Suchergebnisse

A number of issues concerning the concept of class in Marxist theory are subjected to panel discussion. Traditional Marxist class theory (the theory of the period of entrepreneurial capitalism) & critical theory (the theory of the transition to monopoly capitalism) have both become obsolete. Without a crisis theory, Marxism does not have revolutionary implications; American culture never went through a crisis of the traditional kind, & the crisis now emerging will not be of the classic kind. Orthodox Marxism held that a contradiction in the economy led to a contradiction in culture, which led to revolution; after the moment when this was true passed, critique did not directly relate to action. The problem is whether a critical or crisis theory is possible without the notion of class. The neo-Marxist issue is to explain why class consciousness has not emerged. An alternative possible approach is to recognize Marxism as a secularization of the Judaeo-Christian tradition. This leads to a need for different approaches, & to a mistrust of theory as an approach to life; the problem is to go beyond reified abstractions. W. H. Stoddard.