlorhisownsaletyeveninprison.AphiIosoph
where Grnberg had been a historian, orkheimer in his inaugumI
addess set the tone lor a major reorientation olthenstitute's ork,
aalromaconcemwith historicaImateriaIismasa'science',tads
a deveIopment ol 'sociaI phiIosophy' suppIemented by empiricaI
]ay, 1 Daa aa, . I I -I y.
7ke Xdveot a] #este mmmsm
QQ
investigations. n t,e nstituteceased to issuethe XrcHves }r tke
Histar a] 5acialism aod tke #arkers mavemeot, its ne revie
ocentIventitIed Tke jaaroal a] Sacial Pesearck. ntheshoperiod
beoe te lascist counter-reoIutionol,Horkheimergathemd a
diverseandtaIentedgroupolyoungerinteIIectuaIsaboutthenstitute,
olhom the most importantere tobeMarcuseand Adorno. UnIike
Gnberg or Grossmann, Horkheimer had neer been an overt
member olany orking-cIass party, aIthough he had on admimd
uxemburgand stiII remainedpoIiticaIIymdicaI, in posion criticaI
olboth the SPO and PO. Marcuse, ho had been a member ol
soIdiers counciI in , had retained some Iinks ith the oanized
orkersmovement, in parcuIariththe IeltoltheSPOintheIast
years belore HitIers seiure ol poer, he s contributor to
HiIlerdingstheoreticaIjoumaIOie GeselIscka]. domo, ontheother
hand, as the cadet olthe trio, had no personaI ties at aII to sociaIist
poIiticaI Iile. Jhescepticismolthe ne teamat thenstute toards
the prospects lorcIass struggIe in Geany, at a me hen both the
SociaI-Oemocratic and Communist Parties vaunted their condence
in the luture, as shon at the outset olHorkeimers tenure,hen
its lunds ere quietIy translerred to HoIIand in , and extemaI
oces estabIished in SitzerId.
Jhe Nazi victory i n t tus exied the nstitute, but did not
destroy it as a centre. Horkheimer abIe to negotiate its lormaI
translertotheUnitedStatsin t q,hereitasaIiatedtoCoIumbia
UniversityinNeorkandbeloretheoutbreakoltheSecondWorId
WaraII his cIosestcoIIeagues hadjoined him inAmerica.Theemiga
tion olthenstituteto the USAtranslerred itinto apoIiticaIenviron-
ment devoid ola mass orkingcIass movement even lormaIIy com
mitted to sociaIism, or olany substantiaI Marxisttradition. n its ne
miIieu, te nstitute 8 such gravitated steadiIy toardsadaptation to
the IocaI bourgeois order, censoring its on pastand presentork to
suit IocaI academic or corporate susceptibiIities, and conducng
socioIogicaI surveys ol a conventionaIIy positivist chamcter. o
camouage itseIlin its ne habitat, a viruaIIycompIete retreat lrom
poIiticsasexecuted. PrivateIy, HorkheimerandAdomocontinuedto
maintain acerbic ostiity to US society, reveaIed alter te ar in
" ay Je tocnco m_rnottop g. z.
d
#
their oint ork OiaIectic a] Emgkteomeot prudentIy pubIished i n
HoIIand, hose basic argumenteectiveIy equated North America
IiberaIismandGermanlascism.Jheretumolmenstutetolrankrt
againin1QqQ~[O hoever,couId notaIterthendamentaIchangei
its sociaI lunctionand orientation that had supervened i nthe United
StateslorpostarWestGermanyasnopoIicaIIyandcuIturaIIy
the most reactionary maor capitaIist country in urope its Manist
traditionsexcisedbyNazichauvinismandngIoAmericanrepression,
its proIetariat temporariIy passive and quiescent. n this miIieu, i
hichthe KOas tobebanned and theSOlormaIIy abandoned
anyconectionithMaism,thedepoIiticizationolthenstituteas
compIeted hereas it had been an

isoIated encIave in the academic

orId in the USA, it as ociaIIy ted and patronized in West
Geany.Jhe'criticaItheoryadvocatedbyHorkheimerinmemirties
noexpIicitIyrenounced any Iink ith sociaIistpractic. Horkheimer
himseIluItimateIycoIIapsed intoignominious apoIogies orcapitaIism
itseIl, in his retirement. Adorno, on th

other hand, ho became

directorolthenstitutein 1Q[ andproduceditsmostpoerluIbody
olorkalter the Second WorId War, never tookthispath his very
aIoolness lrom poIitics, aIays greater than that ol his coIIeagues,
preservedhimlromit ycontrastMarcuse,hohadstayedbehindin
the USA,as to maintain anintransigentIyrevoIutionaryposition as
anindividaI,amidstgreatinteIIectuaIandinstitutionaIisoIation,i nthe
ltiesand sixties ut theobectivestrain olthis situation had itsprice
iin his thought Committed to the poIiticaI ideaIs ol cIassicaI
Marxism,yetentireIyremovedlromanyactivesociaIlorcehghtinglor
them,MarcuseinAmericacametotheoriea structuraI integrationol
the orkingcIass into advand caitaIism, and thus theinsurmount
abiIity olthe guIlbeteensociaIist thought - no inevitabIybecome
utoianonceagain- and proIetarianactionincontemporaryhistory.
he rupture beteen theory and practice that had siIentIy started in
acticeinGermanyi nthe IaterentiesascIamantIyconsecratedin
theory i n the mid sixties, ith the pubIication ol Ooe-OimeosiaoaI
ma.
rior to the victory olNaism, Germany had been the onIymajo
10
bcc h8 tntcrtcW tn e e januaq t g}O.
7keZdveno] Ketemarm _
Luropean country outside ussia ith a ms Lommunist Party.
Alter it, l rane lorthe hrst time acquired a Lommunistmovementol
massproporons,durinthe PopuIar lront period. Alter the Second
WorId War, hiIe the PO as virtuaIIy eIiminated lrom West
Geany, the PLlbecame themajortyoraniaion oftheorking
cIass in l ane. Jhis duaI change ansloed the hoIe baIance ol
Maist cuIture ithin urope. lrom the epoch oltheSecond nter
nationaIonards,thelrenchorkersmovement hichinmeearIy
nineteenth century had ed the conunent in poIitiI miIitancy and
inteIIecaI creativity had Iaed theoreticaIIy eII behind its
counterpartsinastemand LentraILurope, orevenintaIy. Maism
hadneverpenetrateddeepIyintoeithertheSlorLG J.Jhereasons
for this cuIturaI backardness in theJhird KepubIicere essentiaIIy
oloIdontheonehand,thestrengtholnativepreMaisttraditions
(Proudhonism, Ianquism, AnarchoSyndicaIism) among the pro
Ietariatitseandontheotherhandthecontinuinvigourolbourgeois
radicaIism ol a Iate acobin type) hich stiII anchored the IocaI
inteI|igentsiasecureIyto their oncIass. Wherea conence olthese
tocurrentsoccurred,as ina IeaderIikeaurs,theresuItasa sociaI
docrine o pronounced ideaIism and proincia|ism. No signicant
contribtion to the great Marxist debates olthe pretgI q epoch as
madeinl rane.Joa|Iintentsandpurposes, CapitaIasacIosedbook
tothelrench SociaIist Party signihcantIy, nomajortheoreticaIork
ritten alter Marx and ngeIs as transIated in lrane belore the
lirst WorIdWar. Jhe victory olthe ntente in t g , upo|ding the
dominance ol the lrench bourgeoisie and sparing the lrench
orking cIass the ordeaI odeleat, rtherdeIayed the conditions lor
the roth ol Marxism 8 a reaI lorce in the country. Jhe lrench
Lommunist Party, alter an apparentIy triumphaI start i n t g, soon
dind|edtoreIativeIymodestproportions,ithamembershipolsome
, lor the rest ol the decade the inteIIectuaIs it attracted ere
mostIy Iiterary personaIities ith a sentimentaI rather than scientic
reIationship to theheritage olsociaIistideas.
tas not untiI t g that the hrstcIuster olyounger inte|IectuaIs
ith areaI interest in Marxismjoined the Party. JhisgroupincIuded
Niza,Lelebvre,Po|itzer,GutermanandlriedmannithadcstaIIized
in revoIt against the steriIity and parochiaIism ol ociaI lrench
ghlO8Ogh8ndh8d Ot_n8llgO88c88cd8mg8thc8Wth8uttc8l8m.
!
t
t8 cnttntO Uc VLthOWcVct COnCdcdWth thc hn8l blnz8tOn
O thc ntctn8tOn8l LOmmun8t mOVcmcnt dutn_ thc htd VctOd.
ttOmthc Out8ct thctcOtc t W8ubjcCt tO8ttCt gOltC8l COn8tt8nt8
On 8 thcOtctC8l WOtk. Ot b nOW 8ll Ccntt8l guc8tOn8 COnCc-
n_ thc 8n8l88 O C8gt8l8t dcVclOgmcnt 8nd Uc COnduCt O
thc Cl888 8ttu__lc Wctc thc tc8ctcd dOm8n nOtcVcn O thc n8tOn8l
gmt lc8dct8hg n tt8nCc butO Uc LOmntcH n u888t8cl. hc
hcld Ot ntcllcCtu8l 8CtVt Wthn m88m h8d thu8 _tc8tl COn
tt8Ctcd n8dc thc t8nk8 O thcutOgc8n LOmmun8t V8ttc8. VOlct
Mtct 8 gOntn_ 8ttcmgt 8t 8 m88t Cttguc O g8ChO8n8l8
!
bcC8mc lttlc mOtc th8n 8n Obcdcnt Cltut8l unCOn8tOthc VL t.
8n8gOlcmC8lVctVcW888tc8dl8tcdbOt_8nz8tOn8lgtc88utc8
untl hc hn8ll tcbcllcd 8_8n8t thc 8z-bOVct V8Ct 8nd W88 cXgcllcd
tOm Uc g8tt.
!
ccbVtc 8lOnc m8nt8ncd bOU 8 tcl8tVcl h_h
lcVcl8ndVOlumc OWtttcn Outgut8ndgublChdclttOthc VLt. Mc
W888blctOdOS b8t8CtC8lnnOV8tOnth8t88l8tcttObcCOmcWdcl
Ch8t8Ctct8tC O 8uCCc88Ot m8tX8t thcOt8t8 n c8tc utOgc: g8-
mcnt tO L8c88t Wh8t W88 duc tO L8c88t ~ gOltCl lO8lt COmbncd
WthntcllcCtu8lWOtk8umCcntld88OC8tcdtOmthcCcntt8lgtOblcm8
O tcVOlutOn8 8tt8tc_ tO c8C8gc dtcCt COnttOl Ot Ccn8Ot8hg.
ccbVtc8 m8jOt Wttn_8 n thc thttc8 Wctc m8nl ghlO8OghC8l n
Ch8t8Ctct 8t 8 lcVcl O 8b8tt8CtOn ]u8tCOnt8n8blc Wthn Uc lmt8 O
g8ttd8Cglnc.hcgublC8tOnOh8mO8tmgOtt8ntOtKOiaIecticaI
ateriaIism, dcl8cd tOtthtcc c8t8 8ttct t8 COmgO8On W88 _tcctcd
b OmC8l 8u8gCOn n tOnc 8nd COnCcH t C8n bc 8tu8tcd 8Omc
WhctcbctWccnthcc8tlctdtcCc88OukC8Wtht8cglCt8ggc8l8
tO `h8tOt 8nd thc COntcmgOt8t cV88Vcnc88 O MOtkhcmct WU
t8 nCtc88n_l clu8Vc 8ggc8l8 tO `CtC8l thcOt. ccbVtc 8lthOu_h
lor the bacground olthis group, see Henri Lelebvre, 1a 5omme et 1e
Recte, Pis t , pp. y8~t .
J
Critiqucondemende la Ftjchologie, Paris t z8. PoIitzerhad witnessed
the Hungaran Commune in hs youth, suggesting a tenuous Iink with CenaI
uropean Marxism
4
"
SeeSartresvividessay in the reeditionolinsH Haie, Parist 6,
the two m were cIose lriends
4
" lorthisepisode,seeLelebvresautobiogpicaIaccountin1a5ommeet1e
, p. qy
7ke Zdvent a] Keston arr
Q

readby enjin ithhom heshareda sympathy toardssueaI-

ism in Paris remained an intemationaI isoIate at the cIose othe
thirtiesithin lmnceitseIl his eampIeas a soIitaryone
t as the Gean occupation o t Qqoq hich overtumed the
hoIepoIiucaIandcuIturaIuniverseoltheJhirdKepubicandlorthe
httimeproduced thecondiuonsorageneraIizauonolMaismasa
theoreticaIcurrencyin lmn. JhePClhich hadgronto aass
partolover ebers in theIastyearsolthe PopuIarlront
became the dominant popuIar orce in the Kesistance lrom 1Qq1
onards d emerged enoousIy strengthened rom the m.
ter tQq] organizationaIparamountcyithinthelrenchoring
cIassasoveheIming.JheresuItasarapidgrothntspoerol
inteIIectuaI recmitmentand attraction. PoIier had beenkiIIed in the
Kesistance Nizan had died at Ounkirk. Lelebvre remained the most
distinguishedandproIicphiIosopherinthePartyorthenextdecade.
lor durng thisperiod theincreasein themassolinteIIectuaIs dran
into the PC l yieIded comparativeIy IittIe ne theoreticaI ork
ithin itbecauseitasIargeIyneutraIized byteextremeintensica-
to othe cuIturaI cotoIs ithn the Party i h the onset ol the
CoId W and the vioIentenlorcement olhdanovism by the PCl
Ieadershipattheheightol it.JhusthemajornoveIphenomenonolth
rst decad alter the W as the impact ol Manism ithin he
existentiaIistmiIieu that hd hrstemerged duringthe ccupationand
hich acquired ide cuIturaI radiation alter it ith the orks ol
artreMerIeauPontyandOeeauvoirJhisimpactasmediatedby
the inhuence olKojve the hrst academic phiIosopher to introduce
HegeIsystematicaIIyintolrancebelorethearandhoseeistntiI
interpretation ol Tke FkrnamenaIag a[ mim provided an indirect
passage lor Sartre and MerIeauPonty to Marxism alter it n t Qq
See 8en|amin's essay JuarJ uckt Jer 5ammler unJ Jer Htariker, i n
HgelutAovut, lranklurtt 66, pp yz6, yt. 8en|amin'scontactsi nParislorman
mportant sub|ectlor luture research.
16
Ko|ve'sprewarIectureswereeventuaIIypubIishedin t ), asntroJuction
la lecur Je Hegel. AIexandre Kove Kohevniov was o in Russia in
t oz, andstudiedphiIosophyi nGermanylromt zt to tz), undertheinuence
olaspers and He|degger. He then went to lrance where AIexandre Koyr
another Russian emigr ed his interests to egeI on whom he Iectured in
succession to Koyr t the EcoIe Praedes Hautes Etudes lrom tyy II te
econdWorIdWW.
the to men lounded 8 independent sociaIist journaI, Zes 7ems
moderoes, hose ide variety ol phiIosophicaI, poIiticaI, Iiterary,
anthropoIogicaI andpsychoanaIyticaIcontributionsrapidIymadeitthe
most inhuentiaI theoreicaI revie in the country. Neither MerIeau-
Ponty nor Sartre ere tempted to oin the PCl, but both tried i n
succession tomaintainanactive revoIutionarycommitmentaIongside
it articuIating poIiticaI ideas that the Par itseIl relused to admit,
ithout opposing or attacking t. Jhi ambiguous reIationship,
lounded on thebeIielthat thebuIk olthe lrench orkingcIass as
unshakeabIy organized by a party that suhocated inteIIectuaI ork
ithinit, hnaIIy Ied to theextraordinaryattemptbySartrein t g -
B makeadirecttheorizationolthe poIiticaIpractice olthe PCllom
outsideit, intheseriesolessaysentitIed 7ke Cammaoists aod Peace.
NaturaIIy, no such 'excentric unity ol theory and practice proved
possibIe. Jhe Hungarian KevoIt ol t g 6 Ied Sartre to a spectacuIar
breakith the PCl, andhe therealter deveIoped histheoreticaIork
outside any organizationaI lrame olrelerence, as an individuaI phiIo
sopher and pubIicist avoedIy ithout contact ith the masses.
MeanhiIe, in the Communist Party itseIl, the repercussions ol the
JentiethPartyCongressoltheCPUandtheHungarianKevoIthad
hnaIIy driven Lelebvre into active opposition, and in t g 8 he as
expeIIed lrom it. Jhese years sa the nadir ol the PCl s poIiticaI
passivityduring theAIgerian War.
JheIimitedIiberaIizationolthepartysinternaIrgimeinthesixties,
hoever reveaIed that ne inteIIectuaI lorces had been in hidden
gestationithinit.AIreadythepubIicationolCornusseriaIbiography
olMaandngeIs, lrom tg onards,hadestabIished ashiltolthe
schoIarIy tradition olMehringand Kyazanov to lrance. t it as
the appearance ol the ork olLouis AIthusser, lrom t g to t g6,
hich signaIIed a decisive change in the IeveI olinteIIectuaI debate
ithin te party. lor the hrst time, a maor theoreticaI sstem as
articuIatedithin the organizationaI lrameork ollrench Commun
ism, hose poer and originaIity ere conceded even by its most
determinedopponents.AIthussers inhuence spreadverysiltIyaler
` ReentIy pub|ishedinan EngIishtransIation,London ty6y.

Auguste Cou, Aarlar et Frierk ngt, Paris t y ~yo: so lar lour

oIueshveappeared, coerintheperiod up to t 86.
1hc Zdvcnt o[ Hcatcrn oram

t 6, bOth nsdc and Outsdc thc ranKs Ot thc L gvng hm a

unucQOstOn n thc hstOry Otthc Qarty. MOcvcr thcQaradOOt
ths asccndancy has bccn ts dcvcOQmcnt aganst thc gran Ot thc
QOtca cvOutOn Ot thc Ltsct. hc QrOnOunccd mOdcratsm Ot
cstcrnLOmmunsmnthcsXtcsntactachcvcdtsmOstdcvcOQcd
cXQrcssOn n thc Qartys QrOgrammc tOr an `advanccd dcmOcracy n
rancc hc ntcrnatOna y thc L dstngushcd tsct by thc
dcgrcc OttshOstty tOards Lhnaand csQOusa Otussan QOstOns
nthcbnO-bOvctcOnct.thusscrsOrKbycOntstdchncdtsct
as cQcty ant-humanst at a t

c hcn thc Oca rcnch Qarty

OctrnccXtO cd thcvrtucs Othumansm asa cOmmOn bOnd bctccn
cOntractua Qrtncrs [cOmmunsts sOcasts cathOcs) n thc budng
Ot an advanccd dcmOcracy and thc bOvct Qarty as QrOcamng
`LvcrythngtOrMan as a masssOgan hc hssymQathcstOr Lhna
crc thny vccd. hus Oncc agan thcrc as marKcd tOrsOn n thc
rcatOnshQ bctccn thcOry and Qarty n thc L. hcrc QrcvOusy
hc attcr had strdcnty mQOscd `OrthOdOxy aganst thc `bcra
QrOcv tcs Otthc tOrmcr thcrOcscrc nOrcvcrscd and thc tOrmcr
mutcy camcd rgOrsm aganst tc aty O tc attcr. n thc nc
stuatOn hOcvcr thc vcry bcrazatOn Olthc L tO rcassurc ts
acs and Qartncrs cOmbncd th thc studcd QcrsOna cautOn Ot
thusscr tO avcrt any trOnta cash. n ths rcsQcct Pthsscrs
QOs tOn thn thcrcnchQartycamctOrcscmbcthatOtLuKcsn thc
Mungaran arty attcr thc bOvct ntcrvcntOn Ot t 6. n bOth cascs
ma Or ntccctuas th a dccQ bOgraQhca tc tO thc LOmmunst
mOvcmcnt rctuscd tO cavc Or brcaK th t maKng a ct bargan
th thcr Qarty tO KccQ scncc On QOtcs QrOQcr t thcr thcOrctca
OrK [hatcvcr ts utmatc Qractca mQ catOns) as ctt rcatvcy
untOuchcd. hc vabty Otths mutua accOmmOdatOn QrcsuQQOscd
cOnsdcrabc ndcQcndcntQrcstgc On thc QartOtcach thcOrst maKng
QOssbca tactca cOcxstcncchch tas nthcntcrcstsOtthcQarty
OrganzatOn cOnccrncd nOt tO tcrmnatc. hc ambguty and stran
nhcrcnt n ths tyQc OtbOnd crc nO css cvdcnt: Qatcuary sO n
thc casc Ot thusscr bccausc Ot thc acK Ot cOcrcvc cOnstrants
OQcratvc n thc L n ranc.
I
AItusser's two aor works, Four o d Iire Ie apit, QQcc
withi & lewmotsoleachother ty6.
e euaordinary sIe and speed ol the dision olMaism in
taIyalter the Liberation, covering not onIy the groth olthe PC
butaIsoolthePSandolideunorganiedsectooltheinteIIigentsia
aseII,hadnocomparisoninanyotheruropeancounuy. Combined
ith the post-ar reception ol historiI materiaIism in lrance, it
ensured that the main is olMaist cuIture alter tgqj shilted lrom
meGermanictotheLanoneithinurope,lorthehrsttimeinthe
century. utthedeveIopmentoltaIianMasmastotaeanotabIy
diherentcourselromthatoll renchMaismoverthenettodecades.
taIyhadpossessed an indigenous Maist uadition goingback to the
meolngeIsintheIatenineteenthcentury. LabrioIasorkhadbeen
inherited and continued in the next geeration by MondoIlo, another
eHegeIian phiIosopher ho had in tu exercised a direct inuence
on Gramsci's generation.

The Iong interIude ol lcism had then

incubated the prison ritings olGramsci himseIl. Jhese ere no
discovered and pubIished lor the hrst time in tgqg. Jheir impact
as enormous, both ithin the PC itseIland lar outside it. Jhe
presenceolthisnative Maist heritage,cuIminatingin thegreatork
undertakenbyGramsci,thusheIped to immunietaIian Communism
against themostextreme ravages olthe CoId War hdanovism s
resisted by the P to a much greater extent than by the Pl in
lrance. The pty Ieadership sII IargeIycomposed olmen ho had
been Gramscis contemporaries and coIIeagues, tempered the orst
cuItuI repression typicaI olthe ominlorm period,and permitted a
certain lreedom ol inteIIectuaI expression ithin the organization,
providedthatitassegregated lromthepoIiticaIactivityoltheparty
ntheotherhand, itsposthuouscanonizationolGramsciironicaIIy
seed to steIize the vitaIity ol his theoreticaI bequest to taIian
Marxsm. The hgure olGramsci as converted into an ociaI ideo
IogicaI iconolheparty, invoked on everypubIic occasion, hiIehis
actuaIriungsere manipuIated ornegIected entyhve years altr
theendoltheWar,the PChad notevenproducedaseriouscriticaI
editionolhisorks.ThemingIedaromasolincenseanddustsurround
ingtePr|son Aoielooks thusIedtotheunexpectedresuItthatthemost
importanttheoreticaI tendency thatdeveIoped ihinaIianMaism

" or the roIe oI MondolIo s hrsu Ree nt Graci.

ar m 1talien, rank tQy QQ- zt-
4
-
7& Xdveot ]#estero marsm q1
alter heSecondWorId Warrepresented a react|on aga|nstthehoIe
ph|Iosoph|I hI|at|on lrom Labr|oIato Gramsc|.
Jhe lounder oltheneschooIas GaIvano OeIIaVoIpe,a ph|Io
sopherhoo|nedthePC|n tgqqandproducedaser|esol|nuent|aI
orks lrom t gq to tg. OeIIa VoIpe, I|ke the maor|ty oltaI|an
academ|c |nteIIectuaIs |n the prear epoch, had comprom|sed |th
lasc|sm. oaIIyabsoIvedlromth|spastbyh|sadherencetothePC
alter the adogI| coup, h|srecord nonetheIess d|squaI|hed h|mlrom
acqu|r|ng any poI|t|caI author|ty |th|n the party h|Ie the same
peonaI ra| h|ch had once ed h|m to accept and ust|ly he
coomte Stte, subsequentIy |ncI|ned h|m toards cons|stent con
lorm|tyto thepoI|c|esoltheIeadersh|polthe PC. Jhush|Ie OeIIa
oIpes theorecaI or|entat|on as man|lestIy d|vergent lrom the
prevaIentorthodoxyoltheparty,h|sonorkIackedanyautonomous
poI|t|caI charge. Jhe most em|nent proless|onaI ph|Iosopher |n the
party, heasaIso | nmanyays the mostmarg|naI to |t. o ser|ous
lr|ct|ondeeIopedbeteenOeIIaVoIpeandthePCthroughouth|sto
dedesolmembersh|p|n|tequaIIy,I|ttIeceremonyasaccordedh|m
bythecuIraIapparusoltheparty. nderh|s|nuence,hoever,a
groupolyounger|nteIIectuaIsemergedholormedthemostcoherent
and product|ve schooI |th|n the PC P|etranera, CoIIett|, Koss|,
Merker, Cerron| and others. lthese te most g|lted and trenchant
as CoIIett|,ho o|ned the party |n h|s m|dtent|es |n t g. Alter
theJent|eth Congress olthe CPSand theHunga|an evoIt, the
theoret|caI oumaI olthe PC St::, as edtor|aIIy broadened |n
t gby the ncIus|on among others oleIIaVoIe and P|etraner,
o|nedbyCoIIett||neloIIo|ngyear.n th|sper|od,theph|IosophcaI
themesoltheschooIstartedtoacqu|repoI| t|caIovertonesmongsome
olthe younger members olthegroup. npart|cuIar the ph| Iosoph|caI
|ns|stence on the |mportance ol determ|nate sc|ent|c abstract|on,
character|st|colOeIIaVoIpesork couIdberead to |mpIytheneed
lor 8 anaIys|s ol taI|an socety |n terms ol the 'pure categor|es
ol deveIoped cap|taIsm |th correspond|ngIy 'advanced poI|tcaI
obect|vesB bepursued bytheork|ngcIass|th|nit.hiscontrasted
|thPCorthodoxy,h|chemphasized theh|stor|caIIybackardand
hybr|dcharacteroltaI|ansociety,necessitat|ngmoreI|miteddemands
ola 'democratic rather than soc|aI|st type, as poI|t|caIIy appropr|ate
4
2
to it Jhe theoreticaI tnsions ithin Siei eventuaIIy Ied to the
suppression ol the joumaI by the PC in earIy t g6z loIIoed by a
IIsca|ephiIosophicaIdebateinthepartyeekIyFiomcita Iaunched
ith an arraignment olthe OeIIa VoIpean schooI, to hich CoIIetti
repIiedithacerbity.JoyearsIater,disahectedbythelaiIureolany
reaI democrauzation ithin the USSK or the Westem Communist
parties since t g 6, CoIIetti Ielt the PC.

Hismainork inthenext
decadeasproduced outsideany organizationaI lrameork.
Jhus, lrom tgzqto tg6,Manismdidnot'stop',asSartreasIaterto
cIaim butitadvanced via8 unendingdetourlromanyrevoIutionary
poIiticaIpractice. Jhedivocebeteethe toas determined bythe
ho|e historicaI epoch. At its deepest IeveI, the late olManism in
uropeas rooted in the absence olanybig revoIutionary upsurge
alter t gz, except m th cuIturaI periphery ol Spain, ugosIavia and
Greecetsa|so,and inseparabIy,aresuItoltheStaIinizationolthe
CommunistParies,theloaIheirsolthe ctober KeoIution,hic
rendered impossibIe genuine theoretiI ork ithin poIitics even in
the absence ol any revo|utionary upheavaIs hich i tin tu con-
tributed to revent. Jhe hidden haImark ol Western Marxism as a
hoIe is thus that itisa productols[.JhelaiIureolthe sociaIist
revoIution to spread outside Kussia, cause and consequence ol its
corruption inside Kussia, is the common background to the entire
theoreticaI tradition ol ths period. ts major orks ere, ithout
excepion, produced in situations ol poIiticaI isoIation and despair
ukcss Histar wd Clas Camcaasoess t gz

) as ritten in exiIe
"" SeeFrancoCassano(ed,orumo 8 Jtloso_o mrolto ari t y}y,pp. },
qty, r 8ot. This voIume incIudes the tets ol the maor theoreticaI debates
within the PC in the les and sixties, incIudin the conoversy o t y6
relered tobeIow
lor this history, see now CoIIet's o account, in A PoIicaI and
PhiIosopicaI nterview', 1ew IIevw No 86,uIAugust y}, pp y
his remarkabe textis olgreatimportance lor a whoIerange oltheoreticaI and
poIiticaI probIems discussed in this essay. A number oli oncIusions, i lact,
aresimiIartocertainthesesadvancedhere aIthoughnaturaIIyinvestedwiththeir
on degreeolauthority Noothermaorthinkerwithin thetradition oleste
MarishasreveaIedsuch IucidityaboutitsnatueandIimitsas CoIIett. NeedIess
tosay,thereisnoreasontoassumethathewouIdassenttomyoltheparticuIa
argumentsor udements oU8 say.
7ke Xdveot o[ hestero xism
43
nVienna, hiIehite terror raged inHungaryalter the suppression
olthe Hungarian Commune. Gramsci's Notelooks erecomposed in
gaoI near ari, alter the denitie repression olthe taIian orking
cIassmovementbytriumphantlascism.Jhetomostimportantorks
olthe rankrt SchooI erepubIished at theorst nadir olpoIiticaI
reactionnWestGermanyandtheUnitedStatesalterthearAdorno's
mioima mormia tgt intheyearthatthelormaIprocess olbanning
the KPO started in West Germany, Marcuse's ros aod Ciwliatioo
tg during the hysteria olMcCarthyism in America. rance,
Sartre's Critiae o[Dimecticm Feasoo t g) as pubIished alter the
success olthe GauIIistcoup olt g , and atthe height oltheAIgerian
War,hen themass oltherench orking cIass - Ied by the PC
Iaynumbedand inert,hiIe terroristattacksby theAS struck atthe
le individuaIs ho activeIy resisted thear. t as in these years,
too, that AIthusser started to produce his rst and most originaI
studies Cootradictioo aod Over-Oetermioatioo t g6z,themostsigni
cant olthese, coincided ith the authoritarian instaIIation oldirect
presidentiaI ruIe and te II poIiticaI consoIidation ol the lilth
KepubIic.JhisunbrokenrecordolpoIiticaI deleat - lororkingcIass
stmggIe, lor sociaIism couId not but hae prolound ehects on the
nature oltheMarxism lormed in this era.
At the same time, the StaIiniation ol the parties created by the
Jhird nteationaI, lrom the Iate tenties onards bureaucratiaIIy
organized and ideoIogicaIIysubordinae to the poIicies olthe USS,
Ielt a rther, distinctie imprint on it. Jhe outcome olthe Secnd
WorId War,as has been seen, marked a ronounced silt in the e
graphicaI patte olMarxism as an active cuIturein urope, ith the
virtuaI disappearance ol Communism as a Iiving lorce among the
rkingcIassolWest Germany,and theemergenceand dominaneol
mass Communist arties in lrance and taIy. Jhese dieenta
situationsIedtoavarietyolresponsestotheprobIemolhotoreIate
Marxist theory to proIetarian poIitics, in the zones concerned, but no
soIution olit. lormaI incoporation in orkingcIass parties ukcs,
OeIIa VoIpe, AIthusser, exit lromthemelebvre, CoIIett, lraternaI
diaIogueiththemSartre,orexpIicitrenunciationolanyconnection
ith them doo, Marcuse ere aI I equaIIy incapabIe oluniting
ManisttheorydmasssuuggIe.oraIIthesetheorists,itmaybeaid
44
mat me ociaI Communistmovement represnted the centraI orsoIe
poIe ol reIationship to organied sociaIist poIitics, hether they
accepted or rejected it. Jo broad choices couId be adopted, ithin
thelrameork olthisreIationship. itherthetheoristcouIdenroIIn
a LommunistParyandaccepttherigourolitsdiscipIine.nthis_
he couId retain a certain nominaI IeveI olcontact ith the Iile olthe
nationaI orking cIass (to hich despite everying the party as
inevitabIy bound), and an at Ieast phiIoIogicaI continuity ith the
cIassicaI texts olManism and Leninism (hose studyasmandatory
ithintheparty).Jhepriceolthisproximity,hoeverreIative,tothe
reaIities ol daiIy orkingcIass stmggIe as siIence about its actuaI
conduct. NointeIIectuaI (ororker) ithin amass Communist Party
ol this period, not integmted into

ts Ieadership, couId make the

smaIIestindependentpronouncementonmajorpoIiticaI issues, except
in the most oracuIarlorm. Lukcs orAIthusserexempIily thischoice.
Jhe opposite option as to remain outside any party organization
hatever, as an inteIIectuaI lreeIance n this case there as no in-
stitutionaI controI on poIiticaI los ol e

pression but viceversa

thereas aIso no anchorage ithin the sociaI cIass lor hose benet
theoreticaI ork in Marxism aIone has uItimate meaning Sartre and
Marcuse represent, in diherent ays, varants ol this position. Jhe
lormer maintained an unmatched record olpersonaI interventions in
meuseolintemationaIsociaIism ritingmajoressays on rance,
Hunga, AIgeria, Cuba, Congo, Vietnam, CzechosIovakia yet
ithouteitheranycIoseknoIedgeolthecIassicaIheritageolMarxism,
or impact on the orking-cIass movement olhis on country. Jhe
Iatterpossesseda superior groundingin earIierMarxist traditions,and
rote II-Iength books deaIing in their on obIiqueay ith both
theSAand SSK(Ooe-Oimosiaoal andiet asm),yet
deeIoped atheoryehectiveIydenyingtheindustriaIorkingcIassany
activesociaIistpotentiaIataII.AnaI aIternativeas to abandon both
anyenroImentand any discourse ithin poIiticsaItogeher Adomo's
stance inpostar Germany.
Jhe consequence olthis impasse as to be the studied siIence ol
Western Marxisminthoseareas mostcentraIto thecIassicaItraditins
olhistoricaI materiaIism sctiny oltheeconomicIas olmotion ol
pitaIismasamodeolproduction,anaIysiseoIiticaI machinr
7ke Xdveo: o[ #estero marxsm
#

ol the bourgeois state, strategy ol the cIass suggIe necessar to

overthroit GramsciisthesingIeexceptiontothisruIe anditisthe
token olhis greatness, hichsets him apart lrom aII otherhgures in
this tradition LogicaIIy lor he aIone embodied in his person a
revoIutionaryun|tyotheoryand practice, olthetypethathaddened
thecIassiaIheritage Jheexperience olthetaIianorkers'insurgency
ol t gt g, and ol organizationaI Ieadership within the PC lrom
t gztot gz6, remained thecreativesourcesolhisthought,duringthe
Iong imprisonment hich sheItered him lrom the inte|IectuaI con
sequencesolStaIinizationoutsidetaIy,hiIeitsIoIykiIIedhimven
hisritings,however,reveaIthebreakagesandIimitsinthestmggIesol
the cIass lrom hich they ere born, aseII asthe materiaI circum-
stances olhis captivi Alter Gramsci, no other Manist in Westem
ropeaseertorepeatthesameorderolattainment.Jhereduction
o space lor theoreticaI ork to the constricted aIteatives ol in
stitutionaIobedienceorindividuaI isoIation crippIed anypossbiIityol
8 dyamic reIationship beteen historicaI materiaIism and socia|ist
struggIe, andprecIudedanydirectdeeIopmentolthemainthemesol
cIassicaIManism.WithintheCommunistParties,aIIdisssionolhe
postar imperiaIist economies, olthe State systems olthe West, and
olthestrategicconductolcIass stgIe, as strictyreseed lor the
bureauaticapex oltese organiations, itseIlconditioned by overaII
aIIegiance to ocaI Soviet positions. utside the ranks olorganed
Communism, thereas no apparentlootho|d ihin the mass ol the
orking cIass, lrom hich to deeIop any inte|IigibIe revoItiona
anaIysis or strategy - either because olCommunist pmdoinance in
the IocaI proIetariat rancetaIy), or because olits overheImingIy
relormist IoyaIties ermanyUSA Jhe generation ol theorists
hich had been lormed by the duaI experience ol ascsm and the
econdWorIdWarremained transxedbyit- hethertheydespaired
theorkingcIassaItogethertheGermans,honenoKesistance
or identied it inescapab|y ith its Communist representation the
rench or ta|ians, ho had knon a Kesistane. t is probab|y
signicant that the youngest member ol the group discssed here,
CoIIetti, the onIyonehose mainlormation postdaes both ascism
and Kesistance, shouId aIso be the onIy theorist ol this tradition to
have proved abIeto rite on poIiticaI andeconomicprobIems olthe
QOst-ar cra th bOth ntccctua lrccdOm and QrOlcssOna rgOur
sncchs dcQarturc trOm thc L. but cvcn LOctts cOntrbutOns
havcbccncscntaycXQOstOryrccaQtuatOnsOtthc baancc-shcct Ot
cassca dcbatcs rathcr than substantvc nnOvatOns n thcr On
rght. Or Ovcr tcnty ycars altcr thc occOnd Ord ar thc
ntc cctua rccOrd Ot cstcrn MarXsm n Orgna ccOnOmc Or
QO tcathcOryQrOQcr - n QrOductOnOtmajOrOrks ncthcrhcd-
as vrtuay bank.
hc nsttuOna ntcrdctOns rcQrcscntcd by thc altcr-cccts Ot
ascsmOrthccOnstrantsOtQOst-ar LOmmunsmhOcvcr crcby
nO mcans thc sOc rcasOn lOr thc stcrty Ol MarXst thcOy n thcsc
dOmans thn thc cst LurOQcan thcatrc. Or ths as asO thc
cQOch Otan unQaraccd Ob]cctvc cOnsOdatOnOtcaQta thrOughOut
thcadvanccd ndustra Ord. LcOnOmcay thc gOba dynamsm Ot
thc Ong bOOm Otthc hltcs and sXtcs as grcatcr than that Otany
QrcvOus QcrOd n thc hstOr OtcaQtasm. hc gcncra and massvc
grOth rcgstcrcd n thsQcrOdccctvcy nauguratcd ancQhascn
thc dcvcOQmcnt Olthc mOdc OtQrOductOn a such aQQarcnty cOn
tOundng cassca QrcdctOns Ol ts mQcndng dccay Or crss and
QOsng radcaync QrObcms lOr sccntc anayss. hctradtOn Ot
MarXst ccOnOmcs hch lOund ts tcnus n occy s 1hcor_ o_
Lo]trol:r cvclo]mcnr n t qz had bccn ccctvcy cOnsgncd tO thc
Qast at thc cnd Olthat Ork ccausc Otthc vsbc succcss Ot thc
cyncsan rcnOvatOn Olthc o ccOnOmy. hcn occy and baran
rcturncd tO thc sub]cct th a lu-scac rk tcnty ycars atcr
ono]o[ Lo]ttol thc OrthOdX lramcOrk Ol MarXst ccOnOmc
atcgOrcs had bccnargcy rcnOunccd by thcm. hcscacand tOrcc
"" Se in particuIar bis essays 1hc @uc:ron o]ron in Dcw cj cvew o.
6 , ayune t}o and nrroduronc n apoIoni and L oIIetti eds, l
ururo dc Lotroumo - Lroo D vuo! 8ai o,pp.
" TbereIinquisbment by 8aran andSweezy oltbeconcept olsurpIus vaIue
tbe cornerstone ol Marxs Loro is weI knon owever onoo[ Loro
ew ork 66 does not so mucb examine and reect concepts Ike surpIus
va|e or be organic composition ol capitaI b means ola dirct critique, so
mucbastcitIysbiltlromtbmtovaguerana|ogiesoltenolsomewbateynesian
provenance. t is i tbis sense tbat it is IargeIy situated outside be terms and
proceduresolcIassicaIMarxism.8aran, itsbouIdbenoted,spentalormativeyear
t yo in tbeabience oltbenstitute olSociaI esearcb atlranklurt tbe |atter
sections olonoog Loto::m reveaIevidensignsolitsnuence.Sweeylor
7ke X:e-:o]lPes :e-Maxis
4
olimpea|istexpansionolthelorces olproductionin bohitst|antic
and acic zones presented in its on rght a lormidab|e theoret|aI
chaIIengeto thedeveIopment olhistoricaImateria| |sm thetas, ina||
tsdimensions,asnever shouIdered ithin the tradiionolWestern
Maism At thesame time, thealtermath oltheSecond Wor|d War
a|sosatheestabIishment,orthersttimeinthehstoryolbourgeois
uIe, olrepresentative democracy based on universaI surage as the
ormaI and stabIe structure ol the State in a the main capitaist
countries West Germany,apan, lrance, SA,ng|and,ta|.he
oeItolthis po|iticaI orderasa durabIe and unilormsystemon an
ternatonaI scaIe is olten lorgotten in the Ang|oSaxon or|d,
becase olthereIative Iength olitsIocaI traditions in ngand or the
U5A. t a e dged the absence ol any centraI or cogent
hispart,hasrecent|yemphaszedthatheoesnotregard thenot|onolsurp|us| n
MoaooLo]to asi ncontrad|ctonwiththat olsurp|usa|ue |n Lo]to. See
h|s d|rectstatement to th|s eect |n Moa:qcvcw anuary t Qyq pp. ] t z. n
geera|,|tmaybesa|dthats| ncethepub||cat|onolono]o_ Lo]tu aa d|d
short|belore,Sweezysana|ysesolScap|ta||sm|nonth[ eehaebeen
moreorthodox|n |d|o.
"" he en|gmat|c career olM|a Kaeck| ~ a Po|e rsns perhaps the
c|oest engagement ol European Marx|sm |n th|s epoch w|th the maor trans
lormationolaa cap|a|sm. orn |n od |n t 8QQ a|eck| ~ an eng|neer
by educat|on, w| h no lorma| qua||cat|ons |n econom|cs ~ ant|c|patd most ol
the |deasolKeynesw|th h|s ::o_ n u:nc:: L_cc 1hcor_ |n t g]] twoas
belorethepub||cat|on ol1nc cncro 1ncor_ ojJm]o_mcnr nrerert ond onc_.
Em|rat|ngtoEng|and |aSween| n t , h |erbeelhC hrSt CCOOmSt to
pred|ctthe pstwarptternolcountercyc||ca|demandm0n0gCmCn t n tC et,
w|th h|s art|c|e on he Po||t|ca| spects olu|| mQlOymCnt` ( e orco
@uortcr_, q t Qq]). n t Qy y he returned to Po|and, whee hC occ|unves
and pann|ngpos|t|ons unt||short|ybelore h|sdh |n t QyC. hC amb|I t o
Ka|eck|'s work Iay, olcourse, |n the |ndetermnate naure ol|ts a|nsp to
Marx|sm. lurther b|ogaph|ca| research |s needed onth|s. n anonmous r|ter
|n soc|a|st |oua|s |n the sem|d|ctator|a| Po|and olthe co|one| |n te th|rt|es,
Ka|eck| seems to have been cr|t|c|ed by the Po||sh lor `LDXCmbur_8m`
because olh|spreoccuaton w|ththeprob|msoleect|vedemand an|v|sol
|nvestment. nn|and and mer|ca, h|s work ~ never cast | n c|ass|ca| Mar|st
catego|es ~ was taken as a lo o |tkeynes|an|m. naI verd|ct as ytto
be reached. Ka|eckis ach|evemnt a|ses the quest|on whcthCr te as not
ex|sted a spec|ca| | y Po||sh trad|t|on o Marx|st econom|cs |n t8 CcntUr
descendinlromuxemburg ~ towh|hrossman,MoskoskaanKa|e|ma
a|| | nd|erent was, ave ob|ique|y be|ogd.
86
nn|and|tse|l, thedentoun| versa| surae as on| rom t QzQ. n
cetayandapantwas| ntroduced lor therst t|me |n t Qqy .
theorization olit thin cIassicaI Marxsm the bourgeois-democratic
Stateassuchasnevertheobectolany majororkeither by Ma,
honeverIivedtoseeitsrea|ization,orbyLenin,hoseenemyasan
togeher disinc pe olState in Jsarist Kussia. Jhe probIems in
oIvedindeve|opingapoIiucaItheorycapabIeolgraspingandanaIys
|n naure and mechansms ol representative democracy, as a
mare lorm olbourgeois poer, ere thus scarceIy Iess than those
posed by te rapid advance olhe orId capita|ist econoy, i n the
rst todecades alter hear.Jheytooent by delauIt, ithin the
mainstream olMaistorkin theWest.
>
Ormu! ohts
Jhe progressive re|inquishment oleconomic orpo|itica|structures as
thecena|concesoltheoryasaccompanied byabasicshiltin the
ho|ecentreolgmvityoluropeanMaismtoardspklsj. Jhe
most striking sing|e lact about th ho|e tradiion om ukcs to
A|thusser, Korsch to o||etti, is the overhe|ming predominance ol
prolessiona|phi|osophersithinit. Socia||y, thischangemeantanever
ncreasing academic emp|acement olthe theory that as prodced in
the ne epoch n the time olthe Second nternationa|, Luxemburg
and Kautskya|ikehadbeenunitedintheirscornlorKatkedersia|/ste
prolessoria| socia|ists' teaching in the universities, ithout party
commitments. Jhe Maist inte||ectua|s olthe pre-lirst Wor|d War
generation had never been integrated into the university systems ol
Centra|orasternuropeJhelorm olp|ii|iyeeee
and practice hich they represented as incompati|e ith any
academicposiuonnstead, theytypica|ytaughtatpartyoro|ntary
schoo|slororkers,as oneactivityamongothers in a|ilolmi|tancy.
i|lerding and Luxemburg taught po|itica| economy at the
schoo| i n er|in, hi|e Lenin and Kyazanov |ecured to o|shevik
orkers inLongumeau,and auergave courses atthe

SPOcentre
in ienna Jhe rst theorists ol Western Maism sti|| knew this
tmditiona| pattern Lukcs taught in the radica| Ga|i|eo Circ|e in
dapestduring the lirst Wor|dWar Korsh |ectred at he eeri
menta| Kar|Marx Schu|einer|in in theentiesJhecreation othe
nstitteolSocia| Kesearchin lrankrt anindependentintittin,
yeta|ated tothe|oca|Stat universiy marked atraniina|phae
in the Weimar Kepb|ic Alter theend olthe Second Wor|d War,
hoever, Marxist theory had mi

rated virtua||y comp|ete|y into the

D
unvcrs s - Qrccncts at Oncc Otrctugc and cc trOm thc QOtca
stuggcs n thc Ord Outsdc. n ths QcrOd Lukcs Lctcbvrc
LOdmann )Orsch Marcusc Lca NOQc dOrnO LOctt and
thusscr a OccuQcd unvcrsty QOsts Ot QrOtcssOra rank` bartrc
rsng ntO a unvcrsty carccr ctt t attcr succcss as a rtcr. n a
cascs thc dscQnc nhch chars crc hc d asQhOsOQhy.
hc cXtcrna dctcrmnants hch actcd tO mOvc thc man tOcus Ot
Mast thcOr trOm ccOnOmcs and QOtcs tOards QhOsOQhy and
ts tOrma stc trOm Qarty asscmbcs O acadcmc dcQatcnts crc
nscrbcdn thcsOmbrchstOry OtthcQcrOd. but thsshttOldncvcr
havc Occurcd sO gcncray and drastay t thcrc had nO bccn a
QOcrtu ntcrna dctcnant at Ork thn Mamst cuturc tscta
c. hc dccsvc cvcnt hcrc as thc catcd rcvcatOn Ot thc Os
mQOrtant caryOrk Otma - thc arsmanuscrQts Ott 8. hcsc
crc Qubshcd tOr thc rst tmc n MOscOW n gz hcr mmcdatc
mQactas mutcd by thcvctOry n gOt asm n Lcmany - thc
cOuntry hcrc thcr rcccQtOn as kcy tO havc bccn grcatcst at thc
tmc - and thc Onsct Otthc Qurgcs n ussa n I ]q. [yazanOvWhO
had QrcQarcd thc manuscrQts tOr QbcatOn n hs crtca cdtOn Ot
tc Orks OtMa and Lngcs as dsmsscd trOm thc nstttc n
MOscO just ctOrc thcy aQQcacd.) cvcrthccss thcy madc a dccQ
and astgmQrcssOn Onhrccthncrsat thc tmc ndQcndcnty. n
hs cc n MOscO Lukcs QcrsOnay Orcd undcr yazanO n
ccQcrng tc manuscrQts n t t thc cQcrcncc by hs On
accOnt ranslOrmcd hs ntcrQrctatOn Ot MarXsm Qcrmancnty. 1n
crn Marcusc grcctcd thc Qub catOn th an cssay n tg n
e Gc:cl1cha_ hch tartcd th thc rcsOundng dccaratOn tht
thcy Qut `thc cntrc thcOry Ot`sccntc sOcasm On a nc tOOtng
an strcsscd n Qartcuar hs vc that thcy dcmOnsratcd thc kcy
mOrtancc Otc QhOsOQhca tOundatOns OthstOrca matcrasm
" ucsn udaQcst orsCh n cW om8rCusc n randcs and La _oa]
c|cbVrc Lodman and Pthusscr n ars Pdono n ranklutt] LCa NoQc n
mcssnaj Loctt n omc. LramsC and Cn]amn aonc lhc lWo it|ms of
rcmatncd outstdC any un Vcrstg.
" cec tHc tntCrVtcw ucson s eand ork NeLeReo. 6
]uy-Pugust t Qyt QQ. y-y] and thc t Qy QrclaCc to Htarjmd Lm: Lon:cou:-
ess London I QyI Q. XXX.
Formal kqn I
throughout aII stages olthe ork olMan. nar|s Lelebre as
esponsibIelorthersttransIationslromtheManuscriptsintoalore|gn
Ianguage hi edition ol them, prepared i n co||aboration ith
Gutean,appeared in ghi|ethehrstmajortheoretica|orkto
dvancea nereconstction olMarx'sork as a hoIe in the Iight
ol the t Manuscripts as Lelebvre's Dialecticm terimism,
rittenin t g tas in theperiod altertheSecond Wor|d War,
hoever, that the luII eects olthe discovery olMarx's earIy orks
and theirincorporationintotherecordolhis thought,erethemseIes
eIt ithin the pattern ol contemporary Marism. n taIy, Oe||a
o|peinauguratedhistheoreticaIentryintohistoricaImateriaIismith
the rst transIation and discussion in taIian olthe ne texts olthe
oung Mar not onIy olthe aris Manuscripts, butmoreespec|a|Iy
the Critiae o[ Heyel's Pkilosok o[ Fiykt t go). n this case
too, the hoIe OeIIa oIpean version ol Marxism - hich came to
inspire 8 Iarge schooI hinged on a particuIar se|ection and inter-
pretation olthe earIy phiIosophicaI ritings olMarx, a|beit a very
ierent one lrom those olLukcs, Macuse orLelebvre n lrae,
itasagainthenetextsoltheoungMarxthatIarge|ydrewMer|eau-
onty and Sartre toards Manism alter the L|beration Sartre's rst
ajor approach to prob|ems ol Marxist theo, orcro:m ond
Fevolatioo ( g, apeaIed essentia||y to the authority ol the aris
Manuscr|pts. The peak olthe inuence olthephi| osoh|a| writ|ngs
olthe ear|y Man as reached in the Iae hl|es when themes lrom
them were diused on the idest sca|e throughout Weten Europe
So much so, that the rst unequioca| rejetion ol ese texts as
constiut|veolhistoricaI materiaIismata|| AIthussers|n|t|a|essays -
stiII perlorce took them as thestartingpoint lor any d|scoursewith|n

See Marcuse, rudrer rn Lrrrrco 1hroro]h_ London L8 t }, pp. q

whoserstessayisa transaonothisey tet,heFoundationsolHistorcaI
MateriaIism.
1e orrroume roecrryue rst pubshedin aris t n|istransIation
asroecrrco orerroum ondon t68, pp 6t ~t6} passi
See 1o Jeorro orr:ro demoncr]o[rone Lmono ( q and 1o 1r0err
Lommunr:ro ( q6, which locus mainIy on te aris Manuscripts and 1er 1o
Jeorro dun Lmone:rmo 1o:rrrvo (t q}, which is centred on the Lrrryue oj
1eger 1moro]h_ ojrghr. eIIa oIpes transIations ol both tets ol a
appeared in t o
See 1rreror_ ond 1hrorohrco 1rro_r Lonon t
|

contemporary Manism. ven in negation, they dehned the pre
Iimnary heId ol discussion. The very lorm ol dismissa ol Man's
earIy writings here, moreover, remained subect to the Iongt
aIteraioninthecompasspoints olMarxismwhichtheirdiscoveryhad
rendered possibIe. lor thepositive theory deveIoped by AIthusser,
against prior interpretationsolManbase on them, continued to be
situated on a technicaIIy phiIosophica pIane unknown belore their
advent.
WestemManismasawhoIethusparadoxicaIIyinvertedthetraectory
ol Man's own deveIopment itseIl. Where the lounder ol histocaI
materiaIismmovedprogressiveIylromphiIosophytopoIiticsandthen
economis, as the centraI terrain olhis thought, thesuccessorsolthe
traditionthatemergedalter tgoincreasingIyturnedbacklromecono
mics andpoIitics tophiIosophy abandoning direct engagement with
what had been the great concerns ol the mature Marx, nearIy as
compIeteIyashehadabandoned direct puruit olthediscursiveissues
ol his youth. The wheeI, in this sense, appeared to hae turned luII
circIe.nlact, olcourse,nosimpIereversionoccurredorcouIdoccur.
Marx's own phiIosophicaI enterprise had been primariIy to settIe
accounts with egeI and his major heirs and critics in Germany,
especiaIIy euerbach. The theoreticaI obect ol his thouht was
essentiaIIy the egeIian system. lor Western Marxism by contrast
despite a rominent reviaI olegeIian studies within it the main
theoreticaIobectbecameMarxsonthoughtitse|l. iscussionolthis
didnot,olcourseeerconneitseIltotheearIyphiIosophicaIwritings
aIone. he massie presence olMans economic and poIiticaI works
precIuded this. ut the whoIe range olMarxs oeuvre was typicaIIy
treatedasthesourcemateriaIlromwhichphiIosophicaIanaIysiswouId
extract theepistemoIogicaI principIes lor a systematicuseolMarxism
to interpret and translorm) theworId principIesneerexpIicitIyor
luIIy set out by Marx himseIl No phiIosopher withi the Western
Maxist tradi tion eer cIaimed that the main or uItimate aim ol
historicaI materiaIism was a theory l knowIedge ut the common
assumption olirtuaIIyaII was tht therr

taskoltheoreticaI
` QarttCuar `tCuCrbaCh`s htosoQhCa mantCstoCs ` L t oung
marX` and `h I 8qq manusCrQts o arl marX` n or or London I QQ.
Farma|ks g
research ithinMarxismas to dingage e m|es olsoc|a| enquiry
discovered byMan, yet buried ithin thetopi|particu|arity olhis
ork, and ilnecessar to comp|ete them Jhe resu|t as that a re
markab|e amount olthe output olWestem Marxism became a pro
|ongedd inicate Oiscour on Method Jheprimacy accorded to
this endeavourasloreigntoM, in anyphase olhis deve|opment
e degree to hich epistemo|ogica| themes dominated this ho|e
aditionanbeseen inthe t|es0tscteriscorks Korsch's
sm PIasapk set out me basic mbric, at the very ouset
Jhe companion o|ume pub|ished by uk in the same year
opened ith an essay ent|ed at s Ora1a arsmr, hich
conc|uded condent|y that thete relerred exc|usive|y to metkad'.
Jhis preceptas therealter tond laithlu| reection in the obsess|ve
methodo|ogism oltheorksolthesubsequetanon books ent|t|ed
successive|y Reasan a1Reatan (Marcuse Oestract a]Peasa
(s Z a a Pastive 5ciee (Oea o|pe, 7e Prlem a]
etka1and Cuae a]Oalectica|Reaan (ae, Aegate tctc
Adomo, Rea1ngCapta(A|thusser.
Jhesecondordernatureolthediscoursedeve|opedbytheseorks
on Marxsm, ratherthan in Manism had arthercoro||ary. Jhe
anguage inhich theyererittencameto acquirean increasing|y
specia|iedandinaccessib|ecastJheorybecame,loraho|ehistorica|
period, an esoteric discip|ine hose high|y technica| id|om measu
its disnce lrom po|itics Mans on ork, ol course, had by no
means a|aysbeen conceptua||yeasy, lor readers olhiontie or
posterity utbothhisear|yphi|osophica| textsandhis|aeeconom|c
orks (the two most dicu|t parts olhis oeuvre oed their ini|a|
system ol terms to preexistent theoretica| ensemb|es essenia||y
Hege| and icardo hich they sought to criticize and surpass, by
the production olne concepts earerand c|oer tomateria| rea||ty
|ess hypostatized' in the vocabu|ary ol the oung a |ess
theo|ogica|' (in that ol the mature Marx. Moreover, hi|e never
concea|ing the ininsic dicu|ties lor a reader ol maseing any
scientic discip|ine, Man alter t 8q8 a|ays sought o pesent his
thought in as simpe and |ucid a ay as possib|e to maximize its
H:omd Lorr Lonrcourmrz Q. t

ntcgbty tO thc Orkngcass tOr hch t as dcsgncd. hc carc

hch hc tOOk tOr ths QurQOsc On thc rcnch transatOn OtCaital s
tamOus.
bycOntrastthccXtcmcdcutyOtanguagccharactcrstcOtmuch
Otcstcrn MarXsm n thctcntct ccntury as ncvr cOntrOcd by
thctcnsOnOtadrcctOractvcrcatOnshQtOaQrOctaranaudcncc.n
thccOntrary tsvcrysurQusabOvcthcncccssarymnmum uOtcntOt
vcrbacOmQcXtyasthcsgnOttsdvOrcctrOmanyQOQuarQractcc.
hc Qccuar csOtcrcsm Ot cstcrn Mamst thcOry as tO assumc
mantOd tOrms: n ukcs a cumbcrsOmc and absrusc dctOn
trcghtcd th acadcmcsm n Lramsc a Qantu and cryQtc trag
mcntatOn mQOscd y QrsOn n bcnjamn a gnOmc brcvty and
ndrcctOn n LcaOQc an mQcnctrabc syntX and crcuar sct-
rctcrcncc n bartrc a hcrmctc and unrccntng mazc Ot nOOgsms
nPthusscr asybncrhctOrcOtcusOn.1OstOtthcscrtcrscrc
caQabc OtcOmmuncatngth carty and drcctncss. Omc Otthcm
bartrc PdOrnO bcnjamn crc majOr tcrary artsts n thcr On
rght.YctvrtuaynOncOtthcmsQOkcancvcnOruncOntOrtcdanguagc
n tcmajOrthcOrccaOrkstOrhch thcyarcusuay rcmcmbcrcd.
ndvdua OrsubjcctccXQanatOnscannOtaccOunt tOr ths rccurrcnt
cO cctvc QhcnOmcnOn. hc casc Ot Lramsc symbOcs n ts vcry
cXccQtOn thc hstOrca ruc that Ovcrncd ths gcncra rctrct Ot
thcOry trOm c assca MarXst Qarancc. hc Prison Aoieloo/s, thc
grcatcstOrk n ths hOc tradtOn crc rttcn bya rcvOutOna
cadcr Otthc Orkng cass nOt by a QrOtcssOna QhOsOQhcr trOm a
sOca backgrOund much QOOrcr and Ocr than that Otany mQOrtant
MarXst ntc ccta n LurOQchccrcstcrnOrLastcrn bctOrc Or
attcr thcrst Ord ar. YctthcycOntan numcrOus cngmas many
Ot thcm st unsOvcd by cOntcmQOrary schOarshQ bccausc Ot thc
brutcccnsOrshQ andratOnOtmQrsOnmcnthch tOrccd Lramsc
" hc l tcrary d mCulty ol thcsc authors Was to lrcgucntly CrtCZcd n thcr
own tmc. LramsCs cdtng ol Lrdtne 1uovo Was attackcd lor ts `dt mCuty by
thc rcnCh soCalst ncsQaQcr lumonrc D I QzC a ChJrgc WDCh LramsC
rcQcd tO Wth a lcngthy justthCaton ol hs Qrosc n Lrdtm 1uovo IO ]anuary
IQzC. LuKaCs Was dcnounCcd lor `artstoCratsm ol 8tylC by HcVa n t QqQ. scc
]oscl cVa lukuc: ond oco::t eoum London I Qy C QQ. t 8-ty. b8rtrc`s
tcrmnology Was assalcd Wth QartCular Vgour by LuCCn bCVc n `]can-aul
bartrc ct la LalcCtguc 1o 1ouvdr Lrtyur No @ 1_ cbruary t y6t QQ.yz.
Farmm Sm[o
to resort to aIIusive codes rather than coherent expositions. This
physicaI recusion, the consequence oldeleat in cIass stggIe, as to
be a oreshadoed image ol the isoIation hich surrounded te
theorists ho loIIoed lreer than Gramsci, but remoter lrom the
masses. The Ianguage olWestern Marism, in this sense, as subect
to a ider hisoricaI censor the guIllor nearIy lty years beteen
sociaIistthoughtand the soiI olpopuIarrevoIution.
This ong divorce, hich shaped the theoreticaI ol Westem
Maism,ad anotherandarrestinggeneraIehecton it oreveryting
happenedas ilthe rupture olpoIiticaI unit beteen Mast theor
and mass practice resuIted in anirresistibIedisplaementolthetension
thatshoudhaveIinkedtheto,toardsanotherisntheabsenceol
themagneticpoIeolarevoIutionarycIassmovement,theneedIeolthe
oIeaditiontendedtosingincreasingIyaaytoardscontempor-
arbourgeoiscuIture.TheoriginaIreIationshipbeeenManisttheor
and proIetarian practice as subtIy but steadiIy substituted by a ne
reIationship beteen Manist theory and bourgeois theory. he
historicaIrsos lohis reorientationdidnot, olcourse, IesimpIyin
the dehcit ol mass revoIutionary pracce in the West. Kather, the
bockagolanysociaIistadanceinthenaions oladvanced capiaIism
itseIldeterminedthetotaIcuIturaIconguraonithinthesesocieties,
in certain lundamentaI ays. Above aII, the successluI restabiIization
ol i

periaIism, oupIed ith the staIinization ol the communist

moemen, meat thataorsectorsolbourgeois thoughtreaineda
reIative vitaIityand superiorityover sociaIist thougt. The bourgeois
orderin theWesthad not ehausted its historicaI Iilespan itsabiIity
to survive o orId ars, and to emerge lor the next to decades
economicaIIymore dyamic thaeverbelore, as inevitabIyrehected
initscapaciylorcuIturaIchangeand deveIopmen.tstiIIcommanded
theIoyaItyoltheIargestandbesttrainednteIIetuaIstrataintheorId,
hosecreativeperlormancecontinuedithmaornaionaIvariations
^
" PrIson conditions do not, however, account |or aII the dicuIties o|
Cramsci's notebooks. His Ianguage, as we have seen, had been critIcized for undue
compIexity even in Turin moreover, at Ieast some o| the riddIes o| the otebaakt
are to be attributed to his own inte|IectuaI conuadictions and uncertaindes, m
deaIing with probIems to which he never |ound an uneqvocaI or satIs|actory
answer.

to be substantiaI in heId alter heId. Jhis achievement naturaIIy had

certainhxed Iimits, dictated by the descendant position olcapitaIism
on agIobaIsIe, inanepochhichdespiteeverythingsaa third ol
theorIdrestedlromit. uttheoveraIIeaknessolsociaIistcuIture,
impaired or paraIysed by the ociaI repressions olStaIinism and the
conhnement olthe internationaI revoIution to the backard zones ol
urasia, remained on baIancemuch greater. Alter tgo, Marxism asa
hoIe advanced Iess rapidIy, in a Iarge number ol discipIines, than
non-Marxist cuIture Jhis bitter reaIity exerted a centraI, bending
pressure on the character ol the ork that as conducted ithin
historicaI materiaIism inWesternLurope.
Jhe mot strikin sinIe trait olWestem Mism 8 a common
tradition is thusperhaps theconstant presence and inhuence on it ol
successivetypesoluropeanideaIism.Jherangeolinter-reIationship
beteenthetoasaIaysacompIexone,invoIvingbothassimiIation
and reection, Ioan and critique. JheprecisebIend olrponsevaried
lromcasetocase.utthebasicpatternremaineduncanniIysimiIarlrom
the t gos down to the t gs. Lukcs rote His:or adClas Coo-
scioasness hiIe stiII deepIy under the inteIIectuaI impact ol the
socioIogy olWeber and SimmeI, and the phiIosophy olOiIthey and
Lask. nparticuIar, its keycategories ol'rationaIization and 'ascribed
consciousnesserederived lromWeber itstreaentol'reihcauon
asheaviIymarked bySimmeI hiIeitshostiIitytowardsthenaturaI
sciences somethingentireIyloreigntoaIIpreviousManistIiterature
as IargeIy inspired by OiIthey and the outIook olGerman vitaIism
(Zelenskilosokie) generaIIy. Gramsci constructed his Prisoo
Notelooks m Iarge part 8 a sustained diaIogue ith and systematic
critique olCroce adopting the terminoIoy and preoccupations ol
the ideaIist phiIosopher ho then dominated the cuIturaI scene in
taIy, in particuIar his concern ith ethico-poIiticaI history hiIe
II
heseinuencesare ampIy demonsated in Gareth5tedman ones'sessay
'he Marxism ol the EarIy ukcs' Aew 1e] Review, o. yD ovemer
ecember IyI. Wer was a personaI riend md coIIeague oukcs eore
the lirst WorId War.
I8
lor the compIexity olGramsci's attitude towards Croce and his quaIied
admiration lor the Iatter's category o ethicopoIiticaI history' whch he be
Ieved houId be aken as n empirica non' or historicaI research see
materialo 5torio, Turin ;y6

QQ. zo;~
1

where Gramsci even compares
Formal Skqs _
he aIso secondariIy deveIoped ideas and approaches ol the Iiterary
critic Oe Sancts, olan earIiergeneration. The coIIective or olme
lrankrt SchooI as peeated lrom the thirties onards ith the
concepts and meses ol lreud's psychoanaIysis, 8 the organizing
relerence ol much ol its on teoreticaI research. Marcuse's major
study, ros adCatioo, as to be expressIydesignated a 'phiIo-
sophiIenquiryinto lreud',anditshoIevocabuIaryol'repression'
and'subIimation''reaIityprincipIe'and'perlormanceprincipIe''eros'
and 'thanatos', moved ithin the Iatter's universe oldiscourse Jhe
case olSartre is a speciaI one, in S lar as he as himseIlthe most
eminentexistentiaIistphiIosopherin rane,lormedbyHeideggerand
HusserI,belorehispassagetoMarxism.Hethustookithhimintohis
Manist ritings his on inteIIectuaI past, ith its distinctive in
strumentsand inventions. JheresuItasaconduitlrommanylthe
conceptsolBeioy adNotkioyoess tothoseolthe Critiae o[ Dialectic
Feaoo: among omers, the notion ol ' lacticity' Ieading to 'scarcity',
'inauthenticity' to 'seriaIity', theinstabiIity olthe 'lor-itseIl-in-itseIl'
to that olthe 'lused group'. At the same time, hoever, the to
main prior sources olSartre's oriinaI exiseniIst system remained
active inuences in his Iater thought appeaIs or aIIusions to HusserI
and Heidegger aound in his Iong study ol lIaubert, pubIished a
decade alter the Critiae o[Dimtical Feasoo. AIthusser's ork as
conceivedasanovertandradicaIpoIemicaginsthismajorpredecessors
- above aII, Gramsci, Sare and Lukcs. ut his theoreticaI system,
too, oed many ol its organiing terms to three disparate ideaIist
thinkersthenotions olepistemoIogicaIbreak'and 'probIematc'ere
borroed lrom acheIard and anguiIem - a phiIosopher and a
historianolscience, both olpronounced psychoIogisticbent theideas
ola'symptomaticreading'andadecentredstructure'eretakenlrom
Lacan,apsychoanaIystcombininglrudianorthodoxyithHeidegger
ian overtones hiIe the coinage ol 'over-determination' itseIl, ol
Ctoce to Lenin, as two theotists of hegemony, who both in theit own way
tejected economism.
" Fot a fu|| account of the conceptua| cont|nuities between Beig anJ
Aathgnettand the ritiqueajLialecticaleatan,see the admitab|e discussion in
Ftedetic ]ameson, arm anJarm Princeton 1 y1 pp. z_y

~ much the
bt oiuca| ana|ysis cf the subject.
8
course,asimported direct|ylrom reud. Jhese respectivecu|tura|
corre|ates goveming the topographica| position olthe thought ol
ukcs, Gramsci, Marcuse, Sartre and A|thusser are on|ythe most
mportant and prominent such sets ithin the tmdition olWestem
Marxism Para||e| re|ationsnbeloundin neary a|| olits representa
ves.Jhecentra|ro|ep|ayedinGodmannsorkbythepsycho|ogy
olPiagetithhomheorkedin Sier|and during thearis a
typica| instance ven outsie thelrameork othistradiuonproper,
the same m|e has tended to ho|d the re|ationship ol Seezy to
Schumpeterithin economic theory is acase n point. onverse|y,
theinuenceolasing|eidea|istthinkercou|dextendtosevera|diherent
Manist theorists. ache|ard, lorexamp|e, not on|yinspiredA|thusser
heasa|soadmiredbyLelebvre,SartreandMarse,hodrequite
other |essons lrom his ork. lreud, above a||, as acommon dis
covery, not on|y olAdomo and Marcuse, but a|so olA|thusser and
Sa a|thoughagain eachadapted orinterpreted his|egacyinvery
diverse direction. Jhis constant concorse ith contemporary
thoughtsystems outside historica| materia|ism, olten avoed|y
antagonistic to it, as somethng unknon to Marxist theory lore
the lirst Wor|d War. t a spehc and dehning nove|ty l
WestemMarxsmassuch.
" or AIthusser'sownstatements oIhis debtsto acheIard anguiIhem and
LacanseeForp. )andReangCapit p.t 6.acheIardwasAIthusser's
doctoraIsupervisor.
J
The maor exception is the DeIIa oIpean schooI in taIy. DeIIa oIpe
himseIIborroedextensiveIyIromeImsIev'sIinguisics Iorhisaesthetictheory
in Critica JelGutto but the schooI as a whoIe remained reIativIy Iree oInon
Marxist inuences compared withits homoIogues eIsewhere. This absencewas
probabIy connected to the Iack olma or hemac nnovaons which aIso dis
tinguished it aswiII beseenIater.
J
See 7e 7heorjo]CapitaltLevelopment p..
I?
SeeIa5ommeetRette pp. tqz-yBeinganJAotmgnettLondon y)
pp. yrotanJvilation Londont y6pp. t 66 andne-Limentiona
anpp.yo.TheseauthowereatctedessentiaIIybyacheIard'spoecs
ratherthan hisepistemoIogy.
J
" ompare Adoo 'SocioIogy and PsychoIogy' Aew Ie Revw Nos
q6 November t y6)-ebruary t y68 Marcuse rot anJ Civiliation passim
Ithusser'reudndacan'inIenanJFhitophjnJOthetajt London
NL t y)t Sarue Between tiam ondon N t yq
J
J~q1

IP
T impac olDarwinism thc8@c olmc ond ntcm8don8 QtoVdcs
10rme m_1
The pattemedserie olreIationships nningbetweenmjortheorists
olthis traditionand modern thinkers withinthearena olnnMat
cuIture, constituted so to speak the horizontaI s ol inteIIecaI
relerencelorWestem Manism.Atthesametime,however,itwasaIs
distinguishedbyaverticaIisolrelerence,olatypeIargeIloreignt
earIierManisttraditions too. ThiswasitsinvariabIeconstctinla
phiIosophicaI ancestry extending back bc_rc orx. AII the main
theoreticaI systems olWestern Masm reaI thesamespontaneous
mechanism in this respect. Without exception, they had recourse 0
preMarxist phiIosophies to Iegitimate, expIicate or suppIement the
phiIosophy olMan himseI This compuIsive rturn behind Man in
uestolapriorvantagepointlrom which tointerpret themeaningol
Marx's work itseIl, was once again a suggestive index olthe basic
historicaI situation ol Westem Manism. The new dominance ol
phiIosophers within the tradition as, as we have seen, one ol the
signs ol the generaI seachange that came over Marxist cuIre alter
t go.ThevrticaIIinesoldescenttowhichWesternMarxismnoIaid
cIaim,lorMarxand loritseI owed much tothisprolessionaI ascend
ancy ithin it. lor Man himseIl had Ielt no systematic work ol
phiIosophy, in the cIassicaI sense, behind him Abandoning his earIy
phiIosopicaI theses to unpubIished manuscripts, in his maturity he
neverentured onto pureIy phiIosophicaI terrainagain ven his most
important Iater statement olmethod, the t 8 ntroduction to the
rundrt11c remained a programmatic lragment, neer compIeted or
editedlorpub|ication The Iatent and partiaI nature olMarx's phiIo
sophicaI output had been compensated by ngeIs's Iater writings,
aboveaII theZntt-Zrtn_ lorhisimmeditesuccessors. uttheseleII
intogeneraI discreditalter t go, when the incompatibiIityolsomeol
perhapstenearestequ|aIentHowever,theauthor|ty oevout|on|smwas that
ol a naturaI sc|ence wh|ch d|d not |mp|nge d|rectIy on the soc|aI doa|n ol
h|stor|caI mater|aI|sm ItcouId therelore beapproved or adopted w|thout any
rea|ntrnamodcat|onolteatterEven|n the caseolautsy, pobabIythe
teor|st most suscept|bIe to the inuence olawnsm, drect importa|onsare
not character|st|c olh| ma|or prewar work A more exeme ep|sode olthis
|nwas,olcourse,theappeaIolMachorcertain oIshevikinteIectuaIs,above
a8ogdanov,wh|chprovoed Lenin to writemaerialmandmpiria-Criticm.
Here again, it was deveIopments in the phys|caI sc|ences which exerted
trans|ent - puIIonendswithinMarxism.Noma|orgureoltheth|rdgeneraon
ocIassicIMarism cvctM cctcd bmhoWcvct-

their centraI themes ith the probIems and hndings olthe naturaI
sciencesbecameincreasingIy obvious. Westem Manism, in lact, as
to sart ith a decisive doubIe rejection ol ngeIs's phiIosophicaI
heritage by Korsch and Lukcs in marmm ad Pkilosok and
Htog am Class Cooscioesoess respectiveIy. Jherealter, aversion to
the Iater texts olngeIs as to be common to virtuaIIy aII currents
ithin it, lrom Sartre to oIIetti, and AIthusser to Marcuse. n
ngeIs's conuibuuon as ruIed outolcourt, hoever, theIimitation
olMan'sonIegacyappearedmoreevidentthanbelore,andtheneed
to suppIement it more pressing. Jhe resort to earIier phiIosophiI
authorityithinuropeanthoughtlorthispurposecanbesn,inone
sense,asatheoreticaIregressionbeindMan.tisscarceIyanaccident
that the peremptory sentence ith hich Man himseIl cIosed his
accounts ith his inteIIectuaI lorebears PhiIosophers have onIy
interpreted the orId, in various ays the point is to change it'
shouId have echoed so IittIe ithin Westem Maism, hose phiIo
sophers ere statutoriIy debarred lromthe revoIutionary unity ol
theoryandpracticedemandedby theeIevenththesison l euerbach. n
theotherhand,asingIesentencecannotdisposeolcenturiesolthought.
Man's mere dictum couId never suce by itseIl to mish a ne
phiIosophylorhistoricaImateriaIism,or een to draup the baIance
sheet ol oIder phiIosophies belore it. Moreover, Man's o phiI
sophicaIcuItureasitseIlbyno meansanexhaustiveone. ssentiaII
steepedinHegeIand l euerbach, itasnot characterized byanyve
cIoseacquaintanceithKantorHume, OescartesorLeibniz, PIatoo
Aquinas, not to speakolotherIesserhures. Jhus inanothersense a
chronoIogicaI retum behind Manas not necessariIyaphiIosophiI
recidiism,preciseIybecauseManhimseIlhad neverdirectIy
or surpassed aII previous ethics, metaphysics, aesthetics, nor ev
touched numerous basicissuesolcIassicaI phiIosophy. Jhereb_
i n other ords, a certain Iegitimacy in the successive attempts mad
P
Thesingleexceptionto thisrule thetalianMarxistSebastianoTimpan
whohasdeIendedEngelssphilosophicallegacywithdignityandauthorityin
book5umatrialmo(Pisa I QyO pp It z}. ThecalibreoITimpanaroswo
morethan enteshim toconsiderationin any comprehensive surveyolest
Marism in this epoch However, ithas been soexpresslyaimedagainstallot
schools within thelatter, and represents aosition soaa that B impl
FarmaI Skgs t
ithinWestem Marxism to estabIsh an inteIIectuaIancestryreaching
backbehindMan.oraq creativedeveIopmentolMarxistphiIsophy
as such ouId inevitabIyhaehadtomovethrougha reconsideration
ol the compIex cognitive history hich Ma himseIl ignored or
bypassed. Jhe existing starting-points ithin the ork ol Ma
itseIleretooleand toonarrolorthis not to benecessary. tthe
same time the dangers invoIved in a proIonged recourse to pre-
ManistphiIosophiI traditionsneed no emphasis the oveheIming
eight ol ideaIist or reIigious motils ithin them is eII enough
non.
JherstmajorreinterpretationolManismtomakecentraIuseola
preMarxist system to construt its on theoreticaI discourse as
Lukcs's treatment olHegeI inHstar CIass Caosciaasmss. HegeI
had never been ideIy studied in the econd ntemationaI as a ruIe
its Ieading thiners had regarded him as a remote but no Ionger
reIevant recursor olMan Iess signicant than euerbach. Lukcs
dicaIIyovertumed thisestimateeIevatingHegeIlorthersttimeto
anabsoIuteIydominantpositioninthepre-history olMarx's thought.
JheinhuenceolthisreassessmentolHegeIastbedeepandIasting,
lor the hoIe subsequent tradition ol Western Marxism hether
Iater thikers assented or dissented lrom it. ut Lukcs's appeaI to
egeI ent much rther than this geneaIogicaI attribution or to
olthe most basic thereticaI theses olHistar adCIass Caoscaasmss
ere derived lrom HegeI, rather than lrom Marx the notion ol the
proIetariat as the 'identicaI subjectobject ol history', hose cIass
consciousnesstherebyovercame theprobIem olthesociaIreIativityol
noIedge and the tendency t oconceive 'aIienation' 8 an externaI
objectication olhuman objectivity, hose mappropriation ouId be
a retum to a pristine interior subjectivity permitting Lukcs to
dentily the attainment by the oring cIass ol true consciousness
inclusion oIit here mght see gratuitous. et even ths intransigently original
work has not escaped certain common determinations oIeste Marxism See
below, Ch. q note qC.
" SeeukcssowncommentsinHtorjanJClatt Contcioutnett,. Ihe
mao exception was Labriola, who had been a Hegelian philosopher hiselI
bIrehsencounterwitMarxism.encethesuddenreelationoIthediscoe
oIegeI byenin, ater the diredit oheSeondnteztionzI, in t
ol itseIl ith the accompIishment ol a sociaIist revoIution lorty
years Iater, Lukcs as to describe these distinctive theses ol
Histar aod CIas Caosciaasoess as an attempt to outHegeI HegeI'
himseIHowever,themvaIuationolHegeI'simporncelorManism
thatHistar aod CIass Caosciaasoess iniated lond mansuccessors.
Lukcs himseIl Iater sought to rediscover lundamentaI categoes of
Man's thought in that olHegeI, mther than to ntroduce HegeIian
categories into Marxism His study olTke Yamy HeyeI tg

8) as a
muchmoreschoIarIyendeavourtoestabIishadirectcontinuitybeeen
HegeI and Marx, based on Lukcs'reading olthe t 8qq Manuscripts
nMosco,andontheoIeoleconomicconceptssuchasIabourinthe
earIyritings olHegeI.
8
JhreeyearsIater,MarcusepubIishedPeasao wd PevaIaaao in N
ork, subtitIedHeyeI aod tke Pse a[Saim Tkear therstattempt
ata ManistanaIysisolthehoIedeveIopmentolHegeI'sthought, in
aII its phases, the preparation and precondition olMan's ork.
Marcuse's deIity to this concept olHege never avered Adomo,
much more criticaI than either Lukcs or Marcuse ol bjective
deaIsmasa phiIosophyolidentity', nevertheIessepIicitIybasedhis
majorworkonthproceduresolthePkeaameoaIag a[ miod: HegeI's
method',hedecIared schooIedthatolmioim maraha. ' n lrance,
on theotherhand,hiIeacceptingtheascriptionolcentraIimpornce
to HegeI in Marx'slormation, Srtrewas to reverse its evaIuationand
exaIt the antitheticaI contribution ol ierkegaard as a phiIosophicaI
correctivetoHegeIwithinManism WhiIe hoIdingthatMarxhimseIl
had superseded the antinomy ol ierkegaard and HegeI, he argued
thatMarxismin thetwentiethcenturyad tendedtobecomeapetried
neoHegeIianism, thereby revaIidating theprotest olexistentiaIism in
the name olindividaI experien against an aIIencompassing objec
tivist system, hich ierkegaard had rst ttered artre's own
reconstruction ol the historicaI process as such in the Critiqae o)
OiaIecticaI Peasao tookas its irreducibIestartingpoint the individI
conceivedinthissense, asthenaIterm olanysociaIcIassvenaler

HtorjandClatt Ctcioutnett, p. .

Ierunge Hegelwasnot publisheduntil t yq8, beause o|thear.

6
minimamoralia, London t y)q, p. t

/
q
rm emeo odo ty, gg. tq
FarmalSk]s g
the Critiae, the onIy phiIosopher to hom he dedicated a speciaI
studyasKierkegaard.
n taIy, OeIIa VoIpe and his schooI ere resoIuteIy anti-HegeIian
lrom the outset both tmnchantIy negative in their appraisaI ol
HegeIs phiIosophy itseIl, and positive in their asseruon that Mans
thought represented a compIete break ith egeI. OeIIa oIpe him-
seIlconstruedManthroughadescentmnninglromAristotethrough
GaIiIeoto Hume aII olhom he cIaimedhadconducted critiquesol
hypostasesintheirtimesimiIartothataimedbyManategeI. tas
hispupiI CoIIetti, hoever,horotethemaorsystematicattack on
HegeIianism to be produced ithin Westem Manism Heyel and
%arsm. his ork as designed as a luII-scaIe demonstration that
HegeI as a Christian intuitive phiIosopher, hose basic theoreticaI
purposeas the annihiIation olobective reaIity and the depreciation
oltheinteIIect, in theseiceolreIigionandho thereloreasatthe
antipodes lrom Marx. y contrast, CoIIetti argued that the te
phiIosophicaIpredecessor olMarxas Kant,hoseinsistence on the
independent reaIity olthe obective orId beyond aII cognitie co
ceptsolit,preguredthemateriaIistthesisoltheirreducibiIityobeing
tothought.KantsepistemoIogythusanticipatedthatolMan,aIthough
the Iatteras never aare oltheextent olhis debt to it. SimiIarIy,
lorboth OeIIa VoIpe and CoIIett, MarxspoIiticaI theorpossese a
decisive antecedent ol hich he as unconscious the or ol
ousseau. KantsphiIosophicaI IimitshadIainin hisacceptanceothe
echange principIes olIiberaIcapi taIist society i tas preciseIy these
that Kousseau repudiated, in a radicaIIy democratic critique ol the
ourgeoisrepresentativeStatehichMarxas Iateri naII essetiaIs to
doIittIe more than repeat.

Seethe important essayKierkegaardTheSinguIar niversaI, e

rtenalum cmarrum,pp. t q6-q.
"" gica Come5ciena Fotitiva, Messina t qo.
"" HegelanJmarum,LondonLt )y,especiaIIypp. t t ]-]8. ntheepoh
I the Second nternationaI Mehring and others (AdIer had been attracted
tards Kants ethics but no stetc phosophicaI construction oIthe type
anced bCoIIettihad everconnected theepistemoIogyoIKant withthato
ar

See eIIa oIpeRoueau8 mar, Rome t q6q, pp. )z

-
)and Iorthe ost
eemestement oI this view CoIIets ntroducton to Kar M a
nmgz m@n]LHibm,ondon t yyq.
A no Iess drastic, but sharpIy contrasted, reaIignment ol Marx
occurredin thework oAIthusserand hisschooI. LessphiIoIogicaIIy
expIicit,itwassubstantiveIythemostsweepingretroactiveassimiIation
ol aII ol a preManist phiIosophy into Manism. n this case, the
ancestor assgned to Marx was Spinoza. or AIthusser, indeed,
'Spinoza'sphiIosophyintroducedanunprecedentedtheoreticaIrevoIu
tion inthehistoryolphiIosophy, probabIythegreatestphiIosophicaI
revoIutionolaII time.'NearIyaII the noveI conceptsandaccents ol
AIthusser's Manism, apart lrom those imported lrom contmporary
discipIines,were in lactdirectIydrawn lrom Spinoza. Jhe categoricaI
distinctionbetween'objectsolknowIedge' and'reaI objects'wastaken
suaight lrom Spinoza's lamous separaion olidea and ideatam.Jhe
hidden monism uniting the two poIes ol this duaIism was Iikewise
laithluIIy derived lrom Spinoza the AIthusserian generaI essence ol
production', common to both thought and reaIity was none other
than a transIation ol the Spinozan maxim arda et cannem idearam
reram idem est, ac arda et cannea reram ('Jhe order and con
nection ol ideas is the same as the order and connection ol
things'. AIthusser'sradicaIeIiminationolthephiIosophicaIprobIm
olthe guarantees ol knowIedge or tth, again loIIowed Spinoza's
dictum veritas narma sai` et[m the IogicaI consequence ol any
80
ReaJing Capital p. t . The implicit primacy accorded U Spinoza over
Marx did have a maor precedent, in this case, within the Second Inteational.
Plekhanov believed tht Marxism was essentially a variety oI Spinozism',
writig that The Spinozism oIMarx and Engels is materialism in its modern
Iorm' unJamental Froblemt oj marm London tyy, pp. II I . These
Iormulationshavebeen stronglyattacked byColletti,Iorwhom Pekhanovwas
one oIthosewhoregarded Marxasamereextension and application oISpinoza'
see rom Routteau to Ienn London L t y}, p. t. In the SSR in te
enties, Oeborin and his pupils Iollowed Plekhanov in regarding Spinoza as
Marx without a beard'. ne point to be noted is hat, while Marx was largely
unIamiliarwiththework oIantorOescartes,hehadreadSpinozaclosely in his
youth yet there is little sign that he was ever particularly inuenced by him.
nlyahandIul oIreIerencestoSpinoza, oIthemostbanalsort,canbeIoundin
Marx'swork.
" ReaJing apital p. q, is express on this point. lor Spinoza,1deaveraett
divertumquiatuoideato:am aliudettcirculut aliudiJeacirculi[Iemendatio
1nteectut).

"
Compare or mar p ty, ReaJ Catal g. t d tca II,
Proposition .
FarmmSm]s
rigorous monism SimiIarIy, the centraI concept ol 'structuraI
causaIity' olamodeolproducuoninReagCapitalasasecuIarized
version olSpinoza'sconception olGod as acaaimmane.Above
aII,AIthusser'spassionateattackontheideoIogicaIiIIusionsolimmed-
iateexperienceasopposedtothescienticknoIedgepropertotheory
aIone, and on aII noons olmen or cIasses as conscious subjects ol
history, instead olas invoIuntary'supports'olsociaI mIauons,asan
exactmproductionolSpinoa'sdenunciationolerperimuaqaasthe
source olaII error, and his mmorseIess insistence that the rcheypa
deIusion was men's beIiel that they ere in any way lree in their
voIition, hen in lact they ee peanentIy ovemed by Ias ol
which they ere unconscious 'Jheir idea ollreedomi ssimpIy their
ignorance ol any use lor their actions. Spinoza's impIacabIe
deteinismendediththeconcIusionthatevenintheIeastoppressive
society, the say oliIIusion couId never be shaken oh 'Jhose ho
beIieve that a peopIe, or men divided over pubIic business, can be
inducedtoIivebyreasonaIone,aredreamingolthepoet'sgoIdenage
ora lairytaIe. ' AIthusserasto adaptthisnaItenettoo evenin a
communistsociety, men ouId stiII beimmemed in thephantasmsol
ideoIogy as the necessary medium ol their spontaneous experience.
AII human societies secreteideoIogyas the very eIement and atmos-
phere indispensabIe to their historicaI respimton and Iile.' Jhe
systematicinductionolSpinozaintohistoricaImateriaIismbythusser
and his pupiIs as inteIIectuaIIy the most ambitious atempt to con-
structapriorphiIosophicaIdescent lorManandtodeveIopabmptI y
netheoreticaIdirectionslorcontemporaryManismlromit onIy

Reading Capital, gg. g~. `tuth H thc crtcron both tscl aod ol
laschood`: thicaII, rog. LIII,bchoum.
Reg Capital, gg. I 8y_. Ieut ett omnium rerum cauta imma non
ero trae [`Lods thcmmaocot oot baoscotuscola thogs`): thica,I
rog. III
Jm go ett eorum liertat dea quodtuarum actionumnuam cognotcant
autam: sccthica,II rog. , bchoum. hc lourthgartolthcthicas
olcoursc cottcd Ietervitute humana,teude actum viut `Ln thc saVcr
ol mao or thc goWcr ol thc cmotoos` a ccoua thcmc throughout thusscr`s
Workooccthc baoscrgtoool`cmotoos`nto`dcoo8madc. bccororx
gg. z]zj ReaJing Capital, g. I 8O.
" bgooza 7ractatut 7heologcFiticut I, y.

' orM,g. z]z.

[bocc thc Wrtog ol ths garagragh thusscr has lor thc mt tmc
acknowcd@cd 8 dcbt to bgooza. mmz Zuoctue Iyq gg.

one important respect, did AIthusser rn eIsehere lor signihcant

bearingsinthehistoryolphiIosophy. SpinozasreIativeindierenceto
histo Ied AIthusser to suppIement his ancestry ol Ma ith a
secondary Iine ol descent lrom Montesquieu, in a reIationship very
simiIar to thatolKant to Koussea i nCoIIettis geneaIogy. Montes
quieuspritdsIisascreditedbyAIthusseriththemomentos
discovery olthe concept ol a sociaI totaIity 'determined in the Iast
instance byonepreponderantIeveIithinit, Iaterto scientihII
loundedbyMain Capita/.
Jhese successive retums beyond Marx have been the most pro
nounced and inhuentiaI instances ithinWestern Marxism. Jhey do
notexhaust the Iist, hoever. GoIdann, ieII-knon, seIected
PascaIasthekeyprecursor oldiaIecticaI theory in TkeHidden Ga.
Lelebvre in his youth opted lor ScheIIing 8 a phiIosophicaI pro
genitor. n a deeper and more subterranean ay, Adorno and
Horheimer ere probabIy aIso inspired by ScheIIing, in their inuo
ductionolthe notion ola 'laIIennatureinoManism. Marcuse, lor
his part appeaIed to SchiIIers aestheucism lor his conception ol a
luturecommunistsociety. nsomecases, again,asingIephiIosopher
coIddra tributes lromseveraI diverse thinkers ithin the Westem
Marxist tradition. ietzsche, lor exampIe, anathema to Lukcs, as
paradoiI|y to be saIuted by Adorno and Sartre, Marcuse and
AIthusser. ut perhaps the most teIIing evidence ol an invisibIe
68j. However his account olit remains vague and generic characteristicaIIy
IacingtextuaIrelerencesandspeciccorrespondences.ItthuslaiIstoreveaIthereaI
etentand unityolthetranspositionol5pinoza'sworIdintohistheoreticaIwork.
FurtherphiIogociaI studywouIdhave littIe dicuIty in docentingthis.

Folitict andHittor London NL t y] pp.

t
z~
)
.
7be Hidden God London t y6q pp. 1q]-q z-z, ]oz. GoIdmann had
earIierseIected Kant as thecenaIprecursoroltheMaristnoonoltotaIitysee
1mmanuelAant London NL tyt.
" Ia ommeeIeRette, pp. qt ~zq. thisepisode,notolgreatimportance in
itseIllor Lelebvre's Iater work, is in other ways particuIarIy reveaIing lor the
widerpatteolthistradition.Lelebvrerecounts that heandPoIierkeenIyleIt
the Iack olanyappropriate ancesy, and soconsciousIysetouttotryandndB
suitabIe one lor them, eventuaIIy Iighting upon 5cheIIing.
Thereemergence olthis occuIt notion in the cuIture olthe German Lelt
remains aprobIem lor research. t probabIyrstterestedst och.
"" rot andiviliation pp. t 8J~y].
ompe Lk Der Zer rFer, n tq, QQ. z ~t;
FarmaSkjo
reguIarity aversing the entire heId olWestem Marxism, hoever
acute the intemaI contrasts and oppositions ithin it, is the case ol
Gramsci lorGramsciastheonemajor theoristintheWesthoas
not a phiIosopher, but a poIitician No preIy prolessiona| interest
couIdhaveimpeIIed him to seekapriorpedigrbehind Methe
too organized his most originaI ork centaIIy about a pmcursor
MachiaeIIi lorGramsci,the compeIIingancestorolthepre-Manist
pastasnessariIynotacIassi|phiIosopher, butapoIiuItheorist
Iike himseIl ut the extent and type olGramsci's borroings lrom
MachiaveIIiare|IyhomoIogousiththose olother thinkem ithin
Westem Manism etoo tookboth tes and themes directIy lrom
the anterior system ol the lIorentine into his o ork n the
Pran Aae&s, the revoIutionary party itseIl becomes a mode
vemion olthe 'Prince', lor hose unitarypoerMachiaveIIi caIIed
Kelormismisinterpreted asa 'corporauve' outIookakintothatolthe
taIian cities against hose divisie narroness MachiaveIIi had
inveighed TheprobIem ola 'historibIoc' beteenproIetariat and
peasantryisseenthroughthepregrationolhispIansloralIorentine
pouIar 'miIitia' The mehanisms ol bourgeois Ie are anaIysed
throughoutintheduaI gisesol'lorce' and 'lraud', theoshapesol
MachiaveIIi'sentaurThetypoIogyoltesystemsisderivedlrom
his triad ol 'teritory', 'authority' and 'consent'. lor Gramsi,
MachiaveIIi'sthought 'toocouIdbecaIIedphiIosophylpraxis'
Gramsci's nomencIature lor Manism, in prison Thus even the
greatest,andIeasttypicaIolitsrepmsentatives,consthegeerative
Ies olWestern Manism
The operative unity deIimiting the heId ol Western Manism as a
hoIe,ithitsoveraIIdispIacementol es,didnot,olcose,precIude
subjective divisions and sharp antagonisms ithin it. These, indeed,
conuibutedtomucholtheintema|vitaIityandvarietyolthisdition
(theonIyextendedtreatment,iththecommenD Adoo, LettetoaIter
enamin, Aew IeRevew, No. 8t , 5eptemberctober ty), p. )z 5are,
5atet,London ty6q,pp. yq-oMc,rosLwmmn pp. t ty-zq
AIthusser, Ien andozong p. t6t.
"" Gramsci on Aoteoos, ondon ty)tes. tj~q_ t qy~6 t
oAote& s, g.zq6.

onceitsexteaIboundariesere historicaIIyset tischaracteristiol

Western Marxism, hoever, that it never produced any accurate or
adeate tomphy olits on inteIIectaI Iandspe This abence
asa IogicaI consequenceolone olthe most strikingand padoxiI
leatures oltheneheoretiI cuItue thatdeveIopedalter 1QzO its
Imk a]intrrnatianaIism. This pattem, too, marked a radicaI departure
lrom thecanons olcIassicaI Mism. thasbeenseehoManand
ngeIs themseIves corresponded and disputed ithsociaIistsaII over
urope, and beyond it The successor theorists olme Second nter
nauonaI ere rooted in their natioaI poIitiI contexts much more
rmIythantheloundeolhistoriImateriaIismbut theytoo lormed
at the same time an integted arenaolinternationaI sociaIist debate.
nthenextgenerationalterMarxandngeIs,thereceponoltheork
olLaboIa provides perhaps the most eIoquet eampIe olthe con
tinentaIcommunitionolthetime.TherstMarxisttheoristtoemerge
in the poIicaIIy backard ad lorgotten zone olSouthem urope,
LabrioIa became knon ith extraordinar speed lrom aris to St
etersburg. His hrst majoressay, indeed, as commissioned by SoreI
lor Lr Orvrnir SacmI m rance in tQ[] ithin a year, Kautsky's
jouaIOirArarZritin Germanyhadregistered andeIcomed it i
1Qy Iekanov pubIished a Iong revie ol LabrioIas rtings in
AavarSIava inKussiaalemothsIater,Leninasurginghissister
totransatetheminto Kussian and in1Q a KussiantransIationduIy
appeared. Thenextgenerion olMarxists ilanythinglormedaneven
more intemationaIistcomunityolthinkersandmiIitants,hose
sionatetheoreticaIdebatesere inIargemeasureinlormedbythorough
and intimate study ol each others orks The controversy ver
LuxemburgsXccamaIatiana[CapitaIis an impressiveexampIe. tas
thisbackground, olcourse,hich made the discipIinedcreation olthe
Third nternationaI a cuImination ol, as eII as a ruure ith, the
previoushistoricaI experience olthe orking-cIass movement on the
continent
With the victory ol 'SociaIism in ne Country in the USS,
hoever, loIIoed by the progressive bureaucratization ol the
Comintern,and thenaI nationaIistperspectivesadoptedbyuropean
Communism during and alter the Second WorId War, the dominant
rameork olMarxist discussionunderenta undamentaIchange.t
Io-!Su]o
no increasingIy proceeded, not mereIy at a distance lrom poIiticaI
miIitancy, but aIso lrom any internationaI horion. TheorygraduaIIy
contrcted into nationaI comprtments,eaIed olrom each otherby
comparative indierence or ignorance. his deveIopment was aII the
stranger, in thatthe oveheIming maority olthenew theorists - as
we have sen- were academic speciaIistsat the highest IeveIs oltheir
respective university systems, in principIe ideaIIy eqipped with
capacitiesolbothIanguageandIeisurelorseriousstudyandknowIedge
ol inteIIectuaI systems outside their own nation. et in lact, the
phiIosophersolthistadion- compIexandreconditeasneverbelore
intheirownidiom-werevirtuaIIyithoutexceptionutterIyprovinciaI
and uninlormed about the theoreticaI cuItures ol neighbouring
countries.AstonishingIy,withintheentirecorpusolestManism,
there is not one singIe serious appraisaI or sustained critique olthe
ork olonemaortheoristbyanother, reveaIingcIosetextuaI knowI
edge or minimaI anaIytic care in its treatment. At most, there are
cursoryaspersionsorcasuaIcommendations, bothequaIIyiIIreadand
superciaI. TypicaI exampIes olthis mutuaI sIovenIiness are the lew
agueremarksdirectedbySartreatLukcsthescatteredandanachron-
istic asides ol Adorno on Sartre the viruIent invective ol CoIIetti
againstarcusetheamateurconlusionolAIthusserbeteen Gramsci
and CoIIetti the peremptorydismissaIby OeIIa oIpe olAIthusser.
AII these are mereIy incidentaI comments in works whose main
purposeIiesquiteeIsewhere.ThereisnocasewithinesternMarxism
ol luII theoreticaI engagement or conict olone thiner or schooI
with another - Iet aIone any overaII command ol the internationaI
range olthe tradition as such ven in the cases oa reIationship
betweenmentoranddiscipIe,thisistrueGoIdmann'saIIegiancetoe
workoltheearIyLukcs,lorexampIe,wasneveraccompaniedby the
sIightest criticaI interest orstudy olhisIaterwork. The resuItolthis
generaIied parochiaIism andbIankness towards etranationaI bodes
olthoughtwastoprevent anycoherentorIucidseIlawareness olthe
Iayout ol estem Marxsm a whoIe. The unlamiIiarity ol each
"" 5are, e Froblem oj metd pp zt, y)-y, z-q Adoo, egatie
Lialeic London ty)y,ppqyt CoIIetti,rom RoutteautoIenin pp. t z8qo
AIthusser, Readg Capital pp t yq-8 DeIa oIpe, Critia ll'eogia Con
mpoanea, Rome t y gg. zn, yqn, y)
_0
theoristiththenextkeptthereaIsystem olreIations anddistinctions
beteen them inopaqueobscurity.
Jhis is not to say thatthereere no attempts ataIIto dra up cIear
battIe-Iines ithin the heId olWestem Marxism. At Ieast to such
eremadeinthesixties,byAIthusserand CoIIet respectiveIy oth
ere based on an indiscriminate amaIgamaon olaII other systems
than their on into a singIe phiIosophic bIoc and a rejection olthis
ensembIe as descended lrom and vitiated by HegeI, together ith a
cIaim that their on ork aIone reconnected directIy ith Man.
theise,hoever,thetoaccountsolthedeveIopmentolManism
sincethegseremutuaIyincompatibIe,sinceAIthusser'scategories
pIicitIy incIuded CoIIetu in the HegeIian uadition he repudiated,
hiIe CoIIetti's Iogic assigned AIthusser to the HegeIian heritage he
denounced l these retrospective constructions, AIthusser's inter
pretaonasbroaderandmorecomprehensive lorhim,theorksol
Lukcs,orsch,Gramsci,Sartre, GoIdmannOeIIaVoIpeand CoIIetti
ere aII cIassiabIe as variants olhistoricism' an ideoIogy in hich
societybecomesacircuIarexpressive'totaIity,historyahomogeneous
ho olIinear time, phiIosophy a seIl-consciousness othe historiaI
procss, cIass struggIe a combat olcoIIective subjects', pitaIism a
universe essentiaIIy dehned by aIienation, communism astate oltrue
humanism beyond aIienation Most ol these theses AIthusser
argued ere derived lromHegeI, mediated through l euerbach and
the ritings ol the oung Marx the scientic theory ol historicaI
materiaIismas lounded ona radaI break ith them, accompIished
byMarxinCaitoI. o Ietti'sronstruction,bycontrastasnarroer
in locus, ileven Ionger in reach lor him, the earIy Lukcs, Adorno,
Marcuse, HorkheimerandSartreereunited byacommonattack on
science and deniaI ol materiaIism, inherent in the cIaim that con
tradiction is a principIe olreaIity rather than olmason hiIe the
diaIecticaI materiaIism to hich the Iater Lukcs and AIthusser sub
scribedasmereIyanaturaIisticversionolthesameconceaIedideaIism.
otherederivedlromHegeI'smetaphysicaIcritiqueoltheinteIIect,
hoseaimasthephiIosophicaI annihiIauonolmatter. Jhiscritique
6
bcc ReJng Captal QQ. t t yq].
" mmm c Hegel QQ. t 8t _8. musscts csQousa omc daccucs o
Formal Skqs _
had been fata||y misunderstood and adopted by nge|s in the Xmi-
DUrioy lounding a |ine ol descent that to be a comp|ete
departure from the rationa| and scientic materia|ism ofMan,
emp|ihed inthe |ogica|method olCaital.
Whatva|iditycan accorded to eitherofthese to presentations
tisc|earenoughthatboththeOe||aVo|peanandA|thusserianschoo|s
have been disnguished by certain common leatures hich set them
o lrom othe systems ithin Western Marxism. Jheir hosti|ity
towards Hege| deve|opedear|ier and more thorouh|y in the Oe||a
Vo|pean system demarcates them most obvious|y in a dion
otheise predominant|y dran toards Hege| Jogether ith this,
they shared an aggressive re-emphasis on the sientic chcter ol
Manism, on the pre-eminence olCaital ithin Man's or it|l,
andonthecardina|subsequentimportanceofenin'spo|itica|thought
Jhey both represented a vehement reaction against prior theoretica|
trends hich negated or ignored many ofthe c|aims olthe c|assica|
tradition. ut these characteristics do not suce to divide the ho|e
he|dofuropeanManismsince t1C into toantithetica|camps.Jhe
simp|e po|arites proposed by A|hsser or o||etti are much too
crudeandcava|ier,basedonlatoo|itt|ecompativestudy,toprovide
anyseriousguideto thecomp|ex conste||ationolphi|osophica| trends
ithin Western Marxism,inc|udingtheiron. tou|d noteven be
accuratetospeaofamoresubt|eorcontinuousspectum,ratherthan
a star po|arity, ofsystems or the attitudes olindiidua| theorists
have olten coincided orover|apped indisconcertingays, lrom very
diverse starting-points, prec|uding their a|ignment a|on any sing|e
band olphi|osophica| |ocationJhe ireconci|abi|ityolteyo|ogies
oered by o||etti and A|thusser is itse|lan indication olthe |ogica|
aporia ol both Jhus the theme ofa|ienation as branded as arch
Hege|ian byA|thusser, and its reectionregarded8 a preconditionof
scientihc materia|ism yet o||etti, hose attac on ege| as more
radica| and more documented than that olAthusser, retained the
conceptola|ienationascentra| totheorolthematureMan,andto
historica| matera|sm as a scence. nverse|y, o||et concentrated
nature W te one vaIuabIe eIement to be saIaged lrom HegeI once it is e
baped process without sub|ect' situates him sareI withn te ed
ColIet'scritiuese dJmzopg gg. t t y-tg.
hismostintenseeonthediaIecticsolmatterinHegeI,asthereIigious
touchstone olhis ideaIism, and mos baneluI Iegacy to IatersociaIist
thoughtyetAIthusseracaIIysngIed outthesameaspec olHegeI's
orkastheoneviabIekerneI olsienticinsightinherit lrom itby
Manism.
Moreover,thecrisscrossingolIinesextendseIIbeyondtheseto
protagonists.MucholAIthusser'ssystemasconstructedagainstthat
olartre, IocaIIy dominant in rance at the olthesixties hiIe
ostolCoIIet'spoIemicasdirected against thenklurt chooI
temporariIy dominant in taIy in the Iate sities. Neither appe to
avehadanycIoseacquaintanceiththemainadersaolthe other
ith the resuIt that each as unaae olcertain diagonaI simiIaes
ith them. CoIIetti's groing preoccupauon ith the duaIty ol
Mism as science or revoIution', theory both oltheobjective Ias
ol capitaIism and ol he subjective capacity ol the proIetariat to
overthro the mode olproduction olhich it is itseIla stcturaI
part, as in lact very cIose to the basic methodoIogicaI starting
point olae's enquiry. Jhe invoIuntary correspondences beteen
AIthusser and Adomo apparentIy the remotest possibIe pair ol
theorists asmorestrikingstiII.heranklurtchooIaslromthe
outt olits loation more saturated ith HegeIian inhuence than
anyotherinurope.Adomo'sMarxismrepresented,bythesixties,an
extreme version ol its renunciatio ol any discourse on cIasses or
poIics preciseIy the objects given loaI primacy by AIthusser's
Manism etAdomo'sArgativr Oiarctic, rstdeveIoped in Iectures
in Paris in tg6t and compIet in t g66, reproduces a hoIe series ol
motils to be lound i n AIthusser's Far mmr and Rrading CapitaI,
pubIished in t g6 not to speak ol others in CoIIetti's HrgrI ad
mamm pubIished in t g6g. Jhus, among other themes, Adomo
expIicitIyaedtheabsoIuteepistemoIogicaI primacy olthe object
theabsenceolanygeneraIsubjectinhistorythevacuityoltheconcept
ol the negation ol the negation'. He attacked phiIosophicaI con
cenuation on aIienation and recation as a lashionabIe ideoIogy,
suscepbIe to reIigious usage the cuIt olthe orks olthe oung
ManattheexpenseolCapita,anthropocentricconceptionsolhistory,
0
b or mgQ rom mzem to 1nm_ gg. zz.
Farmal Skgts Qg
andtheemoIIientrhetoricolhumanismaccompanyingthem mythsol
Iabor as the soIe source olsociaI eaIth, in abstraction lrom the
materiaI nature that is an irreducibIe component olit. Adorno was
even to echoexactIyAIthussersprecepts tha theoryisaspecic type
olpractice theoreticaI practice),andthanotionolpracticemust
itseIl be dehned by theory. 'Jh q {

ractice wrte
Adomo, andpracticeitseIlisannereucaconcept. e
dehant theoreucism ofthese pronouncemets ehectiveIy suppressing
the hoIe materiaI probIem ofthe unity oltheory and practice as a
dynamic bond beteen Marxism and mass revoIutionary stggIe, by
procIaiming their Iexica identity at the outset, C be taken as a
generaI motto olWestem Masm in the epoch alter the Second
WorIdWar TheyindicatetheunderIyinggroundshaedbythemost
isparate nteIIectuaI positionsithinit.
or olcourse, the theoreticaI systems olAIthusser and Adorno
ereotheisenotoriousIy dissimiIar in probIematicand orientation.
Jhecuriousintersection olcertainsignihcantthemesintheiroeuvresis
mereIyevidencethatavaguebinarycontrastbetweenHegeIianandanti
egeIian schooIsiswhoIIyinadeqatetodehne theexactIocations ol
the diherent schooIswithi Western Marxism, orthe interreIations
beteen them. Jhe very muItipIicity olthe phiIosophicaI hIiations
discussed above incIuding not onIy HegeI, but ant, ScheIIing,
Spinoa, ierkegaard, ascaI, SchiIIer, Kousseau, Montesquie and
others precIudes any such poIar aIignment. Jhe coIIateraI Iinks ol
each theorist with variantsectors olcontemporary bourgeois c|ture
lurther comp|icate the probIem ol the anities and antagosms
betweenthem.Theseintumereconditionandregateddvese
nationaIpoIiticaIsituations.notherords, it isperlectIyevident that
each individuaI system in this tradition has received the impress ol
a pIaraIig ol determinations deriving lrom diherent horions and
IeveIs olthe sociaI and ideoIogicaI structures olits own time and the
past,producingaideheterogeneityoltheories insidetheparameters

4
5ee Aegative Iiaectic, pp. t 8 q t 86o t y 6} 8y, t }}-8 It
shouIdbenoted thatdoo'sinsistenceontheprimacyoltheobect i sat Ieast
W strenuousas oIIet'srendering the Iatter's generic attacks on the rankurt
5chooI in this respect IargeIyoose.

" 5tichworte, Frt t y68 g. )tAegativeIict, p. tqq

4
o thc b88C h8totCl Con junCtutc dclmtn_ thc U8dton 88 8uCh.
hctc8 no 8g8Cchctc to mglotc thctc8l d8ttbuon otcl8on8hg8
Wthnth8 hcld n 8ll t8 ComglcXt. ot gtc8cnt gutgo8 t 8 motc
mgott8nt to Con8dct thc 88lcnt ot_n8lt oc8Cb 88tcm V8--V8
thc Cl888C8l lc_8C oh8totCl m8tc8l8m o thc gtcCcdn_ cgoCh.
tot n 8n b88nCc-8hcct o thc tcCotd o Nc8tcH m8tX8m thc
dcVclogmcnt o ncW ConCcgt8 ot cmct_cnCc o ncW thcmc8 gtoVdc8
thc mo8t CttC8l _8u_c oM n8tc 8nd goWct 88 8 udon.
+
bcmat O nnOVat Ons
omegeneraIlacetscanbediscemedatonce. Westemanism,ase
have seen, as progressiveIyinhibited lrom theoreticaI conlrontation
olmjor economic or poIiticaI probIems, lrom the tgz0 onards.
Gramsci as the It olits thinkers to broach centraI issues olcIass
stmggIe directIy in his ritings. He too, hoever, rote nothing
about the capitaIist economy itseIl, inthe cIassicaI sense olanaIysing
theIas olmotion olthemodeolproductionas such. Alter hi,an
equivaIent siIence typicaIIy shrouded thepoIiticaI order olbourgeois
ruIe, and the means oloverthroing it, as eII. Jhe resuItas that
WesternManismasahoIe,henitproceededbeyondquestions ol
method tomatters olsubstance,cameto concentrateoveheImingIy
on study ol 3U8f3lfUlUf83. Moreoer, the specic uperstructuraI
ordersithhichitsoethemostconstantand cIoseconcernere
thoseranking'highest' in the hierarchy oldistancelromthe economic
inlrastmcture, in ngeIs'sphrase.notherords, itas nottheState
" Gramsci's siIence on economic probIems was compIete. et, ironicIIy and
mysteriousIy,oneolhiscIosestandmostIileIonglriendswasPiero5raa - who
mediated his correspondencewiththe PIoutsideItaIyduringthe naIyearsol
his impriomen, andwas pobaIy he Iast man to taI over inteationaI
poIcs with Gramsci, a lew months belore his deathin ty]. Thereisa certain
symboIism in this strange reIationship between the greatest Marxist poIiticaI
inker in the West and the most originaI economic theorist olthe postwar
epoch,withitscombinationolpersonaIintimacyandinteIIecuaIseparation.here
appears to have been no remote connection between the universes l thir
respective works. 5raas eventuaI critique olneocIassicaIeconomicswas to be
moeigorousand damagingthananythingachieved withintheeIdolMarxism
itseIl. etthissignalachevementwas accompIished by a re, beyond Ma,
toRicardo, andthesystemwhchemeredlromit arIlessinleentl
elalein .
or a hich provided the typicaI objects ol i reeach t as
cuIture that heId the centraI locus olits attention.
AboveaII,ithinthereaImolcuItureitsel, itasZrtthatengaged
the major inteIIectuaI energies and gilts ol Western Manism. Jhe
patteminthisrespectisaestingukcsdevotedteIargestpartolhis
Iile toorkonIiterature,producingaserriedIeolcriticaIstudieson
the GermananduropeannoveI lromGoetheandcotttoMannand
oIzhenitsyn, cuIminatinginamassivegeneraIZrsthrtics ~ his Iongest
and most ambitious pubishedork. Adorno rote a dozen boos
onmusic,incIudingbothgIobaIanaIysesolthemusicaItransloations
olthe tentieth century and interpretations olindividuaI composers
suchasWagnerorMahIer,besidemvoIumesolessaysonI iterature
e too comIeted his oeuve wth an oemII Zrsrkruc 7kro_.
enjamin's most signicant theoretiIegacywithn Manismwas a
essay onZrt tkrZgr a]its mrckicalRrpradactian, and his major
crca achievement n the thirties was a study ol audeIare. s
accompanyingconcernastheorkolrect. GoIdmann'sprncipaI
work as an anaIysis olKacine and ansenism 7r Hiddrn Gad,
whichatthesametime set outageneraIcanonolIiteary criticism lor
" Zrti erIinNeuied t q6y. The most important wors ol Marxist
Iiterarciticism so l transIated into EngIish are 5tuJiet in uropean Reaum
(t qo) 7be Htoral Aovel (t q6z) 7be meaning o] Contemorarj Realitm
(t q6y)ttajt on 7bomat mann (t q6q) Goebe anJHuZe(t q6))5obenitjn
(t q)o) aII but the rst have been pubIshed by MerIin Press which has aIso
transIatedthe preMarxist 7beoro]tbeAvel(tq)t).
Zetrbetcbe 7beorie Franklurt tq)o. l the maor musicaI studes onIy
Fbotopb o] moe muti (ondon rq)y) has so lar been transIated into
EngIish The three voIumes olAoren uIierarurwerepubIished in Germany
(erIinandFrankrtam Main) t q 8~t .
" ee 1umatio pp it q- and Cbarlet BaJelaire: Z Ic Foet tbe
ra o]Higb Capitalm London NL t q)y
" enaminwasolcourseacIoseinterIocutorolrechtinexierecht'sown
aestheticthought whiIobviousIyolgreatinuinsicimportanceinthehistoryol
European Marxism in his timewasaIwayssubodinate tohis authoriaI pactice
as a dramatistand therelore laIIs somewhat outside thescope olthis essay or
rechtsduaIreIaonship to enaminandLukcsseenJerttanJingBrecbtpp.
t o~it andtheessaysansIat inAewIqRevwNo8{MarchApriI rq){
(Against Georg ukcs. Adoo'scricismsolenamin and recht lortheir
partmaybeloundinhetextstnsIatedinAewIqRevw No8t 5eptember
ctober t q)j (Lette to WaIter enjamin') and Aew Ie] Review No 8)j8
5eptember-December t q){ (omment')ThesecompIex exchangeslormone
olthemostcenaIdebates in hecuIdeeIomenolWtern Mxism
7kematic !oooratioos QQ
historicaI materiaIism hisothriingsexpIored the modern theatre
and noveI (MaImux). Lelebvre in turn rote a CaotriIetiao M
Xestketics. OeIIa oIpe lor his part produced another luII-scaIe
aeshetictheory Cntiee a]7aste, besidesessays onhImsand poetry.
Marcuserotenoseparateorkonanyspecicartistbutsystematic
aIIykeyedaestheticsasthecentraIcategoryolalree societyinhich
artasloolreaIityouIdhnaIIyshapetheobjectivecontoursolthe
sociaIorIdieIl- athemecommontobohras aod Ciwl:gatiao and
Xo ssa ao IiIeratiao. SartreshrstencounterithMarxismcoincided
m his pubIicaon ol hkat Iiteratere?, during the transition
toardshisoorkithinManisttheoryhismajoroutputas on
GenethiIeaIsoritingonMaIIaandJintoretto andhenhe
hadnaIIycompIetedhispassagetoManismhespentthenetdecade
on amonumentaIsdyollIaubert conceived onascaIeIargerthan
me sum olaII his eIier phiIosophiI orks combined. Gmms
mprents 8 usuaI areIated but distinct caseithin thisgaIIe. e
rote at considerabIe Iength on taIian Iiterature in the Prisao Nate-
baaks, but me primary object olhis theoreticaIenquiryas not the
reaIm olartbutthetotaIstructureandlunctionolcuIturelorsystems
olpoIitiIpoerinuropelrom theKenaissanceonards.Jhushis
most prolound and originaI investigationsere institutionaI anaIyses

Jour une zook@e du romon Paris t q.

" Lontr0uton d lezthtgw Pars tj].
Lntco de uzto MiIan t j l ero:mue umxo Rome t yq.
" is most epIicit statement can be ound in his essay Art a Form ol
ReaIity', in ew 1e_ ev No. yq uIyAugust tyz.
4
0
ThestudiesolMaIIarmand Tintoretto,olwhichonIylgenthavebeen
pubIished, were in lact uIIIength books see M. ontat and M. RybaIka, /z
otz ortre Pas t yO pp zz ]t qt .
JJ
1
'ot de o _omdq oIs I, Pas tyt-z. There is a strange Iikeness
beteen 5arue's work on FIaubert, and enain's on audeIaire, lo aII the
conuast ben the gigansm olthe one and the miniaturism olthe othe.
enjamin's study was to be divided into three parts audeIaire himseIl
aIIegoris the sociaI worId olParis in which hewrote and the commodity as a
poec object synthesiing the meaning oboth poet and cpitaI. 5artre's study
was aIso designed in a tripartite scheme thesubective lormation olFIaubert's
personaIity the 5econd mpireastheobectiveeId olhis receptionasan artist
d Wmome Zovorg asthesinguIarhistoricaI unity olthe two
J
ThevoIume1etmroturo e to ojmno H theIongestintheinaudiedion
olthePrison NotebsbuttincIudesmsci'seIytheaueciso
mgt8onmcnt.
ol the historicaI loation and division ol inteIIectuaIs, the sociaI
nature oleducation, and the roIe olmediate ideoIogies in cemenung
bIocsbetweencIassesGramsci'swhoIeworkwasunremittingIycentred
on superstructuraI objects, but unIike any other theorist in Westem
Manismhe tooktheautonomyandecy olcuIturaIsuperstctures
asapIiticaIprobIem,tobeexpIicitIytheorized8 such initsreIation
shiptothemaintenanceorsubversionolthesociaIorder.AIthussertoo,
hnaIIy, Ielt the shores ol method lor substantive anaIysis onIy to
exp|ore excIusiveIy superstcturaI questions his Iengthiest essay ol
this type was on ideoIogy and edcation, its startingpoint overtIy
derived lrom Gramsci shorter texts discussed theatre or painting
rechtorremonini,andthenatureolarthiIetheonIydeveIope
appIicationolhisideasoutsidetheeIdolphiIosophypropertoappear
under the imprint ol his personaI authority has been a theory ol
Iiterature. Jhe cuIturaI and ideoIogicaI locus olWestem Manism
hasthusremaineduniloIypredominantlromhrsttoIast.Aesthetics,
since the nIightenment the cIosest bridge of phiIosophy to the
concreteorId,hasexercisedanespeciaI andconstantatactionlorits
theorists" Jhe great weaIth an variey olthe corpus o writing
prduced in this domain, lar richerand subtIer than anythingwithin
thecIassicaIheritageolhistoricaImateriaIism,mayintheendproveto
bethemostpemanentcoI|ectivegainolthis tradition.
At the same time, however, the maor inteIIectuaI systems within
Westem Manism have typicaIy aIso generated specicaIIy new
theoreticaI themes, ol wider import to historicaI materia|ism as a
hoIe Jhe mark olthese concptions is their radicaI noveIty to the
cIassicaIIegacyolarxism Jheycanbedehned bytheabence olany
indicationoranticipationoltheminthewrtingsoleithertheoungor
theoIdMarx,ortheworkolhisheisintheSecondntemationaIJhe
5ee 'deoIogy and deoIogicaI 5tate Apparatuses, remonini, Painter ol
theAstract, ' AetteronArt',ineninanJFhilotoj anJOtherttajt 'The
PiccoIo Teatro ertoazzi and recht', in or ar and Pierre Macerey,
Four une torie Je la roJuction littraire in Athussers horie series, Paris
y66
"" t is signicant that the onIy work olrea quaIity ranging wideIy over
Wese Marxismas a whoIe, shouId be an aestheti study rederiamesons
arm anJorm.
Tkematic Iooavatiam
pertinent criterio here is not the vaIidity olthese innovations, or
their compatibiIit ith the basic principIes ol Marxism i t is their
originaIityAcritcaeaIuationolthemeriolachisnotthetask ol
theseconsideratios,hoseIimitsitouIdexceed. lorthemoment, it
iIbeenoughtoisoIatethemostsignicantconceptuaIdepartureslrom
recedentinthedeveIopmentolWesteMarxism.Anysuch attempt
stieitabIybtosomeextentarbitraryiniseIectionparticuIarIy
ithin the narro scope ol this essay, there can be no question ol
providing any exaustie suey ut certain distinctive themes
stand out unmistakabIy in the theoretica array nder discussion
Jheycanbetakenasaminimum countolthesai yeoeris contributions
othe traditionin question.
n this respect, hrst and loremost comes Gramsci's notion ol
keyemq. Jhe term itseIl as derived lrom the ussian socia|ist
moement, here PIekhano and AxeIrod had been the rst to
empIoy it, in strategic disussions ol the luture Ieadeship by the
orking cIass ola revoIution in ussia. Gramsci's adoption olthe
te in ehect transloed it into something Iike new ccpt aIo
getherinManistdiscourse, designedpreciseIytotheoriethepoIi ticaI
structures ol capitaIist poer that did not exist in Jsrs ssia
ecaIIingMachiaveIIi'sanaIysesollorceandlraudandtaciIinverting
them, Gramsci lormuIated the concept olhegemony to designate the
decisiveIy greater strength and copIexity olbourgeois cIass ruIe in
Western urope, hich had prevented any repetition othe tober
evoIution in the advanced capitaIist ones ol the continent s
hegemonic system lpoeras dened bythe degree olconsent it
obtainedlromthepopuIarmaseshichitdominated,andaconsequent
reductionin thescaIeolcoercionneededtorepress them tsmechan
isms olcontroI lorsecringthisconsentIayin aramiednetorkol
" It wiII be seen that the maor systems which yiIded no radia||y new
departues lo thecanonolearIer Marxist theory arethose lounded by eI|
oIpeand Lucsnbothcases, thiswasreIated tocIoser textuaI deIitytote
wtngsoMaxhimseIllorbetterorworse) eveIopmentoltemes sch as
hoseoaIienation orreication in theyoungLukcs do notqua|iyas genuine
innovtions, however widespread they became in much Iater estern Maism,
sincetheypervadetheoungMarx.
"" ThevoIutionandsignicanceoeconceptolhegemonywi|Ibediscussed
at lethesehere n alocominay on msci AeweReview.

cutraI institutons- schooIs, churches, nespape parties, associa

tions incuIcating passive subordination in the expoited cIasses, via
anensembIeolideoIogiesovenlromthehistoricaIpatandtransmitted
byinteIectuaIgroupsaIiarytothedominantcIass.uchinteIIecuaIs,
inturn,couIdbeeitherannexedbythemIingcIasslromearIiermodes
olproduction('uaditionaI', orgenemted ithin itsonsociaImnks
('orgac'asanecategory.ourgeoismIeaslurherbuttressedby
thea||eiaceolsecondaryaIIiedcIasses,eIded into acompactsociaI
bIocunderitspoIitiIIeadership.JheexibIeandynamichegemony
exercised by capitaI over Iabour in e West rough this stmtihd
consensuaI stcture, represented a lar harder barrer lor the sociaIist
moementtoovercomethanithadencunteredinKussia. conomic
crises,oltheehichearierMarxisthadseenasthecentraIIeverol
revoIutionndercapitaIism,couId becontainedandithstoodbythis
poIiticaI order.tpeitted nolrontaI attack bytheproIetariatonthe
KussianmodeI.AIonganddicuIt'olposion'ouIdbenecessary
tocontendith it. With thissetolconceptios GramsciaIoneamong
i tsthinkersdirectIysoughttondatheoreticaIexpIanationolthebasic
histocaimpassethatstheoriginandmatrxolWestemMaism
itseIl.
Gmmsci'stheoryolhegemonypossessed anotherpecuIiarityithin
thistradition,too.tasbased,notonIyonpersonaIparticipation in
contemporary poIiticaI conicts, but aIso on an extremeIy cIose,
comparativeenquiryintotheuropeanpast. noterords,itasthe
productolscienticstudyolempiricaI materiaI, inthecIassicsensei n
hich this as practised by the lounders olhistoricaI materiaism.
Jhisas not to be true olany other major thematic innovation in
WesteMarsm.Itheothersere tobespecuIativeconstructions,
in an oIder phiIosophicaI sense priari conceptuaI schemes lor the
uderstanding olhistory, not necessIy inconsistent ith empiricaI
evdence, but aIays undemonstrated byi tin theirmodeolpresenta
tion haracteristcaIIy, these conceptions have Iacked any concrete
gid ol periodizatin, articuIating tem to straightorard histoio
gaiI categories olthe sortthatGmmsci careuIIy respected. he
mostseeping and unexpected theory olthis type as thevision ol
I?
Amongtheeypassages n s setng outthese ideas seei nngIsh
ansItio non oreNok< gg. zzg-g | z-8 -tq.
Jhcmorr Jnnovorons 8
thc rcatOnshQ bctccn mm md norurc dcvcOQcd by thc rnkturt
bchOO. ts Orgns gO back tO thc QhOsOQhy Otccng, hO n
md-carccrhadadOQtcdacOuntcr-cvOutOnstmctaQhysc,nhcha
rccOrdcd hstOry as sccn as a rcgrcssOn trOm a hghcr tO a Ocr
statc Ot`tacn naturc, attcr an Orgna `cOntratOn Otdvnty trOm
thcOrd, and QrOr tO an cvcntua `rcsurrcctOn Otnaturc th thc
rcuncatOn Otdctyand unvcrsc. hs rcgO-mystc dOctrnc as
adaQtcd and transtOcd by dOO and MOrkhcmcr ntO a sccuar
'dacctc Otcnghtcnmcnt. hccasscaMastvcOtthcmarch Ot
hstOry, trOmQrmtvccOmmuntcstOcaQtasm, had cmQhaszcd thc
ncrcasng cOntrO Ot man Ovcr naturc th thc dcvcOQmcnt Ot thc
tOrcs OtQrOductOn as a QrOgrcssvc cmancQatOn Othuman sOccty
trOm thc tyranny Otnatura ncccssty [Worumorwcnd_kcr) thc tts
Ot ths bcratOn crc cOnhscatcd by succcssvc cQOtng casscs
thrOugh thc sOca dvsOn Ot labOur, but th thc advcnt Ot cOm
munsm Oud bc rcaQQrOQratcd by thc QrOduccrs thcmscvcs tO
crcatc at ast a sOccty Otgcncracd abundan, hOsc hna mastcry
Otnaturc Oud bc thc tOkcn Otthc 'rcam OttrdOm. dOrnO and
MOrkhcmcr cOnvcrtcd ths aatvc cOnccQtOn ntO a radcay
ntcrrOgatvc, Orcvcn ncgatvc Onc. Orthcm, thc Orgna Qturc Ot
manthnaturc,andthcsubscucntQrOccssOthsgrOnasccndancy
Ovcr t, brOught nO ncccssary QrOgrcss n human cmancQatn. Or
thc Qrcc Ot dOmnatOn Ovcr naturc, Ot hch man hmsct as
nscQaraby a Qart, as a sOca and Qsychc dvsOn Ot abOur that
nctcdcvcrgrcatcrOQQrcssOnOnmcn,cvcnastcrcatcdcvcrgrcatcr
QOtcnta tOr thcr bcratOn. bubOrdnatOn Otnaturc QrOcccdcd ]orr
_oszu th cOnsOdatOn Ot casscs and hcncc subOrdnatOn Ot thc
majOrt O mcn tO a sOca Ordcr mQOscd as an mQacabc sccOnd
naturcabOcthcm.hcadvanccOttcchnOOgyhthcrtO OnyQcrtcctcd
thc machncryOttyranny.
" cheIIingDoesnoteverythingannounceasunenIi|eidtesemounains
growas theynoware Did the ground thatsupportsusriseto its present IeveI,
orlaIIbac to it h not those debris olprimevaI human magn|cence lor
which thecuriousuaveIIer visits thewastesolersia orthe deserts o|ndia,are
hetrueruins ThewhoIeearthisanenormousruin,whoseanimaIsdweIIi nit as
ghosts, and men as spirits, and where many hidden lorces and treasures arehed
last as ilbunseenpowers ormagicspeIIs'. , IErg. 8d., unich
l
gzy

l
J
|

At the same time, the structure ol reason as the precondition ol

civiIization as erected on the repression ol nature in man himseI
creatingthepsychoIogicaIspIitbeteenegoandidhichmadepossibIe
the rationaI controI ol his spontaneous impu|ses. The instrumentaI
renementolreasonintoIogicandsciencesteadiIyreducedthenatumI
orId outsidemantomerequantiedobjectsolmanipuIation,erasing
thedistinctionbeeensubsistentthingsand cognitiveconceptstoan
operationaI identity. The retum olthe repressed that as the lataI
consequence olthis suppression olnature eventuaIIy achieved phiIo-
sophicaI lorm in the nIightenment, hen Nature itseIl became
inverseIy identied ith Keason and naIIy its poIiticaI lorm in
lascism, hen brute barbarism tooits revenge on the civiIization
that had secretIy preseed i t, in a savage vengeance ol degraded
nature over reason. The renement ol industriaI technoIogy too
as to cuIminate in thepossibiIityolpIanetary seIl-destruction aII its
artelactsere subjectto annihiIation byexpIosion orpoIIutionolthe
eIements. A Iiberated society ouId thus ease to pursue any pre
sumptuousquestitshistoricaIgoaIouIdbe,notdominationolnature,
but recooci!iatioo ith it. This ou|d mean abandonment olthe crueI
and hopeIess attempt to dictate anidentity olman and nature, by the
subjugation ol the Iatter to the lormer, lor an acknoIedgement ol
both the distinction and re|ation beteen them - in other ords,
their vuInerab|e a_oi. The 'laII' olnature ouId then at Iast be
redeemed, ihout and ithin men but their nonidentityouId stiII
prec|udeanyharmony lree olcontradiction beteen them.
his basic thematic as common to the lranklurt SchooI as a
hoIe Marcuse, hoever, gave a speciaI inection to it. n his ork,
bothnatureandsocietyacquiredmorepreciseandprogrammaticreler
ences. lor Marcuse, direct|ylo||oinglreud, the instinctuaI nature in
manasessentiaIIysexuaIIibido- ros. verand above the originaI
reressionnecessary lorprimitiveman tstrug|eagainstantand to
achievecivi|iation,postu|ated bylreud,thestructureolc|asssociety
generaed successie historicaI lorms ol 'surpIus repression' derived
lrominequaIityanddomination.ThetechnoIogicaIea|tholadvanced
"" Adooand Horkheimer, occrc og1m_hrcnmcnt London I)] esp. pp.
b I~I I I 6b-2Cb.
V
{nmo {oroo p. t y~), cgotve occtc pp. t t-z, z)o.
TkematcJmati 8g
capitaIism,however,nowmadepossibIetheend surpIusrepression,
by the inauguration ol a sociaIism ol abundance. Jherewith the
pIeasure principIe (coupIed with its obverse principIe olavoidance ol
pain,caIIed Jhanatos byreud couId at Iastconcordwith the reaIi ty
prinipIeoltheextemaIworId,oncetheconstraintsolaIienatedIabour
wereaboIished.HumanandnaturaIemancipationwouIdthencoincide
in erotic Iiberauon. Jhis wouId mean not mereIy a poIymorphous
reIeaseolsuaIity, buta diusion olIibidinaI investment intowork
and sociaI reIations themseIves thatwouId conler oneverypractice
olapahed existence the sensuous guaIities olaestheticpIay. n this
OhicworIdbeyondthe'perlomance principIe' olcapitaIism, sub-
imadonwouId cease to berepressive erotic gratihcationwouId ow
lreeIythroughaIIsociaIIile man and naturewouIdbehnaIIyattuned
ina harmonious unityolsubjectandobject.JhisamrmationsharpIy
disdnished Marcuse lromAdomo, whose work contained no such
sensuous soIution. However, lorMarcusetheactuaI course olhistory
negateditspossibIeoutcomecontemporarycapitaIismreaIizedthevery
inverseolatrueIibidinaIemancipation -the'repressivede-subIimation'
olacommerciaIizedandpseudo-permissivesexuaIity, dmingupand
deadening any rebeIIon olerotic impuIses ata deeperIeveI A com
parabIe late had belaIIen art - once criticaI, now incorporated and
nutraIized in acuIture ceIebrated byestabIished reaIity. JechnoIoy,
in mm, had ceased to ontain the hidden possibiIity olan aItnative
society theveryadvance olmodemlorces olpductionhad become
an invoIution, perpetuaung existing Iations ol production. Jhe
abundanceithadcreatenowmereIypermittedcapitaIismtointegrate
the proIetariat into a monoIithic sociaI order ol oppression and
conlomity, inwhichithadIostaIIconsciousnessoli tseIlasaseparate
and expIoited cIass. emocracy was thus now the normaI guise ol
domination, toIerce a suave agency ol manipuIation within a
homogeneoussysteminwhichthemasses - deprivedolanydmension
olnegaveconsciousness mechaniIIyeIected their ownmasters to
mIethem.
Jhe cenuaI use olreud to deveIop a new theoreticaI perspective
r
t
r Ltvwoton, pp
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-
ithinMarxism, evidentinMarcuse'sork,asparadoxicaIIyaIso to
characterie AIthusser's. The seIection ol concepts lrom psycho
anaIysis, and their translormation, ere hoever in this case very
derent. Where Marcuse adapted lreud's metapsychoIogy to lor
muIateane theory olinstincts,AIthussertookoverlreud'sconcept
olthe unconscious to constructane theory olideoag. AIthusser's
radicaI breakiththe traditionaI conceptions olhistoricaI materiaIism
IayinhisstarkcIaimthat'ideoIogyhasnohistory',becauseitis- Iike
the unconscious - immutabIe' in its suucture and operationithin
humansocieties. Theauthoritylorthisdictumas, byanaIogy, the
orkollreud, lorhom theunconsciousas'eternaI'.deoIogy, lor
AIthusser, as aset olmthiI or IIusory representations olreaIity,
expressingtheimaginaryreIationshipolmentotheirreaIconditionsol
exstence, and inherent in their immediate experience 8 such, it as
an unconscious system ol determinations, rather than a lorm ol
consciousnessasordinariIyconceived. Thepermanence olideoIogyas
a Iived medium oldeIusionas,intu, anecessaryconsequenceolits
sociaI lunction, hich as to lod men together into society, by
adapting them to the obective positions aIIocated them by the
dominnt mode olproduction. deoIogy as thus the indispensabIe
cement olsociaI cohesion, in every period olhistory. lorAIthusser,
the reason hyitas inescapabIe as an ensembIe ollaIsebeIiels and
representationsasthat aII sociaI strctureserebydehnitionopaque
to theindiiduaIs occupying posts ihin them. ndeed, the lormaI
structureoaIIideoIogyasaninvariantinversionolthisreaIreIation
ship beteen sociaI ormations and the individuaIs ithin them lor
Z4
1entn md hto1o]h_ pp t
|
I~2.
8
See |n part|cuIar, 'Thor|e, rat|que Thor|que et ormat|on Thor|que.
deoIog|eetuttedeoIog|que' atexth|therto pubI|shed |nbooklorm onIy |n
Span|sh transIat|on 1o uo1ojo como wrmo de o 1evouctn rdoba I 6b
pp. 2I -y]. ts theses are unequ|vocaI 'na soc|ety w|thout cIasses, just as | n a
cass soc|ety, |deoIogy hasthe luncuonolsecur|ngthe tond beween men in the
ensemb|e oe lorms ol the|re|stence, the reIauon ol|nd|v|duaIs to the|r tasks
xed bythe soc|aI structure & thedelormat|on olideoIogy |ssoc|aIIy necessary
asalunct|onotheverynatureolthesoc|aIwhoIemorespec|caIIy,asalunct|on
o|tsdterm|nt|onby| tsstructurewh|chrendersth|ssoc|aIwhoIeopaquetothe
ind|v|daIs ho occupy a pIace |n |t determ|ned by th|s structure. The repre
senta|on otheworId necessarytosoc|aIcohes|on|snecessar|Iymyth|caI,ow|ng
tothe opac|tyolhesoc|aI sucture. pp.
|

||

7kematic !ooovatioos 8
thekeymechanismolanyideoIogywasaIwaystoconstituteindividuaIs
imaginary'subjects' centres ollree initiative o[society, soasto
sure eir reaI subjection the sociaI order, as bIind supports or
victims olit. heIigion in generaI me 'binding' olman to God, and
LhristianityinparticuIar,providedinthisrp

ctthearchetypaImodeI
oltheeectsolaIIideoIogy toinstiImeiIIusionsolIibertythebetter
toensuretheworkings olnecessity. SpinozahadlumishedacompIete
accountolthischacteristicoperationolideoIogy,andpreciseIywith
respect to reIigion,earIierand more thoroughIy than Man. ut the
uconsciousnature olideoIogycouId todaybereIatedandarticuIated
toreud'sscientihcconceptolthepsychicunconscious,itIlinitiated'
by the loms ol ideoIogy pecuIiar to the lamiIy as an objective
structure. inaIIy, the transhistoriI statute ol ideoIogy as the
unconsciousmediumolIivedexperience, meantthatevenin aIassIess
society, its system olerrorsand deIusionswouId suive togivevitaI
cohesiontothesociaIstmctureolcommunismitseIl. orthisstructure,
too,IIbeunseenandimpermeabIetotheindividuaIswithinit.

Jhe
scienceolMarxismwiII nevercoincidewim theIived ideasandbeIiels
olthe massesundercommunism.
JheconcIusionsoltheworkolartrehavecertaincurioussimiIarities
ol undercurnt to those ol AIthusser. ut the dehning theme ol
Sartre's system, that distinguishes it lrom any other, is set by the
categoryolscarcig. JheteitseIlwascoinedbytheaIiankilosoke
GaIiani during the LnIighnment, who rst lormuIated aIue 8 a
ratio between utiIity and scarcity (rarit) in any ecnomic sstem

this technicaI notion olsccity passed marginaIIy int hicardo was

virtuaIIy ignored by Marx, and eventuaIIy re-emerged a centraI
category in neo-cIassicaI economics alter him. Saresuseoltheterm,
"" Ienin andFlotopj pp
P
-
7
or m p Iaitoa como Zrmade aReolui6n,p. .

eando GaIiani Laa oneta MiIan ty6 edition aIue then | s B
rao and this is composed oltwo ratios epressed by the names ou|I|yand
scarcity'p. y). HisuseolthetermwassubsequentIyadoptedbyCondiIIac.or
Ricardo'sessingutiIitycommoditiesderivetheirechangeabIevaIuelromtw
sourcs lrom eirscarcity and lrom the uantty o Iabour requ|red to oba|
them'. 7eFrc.plet o]FoticalconomjanJ7aationLondon ty} ed|t|onp.
6 n practice howeer icardoIargeIyignored scarcityinhistheory olvaIue,
sinceeregardeditH pertinentonIytoveryrestrictedcategoriesolIuuygoods
ses nngs wines.
8
however, hadvirtuaIIy nothing in common with thatolGaIiani. or
the Iatter beIieved that theoriginaI condition olmankind was one ol
abundance: the most useluI objects were aIso the most pIentiluI in
nature.Manwas more ambiguos inhisaIIusions to theguestion.
ut whiIe occasionaIIy suggesting a primitive state olscarcity," he
more usuaIIy impIied an originaI prolusion ol nature reIative to the
paucity olhumanneedsbeloretheadvent olciviIization.Morver,
histheoryolvaIuecontained norelerencetoscarcitywhatever, unIike
even the nominaImention olit byhicardo. or Sartre, on the other
hand, srcity was the 'mndamentaI reIation' and 'condition ol
possibiIity' olhuman history, both the contingent starting-point and
the 'passive motor' ol aII historicaI deveIopment. No originaI unity
between manandnatureexisted: on thecontrary, theabsoIute lact ol
scarcitydetermined natureasthe'negationolman' lromthestart,and
history converseIy as an anti-nature. Jhe struggIe against scarcity
generated the division olIabourand so the stggIe between cIasses:
therewith man himseIl became the negatio ol man. YioIence, the
incessant oppression andexpIoitation olaII recorded societies, is thus
intemaIizm scarcity. Jheharsh dominion olthenaturaIworId oer

ithmarveIIousprovidencethisworIdis soconstitutedlorourgoodthat
utiIity generaIIyspeaking nevercoincides with scarcity. . . . Thethins needed
tosustainIileareso proluseIyspreadoverthewhoIeoltheearththattheyhave
no orreIativeIy IittIe aIue' Iaamoneta p. q.

In 7beGerman1Jeolog Marxwroe thatthedeveIopmentolthelorces ol

production is an absoIuteIy necessary practicaI remise because without it
tcarciismereIygeneraIied(nurJermangelveragemeinert)and withdest|tu
tion (AotJur) the struggIe lor necessiies wouId begin again and aII the oId
Ith wouId necessariIy be reproduced' 5ee ere oI. j pp. jq-J. This
passagewastoberecaIIedbyTrotskyin hisanaIys|solthereasons lorheriseol
5taIinism in Russia which made scarcity (nuJa) a centraI category ol its
expIanationsee 7beRevolution etrajeJ Nework ty6 pp 6-6o.

Themostrepresentativestatementis perhap tobe lound in theGrundrite.

riginaIIy the lree gilts ol nature are abundant or at Ieast mereIy to be

appropriated. From the outset naturaIIy arisen associat|on lamiIy and the
d ision olIabour and cooperation correspond to it. For needs themseIves are
scat at e beginning.' GrunJrtte London t yj p. 6t z. At the same time ol
courselorbothMarxand EngeIsthe'reaImollreedom' wasdened bymateriaI
superabundace beyond the 'reaIm ol necessit' that goerned both precIass
and cIasssocieties.

Critique Je la Raon Iialectique, pp. zozq. The anaIogy olten drawn

between 5are and Hobbes is unlounded For Hobbes as lor aIii nature
Tmmiic I= amm _
men, and the divided antagonism oltheir eorts to translorm it to
assure theirIives, typica||y give rise to seria| co||ectivities inhuman
ensembIesolwhicheachmembersa|ientoeachotherandhimseIl,and
in hich the ends olaI| are conscated in the tota| outcome oltheir
actions. Such seies have aIwaysbeenhepr

dominantlo olsocia|
coeistence in eery mode olproduction to date. Their lormaI anti
thesisistheusedgroup',inwhichaIImenaremembersoloneanother,
uniteinalraterna|enterprisetoachieveacommongoaI,inandagainst
emiIieuolscarcity ThesupremeexaIeolalusedgroupisamass
movement at the apocaIptic moment ola success| revo|utionar
sing. ut to maintain itse|l in existence, pumuing 8 unequa|
ombat in a worId olvioIence and want, such a group must eno
itse| with organiationa inertia and lunction| speciaIizaon in it
tu, |osing its lternity and dynmism to become 8 institutiona
group. etrication and dispersion now await it me next step is to
transler the unity olthegroup upwards into a sovereign authorit
above it, to achieve a verticaI stabiIization. The State is the hnaI
embodiment olsuch a sovereignty, and its invaab|e ctes that
ol restrictd, auhotarian summit manipu|ating dispersed series
beneath it, though a breaucratic hierarchy and repressive terror
With its consoIidaion, the active group that oigina|Iy created it is
degraded once more to seiaIized passivity l groups and series
compose the lorma| e|ements ol any history' lor artre the rea|
history olsociaI c|asses charts the comp|e ombinaons or conver
sions ol these lorms into each oher |asses themseIve, however,
neverconstitute used groups as a whoIe theyare aIwas an unstabIe
compound olapparatuses, groupsandseries in whih the |atterwiI|
norma|Iy predominate. Thus the cIassica| aist notion ol the
dictatorship ol the proIetariat' was an impossib|e contradiction in
terms, a bastard compromise between ative sovereign and passive
seri|iy lor no c|ass as suh can coincide with a tate poIiticaI
powercannoteercisedbytheentireworingcIass,and theStateis
assured anorgnalp|entjtoan,whohad to do I|ttIeorethan receve it as the
s otheearh. See eiatan, ondon y8 ediion QQ. zyq-J.

Critique Je aanOia|ectique, QQ. ]O-I Q , ]8qQ6 .

Critique Je la Raon Oia|ectique, QQ. yy]-Qq, 6o8-tq.

Citique J la RaonOia|ectique, QQ. 6qq 6zy-]o.
88
neverareaIexpressionoleventhemaorityolit.Thebureaucratization
andrepression ola|postrevoIutionaryStatesproduced byhistoryso
lar is thusIinked to theverynatureand condition oltheproIetariatas
a sociaI ensemb|e so Iong gIobaI scarcityand cIass divisions est.
ureaucracy remains an ineIiminabIeaopanimentandadvearyol
socia|isminthisepoch.
t iII be seen that the successive innovatins olsubstantive thee
ithin Western Marxism, just suveyed rehected or anticipated reaI
and centraI prob|ems that history posed to the sociaIist oveent
duringtheha|l-centuryalterthelirstWorIdWar.ramsci'sabsorbing
conce ith hegemony pregured th consensuaI stabiIization ofhe
capita|istState in the West, todecadesbeloreiteerged adurabIe
and generaI phenomenon Many ol Adomo's preoccupauons ith
nature, at the time an apparentIy perverse by-ay olthe lranfurt
Schoo|, sudden|y reappeared in the Iater idesprd debate over
ecoIogywithintheimperiaIistcountries.Maruse'sana|ysesolsexua|ity
presaged the institutionaI breakdown olerotic constraints and sen
sibi|ityemancipationas enervation characteristic olmuch bourgeois
cu| ture alter the mid-sixties. AIthusser's main excursus on ideo|ogy
as direct|y inspired by the ave olrevoIts ithin the highereduca
tionaI system ol the advanced capita|ist orId in the same period.
Sartrestreatmentolscarcity schematized the universaI crystaIIizauon
ol bureaucracy alter every soci|ist revoIution in the backard
countries whi|e his dia|ectic oseries and groups anticipated much ol
the lorm| course ol the rst mass rising against capitaIism in the
deve|oped countries alter the Second Wor|d War lrance in t g68.
he reIative va|ue or adequacy ol the soIutions advanced by each
system to the probIemsunderits purview notourconcehere. t is
rathertheco| |ectivedirectionolthetheoreticaIinnovaonspecuIiarto
Western Marxism thatneeds to be e|icited and emphasised.
lor no matter ho otheise heteroc|ite, they share one lunda
mentaI emb|em a common and Iatent ]c::rm:m. A|I the maor
dertures or deve|opments ol substance ithin this radition are
d stinguished lrm the c|assica| heritage ol historicaI materiaIism by
e darkness ol their imp| ications or concIusions. n this respect,
between gzoand t g6o, Marxisms|owIychanged coIoursin the West.
7kemam Iooovatiom 8
JheconbdenceandoptimismoltheloundersolhistoricaImateriaIism,
and oltheirsuccesso,progressieIydisappearm.YiuaIIyeveryone
olthe signibcant newthemes in the inteIIecaI musterolthisepoch
veaIs the same diminuon olhope and Ioss olcertainty. Gmmsci's
theoreticaIIegacywastheprospectolaIongolattritionagainstan
immenseIy stronger stcture olcapitaIistpower, more proolagainst
economic coIIapse than had been envisaged by his predecessors a
struggIe with no bnaI cIarity ol outcome visibIe. Hi own Iile in
delecbIybound tomepoIiuI late oltheworkingcIassolhis time
and naion, Gramsci's voIutionary temper was terseIy expressed in
the mim 'pessimism ol the inteIIet, opumism olthe wiII' once
again, it hewho aIone consciousIyperceived and controIIed what
was tobethetimbreolanewandunheraIded Marxism. Jhepeasive
meIanchoIyoltheworkoltheFrankmrtSchooIIackedanycomparabIe
noteolactivelortitude.Adomoand HorkheimercaIIedinquestionthe
ery idea olman's uImate mastery ol nature, as a reaIm oldeIiver-
ancebeyondpitaIism.MarcuseevokedtheutopianpotentiaIityolthe
Iiration olnature in man, onIy to deny it the more emphatiIIy as
an bjecte tenency in reaIity, and to concIude that the industriaI
workingcIasswas itseIlperhapsabsorbedpastrecaIIwithin pitaIism.
Jhepesimism olAIthusserand Sartre had anotherbut no Iessgrave
horizon, the ver scture olsociaIism iseIl. AIthusser decIared that
een communism wouId remain opaque as a sociaI order to the
individuaIs Iivingunderit,deeiving them with the peetuaI iIIusion
ol their Iiberty as subjects. Sartre rejected the very idea ola tru
dictatorshp olthe proIetariat as an impossibiIi, and inerpreted the
bureaucratization olsociaIistrevoIutionsas the ineIuctabIe productol
ascarcitywhoseend mained inconceivabIe inthis century.
Jhese specibc substantive theses were accompanied by generaI
accens and denes absoIuteIyunwonted in theearIierhistoryolthe
sociaIistmovement. hese too were in their own Iess direct way un
istakabIe signs ol the prolound aIteration ol historicaI cIimate that
ad nowcome overMarxismintheWest.Noprevious thinkerwithin
he tmdition olhistoricaI materiaIismcouIdhavewritten intonesand
magessuchasthosethatAdomoorSartre,AIthusserorGramsci,were
ouse.Jhe FrankrtSchooI'sconstantperceptionolhistorywas best
xressed by enamin in Ianuage that wouId have been virtuaIIy
incomprehensibIe to Man or ngeIs. 'Jhis is how one pictures the
angeIolistory.Hislaisturnedtowardsthepast.Whereweperceive
a chain olevents, he sees oe singIe catastrophe whch keeps piIng
wreckage upon wreckage and hur|s it in lront olhis lt. Jhe angeI
wou|d Iike to sty, awakenthe dead, and make whoIe what has been
ashed. utastormisbIowinglromParadise it hasgotcaughtinhis
winwithsuchvioIencethattheangeIcannoIongercIosethem. Jhis
t irresistibIy propeIs him into luture to which his bac is
mmed,whiIethepiIeoldebrisbelorehimgrowsskyward. Jhisstorm
iswhatwecaIIprogress.' enjamintypicaIIywrote,oltheannaIsoaII
cIass stmggIe. 'ven tm dadwiII not be sale, lrom the enemy,ilhe
wins and this enemy has not cease to be victorious.' Gramsci
meanwhi|e, inprisonanddeleat,summed upthe vocation olarevoI
tionay sociaIistintheepoch with adeso|ate stoicism: 'Somethinghas
changed, ndamentaIIy. Jhis is evident. What is itr elore, they aII
nted to bethe pIoughmen olhistory, topIaythe activeparts, each
oneolthemto pIayanacuvepart. Nobodyishedtobethemanre"
ol history. ut is it possibIe to pIough without rst manuring the
Iandr o p|oughman and manureare both necessary. n the abstract,
they aII admitted it. uti npracticer Manure lor mnure, as weI draw
back, retum to the shadows, into obscurity. Now something has
changed,sincetherearethosewhoadatthemseIves"phiIosophiIIy"
obei"mar", hoknothatshattmusbe. . . . hereis
noteventhechoicebetween Iiving lora day Iike a Iion, ora hndred
yearsasasheep. oudon'tIiveasa|ion,evenloraminute, larlromit:
youIiveIikesomethinglar Iowerthan asheep loryearsandyears and
nowthat you have to Iive Iike that.
enjaminand ramsciwere victimsollascism. uti nthepostwar
epoch, too,the notestruckwthinWesternMarxismwasotenno Iess
sombre. Perhaps the most poweruI singIe essay AIthusser, lor
exampIe,cou|ddescribethesociaIdeve|opmentlrombirthtochidhood
that initiates the unconscious, with berce vioIence, 3 a ordeaI 'aII
aduItmenhavepassed theyarethenever )rgal witnesses, andvery
olten the viims, olthis victory, eagin their most hidden, i.e. in
theirmostc|amorousparts,thewounds,weaknessesansti nessesthat
"" 1uminaiont, QQ- 2~0O 2y
` o oeboo, Q. .
7kematic 1nnovations

I
resuIt lrom his struggIe lorhuman Iile or death. ome, the majority,
have emerged more or Iess unscathed - or at Ieast, give this out to be
the case manyolthese veeransbear themarksthroughouttheirIives
someiII dielromtheirhght, thoughatsomeremove, the oIdwounds
suddenIy opening again in psychotic epIosion, in madnes, the
uItmatecompuIsionola "negadve therapeuicreaction"others,more
numerous,as"noraIIyasyouIike,intheguiseolan"organic"decay.
Humanity onIy inribes its ocia deaths on its war memoriaIs
thosewhowereabetodieontime,i.e.Iate,asmen,inhumanwarsin
which onIykaaa woIves and gods tearandsacrihce one another.
Yetanothersavagemetaphorwas tobeusedbyStre, todescribeme
reIationsbeeenmeninauniverseolscarcity OurleIIowappears to
usasacounter-maninsolarashewhoisthesameappearsasradicaIIy
other - that is tosay,bearerolathreatoldeath tous. notherwords,
byandIargeweunderstandhisends(theyareourown),hismeans(we
share thesame), thediaIecticaIsctureolhisacts butweunderstand
themasiltheywerethetraitsoltker spenes, oudemoniacoubIe
Nobeing,inehect - neitherwiIdbeastsnormicrobes - issodeadIylor
man as an inteIIigent, camivorous crueI species capabIe ol nder-
standing and loiIing human inteIIigence, whose end is preciseIy the
destruction olman. Jhis species is, olcourse, our own 8 each man
apprehends it in every other in the miIieu olscarcity.' Passages Iike
hese beIong to a I
i
trature lndamenta loreign t te wrId ol
Man, LabrioI, or Lnin Jhey betray a subterraean pessmism,
beyond the decIared intentions ortheses oltheir " none ol
8
Ienn cFlotoj, pp. t 8 M

Cue Jelaaon Ialectque, p. 2O8.

At this point, it isnecessarytosaysomethingolthe wr|t|ns olSebastian
Timpanaro,aIIudedtoearIier. Timpanarosworkcontainsthemostcoherentand
eIoquent re|ection ol what he himseIl caIIs Weste Marxism to have been
writtensince the war.It isthereloreaII the more strikingthat in a number ol
criticaIrespectshs own work conlorms, despiteitseIl, to the patte considered
above. For Timpaaro's work too isessnt|IIy phiIosophicaI not poI|ticaI or
economic in locus. Moreover, it too makes a centraI appeaI to an inteIectuI
ancestorpriortoMarx,throughwhomMarxismisthensubstant|aIIyreinterpreted
n thiscase,thecommandingpredecessoristhe poet Giacomo Leopard|, whose
particuIar ormolmateriaIism isdeemedthesaIutaryand necessarycopIement
to that olMar and ngeIs, because olits uninch|ng awareness olthe insur
mountabIeIimits olliItyandmortaIity - imposedon manbyahostiIenature.
Th most distinctive theme ol Timpanaro's own work is therelore the in

2
whomrenounced optimism olvoIition in the struggIeagainst scism
orcapitaIism. Marxismspoke thoughts onceunthinkabIelorsociaIism
throughthem.
JhecircIeoltraitsdehningWestemMarxismasadistincttraditioncan
now be summarized. orn lrom the laiIure olproIetarian revoIutions
in the advanced ones olLuropean pitaIism alter the First WorId
War,itdeveIoped withinan everincreasing scission bemeensociaIist
theoryandworking-cIasspmctice. Jhe guIlbetween themo, origin
aIIy opened up by the imperiaIist isoIation olthe Soviet State, wa
insdtutionaIIy widened and hxed by the bureaucratization ol the
SSK and olthe Lomintem under SaIin. Jo the exponents olthe
new Manism that emerged in the West, the omciaI Lommunist
movement presented the soIe reaI embodiment olthe intemationaI
workingcIasswith meaning lor them whethertheyjoined it, aIIied
with it or rejected it. Jhe stmctumI divorce oltheory and pracdce
inherent in the nature ol the Lommunist Pes ol this epoch pre
cIuded unitary poIitico-inteIIectuaI work ol the type that dehned
cIassicaIManism.JheresuItwasasecIusionoltheoristsinuniversiies,
evitabiIity olthe uItimate victo, not olman over history, but olnature over
man. It is thus more naIIy pessimistic, with a cIassicaI sadness, than that ol
perhaps anyothersociaIistthinker olthis century. In aII thesewys, Timpanaro
can be regarded as paradoxicaIIy yet unmistakabIy part ol the tradiuon ol
WesteMarxismthatheopposesItcouIdbearguedthatthenotabIeimportance
olancientphiIoIogy - adiscipIneentireIydominatedbynonMarxistschoIarship,
omWiIamoitto asuaIi ins ormationaIsocorresponds tothepatte
discernedinthisessay.This said, itmustimmedi ateIybe emphasiedthatinother
respects Timpanaros work presents a genuine and manilest contst wth the
normsolWesteMarxismhedierencesarethatTimpanaosphiIosophy has
never been primariIyreducedtoaconcewith epistemoIogy, buthas soughtto
deveIopasubsnuveoutIooontheworId, inacriticaI aIIegiancetotheheritage
olEngs thhisuseolLeopardi hasneverreIiedonacIaimthatMarxwasever
inuenced by or ew othe poet, orthatthe twosystemsothoughtareat
homogeneous Leopardi being presented as suppIying omething missing, not
something hidden, in Marx an thathispessimism is consiousIy decIared and
delended assuch, in a Iimpid prose LastIy, itmaybesaid thattheseuaits have
been accompanied by a degree ol lreedom lrom the eId ol lorce ol ociaI
CommunismgreaterthanthatolanyotherureolW esteMarxismTimpanaro
o in tz y, was uniqueIy neither a member olthe ommunis Party nor an
unattachednteIIetuaI,butaiIittinznoterworingcIsg tonthe
IeltotheP5IItaIian 5ociaIist Party andthenothe P5IP, intaIy.
TkemacJ mavaa _
arlromthe Iie ol the proIetariat in their own countries, and a con-
traction oltheory lromeconomicsand poIitics intophiIosophy. Jhis
speciaIizationwasaccompaniedbyanincasingdicuItyolIanguage,
whotechnicaIbarrierswerealunctionolitsdistancelromthemasses.
t was aIso conveeIyattended by a decreasing IeveI olinationaI
knowIedge or communiton between theorists themseIves lrom
dierentcounies.JheIossol anydynamiccontactwithworking-cIass
practice in turn dispIaced Mist theory towds contempo non-
Manist and ideaIist systems olthought, withwhich it no ypiIIy
deeIoped in cIose ilcondictory symbiosis. At the same time the
concentration oltheorists intoprolessionaIphiIosophy, togetherwith
the discovery olM's own earIy writings, Ied to a generaI retro-
specve arch lor inteIIectuaI ancestri to Manism in anterior
European phiIosophicaI thought, and a reinterpretation olhistoricaI
materiaIism itseIlin theIightolthem.JheresuIts oltis pattemwere
three-loId.lirstIy,therewasamarkedpredominanceolepistemoIogicaI
work,locusedessentiaIIyon probIems olmethod. SecondIy, themajor
substantive heId in which method was actuaII apIied became
aestheti or cuIturaI superstructues in a broadersense inaIIythe
main theoreticaI departures outside this eId, which deveIoped new
themes absent lrom cIassicaI Manism mostIy in a specuIative
manner reveaIedaconsistent pessimism. Methodsimpotence,at
cosoIaion, pessimsm as guiescence it is not dicuIt to rceve
eements olaII these in the compIeion olWeste Manism. or the
root deteinant ol this tradition was its lormation by deeat the
Iongdecadesolsetbackandstagnation,manyolthmtrribIeonesin
any historiI perspective, underone by the Weste working cIass
alter tzo
ut nor can the tradiuon as a whoIe be reduced to this. espite
everything, its maor thinkers remained immune to relormism. or
aII their distance lrom the masses, none capituIated to triumphant
pitaIism as econd ntemauonaI theorists Iike autsky, l cIoserto
cIass struggIe, had done belore them. Moover, the hisricaI e-
periencewhich theirwork articuIated, amidst is veryinhibitions and
aphasias, was aIso in certain crucaI respects the most avacedin the
4I
Horkhemersheonly exampleoIrenegacy but hcwasalwaysntcllcCtu8l
o secondaryt8nk as8thnkctWthn thc t8nkutt bchool.

4
worId encompassing thehighestlormsolthecapitaIisteconomy,the
oIdest industriaI proIetariats, and the Iongest inteIIectuaItraditions ol
sociaIism.SomethingoltheweaIthandcompIexityolthistotaIrecord,
as weII 3 its misery and laiIure, inevitabIy entered into the Maism
that it produced or pemitted ~ ilaIways in obIigue and incompIete
lorms nitsown chosen heIds, this Manismachievedasophistication
greater than that olany previous phase olhistorica materiaIism.
depth inthesewasboughtatthepriceolthewidtholitsange. util
therewasadrasticnarrowingollocus,therewasnocompIeteparaIysis
olenergy.Joday,theluIIeperienceolthepastltyyearsolimperiaI
ismremainsa centraI andunavoidabIe u stiII to be reckoned upby
theworkers movement. WesteMaismhasbeenanintegraIpartol
mat history, andno new generation orevoIuuona sociaIist in the
imperiaIistcountriescan simpIyignoreorbypassi t. JosettIeaccounts
with this tradition both Ieaming nd breaking lromit isthus one
olthepreconditions ola IocaI newaI olMarxisttheorytoday. Jhis
necessarydoubIe movement olreconnaissanceand pture isnot, ol
course, an excIusive task. Jhe natureolits obect precIudes this. lor
intheIastresort,theverytiesolthistraditiontoaparticuIargeograph
have aIso been its dependence and weakness. Marxism aspires i n
principIe to a mversaI science no more amenabIe to mereIy
nationaI or contnentaI ascriptions than any other objective cognition
ol reaIity. n this sense, the tem ' Westem inevitabIy impIies a
ttt judement. ack oluniersaIity is an inde oldehciency ol
truth. Western Maism was necessariIy Iess than Marxism to the
extent that it as Western. HistoricaI materiaIismcan exercise its luII
poersonIyhen itisllromparochaIsm, olanyknd.thasyet
to recoer the.
1
LOntrasts and LOnCusOns
Jheadventofanewperiodin theworkersmovementbringingtoan
end the Iong cIass pause that divided theoy from practice is ow
howeve isibIe. Jhe nch KevoIt of May I g marked in this
espectaprofoundhistoriI tuming-point. orthehrstdmeinnearIy
j0 years a massive revoIutionarypsurge occurred within advand
capitaIism~ intimeofpeaceunderconditionsofimperiaIistprosperity
and bourgeois democracy. Jhe onset ofthis expIosion ypassed the
renchLommunistParty. Withthi theocciaIconditionsofthe
historicnon-coincidenceoftheoryandpoIiticsinWestemLuropefor
thehrsttimestartedtofaII. Jhere-emergenceofrevoIutionarymasses
outside the controI of a bureauaed party rendered otenualj
conceivabIetheunicationofMarxisttheoryandworking-cIasspractice
onceagain. n theevent fcoursetheMayhevoItwas nota revoIu
tion and the main force ol the proIetariat in rance has neither
organiationaIIy nor ideoIogicaIy abandoned the P. Jhe d|sance
betweenrevoIutionarytheoryandmassstrugIewaslarlromaboIised
ovemightinParisduringMay-unetg68butitcIosedtoitsnarrowest
gap i n Lurop since the generaI skewas defeated in Jurin during
thetuoiI olt gzo.JherevoItin rancemoreverwasnottoremain
an isoIated experience. Jhe subsequent years have seen a widening
intemationaI wave of working-cIass insurgency in the imperiaIist
worId unIike anything since the earIy twenties. n t g6g the taIian
proIetariatunIeashed thegreatestwave olsuikes everrecorded inte
countryint gztheritishwrkingcIassIaunedthemostsuccessluI
ndustriaI ohensiveinitshistory, paraIysng thenationaI economy in
I g]] apanese Iabour mounted its Iargest assauIt against capitaI to
date n I g]q the worId capitaIist economy entered its hrst major
synchronied ressionsince the. hechance ofa revoIuuona
circuit rpening betn Manist teory and mass pracuce Iooped
trough reaI sggIes of the industriaI orking cIass has become
steadiIy greater. Jhe consequences ofsuch a reunication oftheory
and practice ouId be to ansfo Masm itseIf recreating con
ditions hich i n their ume produced the foders of historicaI
materiaIism.
eanhiIetheseriesofpheavaIsinauratedytheMayhevoIthas
hadanothercritiIimpactonthecontempoprospectsofhistoricaI
materiaIism in the advanced pimIist one. est arism from
ukandKorschtoGramsorthusrocpiedinmanyrpec
thefrontofthestagein thehoIeinteIItuaIhistoryoftheLuropea
eft after the victory of mIin m the h. ut throuhout this
periodanothertraditionofanenureIydierentcamctersubsistedand
deveIopedo-smge' fortherstumetoainiderpoIiuIattention
duringandaftertherenchepIosion.hisg ofcoumethetheory
andIegacyofJrotsky.WestemMasmasehaveseenasaIays
magneucaIIy poIaried toards ociaI ommunism as the onIy
historiIincamauonoftheintemaionaIproIetaratasarevoIuuon
cIass. t never compIeteIy accepted taIinism yet it never activeIy
combatediteither. uthatevernuanceofatutudesuccessivethinkem
adopted toardsit foraII ofthemthere nootherehtivereaIity
or miIieu ofsociaIist actionoutsidet. tasthisthatdivideditfrom
Jrotskys ork by a poIiticaI univeme. orJrotsky's Iife from the
death of Lenin onards as devoted to a pmctiI and theoreticaI
sggIetofreetheintemationaIorkers'movementfrombureaucratic
dominationsothatitcouIdrsumeasuccessIoverthroofcapitaIism
onaorIdscaIe.OefeatedintheinnerpartyconictithintheLP
nthetentiesand eiIedfromtheSSKasastandingdangertothe
regimesymboIiedbyStaIinJrotsky'smostenduringdeveIopmentof
Manist theory began i n exiIe. His ne ork as bom from the
matrixofatrendousmassupheavaI thectoberhevoIuuon. ut
Jrotskyismasa system asa deIayedbirth itIargeIypost-dated the
KevoItion hen the experience that made it possibIe had aIready
" A|though, of course, it had its propheuc origins in his pre-revoIuuony work
Retul Frotpec.
CantrastsCamImam
d8aggcarcd. rot8k8 hr8t ma[or groducton m cXlc W -
ungucl or a Mam8t thcoH8t o h8 8taturc - a Work o concmtc
Hta_. M8 Histaga]tkeRssiaReaIatiaa (l gO] rcman8 n mM
Wa8 thc mo8t cOmmandn_ cXamglc o marX8t h8tOrcal ltcraturc to
th8 da] Md thc onl onc Whcrc thc 8kll d ga88on o a h8toHM
Wcrc joncd to thc acuVt and mcmor o a golb ldcr d
or_anzcr n a major rccon8tructon o mc ga8t.
rot8k8 ncXt achcVcmcnt Wa8 n 8omc Wa8 cVcn mom 8@t.
8olatcd on a urk8h 8land hc Wrotc rom a d8Mncc a gcnO o
tmM on thc r o W8m n cUnan Who8c gualt concrctc
8tudc8 o a pkucmcaqmtme8 unmatchcd n mc mcord8 o h8toHca
mMral8m. n th8 hcld cnn hm8cl ncVcr groduccd M WorK o
comgablc dcgth and comglcXt. rot8k8 Wrbn_8 on crman
a8c8m con8ttutc n act mc hMt rcal MarX8t anal88 o a tWcntcU
ccnmr cqitahstState ~ thc makn_ o thc Waz dcMtoMhg. hc
ntcUatonal8t naturc o h8 ntctcnton dc8_ncd to mc cUnan
Workn_ cla88 a_an8t thc mOrtal dan_cr thrcatcnn_ t Wa8 mantancd
mrou_hout thc rc8t o h8 lc. Xlcd and huntcd rom coun to
con WthOut ghy8cal cOntact Wth thc grOlctarat o an naton hc
cOntnucd to groducc gOltcal anay8c8 o thc h_hc8t ordcr o thc
c8t urogcan 8ccnc. ranCc n_and and bgan Wcrc all cXmncd
b hm Wth a ma8tcr O thc natonal 8gcchct o thcr 8ocal orma-
ton8 that cnn ~ ovcrWhclmn_ly cOnccntratcd On u88a ~ had ncVcr
attancd. nall hc ntatcd a r_Orou8 and cOmgrchcn8Vc thcOr o
Uc naturc o thc bOvct btatc and thc latc O thc Lbb undcr btaln
documcntcd d dcvclOgcd Wth a ca88cal cOntrOl Ot cvdcncc. hc
h8torcal 8calc o rot8k8 accomgl8hmcnt 8 8bll dmcult to rcalzc
toda.

This judgementmay seem paradoxicaI we shaII retu to iteIsewhere tis

symptomaticoIthe Iate oIT otskysIegacythatthese texts on ermanyshouId
nothavebeenpubIshedinbookomuntiI t y} whenthe rstermanedition
appeared. lor an EngIish transIation oI this, see now /ne trugg Mgonzt
ozrum m ermog, New ork t y} .
r
Now coIected respectiveIy i n Hhtm Ironce (t y}), Ln Zrton ( y)y),
and /he onuh evouton (ty}),aIIpubIshed inNework. The writingson
ritain mostIy date Irom the twenties bt the coIIecuon above omits some
importanttexts oIthethirties
AboveaII, /he evoutm Zetro_ed /he Lmz otureo_theovettoteand
e_m6 o_mmm (ew ork y6).
8
crcsnOsgacchcrctOunvcthcsubscgucntcgacyOlrOtskys
thOught andwOrk. Lncdayths Othcr tddOn - gcrsccutcdvcd
sOatcd, ddcd - w havc tO bc stdcd n a thc dvcty Olts
undcrgrOund channcs and strcams. t may sursc hm hstOrans
wthtsrcsOurccs. HcrcsOnyncssarytOcOmmcntOnthcwOrkOl
OOrOlthcatcrhcrsOlrOtsky.hcmOst gltcdmcmbcrsOl
thc nt gcnctOn altcr hm wec bOth lrOm thc Last LurOgcan
ntcgcntsa On thc bOrdcrands bcmccn Oand d ussa. 1saac
Lcuuchcr (t ) bOm car LracOw w a mtant n thc cga
Osh LOmmunst arty wO brOkc wth thc LOmntcm Ovcr ts
OytOwardsthcasccntOlNasmn dlOughtlOrhvc ycars
n OggOstOna rOtskyst grOug thn thc wOrng cass n
sudsk's Oand. Ln thccvc Olthc bcOnd Ord hcrccctcd
rOuky's dccsOn tO Organzca Ourth 1ntcmaOna rOuncn c
attcmgttOmantanagOtuntyOlthcOryandgractccthathcnOw
bccvcd tObcmgOssbc and cmgratcd tOLngand. crcaltcrthc
ar hc bmc a grOlcssOna hstOran grOducng thc maOr scrcs
Ol wOrks On thc cOursc and OutcOmc Ol th bOvct HcvOutOn lOr
whchhcbccamclamOusthrOughOutthcwOrd.csgtchsdvcrgcnccs
lrOm rOtsky thc cOntnuty Ol lOcus bctwccn thcm cOud scarccy
havc bccn cOscr. rOtsky was wOrkng On a lc Olbtan whcn hc
dcdjcutschcr'shrstwOrkwasabOgraghyOlbtantakngugwhcrc
hs grcdcccssOr had cft Oh. hcrftcr cutschcr'sgrcattwOrk was
tObcabOgraghyOlrOtskyhmscHs mOstmgOrtantcOntcmgOr
and cOcagc was anOthcr hstOran. HOman HOsdOsky {t8g8
t 6) bnLvOvwasOncOlthclOundcrsOthc Ommunstar
Ol thc Vcstcrn Lkranc. VOrkng undcr thc drcctOn OlHyaanOv
as a cOrrcsgOndng mcmcr Ol thc arxLngcs nsttuc n cnna
hcracd tOrOtsky'scrtucOlhccOnsOdatOn Olbnsmn thc
LbbH and OlLOmncrn gOcy tOwards mscsm n Lcrmany n thc
carythrtcs. rOm t gqtO t g8hcrctucd tO LvOvandwOrkcdn
thc Oca rOtskyst mOvcmcnt n Laca, whc asO wrtng a Ong
" or Oeutscher'searIy career, see OanieI 5inger Armed ith a Pen inO.
oroit ed.) taa Ieuttcher, 7he anJ or, London i y

t, g.
^J
" 7he Frophet ZrmeJ (tyq) 7 Frophe narmeJ tyy 7he Frophet
Outcatt( y6y
Contrasts ad Caoclasiam
studyolthehistoryolserldomintheregion. apturedby theGerman
rmy during the Second WorId War, he was imprisoned in Nazi
concentration camps. On his reIease in t p he emigrated to the
nited States,whereheworkedasan isoIated researcherinNewYork
and etroit, abandoningdirectpoIiticaI activity. Jherehewrote one
olthe lewsignicantManisttextson thenationaIprobIem inEurope
to appearsince the time olenin.His mayam oas, however, wasa
Iong,o-voIumeexamination olMan'sGrandrisse anditsreIationto
Caita| ~ pubIished posthumousIy in West Germany in t p6. Jhe
aim olthis maj orreconstctionolthe architecture olMan's mature
economic thoughtwas tomakeitpossibIelor contemporaryManism
to rejoin the centraI tradition ol economic theory within historicaI
materiaIism, broken o with the expiry ol Austro-Manism in the
interwar period. Jrotsky himseIl had written no major economic
work, unIikemosttheorists olhisgenemtion hosdoIsky himseI not
aneconomistbytmining,undertookhisworkoutolasenseoldutyto
succeedinggenerations,asaIonesuivoroltheLastLuropeancuIture
that had once produced oIshevism and Austro-Marism. H|s hope
wasnotinvain.ouryearsIater,EmestMandeI aeIianJrotsyist,
who had been active in the hesistance and imprisoned by the Nazis,
belorebecomingprominent|ntheourthnternationaIatertheWar
pubIished in eany a luII-scaIe study olJate Caitalism, directIy
indebted to hosdoIsky the hrst theoret|caI anaIys|s olthe gIobaI
deveIopment olthe captaIist mode ol product|on s|nce the Second
Word War, conceived within the lramewor o cIasiaI Mar|st
categories.
` nedrc Ingdr und dor 1roNem der ` erccrroren oker` anover t y6q.
lor RosdoIskys biograph, see the nocein @uorrmc nrcrnoronoe No. ]],
ApriI t y8.

/ur Inrrrewgrgerchcrc der orrcen 1o]ror lran|urt y8.

" The author is neither an economist nor a phiIosopher by pro|ession. He
wouIdnot havevenured to wrieacommentary on the rundrure i|there had
existedtodayaschooIo|Marxist theoristsbettereuipped|orthis task - athere
did in the rst third o|hiscentury. ut the Iastgeneraon o|renoned Marxist
thinkers |or the most part |II victims to theterror o|itIer or o| StaIin Zur
1nrrrehungrgerctcre pp. tt t .
IV
er ]rko]trotrmur [ erruc ener Irkrung) lan|urt ty} dedicatio
toRosdoIsky,p.y TheenIargedEngIiheduon,LondonNLt y},omitsthe
subtitIeothe erman edion.
00
hcoadtOndccndcdlrOmrOtskyhasthusbnagOarcOntrast
n mOstba rgccts tO thatOlcstcmMamsm. 1tcOnccntratcd
On gOtcs and ccOnOmcs nOt ghOsOghy. 1t was rcsOutcy ntcr
nabOnastncvcrcOnhncd n cOnccm OrhOrzOntO asngc cutu Or
cOunoy.tsgOkcaanguagcOlcartyandurgcncywhOntgrO
[rOtskyOrLcuhcr)yctgOsscsscdatcguatycguaOrsugcrOr
tO that Olany Othcr tradbOn. t cd nO chan n unvcnb.
mcmbcn wcrc huntcd and Outawcd. rOky was kllcd n McO.
Lcuudcr and HOsdOsky wcrc cxcs unabc tO rctum tO Oand Or
thc Lknc. Mandc s grOscrbcd lrOm nc t Lcmany and
thc Lnt bmt tO ths day. crnamcs cOud bcaddcd. hc gr
gad lOrthcattcmgttOmantanaMarxstuntyOlthcOryndgcc
cvcn n whc t was cvcntua rcnOunccd was a hgh Onc. but
thcgan madc lOrthcmrcOlsOcasm nchangcanmmcn
Onc. Oday ths gOtcO-thcOrcb hcrtagc grOvdcs Onc Ol thc
ccn ccmcnts lOr any nassancc OlrcvOubOnary Mamsm On an
ntcmabOnasc. hcacgusbOns tcmbOdcshavcthcrOwn ts
and ab. rOtsky's dcvcOgmcnt Olthc garbcuar lOmua Olthc
Hussan HcvOubOn nO a gcnc mc lOr thc undcrdccOgcd wOrd
rcmans grObcmabc hswrtngs On n and bgan arc nOt Olthc
mc suncss as thOsc O Lcmanyj hs ]udgcmcnt O thc bOnd
Ord ar a dcgarc lrOm hs anayss OlNazsm mstakcn.
Lcuuchcr's Ogtmsm abOut thc grOsgccts lOr ntcma rclOm wthn
thc LbbHaltcr btanwasunlOundcd. HOsdOsky's manabOunwcrc
cxgOstOry thcr than cxgOtOry n scOgc. Mandc's study cOmng
alrsOOngascnccntshcdwassubttcddcbctcyan'Attcmgt
at LxganatOn'. 1n gcnc thc grOgrcss OlMamst thcOry cOud nOt
vaut Ovcr thc matcra cOndtOns Olts Own grOdcbOn thc sOca
gractccOlthcrcagrOctaratOlthctmc.hccOmbnatOnOlcnlOrccd
sOabOn lrOm thc man dctachmcnts Ol thc Organcd wOrkng cass
thrOughOut thc wOrd and grOct abncc OlvOubOnary mass
ugsurgcs n thc ccntra ands Olndustracagtasmncvtaby cltts
chts On thc rOtskyst oadOn as a whOc. 1t tOO was sub]cct tO
thc ubmatc dctatcs Ol thc Ong cgOch Ol hstOrca dclcat lOr thc
wOrkng cass n thc cst. 1ts dchancc Olthc t Olthc bmc whch
sct t agart lOm cstc Marxsm cxactcd ts gartcuar gcnabcs.
HcammatOn Ol thc vadty and rcaty Ol sOcast vOubOn and
Cntrats adCnclmi I0I
proIetarian democracy, against so many events which denied them,
invoIuntariIy incIined this tradition towards conseatism. Jhe pre
ation olcIassicaI doctrines took priority over their deeIopment.
JriumphaIism in the useoltheworking cIass, and catastrophism in
meanaIysis olcapitaIism,assertedmorebywiIIthanbyinteIIect,we
to be the typicaI vices olthis uadion in itsroutine lorms. t wiII
nessary to make a historica inventory ol the achievements and
laiIuresolthiseperience.AsystematiccriticaIassessmentoltheIegacy
ol Jrotsky and his successon, compambIe to that which is no
potentiaIIyavaiIabIe lor the heritage olWestem Manism, isoverdue.
Atthesame time, thegrowth olintemationaI cIass stmggIessince the
I atesixtieshaslorthenttimesincethedeleatoltheLeltOpposition
in Kussia, started tocreateanobjectiveposibiIitolthe reappearance
ol the poIiucaI ideas associated with Jrotsky in centraI areas ol
working-cIass debate and activity. When and as this junction occurs,
their vaIues wiII be assayed in thewidercriticism olmass proIetarian
pmctice.
MenwhiIe, the change oltemperaresince the end olthe sixtieshas
aIsohad tseetson WestemManism.Jhe eventuaI reunihtion ol
theoryand pmcticeinamassrevoIutionarymovement,lreeolbureau
cratic trammeIs, wouId mean the end olthis uaditio. As a historicaI
lom,itwiIIlaIIinto etinctionwhenthedivorcewhichproducedit is
ovecome.JhepreIiminasignsolthissupersessionarevisibIetoday
butit isby nomeansyetan accompIished process. Jhepresentperiod
isstiIIoneoltransition.JheIargeLommunistPartiesoltheLuropean
continent,whichaIways remained theunderIyinggravitationaI heIdol
Westem Manism, have larlromdisappeared their dominance within
their nationaI working cIasses has not notabIy diminished, aIthough
theircredit as revoIutionary organizations hasbeenweakened among
the inteIIigentsia. Many olthe major theorists ol Westem Manism
discussed abovearenowdead.JhosewhosurvivehaveS larproved
unabIe to respond to the new conjuncture created since the May
upheavaIin rance,withanynotabIedeveIomentoltheirtheor. or
the mostpart, theirinteIIectuaIcoursehas probabIyaIreadybeen n.
Among a younger generation, lomed under the inuence ol this
tradition, there hasbeena certain shilt towards a cIorconcemwith
D&
Nn0mC Md golul thcor bond thc ghlo8oghl gcrmctcr ol
M cldcM 1m8 8hlt hoWmcr h88 oltcn bccn 8CComg8ncd b 8
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bOllgmWcdMOtgolulhctcr0nomolc8tcmM8m8m.
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ot bmo or lmdlrom onctothcothcrmcmlconhm8
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y y noW to ghl08oghl mgcuuon Md
mamon. c omt gugl8 8 n8mll mom ogcn.
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_ cowm. c concn olth8 dm8lon 8rcuntor 8ble. onc
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g0Wcrml n c World 8nd thc lbrc olMM8t mttariagapj h88
grob8bl b n 8ugcror to th8t ol 8n othcr counp. hc ml8tvc
modc8tto d8tcolM8m8tculturcn 8Wdcrn8c n th8rc_on m8
lbc 8ub[cCt to 8urgr8n_l 8Wlt ch8n_c8. tor thc l8W oluncvcn
dcVcl0gmcnt_oVcm8thc tcmgo 8nd d8trbuuon olthoQ too t C
0lom l8__8rd nto lc8dn_ countn bnchtng lrom thc 8d-
Wt8_ oll8toomcn n8comg8muvcl8hortgcrod. t8nmtc t
nbc88d Wth 8omc conhdcncc th8t mtil th88 m88tcrcd thc tcn8n
ol thc Lnted bMtc8 8nd n_l8nd - rgccuvcl thc l8nd8 ol thc
Wc8lthtmgcr8l8tCl888 8nd olthc oldc8tWorkn_ cl888 nthcWorld

most notabc Works olths tcarc thosc olCos ouantzas: Lnsh

satons 1orcu 1r ud ou Ctes [London L]b t
;
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c dcruor [)ondon L r y).

j
hc arc and nucnCc ol mao la otsdc hc sCoc ol ts cssa:
08so ot 8t cn@th W ncCc cscWhcc.
Lomt mLo I
Marxsm w nOt havc mcasurcd tsclaganst mc m rcad Olmc
grObcms wth whch thc cvatOn O cagta cOnlrOnts t, n thc
sccOnd ha O thc cntcth ccntury. hc lau Olmc hrd ntcr
natOna, cvcnnthchcydayOlLcnn, tOmakcanyscrOushadwayn
thc AngO-bOn gOwc, whcn thc LbA and brmn wcrc mc mO
grcatcstccntrcsOlwOrdcagtasm,ndtcsthcdcgrOlimomlsam
Ol hstOrca matcrasm thc vcry hcght Ol ts accOmgshmct
a vng vOutOnary thcOry. Oday, thc lOmdabc socndhc
grObcms gOscd tO thc sOcast mOvcmcnt by thc gtast mOdc Ol
grOductOn at ts ttroet, thcr man at ts wcakcst, st argcy
rcman tObsOvcd.Mamsm nthsscnhasycttO acut tlOlts
mOst dct tasks. t s unkcy tO suarc ug tO mcsc und t s
hnayt hc mc mgcra btOns lmc AngO-bOn
wOrd
Or altcr thcrOOngcd, wndng dctOur Olcstc Masm mc
cstOnscltunanswcd byLcnnsgcncratOn, andmadcmgOssbc
tO answcr by thc mgturc Ol mcOry and gctcc n btan`s cgOch,
cOntnuc tO awat rcgcs. hcy dO nOt c wthn thcursdctOn Ol
ghOsOghy. hcy cOnccrn thc ccntra ccOnOmc and gOtca rcadcs
that havc dOmnatcd wOrd hstOry n thc asthlty ycan. hcrc s nO
sgacchcrc tO dO mOrc than grOvdc thcbrclcststOlthcm. rstand
lOrcmOst, what s thc rca naturc and stcturc Olarge demacracj
asatygcOlbtatcsystcm,thathasbccOmcthcnOrmamOdcOlcagtast
gOwcr n thcadvanccd cOuntrcsr hattgc OlraIanarjsra
gabc Ol OvcrthrOwng ths hstOrca lOrm Ol btatc sO dsdnct
lrOmthatOlsarst HussarhatwOud bcthcnsdtudOnal lOms Ol
saciaIistdemacrag n thccst,bcOnd t MamstthcOryhasscarccy
tOuchcd thc thrcc subccts, n thcr ntcrOnncctOn. hat s mc
mcanng and gOstOn Olthc tianas a sOca unt, n a wOrd dvdcd
bycasscsrAbOvca, whatarcthccOmgcxmcchansmsOlnationas,
a mass ghcnOmcnOn Ol cmcnta lOrcc n thc ast mO ccnturcs
Ncthcr Ol thcsc grObcms has cvcr rcccvcd an adcguatc rgOnsc,
lrOmthctmc OlMaandngcsOnwards.hatarcthccantempararj
Iasa]maa[capitaIismasamOdcOlgrOductOnandarcthcrcncw
lOrms Ol criss sgccc tO thcmr hat s thc tc cOnhgratOn Ol
imperiasm as an crnaOna sstcm Ol ccOnOmc and gOtca
dOmnatOn Ork has Ony ust cgun agan On thcsc ssucs, n a
adg obg chabgcd 8bcc bb or aucr. tba What thc
m chctcr8o 8bd dbam othc bareaacrat 5tatet that haVc
cmc@cd lrom thc 8oca8t mVouoob8 b thc backWard coubuc8 b
bth thcb abd dtmcuaa lmm cach othcrf MoW tgo88bc
ot d &ttracaaa o] praIetama &mrq altcr thc mVouoob b
ua toblooWcdbthcmbgolVouoob8 witkaat praletana
&rg ]mm tm oauet b Lhba abd chcrc: abd What arc thc
dOtc bmt8 to 8uch a gro roUk baugumtcd 8ba88 o
thc0mmhcddbotkvctothcattcr. t 8thw cd gc8dob8
mt Umdmtc mc mOamgctoh8tor matcra8m toda.
1gmd00 mcr Wuon m g m 0B
ooo0@M0om0080btln thc
b0mc8bd8 ol bdu8da g8m. Lb thm W B bcW mt ol
8oa8t thcor 8bd Workbg<a88 gmcb b go88bc gabc ol
mdoWbgMam8mWth thc goWm bo to groducc thc kboW-
gct aOtoda. c lom8 bWmO th8 thcor olthc mmrc W
Mc@c bot b lo b bor N . t Woud b B m8takc to
cthatthcWbo mgtthcc8modc8olthcga8t.
YHa a thcmajorthor8Oolh8tor matcra8m to datc lrom
MM or Lr._cs thcmVto o8hcVk8 lromthc cadbghgurc8
olu8uo-MarX8m to tho oltmMaO8m haVcbccb btccct-
ua8dmWblrom thc go888bgc 8! morc oltcb thab bot olhghcr
mthcr thab oWcr bourgco8 orgb. mm8c 8 thc 8oc cXamgc to
haVccomclromabackgroubdolactuagoVcrtbutcVcbhcWa8bom
l lrom thc grocmat. t 8 mgo88bc bot to b th8 gattcm a
gnV8obammaturt olthc btcmaooba Workbgca88 a8 a Whoc
b a Word-h8tor gcngccoVc. t 8 cbough to thbk ol thc cob-
gucblorthc Lctomr cVoutobolthc lmgtolthc o8hcVk
Ld ud a goo cadcr8hg rotcd oVcrhcmbg lrom thc
u88ab btcgcbt8a 8ugcrmgod ob a 8o argc ubcdutcd
Workbg ca88: thc Wth Whch both Ld uard abd groctan
WguardWHccmbatcdbbmbbthcwcboc8botubcobbcctcd
" Jhc conVcntonal aggcllaton gct-bourgcos ntcllcctua s not aggro
gratc lo most olthchgurcs dscusscd abovc. Man olthcm cac lomlc8
olWcalth manulacturcm mcrcan and bankcm [ngcls LuXcmburg aucr
Lto8smann domo cnamn M bWccz] atgc landoWncm
[oV_ mcngbroa]] or laWs or bcau [M_ Ln].
LommLo t
wththcsOcagagbcmn thcm.wOrng-cassmOvcmcntgabc
l achcvng a dubc sclmancgabOn w nOt grOdu ths
duasm. hc 'Organc tccctuas' cnvsagcd by sc gcnctcd
wthn thc ks Ol thc grOctarat t havc nOt yct Occgcd thc
stmctu rOc n rcvOubOnary sOcasm that hc bcvcd wOud b
thcn. hc cxncmc lOms Ol Otcrcsm that havc chctcrcd
cstcm Mamsm wc symgtOmabc Ol 'dbOnN tcas' n
msc'snscnagcrOdwhcnthc ttcOrnOcOntactbmn
sOcastthcOryand grOctaran gcb. but n thcOngmnthcmturc
OlMarst thcOrywc wth ntcccmasOrgygrOdubythc
IsHW Iass Om mgst wOr mI thcy
stcadygan n cutura sk and l-cOnhdcn.
hchnawOrd CrcstwthLcnn.HslamOusdctumthat'wthOut
rcvOutOnary thcOry thcrc n b nO OubOnay mOvcmcnt' s
Oltcn and rghty guOtcd. but hc asO wrOtc wth ua wght:
'LOct vOubOnary thcOry 0 0 0 assum hna shagc Ony n cOsc
cOnnbOn wth thc gctca actty Ol a y mass and y
rOubOnary mOvcmcnt.' Lvcry cau hcrc cOunts. HcvOutOnary
thcOry C b undcrtakcn n rcabvc sOabOn Mam n thc brbsh
Muum Lcnn nwar-bOund urch:but tcan Onyacguacarrect
and lOmwhcn bOund tO thc cOccbvc sgg Olthc wOrkng
cass tscl. Mcrc lOma mcmbcnhg Ol a garty OrganatOn Olthc
tygcmarn rcnthstOry dOcsnOtsumcctO grOvdcsuchabOnd:
aclate connectian wththcpratical activig OlthcgrOctaratsncccssa.
NOrsmtancy n a sma rcvOutOnarygrOug cnOgh: thcrcmustb
a nkagc wth amal matt. LOnvcrscy nkagc wth a mOvc
mcnt s Ot cnOugh cthcr lOr thc attcr may bc lOmst: t s Ony
whcnthc masscsarctkemelvet rmalmiam, thatthryC cOmctc

crhags thc most dtsungushcd socast thnkct to haYc so comc rom

thcmnksolthccstcWorktngclasstscllhasmcnartonHamondlltams.
3cttlltamssWorkWhlc tha8cocsgondcdcloscltothcgattcmocstcm
MaXtsm ts gtcallacsthcucandcull ocus hasnotbnthatolaMarXst.
MoWcvcrtsclasshtstor-stcadlandconhdcntlgrcscntthroughouttlltamss
Wtngs - has conlccd on ths Work cctan ual8 Whch cannot bc ound
anWhcrc clsc n contcmgomr soctalstWung d Whch m ga oan
uturc rcvoluuonarculturc.

`Lt-ng Lommunsm n nlulc Lsord` S0e, Nol. II

J

r e6
cmncnt vouon. h hvc conddons lor thc succcssml gursut
MarXsm havc not bcn asmblcd anWhcrc n thc advanccd
gNlst World sncc thc bccond orld ar. hc grosQccts lor thcr
maggcc arc noW hoWcvcr at last nCcastng. cn a tml
rcvolutonaQ movcmcnt s bom n a maturc Worktng class thc `hnal
8hagc` ol thcor Wtll havc no cxct grcccdcnt. ll thal can bc sad s
that Whcn thc mass thcmsclvcs sgcak thcorcuc8ns ~ ol thc sort thc
t groduccd lor hlg cM ~ Wll ncccss8rl slcnt.
tcrWOrd
hc camswthwhch thcsayabOvc cOncudcsmustnsgrc ccrtan
scatOns tOday. Or thc ack sOmc ndsgcnsabc guahtOns
and dsbncbOns wthOtWhchthcr Ogcsutmatcya rcducbOnst
Onc agOcaygtc tOnc s la sugt sgn Ol dmcubcs
mgtOry cvadcd Or gnOd. O gO th dmcbcs adc-
guatcy nOt tO sgcak Ol sOvng th wOd nccdanOthcr cssay.
hc mOst that C bc dOnc hc s mcrcy tO ndtc thc nna
wcakncss nthc cOnsnucbOn Olthc grcccdng tcxt. hsC bc statcd
succncty. Mamst thcOry t s argucd thrOughOutn acccntuatcd
tcms tOwards thc cnd acgurcs ts grOgcr cOntOurs Ony n drcct
abOn tO a mass rcvOubOnary mOvcmcnt. hcn thc attcr s
chbcy abscnt Or dclcatcd thc lOmcr s ncvtaby dclOrmcd Or
ccgd.hcgrcmscOlthsgcasvcthcmcsOlcOurscthctcnctOl
thc 'unty Ol thcOry and gcbcc` nadtOnay dccmcd tO dchnc
MamstcstcmOOgyassuch.hcrc arcccrtanhtsnthccssaythat
thcrcatnbctccnthctwOsmOrccOmgcxthanhascustOmarybccn
cOnccdcd but as a whOc thc tcxt s a sustancd ammatOn Ol thc
lundamcnta bOndbctwccnscnccandcasshstOr matcrasmand
grOcmran nsurgcncy n ths ccntury. hc actua cOndtOns Or
grcc hOrOns Olthc unty Ol thcOry and gractcc gOstuatcd arc
nOwhcrc cxamncd. hc rcsut s that thc cOncusOns Ol thc cssay
nvtc an 'actvst` rcadng Ol ts thcscs that cOud bc sccnbhy
untcnabcand gOtcay rrcsgOnsbc.
Or thcrc s an nsugcrabc ObcctOn tO any accOunt Ol Marxsm
suchasthatsuggcstcd n thcastgagcsOlthscssay. tsstrangcthatt
has nOt bccn madc mOrc lgucnty bclOrc. lthc grOgcr dcsgnatOn
lOrMarxsmshstOrmatcrasm tmustb abOvca athcOry
I I0
0m8to@. 3cth8tO@ 8- gm-cmncntl - thc. hcgrcscntand
mc Mc 8l8o o COursc hstOrl and t 8 tO thcsc that thc
bdbOnalgrcCcgtsOndcrOlcOgtaCtCcWthnMarXsmnvOluntarl
rOcr. butthcgastCannOtb altcrcd b an gmCtCc Othcgtcscnt. ts
mO Wll alW88 bc rcntcrgrctcd ts cgOCh8 rcdsCOvcrcd b latcr
gmmbOnst thc nnOt n an sObcr matcralst nsc bc Changcd.
olbllthcakOlvngmcnandWOmcn -nthcaCmalgrcscntand
mcOm lcmturc 8mmcasurablmOrcmgOHntOra8OCalst
m m othO COnsdcmbOn. bCcnmll hoWcvcr thc Ovcr-
WhOngl grcgOndcmt dOman o rMnablc knOWlcdgc s thc
omcdWd.Jhcga8tWhCh nnotb amcndcd oruodOnc n
b WmgmatcrrMnt mthcgrmntWho8caCton8 h8vc
t0 b donQ 8nd thcm8 mOm ot. hcrcWll thu8alWa8rcman
mcNt gart btWn knOWlcdgc 8nd 8CbOn thcOr md
g, or m go88dlc 8Ccn Oh8to@. o msgOnsblc Mam8m
MmO Ndtc rom thc k o Comgrchcndng thc mmcn
othcga8t Or Clam tOcXcrCsc thc jursdCbOn Oa matcral
omabOn ot. Mam8tthcOrs thu8 nOt dcsgtccvcrlaudablc
tcmgtauOn tO bccguatcd Wm arcvOludOnar sOOOlOg. 1tC ncvct
b t6uCcd tO thc `analss O thc Cuncnt COn[unCturc` n a nOW
onablc tcmnOlOg. Or b dchntOn What s Curtcnt sOOn
gas. OCOnhnc MatXsm tO mc COntcmgO s tO COndcmn t tO
8gcrgctual OblvOn nWhCh thc grcscntCcascs tO bcKnOWablc OnCc
td ntO thcgt. cWsOCtaltsts WOuddsntrOm ths.3ctthc
".s is not an imaginy docine A recent wor decIes Marxism, as a
eoreticaIandpoIicaI practice,gainsnothinglromitsassociationwithhistoricaI
ngandstoricaIrearch.hesdyolhistoisnotonIyscientcaIIybut
olitiy vaIueIess. he obect olstory, the past, no matter how it is
conceivd, cannot ect presnt condions. HistoricaI eves do not esad
C ave no materiaI eectivity in the present. he condions olexistence ol
rnt sociaI reIaons necessariIyexistinandareconstantIy reproduced in the
tisnotthe present, whatthepasthasvouchsaledtoaIowus, butthe
cent siation which it is the obect olMarxist theory to eIucidate and ol
MarxistpoIiticaI practicetoactupon.AIIMarxisttheory,howeverabstractitmay
e,owevergeneraIitseId olappIication,existstomakepossibIetheanaIysisol
ecurrentsituaon A historicaIanaIysisolthecurent siationisimpos
iIe.. Hindness adP.Hit,Fre-CapitaltoeojFroJutn,Londoni yyy
. _ I 2.heauthorsolthispronouncement,remotedescendantsolAIthusser, have
e distnction olprocIaimingwithsome precisiontheexasperated consequences
o oicho iniaIprm oltenappecual d unconovei m
Z]erward I I I
cXact 8tatutc Olh8tOr Wmn h8tOr matcra8m ha8 gdOX
ncVcr hthcrtO bccn adcgatc dcbatcd. t 8 ncOmgaubc Wm an
ghO8Ogh gm_mau8m. MarX8m ha8 n th8 n gcrhag8 ct tO
takcWm a duc 8crOu8nc88 t8 cam tO bc a `8ccncc Olh8tOr`. Or
thcgrOudutcOlh8tOrmatcra8mC OnbccarncdbamOdc8t
rc8gcct lOrthcrcatOlt8 twO tcm8. h:8rc8gcct nccc88tatc8a mt
tO thc nOtOn Olmcunt OlthcOr and gractcc. hc _mat gOtca
grObcm8 bclOrc thc ntcmauOna WOrkn_ ca88 n mc wcnucth
ccntur WhO ab8cncc lrOm thc tradtOn Olc8tcm Mam8m ha8
bccn cmgha8Zcd hcm ccrtn rcman 8ub[cct tO t8 r@uauOn. ut
mc act lOm8 and 8hlN Ol t8 c haVc ncVcr ct bccn grOgcr
8mdcd. Xct arcnuncauOn Olmc _cncmand uncrt unVcr8at
mc haVc Oltcn a8crbd tO mc unOn Ol mcOQ and gmctcc ma
acma ad Mam8t8 tO lOu8 mOrc gro8c On mc garucu 8Oca
cOndtOn8 lOr mccmcr_cncc OlrcVOutOnar mcOr and mc8gccuc
8ccnthc grOtOcO8 lOrt8 VadauOn.
h8 8 nOt 8a that twO garatc and 8cacd dOman8 8hOud b
d8tn_u8hcd Wthn h8tOr makra8m - anactVc `gOtc8` and a
ga88Vc `h8tOr thcOnccntrc_OVcmcdbthctda gmctcc8Olthc
ma88c8 thc Othcr dca cmgt tnm thcm. ut t 8 tO gO8c thc
Quc8tOn hthcrtO undu nc_cctcd Olthc rcatOn8hg ~ actua and
gOtcnta - bctwccn `h8tOrO_ragh and `thcOr` Wthn Mam8t
cuturc a8 aWhOc. hc gOuca dctcrmnatOn8 OlmOdcm Wrtn_ Ol
h8tOr Whcthcr Mam8t Or nOn-Mam8t arc8O Wc knOWn that thc
nccd ttc rca88cruOn hcrc. [hc dO nOt OlcOur8ccOn8ututc alOrm
Olthc unt bctwccn thcOr and gractcc n thc c8ca 8cn8c.) hc
h8tOr acQ8tOn8 aVaabc Or nccc88ar lOr mOdcm Wrtn_ n
gOtca OrccOnOmc thcOr Wthn Mam8m haVc nOtbcn 8O Oltcn
cOn8dcrcd. t 8hOud n lact bc cVdcnt thatadVancc8 Wthn MarX8t
h8tOrO_mgh arc gOtcnta Olctt mgOrtancc lOr mc dcVcOg-
mcnt OlMam8tthcOr. 3ct dc8gtc thc lOmatOn OlmajOr 8chOO8 Ol
Mam8t h8tOtO_ragh n ncar a thcadvanccd gta8t cOuntrc8
t cannOt bc8ad that h8tOrca matcra8m a8 a thcOrctca 88tcmha8
bcnchtcd cOmmcn8uratc. hcrc ha8 bcn cOmgaratVc ttc ntc-
_ratOn Ol thc hndn_8 Ol MatX8t h8tOr ntO MarX8t gOt Or
cooVcobooal MarXst accouot8 ol thc uot ol thcor d gracucc wtho
m8torl mtctab8m
I I8
Nnow to datc. h8 anOma aggc8 a thc grcatcr Whcn t 8
ooto matno grOlcOna h8tOrOgragh Olth8tgc cX8tcd n
ccgoOOlc M8mWhct8advcntnaatcrcgOchha8nOt
nodOc chot8 Wthn gO8t-ca88 M8m. cu8c Ol
N noVct mc naturc Ol t8 mgOrt lOr mc 8uucturc Ol h8tOr
m8cN8mB Whochthu8cttO b tthcct,tmght
tmt mc bacc bcwn `h8tOr` and `mor` ma bc
MM8t c ol mc mm atcrn gmnt
O@on
' 1bomcOghM8 8 m Wmch n B matcd mod
won c mO ol mc un ol mUr d gmcdcc 8 ud to
dmoB 8Ocon8tmwnc d`tO` M8m.
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n cOhcrcn Ot 0. n fact thc mO8t mgOrtant
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lact thc rcst Olhs lcwtncsscd asucccssOn Oltrumghantcagtast
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assumcd that cagtasm wOud grOgrcssvcy mtgatc and annu
natOnaty na ncwunvcrsasm n lact dcvcOgmcntsummOncd
and nlOrccd nauOnasm. Hs nabty tO gcrvc thssutcd n a
r Olgvc gOt mstakdurngthc 1j and Whcnthc
a]Or das Ol LurOgcn gOt Wcrc a ntcrcOnncctcd wth
nauOnastsggcs. HcnhshOst tO thc HsOrgmcntO n my
hsngcctOlbsmsmnLcmanyhsaduabOnOlncOnn thc
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natOnasms was clt wth vc damagng cOngucnccs tO atcr
gcnctOns OlsOcasts.
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nsstcnt OlthcsccOnccthcv thcOryOlvaucadvanccdby Mam.
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dctcmnant { cl. ardO ) thcrc s thc grObcm Ol thc datng Ol
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ccOnOmcbrcadOwnOlcagtasmbytsnncrmcchansmsthcsccOnd
asOcabrcakdOwbyylnOtOlanbOnOlthcgrOctat

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thcsnOausOntOsOvctsnhsgOtcaw.hcthcOblaurc
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Lcnn and thc bOshcvks durng and altcr thc Lv ar n thc
mcrc and usbhtOn Ola gObca rcssOn Ol OggOsbOn that
w grObaby grOvc Ol tcn tO havc bcnunn d trOgdc
whcn Mast hstOrans havchOncsty studcd t.
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hstOr dstnctOnbcmncstm and LastcmLurOgcn 9kat
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thcy n whchhc ats t. n lact thc Hussansmtcwhch had ust
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uOOns lrOm Mam and Lngcs On whch Lcnn cd had bcn
cOnccmcd. bylang tOdcmtalcuda autOcracyuncvOylrOm
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lrOm cvcr dcvcOgng a cOgcnt vOutOnary stratcgy n thc t.
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mgantatOn n thc grcatcst ccnocs Ol mOdcm mgcnasm n thc
mcntcsthcAngO-baxOnwOrd OlLngandand LbA.AnOthcrtygc
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and wec nOt nvcntcd. Lcnns ccOnOmcwOrk OnIm
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bmc whcn t was wrttcn [t6 a cOnsdcbc advancc ncvcrthccss
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tact ccOnOc tastrOghsm thus ncbOncd tO dsgcnsc sOcast
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thcmscvswhch tOOkccnturcstOachcvcbOurgcOsdcmOcracylOr
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nda).hcaxOmOl'gcmancntvOuOn mustthcrclOrcbdccmcd
sOl ungrOvcnas agcncthcO.tsdccscOudgcrhagshavc
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dccOgcd anayss OlamOdcgmstsmtcndcwhOcOlcass
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dca wthwhathasgrOvcdtO bnatyglOmOlbOugcOsstatc n
thc mcnbcthccnturyhOwcvcrhstOnymOmcntOusts aggcarancc
was at thc bmc. O thcOrc thc sghcty Olthc lascst statc as thc
mOst dcady cncmy tO anywOrkng cass rOtsky had OlcOursc tO
grOvdc ccmcnts Ot a cOuntcr-thcOry Ol hc bOurgcOsdcmOcratc
statc to cstHbBhtccntratthc. c thu8 mr Ot
substancc On bOurgcOsdcmOccyn hswntngsthannthOscOany
Oths grcdcccssOrs. Owcvcr rOtsky ncvcr dcvcOgcd a systcmatc
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dctcmnatc chccts On hs gOt udgcmcnts altcr thc vctOry Ot
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mgcratvc nccd tO n thc gctty-bOurgcOsc tO anancc wth thc
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grncgc b cxcudcd lrOm any ant-lascst aancc. hc samc shlt s
cvdcntn hsartccs Onthc ar nbgan athOughwthsOmc
guatOns andcOrrcctOns. hcn atthcstart Olthc bccOnd Ord
ar, rOtsy cOndcmncd thc ntcmatOna cOnct as mcrcy an
ntcr-mgcrast rcgcttOn Ol thc rst Ord ar n whch thc
wOrkngcassshOud OgtlOrncthcrsdc- dcsgtc thc tascst charactcr
Olthc Onc and thc bOurgcOs-dcmOcratc charactcr Otthc Othcr. hs
gOstOn asusbcd by an asscrtOn that sncc thc whOc mgcrast
f80
woH dctcO

g tOs OnOmc dsastcr m thc

anyway thc dsbncbOnbmccn thc twO lOms Olcagtast statc had
tO bOlgcb mgOrtancc lOr thc wOrkng cass. hc cOn
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rbagsncvtay ncvcrcxgOd byhm.n gtcu thcthcOryas

bcthcd twnOtkcy tO grcdct Ocxganthccmegcn Ol

nsmt Olths tygc Othcr dan Hussa whcrc thcrc was cthcr nO
Omgarabc ndustra grOcat [Lhna) Or nO cOmgac sOca
OubOn lrOmbOw[Lastcm LurOgc) and whcrcctan ObvOusy
smhstOrcasystcmwotcdwthOutanygrOrdcgcnctOn.
tcr gOcm Ovcr thc cxtcnsOnOldcnOtOn Ol`bmnsm` wcrc tO
htthsdmcty.A hrthcrgrObcmnrOtsky`sgcc cOryOl

thcnmrc Ola burcaucbcd wOrkcn` smtc wa tO bc gOd by hs

bcsthatacrcvc 'gOt rcvOutOn'wasndsgcnsabctOstOrc
- grOctaran dcmcy whcrc t had bccn abOshcdby ausurgcr stc
Ol Ocas. hs grOsgcct has lar rcgcatcdy vndtcd by
dcvcOgmtsnthc LbbHaganst dc hOgcsOlthO kccutschcr
whO bcvcd n thc gOssbty Ol a gdua and gca rclOm Ol
buctc c lmm abOvc. utts grcmsc was cvdcnty thc grc
cxstcnccOlanOrgna grOctarandcmcythathadbccncOnhscatcd
and sO cOud bc cOvcrcd n an mmcdatc gObca rcvOt. n Lhna
cand Luba hOwcvcr thcnOtOnOla `gOtrcvOutOn` has
aggcarcd hstOry much css ObvOusy gcuasvc bcausc Olthc
ackOlany nta sOvcts tO rcstOrc. n OcrwOrdsnthc cOuncs
thcdmcut utOn Ol`datng' thcgcrOd whcn a gOt rcvOutOn
Oud b dmcd a bmcy d nOnutOgan Obtvc was gOd.
Z]tr+erd IBI
roNk lclt lc sccnaros ol hoW ths mght occur cvcn n ussa.
hmc has bccn vrtually no dscusson ol hoW t could or should bc
accomglshcd n Lhna or Luba sncc. bomc ol thc most mgortant
groblcms nvolvcd n any nouon ol a `Workcrs statc or `goltcal
rcvoluuon` thus rcmancd unsolvcd.
h thcn somc ol thc onl groblcms goscd b any stud ol
thc classl ltcmtum ol hstorl matcralsm. o rcgstcr thcm s n
no Wa to lal n rcsgcct lor thc grcatt ol ts thnkcn. t Would b
absum to ma@nc mat M or Lor roNk could havc succcss-
mllg 8olvcd all mc groblcm8 ol thcr llc-tmc8 ~ lct alOnc tho Whch
cmcrgcd altcr thcm. hat M dd not doghcr thc cngma ol nauonal-
sm that Lcnn dd not clucdatc thc Wa ol bou@cos dcmocracy
that rotsk dd not gmct moluuons Wthout sovcts s ocson
ncthcr lor surgrsc nor lor ccnsurc. hc scalc ol thcr achcvcmcnts s
not dmnshcd by any lst ol thcr omssons or msNkcs. ndd sncc
thc mdton thcy mgmscnt Ws alWays conmcd Wth goltcal and
cconomc structurcs n a Way that cstcm MarXsm Wth ts tyglly
ghlosoghl orcntaton Was not thc samc ssucs rc-cmmgc gractlly
as unvcrsal groblcms bclorc any soalst mltant n thc contcmgorary
World. c havc sn hoW numcrous and nsstcnt thcsc arc by noW.
What s thc consttuuvc naturc ol bourgcos dcmocmcy hat s thc
luncton and mturc ol thc naton-statc hat s thc rcal charactcr ol
mgcnalsm 8 a systcm hat s thc hstorl mcapng ol a Workcn
statc Wthout Workcn` dcmoracy MoW can a socalst rcvoluton bc
madc n thc advanccd cagtalst counucs MoW ntcmatonalsm b
madc a gcnunc gmctcc not mcrcly a gous dcal MoW can thc la ol
grcvous rcvoluuons n comgarablc condtons bc avodcd n thc
cX-colonal counucs MoW n cstablshcd systcms ol burcaucratc
grvlcgc and oggmsson bc attackcd and abltshcd hat Would bc
thc smcturc ol an authcnoc socalst dcmocracy hcsc arc thc grcat
unansWmcd groblcms that lom thc most urgcnt agcnda lor MaOst
mcory today.
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