The Dismal Science of Post-Marxist Political Theory: Is There a Future in Postindustrial Socialism?
The Dismal Science of Post-Marxist Political Theory: Is There a Future in Postindustrial Socialism?

Summary/Abstract: Th e fusion of postindustrial social theory with a new left political critique ofclassical Marxism resulted in a distinctly Post-Marxist political theory. Th is distinct politicaltheory emerged during the 1980s, although it was quickly pushed aside by globalizationstudies in the 1990s. Th is paper argues that Post-Marxism is conceptually distinctfrom post-modernism, post-structuralism, and other variants of the New Left withmost fundamental distinction being the idea that Marxian concepts are still necessary, ifnot suffi cient for understanding postindustrial and global capitalism. More specifi cally,theorists such as André Gorz, Jürgen Habermas, Antonio Negri, and Claus Off e, amongothers, have articulated the foundations of this uniquely Post-Marxist political theory byanchoring their economic analysis of postindustrial capitalism in Marx’s Grundrisse ratherthan Capital. Th is conceptual shift has enabled Post-Marxists to construct a theoreticallypowerful analysis of postindustrial capitalism, the new movements, and socialistpolicy that was remarkably prescient, although none of the Post-Marxists has successfullysolved the problem of a contemporary historical subject and political agency.

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