Marxism is often thought of as a 'dead ideology', with the fall of the
Soviet Union cited as empirical proof that it has been tried, tested and
found wanting.
This is a remarkable misreading of what Marxism, and other political philosophies and ideologies, actually are.
Political
ideologies and philosophies are best understood as tendencies, often
grouped around a distinctive reading of history or central principles
that help organise and interpret information about the world around us.
The word "Marxism" itself reflects the human impulse to simplify and
personalise complex bodies of thought. Karl Marx was operating within
the context of a wider European intellectual movement, loosely labelled
Socialism, and had contemporaries, such as Bakunin, who had significant
political legacies themselves.
A critical
contribution made by Marx was an enduring critique of Capitalism, some
aspects of which, especially the theory of forced extraction of surplus
labour, remain extremely influential today.
It
is important not to see this critique as static, although Marx's was
bound in a time-period, his critique birthed an evolving and dynamic
corpus of critical study, one which is as relevant and changing as its
subject, Capitalism.
Once we separate out
"Marxism" from the wider intellectual tendency of "Socialism", we still
struggle to identify a discreet ideology as understood as a
implementable political program.
Rather than seeing the Soviet Union as "Marxism in practice", it is better seen as a State project inspired by Marx, as
interpreted, adapted and implemented by Lenin (an intellectual in his
own right) in an economic and social context never anticipated by Marx
himself, who was focused on the advanced capitalist societies of Western
Europe.
So we are left with Marxism as
an internally diverse worldview, an enduring critique of Capitalism and
principles for societal analysis. Two central principles can be
discerned as particularly central, a materialistic understanding of the
progression of history and a dialectic view of social transformation.
These
Marxist principles have an influence far beyond the realm of politics, they still affect our readings of history, of culture and cultural criticism,
of art and literature and even archaeology. Individuals working in these fields use Marxism as a useful critical perspective divorced from the existence, or non-existence, of a state-sanctioned form of Marxism.
In
conclusion, we can see Marxism was not born in isolation as a political
programme or 'ideology' in the narrow sense. It was born as a critique
of a developing form of capitalism and out of the wider Socialist
intellectual movement, evolving alongside both.
It
has had an enduring influence on many different fields of human
endeavour, its legacy, like all philosophies, is fiercely contested even
as it continues to evolve.
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