Western Marxism

Western Marxism is a term coined by Maurice Merleau-Ponty and used to describe a wide variety of thinkers in Western Europe (and later North America) who made contributions to Marxist theory after the rise of Communism in Russia. Georg Lukács's History and Class Consciousness and Karl Korsch's Marxism and Philosophy, first published in 1923, are often seen as the works which inaugurated this current. Its proponents have mostly (but not exclusively) been professional academics. Western Marxists have tended to see Marx as a philosopher before all else and have stressed the Hegelian and humanist elements of his thought (although the term has been applied to the anti-humanist Louis Althusser as well). In lieu of economic analysis, Western Marxism emphasises the study of culture by reference to the theories of ideology and superstructure, which are only thinly sketched in the writings of Marx and Engels themselves.

Related Topics:
Maurice Merleau-Ponty - Western Europe - North America - Marxist theory - Communism - Russia - Georg Lukács - Karl Korsch - 1923 - Academics - Marx - Philosopher - Hegelian - Humanist - Louis Althusser - Economic - Culture - Ideology - Superstructure - Engels

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Western Marxists have varied in terms of political commitment: Lukács, Gramsci and Althusser were all members of Soviet-aligned parties; Karl Korsch was heavily critical of Soviet Marxism, advocating council communism and later Maoism; the theorists of The Frankfurt School tended towards political quietism, although Herbert Marcuse became known as the 'father of the New Left'; Sartre and Merleau-Ponty were, for a period, supporters of the Communist Party of France, but both would later repudiate Marxism altogether; the influence of Ernst Bloch and Antonio Gramsci would be seen in liberation theology.

Related Topics:
Soviet - Council communism - Maoism - Quietism - New Left - Communist Party of France - Liberation theology

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See also: Neo-Marxism, Critical Theory, Cultural Studies

Related Topics:
Neo-Marxism - Critical Theory - Cultural Studies

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