The Place of Marxism in History

118 Pages·1994·3.124 MB·English

by  Ernest Mandel

The Place of Marxism
in History
REVOLUTIONARY STUDIES
Series Editor: PAUL LE BLANC
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Hal Draper
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by E. Haberkern
Max Shachtman and His Left:
A Socialist's Odyssey through
the "American Century"
Peter Drucker
World Revolution 1917 -1936:
The Rise and Fall of the Communist International
C. L. R. James
Marxism in Latin America from 1909
to the Present: An Anttiology
Edited by Michael Lowy
On Changing the World
Essays in Political Philosophy,
from Karl Marx to Walter Benjamin
Michael Lowy
The Place of Marxism in History
Ernest Mandel
Revolutionary Marxism and Social Reality
in the 20th Century:
Collected Essays of Ernest Mandel
" Ernest Mandel
C. L. R. James and Revolutionary Marxism:
Selected Writings of G;:L. R.-fames 1939-1949
Edited by Scott McLemee and_ Paul Le Blanc
The Marxists and the Jewish Question:
The History of a Debate ( 1843-1943)
Enzo ·T raverso
The USSR 1987 -1991:
Marxist Perspectives
Edited by Marilyn Vogt-Downey
The Responsibility of Intellectuals: Selected Essays
on Marxist Traditions in Cultural Commitment
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The Place of Marxism
in History
ERNEST MANDEL
HUMANITIES PRESS
NEW JERSEY
This paperback edition first published in 1994 by
Humanities Press International, Inc.,
165 First Avenue, Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey 07716
© Ernest Mandel, 1986
Originally published as an issue of Notebooks for Study and Research
by the International Institute for Research and Education
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mandel, Ernest.
The place of Marxism in history / Ernest Mandel.
p. cm.-(Revolutionary studies)
"Originally published as an issue of Notebooks for study and
research by the International Institute for Research and Education"
-T.p. verso:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-391-03814-1 (pbk)
1. Communism-History-19th century. 2. Socialism-History-19th
century. 3. Labor movement-History-19th century. I. Title.
HX39.M23 1993
335.43'09'034-dc20 93-12067
CIP
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reprodu~d or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
without written permission from the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
Contents
Introduction vu
1 The General Historical Context 1
2 The Fundamental Characteristics of Marxism 9
3 Marxism's Transformation of the Social Sciences 13
4 The Supersession of Utopian Socialism 37
5 The Proletarian Transformation of Revolutionary
Activity and Organization 47
6 The Fusion of the Real Workers Movement and
Scientific Socialism 55
7 The Personal Itinerary of Marx and Engels 63
8 Reception and Diffusion of Marxism throughout
the World 71
Appendices 81
Glossary 87
Select Bibliography 99
Index 101

Introduction
To understand Marxism, we must first set it in its historical co~-xt. W
must understand when it was born and how it arose. We must=~
emergence and development by the interaction of social forces: their
economic nature, their material interests, their ideology, the people who
formulated their aspirations. In other words, we must apply the materialist
interpretation of history to Marxism itself: not consider its appearance as
a matter of course, but understand that it requires an explanation, and try
to provide one. Furthermore, determining the place of Marxism in
history will enable us to outline more precisely its content and historical
importance.
[This book is a revised version of a work that was originally published in
the "Notebooks for Study and Research" series produced by the Interna
tional Institute for Research and ·Education in Amsterdam. For more
information on that series and on the work of the Institute, write to:
IIRE, Postbus 53290, 1007 RG Amsterdam, Netherlands-SERIES ED.]
vu