: Ib Gram-Jensen
: A Socialist Critique of Dragsted: Nordic Socialism and Marx' and Engels' Historical Materialism Two More Argumentative Essays
: Books on Demand
: 9788743070542
: 1
: CHF 11.40
:
: Gesellschaft
: English
: 292
: Wasserzeichen
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB
The first of the two essays in this book is a warning against the gradualist strategy for the transition from capitalism to socialism advocated by Pelle Dragsted in his book Nordic Socialism, a strategy which must be considered unrealistic. The second, longer, essay sums up and continues the critique of Marx' and Engels' historical materialism in previous books by this writer - a critique turning on the inconsistencies and determinism in this historical materialism and the consequent lack of a proper awareness of the problems involved in the transition from capitalism to a classless communist society, the desirability of which transition is fully recognised by the author.

Ib Gram-Jensen is an MA in history and social studies graduated from the Univrsity of Copenhagen. He lives in Denmark.

Introduction.


Many on the left may find the idea of a little-known historian presenting a critique of Marx’ and Engels’ historical materialism and, as part of it, also criticising a number of interpreters, commentators and pupils of Marx, provocative or even infuriating. For a start, therefore, it is just as well to state what the critique and revision of Marx’ and Engels’ historical materialism turn on, and what they donot involve or imply. Before doing so, it should, however, be emphasised that the critique in the books by this writer is levelled atboth misinterpretations of Marx and Engelsand weak points in their actual thoughts: establishing the existence and nature of the latter requires the refutation of the former.

This writer’s critical dialogue with Marx’ and Engels’ historical materialism through five books prior to this one,1 and based on between three and four decades of reading, thinking and writing on the subject of historical materialism, was opened in earnest withExperience and Historical Materialism, which was published in 2020, and in which it is stated that,

[.....] the suggested revision ofMarxian (and Engelsian) historical materialism isnot the abandonment of the objective of a revolutionary-socialist historical transformation; or of Marx’ critique of capitalism as an exploitative, antagonistic, alienating and crisis-ridden mode of production, which it is in the objective interest of the capitalist working class to substitute by socialism and eventually communism defined by the collective command of the means, process and outcome of production. What is suggested is to abandon the conception of the dialectic of forces and relations of production as the motive power of historical development and transformations, while the idea of the interaction between social circumstances and agency as that motive power, which isalso part of Marx’ and Engels’ historical materialism, is retained; and to face the theoretical and practical implications squarely.2

AndAn Essay on the Need to Revise Marx’ and Engels’ Historical Materialism opens with the statement that,

Marx’ and Engels’ historical materialism suffers from serious weaknesses, some of which have been dealt with in a number of texts by this writer. Firstly, their conception of the dialectic of forces and relations of production as the motive power of historical development and transformations does not seem tenable. Secondly, their idea that the transition from capitalism to socialism and eventually cla