Since the onset of global crisis in recent years, academics and economic theorists from various political and cultural backgrounds have been drawn to Marx's analysis of the inherent instability of capitalism. The rediscovery of Marx is based on his continuing capacity to explain the present. In the context of what some commentators have described as a "Marx renaissance", the aim of this book is to make a close study of Marx's principal writings in relation to the major problems of our own society, and to show why and how some of his theories constitute a precious tool for the understanding and critique of the world in the early twenty-first century.
The book brings together varied reflections on the Marxian oeuvre, drawing on different perspectives and fields, and argues its case in two different parts. The first will encompass such diverse areas and themes as political thought, economics, nationalism, ethnicity, post-capitalist society, freedom, democracy, emancipation, and alienation, showing in each case how Marx has still today an invaluable contribution to make. The second presents a complete and rigorous account of the dissemination and the reception of Marx’s work throughout the world in the last decade. Both parts make a significant contribution to the current research on Marx and Marxisms.
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Notes on Contributors vii
Preface ix
1. Introduction 1
Marcello Musto
PART 1: Re-reading Marx in 2010
2. Not Just Capital and Class: Marx on Non-Western Societies, Nationalism and Ethnicity 20
Kevin B. Anderson
3. The Myth of Twentieth-Century Socialism and the Continuing Relevance of Karl Marx 36
Paresh Chattopadhyay
4. Change the System, Not Its Barriers 59
Michael Lebowitz
5. Emancipation in Marx’s Early Work 73
George Comninel
6. Revisiting Marx’s Concept of Alienation 92
Marcello Musto
7. Marx and the Politics of Sarcasm 117
Terrell Carver
8. The “Lesser Evil” as Argument and Tactic, from Marx to the Present 134
Víctor Wallis
9. In Capitalist Crisis, Rediscovering Marx 145
Richard D. Wolff
10. Universal Capitalism 162
Ellen Meiksins Wood
PART 2: Marx’s Global Reception Today
11. Marx in Hispanic America 170
Francisco T. Sobrino
12. Marx in Brazil
Armando Boito and Luiz Eduardo Motta 178
13. Marx in the Anglophone World 183
Paul Blackledge
14. Marx in France 192
Jean-Numa Ducange
15. Marx in Germany 198
Jan Hoff
16. Marx in Italy 204
Gianfranco Ragona
17. Marx in Russia 210
Vesa Oittinen
18. Marx in China 216
Xu Changfu
19. Marx in South Korea 221
Seongjin Jeong
20. Marx in Japan 228
Hiroshi Uchida
Index 235
Marcello
Musto