Marxism and Social Science

"Has Marxism ceased to be part of our political present and future? Crises are not new to Marxism, but many believe that the current crisis is terminal. For much of the twentieth century, a critical engagement with Marx and Marxism has been an essential part of social science, with even anti-Marxists reliant on Marxist thought for the formulation of their ideas. Yet for many engaging for the first time with social science in a post-cold war world, Marxist ideas, concerns, and methods seem to belong to a past era. "Marxism and Social Science" argues that Marxism continues as a living tradition, a system of thought that remains relevant and instructive to other theoretical positions and contemporary world changes. Contributors address Marxism's engagement with other perspectives in social science, including feminism, the New Right, and postmodernism, as well as the utility of Marxist approaches to a wide range of substantive issues: the state, welfare, democracy, culture, class, globalization, ecology, nationalism, and communism. What emerges is the extraordinary richness and diversity of the Marxist intellectual tradition and its enduring importance for understanding the twenty-first century world." Crises are not new to Marxism, but many believe that the current crisis is terminal. For much of the twentieth century a critical engagement with Marx and Marxism has been an essential part of social science, with even anti-Marxists reliant upon Marxist thought for the formulation of their own ideas. Yet for many engaging for the first time with social science in a post-Cold Warworld, Marxist ideas, concerns, and methods seem to belong to a past era.Has Marxism ceased to be part of our political present and future? Has its theory or doctrine anything to contribute to our understanding of the new millennium? In these original, commissioned essays, the contributors argue that Marxism continues as a living tradition. They show how it still engages with other theoretical positions, how it has evolved in response to both these engagements and contemporary world changes, and they assess its relevance and contribution to modern social science.Divided into two parts, the book first addresses the engagement of Marxism with other perspectives in social science, including Feminism, the New Right, Regulation Theory, and Postmodernism and concludes with a consideration of the extent to which Marxism can be considered scientific. Part Two assesses the utility of Marxist approaches to a broad span of substantive issues - the State, Welfare Democracy, Culture, Class, Globalization, Ecology, Nationalism, and Communism. What emerges most clearly throughout is the extraordinary richness and diversity of the Marxist intellectual tradition and its enduring importance for understanding and analyzing the twenty-first-century world. Copywright......Page 2 Contents......Page 3 Notes on the Contributors......Page 5 1 Why Bother with Marxism? (Andrew Gamble)......Page 9 PART ONE: CRITICAL ENGAGEMENTS......Page 17 2 Marxism and Feminism(Stevi Jackson)......Page 19 3. Marxism and Regulation Theory(Michael Kenny)......Page 43 4. Marxism and Postmodernity(Glyn Daly)......Page 69 5. Marxism and New Right Theory(Andrew Gamble)......Page 93 6. Marxism as Social Science(Tony Tant)......Page 112 PART TWO: SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES......Page 135 7. Marxism and Social Class(Jim Johnston and David P. Dolowitz)......Page 137 8. Marxism and the State(Colin Hay)......Page 160 9. Marxism and the Welfare State(Chris Pierson)......Page 183 10. Marxism and Culture(Charlie McMahon)......Page 203 11. Marxism and Nationalism(Trevor Purvis)......Page 225 12. Marxism and Democracy(Daryl Glaser)......Page 247 13. Marxism and Ecology(John Barry)......Page 267 14. Marxism and Globalisalion(Simon Bromley)......Page 288 15. Marxism, Communism and Post-communism(Neil Robinson)......Page 310 16. Resurrecting Marxism(David Marsh)......Page 328 Bibliography......Page 349 Index......Page 381 "Has Marxism ceased to be part of our political present and future? Has its theory or doctrine anything to contribute to our understanding of the new millennium? In these original, commissioned essays, the contributors argue that Marxism continues as a living tradition. They show how it still engages with other theoretical positions, how it has evolved in response to both these engagements and contemporary world changes, and they assess its relevance and contribution to modern social science."--Jacket