What passes for Critical Theory today is nugatory; it is philosophically weak, and politically compromised. In Thompson’s words, the project has ‘abandoned the search for the real mechanisms and sources of social power’.
Subjects Archives: Philosophy
“These days shall also pass, like a thousand days have before them”
Since the extreme right-wing government of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014, there has been an increasing crackdown on political and student activists, who are often branded as Maoists and anti-nationals.
Capitalism vs. water
Capitalism vs. water.
In memoriam: Samir Amin
Samir Amin, the renowned Marxist thinker and economist, passed away on August 13 in Paris. Born in Cairo on September 3, 1931, to an Egyptian father and a French mother, he had his initial education in Egypt before moving to Paris where he obtained his doctorate in Political Economy.
The origins of women’s oppression–a defence of Engels and a new departure
Frederick Engels’ book The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (hereafter The Origin) was published in 1884. In it he argued that early humans had lived in non-hierarchical societies in which women were not oppressed.
![By Architect of the Capitol - Architect of the Capitol information webpage [1], Public Domain, https-::commons.wikimedia.org:w:index.php?curid=1365273](https://mronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/By-Architect-of-the-Capitol-Architect-of-the-Capitol-information-webpage-1-Public-Domain-https-commons.wikimedia.orgwindex.phpcurid1365273-200x200.jpg "Gender as colonial object")
Gender as colonial object
The spread of Western gender categories through European colonization.
Democratic Party politics 101 with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the corporate media
Some who read my writing may ask, “why don’t you criticize the Republicans as much as you do the Democrats?” My response to such a question is that it should be obvious by now which of the two corporate parties currently holds the Black polity and working class “constituencies” generally in a state of political […]
Craig Murray: Detente bad–Cold War good
Political memories are short, but just 15 years after Iraq was destroyed and the chain reaction sent most of the Arab world back to the dark ages, it is now “treason” to question the word of the Western intelligence agencies, which deliberately and knowingly produced a fabric of lies on Iraqi WMD to justify that […]
Race, gender and social reproduction in British capitalism, 1945-78
How can we understand the way that capitalism comes to be gendered and racialised?
On Marx and Epicurus
Given the fragments, literally, of the works of Epicurus available to Marx at the time, the materialist analysis that he manages to develop from them is pretty amazing.
Mental illness and the psychological trap – a political problem
Mental illness is a serious problem, reaching epidemic status, and the problem is increasing rapidly amongst young people not only in South Africa but globally. There is a tendency in society to either: (1) disregard mental illness as a serious problem, or (2) to recognise mental illness as a problem but fail to treat the […]
How can the resistance of the Venezuelan people and Nicolás Maduro’s government be explained?
Despite economic war, sabotage, low oil prices, international sanctions, and political violence, the Venezuelan people are still standing and supporting the leaders of the Bolivarian Revolution.
The surprising popularity of ‘far Left’ policies
“The Far Left Is Winning the Democratic Civil War” was the headline over a Washington Post report (5/16/18) on the results of recent primary elections.
Jill Stein breaks the silence on being a Russiagate target
Former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein has turned in her campaign materials to the Senate Intelligence Committee, and warns that Russiagate is being used to silent dissent.
Is Marxism science? Part 1: Darwin, Marx and the scientific method
Ringa Ranga Rajah, a London devotee of recently departed Ambalavanar Siva, complained bitterly last year when 14 March went by and I neglected Marx and Einstein. The former died on 14 March 1883 and the latter was born on 14 March 1879. I promised to make amends and this year Sundays 11 and 18 straddle […]
