This paper will open with a focus on alienated and unfree activity as it is presented by Marx in his famous Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. My concern will be to bring out the most central dimensions of his view of such activity including: the alienated relation in such activity to other people, to one’s own activity, to the products of one’s activity, to the natural world, etc. Moreover, I will be especially concerned to bring out the mode of (...) reason that is embedded within alienated activity, as well as the kind of relation between cognition, conation, sensory experience, feeling, (etc.) that Marx projects as obtaining in such activity. Following this I will make a dialectical extrapolation from the analysis of alienated activity that Marx gives us, and go on to present a sketch of a humanistic-Marxist interpretation of unalienated and free activity. This will be seen to involve not only a very different structural relation to other people, to one’s own activity, and to the natural world than the one that obtains in alienated activity—but also a very different structural relation between cognition, conation, sensoryexperience, feeling, (etc.). Then I will give a sketch of a praxis-oriented interpretation of historical materialism, which will serve to bring out the historicity of reason, and the historicity of the modes of rationality that prevail at various stages in world history. The last section of this paper will argue: (1) that a transformation of reason is a real possibility; (2) that a transformation of reason in the direction of the kind of unalienated and free activity I have delineated earlier offers the best hope for a human future and a sustainable relation to the natural world; and also (3) that at this juncture in human history it has now become a practical necessity, if humankind is to lift itself out of the mounting world crisis—spiritual and otherwise—in which we are all enmeshed. (shrink)

In this paper I argue that Buddhism and humanistic-Marxism have much in common, and that they really are quite complementary in many ways. Early on I cite the Dalai Lama and some remarks he makes in relation to Buddhism and Marxism—remarks that seem not to make a distinction between orthodox-Marxism and humanistic-Marxism. I then go on to give a brief sketch of some of the central aspects of humanistic-Marxism; and in doing 50 I draw from (...) a number of well-known Eastern European philo-sophers. Among other things, I focus on the relation between the early and late Marx, "praxis", 'free conscious activity", historical materialism, the spiritual dimension in Marx and its role in social transformations, etc. After a brief indication of the Buddhist "four noble truths", I bring out that both Marx and Buddha are deeply concerned about human suffering; but that there is an important difference in emphasis with respect to the external and internal Factors associated with human suffering. I go on to bring out that both perspectives agree that there is no creator God, or eternal soul; and that both perspectives see reality as process in character. For each perspective this means that things are what they are by virtue of the dynamic interrelations they have with other things. whether directly and indirectly. I bring out that both perspectives begin their analysis of the human condition with the given situation in which human beings find themselves, and that both perspectives see human beings as the makers of themselves, but that they do so in somewhat different ways. Also both perspectives see human beings as making themselves on the basis of the ways they have made themselves in the past, but as doing so in ways that are not fatalistic. In this connection I compare the Buddhist view of karma, and an overlapping view of social karma in Marx. Also I discuss Buddhism ancj Marxism with respect to the notion of the ego-self, and the question of whether there are many different forms of the ego-self; and if so, how such different forms might come about, and what this would mean in relation to the Buddhist notion of ''samsara". Finally,! point to a way that humanistic-Marxism could consistently acknowledge a possible transcendence of the ego-self. In passing I point out that the notion of "unalienated spirituality" in Marx has much in common with the Buddhist notion of "enlightenment". (shrink)

One of the aims of this study is to lay the ground for the possibility of intermingling Marxist ideas with organizational development. The paper explains the meaning of humanism in organization setting in the light of a labor-oriented paradigm. It also proposes steps on how this alternative frame and mindset will work on actual change practices in the organization by juxtaposing Richard Beckhard's organization development strategies with the Humanistic - Marxist paradigm.

Western Marxism, since its Western deviation and theoretical development in the 1920s, developed in diverse ways that has reflected the broader philosophical environment. First, a theory of conscio...

Marxism is often claimed to be incompatible with any kind of ethical theory, because of its assumptions of economic determinism, of the class character of morals, and of the subordination of morality to politics. But the author proposes that these assumptions can be interpreted in such a flexible way as not to rule out the freedom of choice and responsibility, die relative independence of morals from economic conditions and political ends, and concepts of universal human value and a specifically (...) moral ideal. A humanist philosophy, centered in Marx's analysis of alienation, provides a sufficiently rich theoretical basis for the solution of both ethical and meta-ethical' problems. (shrink)

At the end of his life, Stuart Hall called for the reengagement of Cultural Studies and Marxism. This paper contributes to this task. It analyses Stuart Hall’s works on communication and the media.The goal of the paper is to read Stuart Hall in a manner that can inform the renewal of Marxist Humanism and the development of a Marxist-Humanist theory of communication. This involves reconstructing elements of Hall’s approach, criticising certain aspects of his work, and through this engagement (...) developing new theory elements.The article’s analysis of Stuart Hall’s theory of communication and the media is conducted in four steps. First, the paper reengages and re-evaluates what Hall called the two paradigms of Cultural Studies: Structuralism and “Culturalism”/Humanism. It discusses the role of human agency in society. Second, the paper engages with Hall’s and Althusser’s notions of articulation and sets the notion of articulation in relation to the concept of communication. Third, it discusses the relationship between communication and work in the context of Hall’s works. Fourth, the article revisits and engages with Hall’s encoding/decoding-model in the context of digitalisation.This paper grounds a dialectical concept of communication that is based on the dialectic of articulating and articulatedness, the dialectic of work and communication, as well as the dialectic of communication in the public sphere and society’s power forcefields. It shows how a critical, dialectical theory of communication benefits from engagement with Stuart Hall’s works. The present work argues with, for, against, and beyond Stuart Hall in order or productively draw on ideas that emerge from this engagement. (shrink)

The ontological and analytical status of Marxian social theory has been a matter of fierce controversy since Marx’s death, both within and without Marxist circles. A particular source of contention has been over whether Marxism should be construed as an objective science of the capitalist mode of production or as an ethico-philosophical critique of bourgeois society. This is paralleled by the dispute over whether Marxism ought to be considered a humanism or a structuralism. This article addresses both sides (...) of this debate. The argument is that, rather than Marx’s own social thought being split into incompatible poles, giving rise to ‘two Marxisms’, it forms a coherent unity. Marx’s social theory is neither humanist philosophy, nor structural science, but is in fact realist science, which synthesizes these apparent antinomies, and thereby transcends both. (shrink)

This article brings together the history of the social sciences and the history of social thought in Socialist Romania. It is concerned with the development of ideas about the social beyond collectivism, especially about the relationship between individual and society under socialism, from the early 1960s to the end of the 1970s. The analysis speaks to three major themes in the current historiography of Cold War social science. First, the article investigates the role of disciplinary specialization in the advancement of (...) new ideas about the social in the postwar period. Specifically, it asks how the debate over the relationship between sociology and Marxism-Leninism has challenged ideas about collectivism from Stalinist social science. Second, the article shows how social practice, individual and collective agency, and people's subjectivities became theoretically relevant in the 1960s, and how they were integrated, via empirical sociological research, into the reworked conceptual apparatus of post-Stalinist Marxism-Leninism. This complicates accounts about the role of quantification and theorization in postwar social science by foregrounding the intense reflection on the role of empirical research in sociology under state socialism. Third, the article shows how the relationship between individual and society became a topic of interest across social sciences in the 1960s and 1970s. The Marxist humanist approach to the social, although it never achieved the institutional status of a distinct discipline, adds an important perspective from East Central Europe to the existing historiography of the ‘thinning’ of the social in social sciences and social thought beginning in the 1950s. (shrink)

I argue that we must read Alasdair MacIntyre’s mature work through a Marxist lens. I begin by discussing his argument that we must choose which God to worship on principles of justice, which, it turns out, are ones given to us by God. I contend that this argument entails that we must see Mac- Intyre’s early Marxist commitments as given to him by God, and, therefore, that he has never abandoned them in his turn to Thomistic-Aristotelianism. I examine his reading (...) of Marx, with its emphasis on the concept of alienation as a Christian concept, and explain how this reading differs from the dom- inant scientific-determinist reading of Marx. This examination then leads to a discussion of why MacIntyre abandoned both Marxism and Christian- ity in 1968. Finally, I turn to his more recent writing on Marx. I contend that if we view them through his argument about the principles of justice and which God to worship, we see MacIntyre’s mature philosophy as more Marxist than most people, perhaps even MacIntyre himself, would allow. (shrink)

The essay reassess Sartre’s work as a philosophical synthesis of thought and struggle, in which authentic human relations and concrete political action assume a much more central place than it is granted in many accounts. This essay also identifies certain inconsistencies, methodological limitations and points of controversy in his work, while affirming the essentially authentic core of his philosophy and political activity.

Kolakowski, who was born in 1927, has long been known as one of the most original and exciting post-Stalinist Polish intellectuals. And this collection of essays show why he deserves this reputation. There is wit, irony, insight, and radical critique evidenced throughout. His discussion of "Karl Marx and the Classical Definition of Truth" provides a fresh, provocative, and fascinating interpretation of Marx's epistemology. His criticism of Stalinist Marxism and the analogies he draws with the history of theology are among (...) the most intelligent and incisive criticisms developed. There is a theme that runs throughout these essays--it is the theme of the individual's moral responsibility in contemporary society. His criticism of orthodoxy including Marxist orthodoxy is pervaded by the spirit of rational criticism that preserves and fosters the best in the Marxist tradition. The book unfortunately lacks a badly needed introduction and there are no bibliographical references for many of the papers.--R. J. B. (shrink)

Kolakowski, who was born in 1927, has long been known as one of the most original and exciting post-Stalinist Polish intellectuals. And this collection of essays show why he deserves this reputation. There is wit, irony, insight, and radical critique evidenced throughout. His discussion of "Karl Marx and the Classical Definition of Truth" provides a fresh, provocative, and fascinating interpretation of Marx's epistemology. His criticism of Stalinist Marxism and the analogies he draws with the history of theology are among (...) the most intelligent and incisive criticisms developed. There is a theme that runs throughout these essays--it is the theme of the individual's moral responsibility in contemporary society. His criticism of orthodoxy including Marxist orthodoxy is pervaded by the spirit of rational criticism that preserves and fosters the best in the Marxist tradition. The book unfortunately lacks a badly needed introduction and there are no bibliographical references for many of the papers.--R. J. B. (shrink)

The title of this dissertation is a question: Is there a future to Marxist humanism? The work itself is an affirmative answer. The motive behind asking this question is the perennial debate surrounding the relevance of Marxism as a school of social and political thought. There are aspects of Marxism that are, arguably, no longer tenable, yet there are others that are more relevant today than ever. It is the argument of the following dissertation that Marxist humanism is (...) of continued relevance as both an analytical tool as well as a fertile ground for a political project of emancipation. However, the notion of a uniquely "Marxist humanism" is problematic. The fact that it is "Marxist" might lead to the confusion that it is thus based solely on the teachings of Karl Marx. Although his works provide the groundwork to the present project, it is the spirit and not necessarily the letter of Marxism that motivates the following discussion. That is, Marx's humanist project can continue without necessarily relying on his more questionable doctrines. The spirit of Marxist humanism lies in its demand for human well-being through mutual recognition achieved within an appropriately amenable social space wherein economic relations form the foundation to other equally as important intersubjective relationships. Marxist humanism is concerned primarily with the promotion of human values, namely, the alleviation of suffering and the promotion of human flourishing through a systemic change in the structure of society, beginning with economics but encompassing all areas of interpersonality... (shrink)

The paper looks at how Marxist humanists around the Yugoslav philosophical journal Praxis engaged with existentialist and phenomenological categories. After presenting the early 1950s critiques of existentialism in Yugoslavia, the paper considers how the categories used by the representatives of existentialism (and phenomenology) were interpreted and incorporated by Yugoslav Marxist humanists in the 1960s.

This chapter contains sections titled: I II III IV References Further Reading.

Constructing Marxist Ethics offers a series of compelling essays that reassess the role of ethics and moral values in Marxist theory and philosophy.

The emergence of a new generation of antiracist activists and theorists seeking to advance an anticapitalist agenda creates a new vantage point for re-examining how racism relates to the logic of capital. This essay explores sources in the work of Marx, twentieth-century Marxists, and Frantz Fanon that can provide direction for overcoming the binary of class and race.

Idealism and ideologies -- Historical inevitability -- On human rights -- Marxism and liberty -- Marxism and ethics -- The marxist answer to the challenge of our time -- Marxist humanism -- Sartre and society -- Berdyaev, socialist and heretic -- Communism the heir to the Christian tradition.