Les Avatars du marxisme

In: Res publica: politiek-wetenschappelijk tijdschrift van de Lage Landen ; driemaandelijks tijdschrift, Band 29, Heft 2, S. 177-192

Abstract

For many years, Marxism was the frame of reference for the European workers' movement. It took the form of a millenarist faith & was embodied in large organizations; however, this orthodox Marxism lost its reason for existence when the Wc became integrated in modern society. The advent of Communist governments in Eastern Europe brought a new inspiration, but at the expense of intellectual degeneration; when it became a state religion, Marxism ceased being creative. The various forms of leftism that emerged in the 1960s are the last avatars of Marxism in the developed countries, but they have only a remote relationship with Karl Marx's doctrine. A similar process took place in the Third World, where Marxist-Leninism was absorbed by nationalism. Modified HA