Marx and virtual reality: the evolution of the area of anti-capitalist struggle

Authors

  • Vadzim S. Mikhailouski Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliežnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

Keywords:

anti-capitalist struggle, virtual reality, cultural revolution, marxism, multitude, neo-Marxism, alienation, consumption
Supporting Agencies
The article was supported by the Belarusian Republican Foundation for fundamental research (договор № Г16КАО/А-006).

Abstract

The genesis, evolution and development trend of the Marxist values (classical Marxism, Leninism and neo-Marxism) were revealed. In axiological dimension, Marxism is a coherent process of developing the value of practice. Within the framework of the Marxist-Leninist tradition, an analytical attention was paid to the active violent action. Neo-Marxists suggested another interpretation of the value of practice which are the concepts of Cultural Revolution and self-organization and self-reproduction of masses. We suggest the potential of virtual reality as an area free from capitalism to become a new branch of Marxist thought. The threat is that capital can resolve class contradictions by declaring virtuality as the area of «consumer compensation». It is the IT elite, which being at the forefront of modern Marxism, can implement the concept of virtual overcoming of global alienation.

Author Biography

  • Vadzim S. Mikhailouski, Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliežnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

    PhD (political science); associate professor at the department of political science, faculty of law

References

  1. Shchedrovitskii P. G. [Marxism is not only Marx]. In: Osvobozhdenie dukkha. [Liberation of spirit]. Moscow, 1991. P. 332–335 (in Russ.).
  2. Kagarlitskii B. Y. Marksizm: ne rekomendovano dlya obucheniya [Marxism: not recommended for training]. Moscow : Algoritm : Eksmo, 2005 (in Russ.).
  3. Marx K. [Economic and philosophical manuscripts of 1844]. In: Ekonomichesko-filosofskie rukopisi 1844 goda i drugie rannie filosofskie raboty [Economic and philosophical manuscripts of 1844 and other early philosophical works]. Moscow, 2010. P. 303–358 (in Russ.).
  4. Engels F. [Recording the speech of F. Engels about the Paris Commune]. In: Marx K., Engels F. Sochineniya [Collected works]. 2nd ed. Moscow,1960. P. 625 (in Russ.).
  5. Lenin V. I. [The next tasks of the soviet government]. In: Poln. sobr. soch. [Collected works] : in 55 vols. Vol. 36. 5th ed. Moscow, 1974. P. 165–208 (in Russ.).
  6. Lukach G. Istoriya i klassovoe soznanie. Issledovanie po marksistskoi dialektike [History and class consciousness. Studies in Marxist dialectics]. Moscow : Logos-Altera, 2003 (in Russ.).
  7. Lukacs G. Lukacs on his life and work. New Left Rev. 1971. No. 68. P. 49–58.
  8. Marcuse G. [The end of utopia]. Logos. 2004. No. 6. P. 18–23 (in Russ.).
  9. Marcuse H. Re-examination of the concept of revolution. New Left Rev. 1969. No. 56. P. 30–38.
  10. Marcuse H. The problem of violence and the radical opposition. In: D. Kellner (ed.). Collected of papers : in 4 vols. New York, 2005. Vol. 3. P. 56–75.
  11. Zizek S. 13 opytov o Lenine [13 experiments on Lenin]. Moscow : AdMarginen, 2003 (in Russ.).
  12. Hardt M., Negri A. Imperiya [Empire]. Moscow : Praksis, 2004 (in Russ.).
  13. Hardt M., Negri A. Mnozhestvo: voina i demokratiya v epokhu imperii [Multitude: war and democracy in the age of Empire]. Moscow : Kul’turnaya revolyutsiya, 2006 (in Russ.).
  14. Antipov G. A. [Parting with Marxism]. Idei i idealy [Ideas and ideals]. 2017. Vol. 1, No. 2 (32). P. 132–146 (in Russ.).
  15. Balibar E. [From the class struggle to the classless struggle?]. In: Balibar E., Wallerstein I. Rasa, natsiya, klass. Dvusmyslennye identichnosti [Race, nation, class. Ambiguous identities]. Moscow, 2003. P. 177–210 (in Russ.).
  16. Orlov S. V. [Marxism and formation of information society philosophy]. Novye idei v filosofii [New ideas in philosophy]. 2015. No. 2 (23). P. 25-30 (in Russ.).
  17. Orlov V. V. [Marxism and post-industrial society]. Vestnik Vyatskogo gos. univ. [J. Viatskii State Univ.]. 2010. Vol. 4, No. 4. P. 55–60 (in Russ.).
  18. Castoriadis C. Voobrazhaemoe ustanovlenie obshchestva [The imaginary institution of societ]. Moscow : Logos, 2003 (in Russ.).
  19. Lenin V. I. Materialism and empirio-criticism. In: Polnoe sobranie sochinenii [Collected of works] : in 55 vols. Vol. 18. 5th ed. Moscow, 1968. Vol. 18 (in Russ.).
  20. Dmitriev A. N. Marksizm bez proletariata: Georg Lukach i rannyaya Frankfurtskaya shkola (1920–1930-e gg.) [Marxism without the proletariat: Georg Lukacs and the early Frankfurt School (1920–1930)]. Moscow : Europ. Univ. at Saint Petersburg : Letnii sad, 2004 (in Russ.).
  21. Baudrillard J. Simvolicheskii obmen i smert [Symbolic exchange and death]. Moscow : Dobrosvet, 2009 (in Russ.).

Downloads

Published

2019-03-13

Issue

No. 1 (2018): Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology

Section

To the 200th Anniversary of K. Marx

License

The authors who are published in this journal agree to the following:

  1. The authors retain copyright on the work and provide the journal with the right of first publication of the work on condition of license Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial. 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
  2. The authors retain the right to enter into certain contractual agreements relating to the non-exclusive distribution of the published version of the work (e.g. post it on the institutional repository, publication in the book), with the reference to its original publication in this journal.
  3. The authors have the right to post their work on the Internet (e.g. on the institutional store or personal website) prior to and during the review process, conducted by the journal, as this may lead to a productive discussion and a large number of references to this work. (See The Effect of Open Access.)

How to Cite

[1]
Mikhailouski, V.S. 2019. Marx and virtual reality: the evolution of the area of anti-capitalist struggle. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology. 1 (Mar. 2019), 73–81.