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In this article an attempt is made both to utilize the economistic, reductionist features of Marxist political theory, and to suggest conceptual tools for overcoming such features. The utility of the conceptual framework proposed is demonstrated by applying it to the analysis of political developments in two late-industrializing societies: Argentina and Greece

THE MAJOR THESIS OF THE WRITINGS OF ERNESTO LACLAU AND CHANTAL MOUFFE IS THAT THE CORE OF ALL MARXIST THEORY IS BASED ON A NECESSITARIAN, DETERMINISTIC LOGIC THAT EMPHASIZES IRON LAWS, A STRICT SUCCESSION OF STAGES, THE INEVITABILITY OF THE PROLETARIAN REVOLUTION, AND SO FORTH. THIS LOGIC REDUCES COMPLEXITY AND LEADS TO AN ESSENTIALIST VIEW OF THE SOCIAL AND TO A CLOSED, MONISTIC TYPE OF THEORETICAL DISCOURSE. ALL ATTEMPTS TO SOFTEN MARXISM'S DETERMINISTIC CORE BY STRESSING INDETERMINACY, COMPLEXITY, THE IMPORTANCE OF AGENCY, AND THE RELATIVE AUTONOMY OF THE POLITICAL ARE SIMPLY AD HOC ADDITIONS TO A THEORETICAL EDIFICE THAT, IN ITS FOUNDATIONS, REMAINS IRRETRIEVABLY MONISTIC.

Defends Marxist theory against Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe (who replied in number 166 to a criticism of their work by Norman Geras in 163), while maintaining that there remains in Marxist conceptions of politics a reductionism that still needs correction. (Abstract amended)

Modernization among Peasants: The Impact of Communication, by Everett M. Rogers in association with L. SvenningModernising Peasant Societies: A Comparative Study in Asia and Africa, by Guy HunterAgrarian Problems and Peasant Movements in Latin America, edited by Rodolfo StavenhagenLes classes sociales dans les sociétés agraires, by Rodolfo Stavenhagen

Argues that Therborn's case, NLR, 194 July/August 1992, that the present crisis of the Left lies in its success in overcoming earlier problems, is true of social democracy but not of communism. Urges leftist intellectuals to abandon their disdain for social democracy which remains a vital force. With reply.