Marxism
Prof. Richard Wolff: “Socialism represents the critical demand to extend democracy into the economic sphere”
Prof. Richard Wolff. DR.
Mohsen Abdelmoumen: You have done a very important work throughout these years and you wrote among other things this remarkable book New Departures in Marxian Theory that you co-signed with your colleague Stephen Resnick. In your opinion, is there not a need for a revolutionary interpretation of Marxism far off the beaten track?
Prof. Richard Wolff: Marx and Marxism were themselves overdetermined (in Althusser’s sense) by their social conjunctures. So too will be the next revolutionary interpretation(s) of Marxism. The current global crisis of capitalism, built on its global collapse of 2008-2009, plus the criticisms by Marxists of (1) the rise and fall of the USSR and (2) other early experiments in constructing « socialisms » will together produce those next revolutionary interpretations. On this let me direct you and your readers to two works: S. Resnick and R. Wolff, Class Theory and History: Capitalism and Communism in the USSR (Routledge, 2002) and also R. Wolff, Understanding Marxism (2019). Lire la suite »
Dr. Charles McKelvey: « Venezuela is a threat to the neocolonial world-system »
Dr. Charles McKelvey. DR.
Mohsen Abdelmoumen: You have written a very relevant and important book to understand the Cuban Revolution: The Evolution and Significance of the Cuban Revolution. In the light of your book, can we say that the Cuban revolution was very important for the emancipation not only of the Cuban people but of all the peoples of Latin America?
Dr. Charles McKelvey: I consider the Cuban Revolution to be a paradigmatic Third World Revolution. It has the dual character that essentially has defined Third World movements and revolutions: (1) an anti-colonial/neocolonial revolution that seeks the liberation of the nation from foreign imperialist domination, and (2) a revolution of social liberation, seeking the transformation of capitalist economic-political-cultural institutions. Lire la suite »
Prof. Martin E. Jay: “We all, alas, live in a war zone now”
Prof. Martin E. Jay. DR.
Mohsen Abdelmoumen: You wrote “Marxism and Totality: The Adventures of a Concept from Lukacs to Habermas”. Why, in your opinion, has totality been at the center of the thought of early Marxist philosophers such as Lukács, Korsch, Gramsci and Bloch?
Prof. Martin E. Jay: The category of totality, whose importance for Marxist theory Lukács emphasized in History and Class Consciousness (1923), was introduced to overcome the exaggerated role given to the economy by traditional, Second International Marxism. Although under capitalism, the economy as a distinct sub-sphere of society as a whole did play an exorbitant role, it was never simply a “base” or “substructure” on which a “superstructure” of culture, politics, religion, etc. was entirely dependent. Even more importantly, in the transition away from capitalism, which the theorists you mention hoped was actually happening, the relative autonomy of culture and politics within the totality of social relations would grow. Lire la suite »
Peter Mertens: “There is a counter-power that exists on the world scale as long as the Palestinian people will resist”
Peter Mertens. DR.
Mohsen Abdelmoumen: What do you think of the revival of populist and neo-Nazi movements in Europe in general and in Belgium in particular?
Peter Mertens: After the crisis of overproduction in 1973 and the financial bubble that erupted in 2008 by banks and speculators, we knew very well that the world could only take two directions, either the camp of the establishment itself and therefore of the elite who wanted to go even further and who wanted to install an unlimited capitalism, that is to say without counter-powers, without unions, without communist party, without alternatives, in eliminating the very idea of an alternative, unions and organized labor movements and install a kind of oligarchy, that is, an open dictatorship of capital. On the other hand, we can also see that the alternative movement, that is to say the workers’ movement and the communist forces, the Marxist forces, are seeking their way to remobilize themselves and remobilize the working class in the broad sense of the term. Lire la suite »
Peter Mertens : « Il y a un contre-pouvoir qui existe à l’échelle mondiale tant que le peuple palestinien résistera »
Peter Mertens. DR.
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Mohsen Abdelmoumen : Que pensez-vous du retour en force des mouvements populistes et néo-nazis en Europe en général et en Belgique en particulier ?
Peter Mertens : Après la crise de surproduction de 1973 et la bulle financière qui a éclaté en 2008 par les banques et par les spéculateurs, on savait très bien que le monde ne pouvait prendre que deux directions, soit le camp de l’establishment même et donc de l’élite qui voulait aller encore plus loin et qui voulait installer un capitalisme sans limite, c’est-à-dire sans contre-pouvoirs, sans syndicats, sans parti communiste, sans alternatives, en éliminant l’idée même d’alternative, de syndicats et de mouvements ouvriers organisés, et installer une sorte d’oligarchie, c’est-à-dire une dictature du capital ouverte. D’un autre côté, on voit aussi que le mouvement alternatif, c’est-à-dire le mouvement ouvrier et les forces communistes, les forces marxistes, sont en train de chercher leur voie pour se remobiliser et remobiliser la classe ouvrière dans le sens large du terme. Lire la suite »
Prof. Mike Davis: “There was once a generation of lions”
Prof. Mike Davis. DR.
Mohsen Abdelmoumen: You call yourself an « old school socialist ». Can you tell us why?
Prof. Mike Davis: Hm, ‘old school Socialist.’ I suppose I’m making three claims. First, socialism – the belief that the earth belongs to labor – is my moral being. In fact it is my religion, the values that anchor the commitments that define my life. Second, ‘old school’ implies putting in work year after year for the good cause. In academia one runs across people who call themselves Marxists and go to lots of conferences but hardly ever march on a picketline, go to a union meeting, throw a brick or simply help wash the dishes after a benefit. What’s even worse they deign to teach us the ‘real Marx’but lack the old Moor’s fundamental respect for individual working people and his readiness to become a poor outlaw on their behalf. Lire la suite »
Louis Proyect: “What is happening in South Africa today and Algeria for decades now is a tragedy.”
Louis Proyect. DR.
Mohsen Abdelmoumen: How do you explain the decline of the American Left?
Louis Proyect: The left that I joined in 1967 embraced a “Marxist-Leninist” model that led to deeply sectarian concepts and even cult-like tendencies. This was true of both Trotskyist groups, such as the one I belonged to, and Maoist groups. I have written many articles about these problems that can be read at: http://www.columbia.edu/~lnp3/mydocs/organization.htm but would recommend “Lenin in Context” as a good place to start. Lire la suite »
