Marxism in Dark Times : Select Essays for the New Century

This volume is a collection of essays on an alternative understanding of Marxism, anchored in the ideas of humanism, democracy and pluralism.

Offering an alternative exploration of the subject, ‘Marxism in Dark Times’ anchors its investigation of Marxism in the conceptual spheres of humanism, democracy and pluralism. Its essays question the stereotyped, positivist notion of the theory as practised by the exponents of official Marxism, highlight the legacy of the suppressed voices in the Marxist tradition, and provide new insights into reading Marxism in the twenty-first century—affording new perspectives on Antonio Gramsci, Rosa Luxemburg, Nikolai Bukharin, David Ryazanov and the Frankfurt School. They seek to review the phenomenon of ‘Perestroika,’ explore the new historiography on Comintern, and examine the relation between Marxism and postmodernism. With its wide-ranging provision of materials—some translated here into English from German and Russian for the first time—this collection offers a pioneering English assessment of some of the most debatable issues in contemporary Marxism.