Academic neo-Marxism: scientific authenticity or paradigmatic utopia?

Authors

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

Keywords:

directions of neo-Marxism, academic neo-Marxism, humanistic neo-Marxism, party Marxism, the New Left, ideologization of neo-Marxism, positivism in neo-Marxism

Abstract

It is proved that modern perception of neo-Marxism does not take into account presence of two opposing neo-Marxism tendencies: ideological humanistic and «scientistic» academic ones. The history of neo-Marxism itself shows that neo-Marxism methodology may differ: differ from its traditional perception as a biased ideological approach. It has been established on the basis of historical approach and content-analysis of Marxism and neo-Marxism text material that the ideologization of humanistic neo-Marxism, despite of opposition to party Marxism, despite of popularity among certain social strata (the New Left) and social and political activities of its theorists, was determined by a gnoseological reason – the initial bias towards cognizable reality. In such a situation, the method of humanistic neo-Marxism was a projection of the capitalist order on the ideal of non-alienated society, which suggested the research of capitalism not as a phenomenon that objectively exists, but as a phenomenon that should not exist. This led humanistic neo-Marxism to utopianism. Academic neo-Marxism accordance to primordial ideological neutrality of the whole neo-Marxism as well as academic neo-Marxism research parameters, which differ from humanistic neo-Marxism ones, were revealed. The author mentions anti-normativism, positivism and anti-psychologism among academic neo-Marxism research features. Anti-normativism means that a neo- Marxism feature has the sense that the goal-setting to change the world disappears from neo-Marxist research. Positivism is a neo-Marxism feature which has the sense that neo-Marxism strives for scientific objectivity. Anti-psychologism means that the goal of neo-Marxism cognition is to identify patterns of the social-economic order, and not to find new driving forces of history (agents of the revolution). Results received by the author have practical significance since revealed academic neo- Marxism is an experience and strategy for current neo-Marxism studies oriented on science.

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

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Published

2019-07-21

Issue

No. 2 (2019): Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology

Section

Articles and Reports

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How to Cite

[1]
Mikhailouski, V.S. 2019. Academic neo-Marxism: scientific authenticity or paradigmatic utopia?. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology. 2 (Jul. 2019), 85–92.