Suchergebnisse

"In A Philosophy for Communism: Rethinking Althusser Panagiotis Sotiris attempts a reading of the work of the French philosopher centered upon his deeply political conception of philosophy. Althusser's endeavour is presented as a quest for a new practice of philosophy that would enable a new practice of politics for communism, in opposition to idealism and teleology. The central point is that in his trajectory from the crucial interventions of the 1960s to the texts on aleatory materialism, Althusser remained a communist in philosophy. This is based upon a reading of the tensions and dynamics running through Althusser's work and his dialogue with other thinkers. Particular attention is paid to crucial texts by Althusser that remained unpublished until relatively recently"--

Abstract
Passive revolution is one of the most debated notions to come out of the Prison Notebooks. It belongs to the notions that have been used as 'established' descriptions of historical and political sequences. However, a reading of Gramsci's texts suggests that passive revolution is not a 'historical phase' and is not limited to the historical interpretation of a particular historical period. Nor is it part of an historical 'canon' that would suggest that, in the absence of a 'proper' Jacobin revolution, the only alternative is passive revolution. Rather it points to the experimental character of the Prison Notebooks and Gramsci's confrontation with the profound changes in state apparatuses (and hegemonic apparatuses) and practices of politics and hegemony after WWI, in particular the new 'mass' forms of politics and ideological interpellation, and his attempt to elaborate a strategic–theoretical thinking suited to revolutionary politics in such a context.

Ted Stolze's Becoming Marxist is an impressive book and one of the most important recent contributions to the question of a materialist practice of philosophy. Although it is not a typical monograph, it is not simply a collection of texts. There is a common thread running through the different texts that gives the book the character of coherent research project into the possibility of a materialist intervention that could really support a politics of self-emancipation and the ethics and civility that go along with it.

Promises of communism, traces of communism, outlines of communism, islets of communism: Althusser's metaphors for communism emerging at the margins of existing social forms point towards important open questions for any rethinking of a strategy for communism: Is communism just a political project or a political design for a post-capitalist society or is the projection, elaboration, and expansion of social forms already appearing within contemporary capitalist society as a result of collective struggles, resistances, and experimentations that bring out the collective ingenuity of the subaltern classes and groups? Can a political project for radical social transformation simply be a generalisation of the dynamics emerging within contemporary social dynamics? How can we think the political and organisational labour needed to turn these elements into new social forms? The aim of this paper is to attempt to revisit and rethink the tensions of Althusser's thinking of communism emerging at the margins or interstices of capitalist society.

Abstract
COVID-19 is not only a health emergency but also a strategic challenge for any politics of resistance, struggle and transformation. Understanding the social and political dynamics associated with morbidity and mortality and the many 'ecologies of disease' associated with the pandemic is necessary if we want to think beyond the limits of the lockdown strategy. It is here that the possibility of a democratic biopolitics emerges as part of a broader strategy for communism.

The aim of this paper is twofold. On the one hand it attempts to retrace the emergence of the notion of the hegemonic project, in various debates, beginning with the debate within British Marxism on Thatcherism as a hegemonic project, but also the use of the notion of the hegemonic project in critical International Relations Theory. On the other hand, by means of a return to Gramsci's thinking on hegemony, it attempts to rethink the notion of the hegemonic project in contemporary political debates in the left and to suggest that we must attempt to think of hegemonic projects not as simple political projects or electoral strategies, but rather as historical initiatives of the subaltern. On this basis, the possibility of a subaltern hegemonic practice of politics is revisited. Gramsci; Hegemony; Hegemonic project; Marxism; Radical politics.

Promises of communism, traces of communism, outlines of communism, islets of communism: Althusser's metaphors for communism emerging at the margins of existing social forms point towards important open questions for any rethinking of a strategy for communism: Is communism just a political project or a political design for a post-capitalist society or is the projection, elaboration, and expansion of social forms already appearing within contemporary capitalist society as a result of collective struggles, resistances, and experimentations that bring out the collective ingenuity of the subaltern classes and groups? Can a political project for radical social transformation simply be a generalisation of the dynamics emerging within contemporary social dynamics? How can we think the political and organisational labour needed to turn these elements into new social forms? The aim of this paper is to attempt to revisit and rethink the tensions of Althusser's thinking of communism emerging at the margins or interstices of capitalist society. ; Obljube komunizma, sledi komunizma, orisi komunizma, otočki komunizma: Althusserjeve metafore komunizma, ki se pojavijo na obrobju obstoječih družbenih oblik, opozarjajo na pomembna odprta vprašanja za vsak ponovni razmislek o strategiji za komunizem: Ali je komunizem zgolj politični projekt, ali predstavlja politično obliko postkapitalistične družbe, ali pa je projekcija, elaboracija in razširitev družbenih oblik, ki se že pojavljajo v sodobni kapitalistični družbi kot rezultat kolektivnih bojev, uporov in eksperimentiranj, ki razkrivajo kolektivno domiselnost subalternih razredov in skupin? Je lahko politični projekt radikalne družbene preobrazbe zgolj posplošitev dinamik, ki se pojavlja v sodobnih družbenih dinamikah? Kako lahko mislimo politično in organizacijsko delo, ki je potrebno, da te elemente preobrne v nove družbene oblike? Namen tega prispevka je predstaviti poskus ponovnega premisleka tenzij v Althusserjevem mišljenju o komunizmu, ki se pojavlja na obrobjih ali v vrzelih kapitalistične družbe.

Abstract
This article deals with theories and political projects that can be defined as 'left populism'. It begins with a reading and critique of the work of Ernesto Laclau on the theory of populism and then moves to recent debates about the possibility of left-populist movements. In contrast to these positions it attempts to present an alternative theoretical framework based on Gramscian notions, in order to rethink the notion of the people in ways that do not de-link it from class analysis and social relations of production.

On the occasion of the publication of the translation of Pierre Raymond's text on Althusser's materialism, we attempt an introduction to his theoretical trajectory. We begin with his conception of the conflict between materialism and idealism inLe passage au matérialismein 1973 and his thinking on the question of the history of sciences inL'histoire & les sciences(1975), before turning our attention to his elaboration on the question of a history of mathematics and in particular of the emergence of probabilistic reasoning. Then we examine his confrontation with the question of the relation between materialism and dialectics inMatérialisme dialectique et logique. After that, we proceed to his conception of the need to break with any form of teleology and finalism as the starting point for a new conception of causality (La résistible fatalité de l'histoireof 1982), before looking atDissiper la terreur et les ténèbresof 1992 and his attempt to rethink the question of practical reason. It is in light of the above presentation that we insist on the importance of Raymond's text on Althusser.

Peter Thomas has written an important book that brings forward the full importance of Gramsci's strategic concepts and the pertinence they have for current theoretical and political debates. Based upon this interpretation of Gramsci, this text attempts a critical reading of the contradictory stance of the Althusserian School towards his work. Using Althusser's own ambivalence towards Gramsci as a starting-point, the main aim of this article is to reconstruct Poulantzas's direct and indirect dialogue with Gramsci. Despite Poulantzas's reservations and criticisms regarding aspects of Gramsci's work, his theoretical endeavour not only is indebted to Gramsci, but also represents, despite its shortcomings and limits, one of the more original and profound theoretical attempts to come to terms with the theoretical challenges posed by Gramsci's elaboration on hegemony, hegemonic apparatuses and the 'integral state'.

The relation between structure and conjuncture has been one of the biggest challenges facing social theory and Louis Althusser's writings provide some of the most important interventions on this subject. Contrary to an image of Althusser first embracing and then abandoning structuralism, Althusser tried from the beginning to articulate the theory of structural causality with an insistence on the singularity of historical conjunctures. Althusser's theoretical trajectory, despite his shortcomings, still offers a necessary starting point for a materialist conception of the relation between structural and conjunctural determinations that stresses the complex, uneven and overdetermined character of social reality without resorting either to a 'surface phenomena/deep structures' dualism or to the empiricism of simply registering singular practices.