21st-century communist theorists explained

According to the political theorist Alan Johnson, there has been a revival of serious interest in communism in the 21st century led by Slavoj Žižek and Alain Badiou.[1] [2]

History

In 2009, many of these advocates contributed to the three-day conference, "The Idea of Communism", in London that drew a substantial paying audience.[3] Journals such as Endnotes, Salvage, Ebb Magazine[4] Kites[5] and Historical Materialism launched with communist outlooks, as well as news outlets such as Novara Media.[6]

Furthermore, internet culture and declining life prospects[7] has led to a general rise amongst Millennials and Gen-Z in support for communism and socialism,[8] in tandem with the rise of left-populism in the US[9] and the UK.[10] Explicitly left-wing contemporary artists, such as filmmakers,[11] musicians,[12] video-game creators[13] and comedians[14] [15] have received widespread attention, such as the rapper/producer JPEGMafia,[16] and a whole media-creator ecosystem has developed around the online left, known as BreadTube.[17]

Contemporary communist theorists

Other non-Marxist thinkers who have also had an effect on the 'new communists' include the revolutionaries Subcomandante Marcos[39] and Abdullah Öcalan,[40] abolitionist Ruth Wilson Gilmore,[41] economist Frédéric Lordon,[42] architecture journalist Owen Hatherley[43] and the late anthropologist David Graeber.

Whilst these theorists come from a broad range of traditions, included but not limited to the Black Radical Tradition, Eco-socialism, Maoism, Neo-Marxism, post-Marxism and Autonomist/Open Marxism, what they all tend to have in common is a critique of past socialist experiments, and a re-orientation of the revolutionary subject.[44]

Notable works

Empire was a major turning stone in 21st-century Marxist and communist thought.[45]

Theoretical publications, some published by Verso Books, include The Idea of Communism, edited by Costas Douzinas and Žižek;[46] Badiou's The Communist Hypothesis; and Bosteels's The Actuality of Communism. The defining common ground is the contention that "the crises of contemporary liberal capitalist societies—ecological degradation, financial turmoil, the loss of trust in the political class, exploding inequality—are systemic; interlinked, not amenable to legislative reform, and requiring 'revolutionary' solutions".

In the introduction to The Idea of Communism (2009), Žižek and Douzinas also identified four common premises among the thinkers in attendance:

  1. The idea of communism confronts depoliticization through a return to voluntarism.
  2. Communism as a radical philosophical idea. It must be thought of as taking distance from economism and statism as well as learning from the experiences of the 21st century.
  3. Communism combats neoliberalism by returning to the idea of the "common".
  4. Communism as freedom and equality. Equality cannot exist without freedom and vice versa.[46]

A rise in Marxist thought followed the financial crisis of 2007–2008, with the publishing of books including G. A. Cohen's Why Not Socialism? (2009), Paul Paolucci's Marx's Scientific Dialectics (2009), Kieran Allen's Marx and the Alternative to Capitalism (2011), Terry Eagleton's Why Marx Was Right (2011) and Vincent Mosco's Marx Is Back (2012).[47] [48] [49] The Communist Horizon,[22] published in 2012 by Jodi Dean, marked the beginning in a series of books from Dean which argue for the necessity of communist and Leninist politics. The most wide-read of these was Mark Fisher's (2009) Capitalist Realism.[50]

The Communist Necessity,[51] published in 2015 by J. Moufawad-Paul, also argues for the necessity of the communist party in radical social change. Fully Automated Luxury Communism, published in 2019, has helped normalise the term 'communist' within public discourse in the anglophone world.[52]

2023 saw the publication of two significant books on the topic of communism: Marx in the Anthropocene by Kohei Saito,[53] which developed a notion of a degrowth communism, and Communism and Strategy by Isabelle Garo, which examines contemporary communist theorists in relation to Antonio Gramsci and Karl Marx.[54]

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. The New Communism: Resurrecting the Utopian Delusion . . May–June 2012 . 175 . 1 . 62–70 . SAGE Publications, Inc. . Johnson . Alan . Alan Johnson (political theorist) . 41638993.
  2. Thoburn . Nicholas . 2013 . Do Not Be Afraid, Join Us, Come Back? On the "Idea of Communism" in Our Time . . 84 . 1–34 . 10.5749/culturalcritique.84.2013.0001 . 10.5749/culturalcritique.84.2013.0001 . 142348896 . 0882-4371.
  3. News: Campbell . Duncan . 12 March 2009 . Move over Jacko, Idea of Communism is hottest ticket in town this weekend . . 18 May 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230404033508/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/mar/12/philosophy . 4 April 2023.
  4. Web site: About . 15 May 2023 . Ebb . https://web.archive.org/web/20240505124117/https://www.ebb-magazine.com/about . 5 May 2024.
  5. Web site: 22 January 2022 . About us . 5 June 2023 . en . https://web.archive.org/web/20240423035329/https://kites-journal.org/about/ . 23 April 2024.
  6. 5 September 2019 . I met today's communists... and I wasn't convinced . 31 March 2023 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20230331023411/https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/politics/article/fully-automated-luxury-communism . 31 March 2023.
  7. News: Lowrey . Annie . Annie Lowrey . 13 April 2020 . Millennials Don't Stand a Chance . 31 March 2023 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20230727190132/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/millennials-are-new-lost-generation/609832/ . 27 July 2023.
  8. News: Gregory . Andy . 7 November 2019 . More than a third of millennials approve of communism, YouGov poll indicates . 31 March 2023 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20240510185902/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/communism-millennials-capitalism-socialism-bernie-sanders-cold-war-yougov-a9188116.html . 10 May 2024.
  9. Gray . Briahna Joy . Briahna Joy Gray . 11 May 2020 . Kilpatrick . Connor . The Rise and Fall of Bernie Sanders . 31 March 2023 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20230331140057/https://tribunemag.co.uk/2020/11/the-rise-and-fall-of-bernie-sanders . 31 March 2023.
  10. Knight . Sam . 16 May 2016 . The Astonishing Rise of Jeremy Corbyn . 31 March 2023 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20240509181548/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/05/23/the-astonishing-rise-of-jeremy-corbyn . 9 May 2024.
  11. News: Sang-Hun . Choe . Choe Sang-hun . 13 February 2020 . Bong Joon Ho's Path From Seoul to Oscar Dominance . . 31 March 2023 . 0362-4331 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230718175519/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/world/asia/bong-joon-ho-south-korea.html . 18 July 2023.
  12. News: Kornhaber . Spencer . 11 March 2016 . What Kendrick Lamar Has to Say About Capitalism . 31 March 2023 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20230331140055/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/03/kendrick-lamar-untitled-unmastered-review-capitalism/472836/ . 31 March 2023.
  13. News: Klepek . Patrick . 20 January 2020 . The Radical Politics of 'Disco Elysium' Make For a Potentially Complicated Legacy . 31 March 2023 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20240305155133/https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjdb5m/the-radical-politics-of-disco-elysium-make-for-a-potentially-complicated-legacy . 5 March 2024.
  14. News: Maxwell . Dominic . From Hannah Gadsby to Sacha Baron Cohen: the 30 best living comedians . . 31 March 2023 . 0140-0460 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230331140052/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/from-hannah-gadsby-to-sacha-baron-cohen-the-30-best-living-comedians-t3x0wxltp . 31 March 2023.
  15. News: Burrows . Marc . 30 March 2023 . Frankie Boyle's "shock" comedy was vile – no wonder he's given himself a makeover . 31 March 2023 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20230602223804/https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/tv/2023/03/frankie-boyle-shock-comedy-vile-given-makeover . 2 June 2023.
  16. News: 29 June 2018 . L.A. rapper JPEGMAFIA lashes out at the right and the 'fake-woke' left. Just don't call it 'trolling' . 31 March 2023 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20230412102148/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-jpegmafia-protest-20180629-story.html . 12 April 2023.
  17. Web site: Lee . Alexander Mitchell . Meet BreadTube, the YouTube activists trying to beat the far-right at their own game . 4 April 2023 . . 8 March 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240420064305/https://theconversation.com/meet-breadtube-the-youtube-activists-trying-to-beat-the-far-right-at-their-own-game-156125 . 20 April 2024.
  18. Balibar . Étienne . Étienne Balibar . 15 January 2021 . Skalski . Jérôme . 'Communism is an active and diverse collective subjectivity': An Interview with Etienne Balibar . 31 March 2023 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20230331014753/https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/4972-communism-is-an-active-and-diverse-collective-subjectivity-an-interview-with-etienne-balibar . 31 March 2023.
  19. Book: Brincat, Shannon . Communism in the 21st Century . 2014 . . 978-1-4408-0126-6 . Brincat . Shannon . 1 . xxvii–xxviii . Introduction - Communism in the 21st Century: Vision and Sublation.
  20. Web site: An Interview with Harry Cleaver . 11 May 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240120115206/https://la.utexas.edu/users/hcleaver/InterviewwithHarryCleaver.html . 20 January 2024.
  21. News: George . Nelson . Nelson George . 19 October 2020 . Angela Davis Still Believes America Can Change . . 31 March 2023 . 0362-4331 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231020062823/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/19/t-magazine/angela-davis.html . 20 October 2023.
  22. Book: Dean, Jodi . Jodi Dean . 2012 . The Communist Horizon . . 9781844679546 . 1083890228 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230720165144/https://books.google.com/books?id=kBghOq42S3YC . 20 July 2023.
  23. Web site: The Idea of Communism . 24 May 2023 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20230930013926/https://www.versobooks.com/products/2175-the-idea-of-communism . 30 September 2023.
  24. Web site: 25 April 2019 . Mark Fisher Acid Communism (Unfinished Introduction) . 31 March 2023 . BLACKOUT ((poetry & politics)) . https://web.archive.org/web/20231209010053/https://my-blackout.com/2019/04/25/mark-fisher-acid-communism-unfinished-introduction/ . 9 December 2023.
  25. Web site: Martínez . Josefina L. . 17 July 2022 . Feminism and Communism: A Debate with Silvia Federici . 31 March 2023 . Left Voice . https://web.archive.org/web/20230605093604/https://www.leftvoice.org/feminism-and-communism-a-debate-with-silvia-federici/ . 5 June 2023.
  26. Web site: Politics, State, Communism . 25 May 2023 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20230526065912/https://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/politics-state-communism.html . 26 May 2023.
  27. News: Hardt . Michael . Michael Hardt . 3 February 2011 . Reclaim the common in communism . . 31 March 2023 . 0261-3077 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231201032336/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/feb/03/communism-capitalism-socialism-property . 1 December 2023.
  28. Book: Holloway, John . John Holloway (sociologist) . . 20 March 2002 . . 0-7453-1863-0.
  29. Book: Kelley, Robin D. G. . Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists during the Great Depression . Robin Kelley . 2015 . 31 March 2023 . . 978-1-4696-2548-5 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231207135448/https://www.uncpress.org/book/9781469625485/hammer-and-hoe/ . 7 December 2023.
  30. News: Eaton . George . George Eaton (journalist) . 14 October 2020 . Andreas Malm: "The likely future is escalating catastrophe" . 31 March 2023 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20230331014755/https://www.newstatesman.com/encounter/2020/10/andreas-malm-likely-future-escalating-catastrophe . 31 March 2023.
  31. Book: Miéville, China . China Miéville . 2021 . A Spectre, Haunting . 31 March 2023 . . 9781642598926 . 1346365097.
  32. Web site: Critique of Maoist Reason - J. Moufawad-Paul . 31 March 2023 . Foreign Languages Press . https://web.archive.org/web/20230907175932/https://foreignlanguages.press/new-roads/critique-of-maoist-reason-j-moufawad-paul/ . 7 September 2023.
  33. Book: Communists like us . Guattari . Félix . Félix Guattari . Negri . Antonio . Antonio Negri . 9 September 2012 . 31 March 2023 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20230529114748/https://libcom.org/article/communists-us-felix-guattari-toni-negri . 29 May 2023.
  34. Web site: Communist Histories . LeftWord . https://web.archive.org/web/20220808153828/https://mayday.leftword.com/catalog/product/view/id/18297 . 8 August 2022.
  35. Scalice . Joseph . 2021 . "We are Siding with Filipino Capitalists": Nationalism and the Political Maturation of Jose Ma. Sison, 1959–61 . Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia . 36 . 1 . 1–39 . 10.1355/sj36-1a . 26996172 . 235717296 . 0217-9520.
  36. News: Goodfellow . Maya . 28 February 2023 . A greener Marx? Kohei Saito on connecting communism with the climate crisis . . 23 April 2023 . 0261-3077 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231208002056/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/28/a-greener-marx-kohei-saito-on-connecting-communism-with-the-climate-crisis . 8 December 2023.
  37. Toscano . Alberto . Alberto Toscano . Alberto Toscano: Solidarity and Political Work Historical Materialism . 31 March 2023 . kritisch-lesen.de . www.historicalmaterialism.org . https://web.archive.org/web/20230401072231/https://www.historicalmaterialism.org/interviews/alberto-toscano-solidarity-and-political-work . 1 April 2023.
  38. Weiss . Martin G. . 8 November 2018 . Review of Making Communism Hermeneutical: Reading Vattimo and Zabala . Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews . 1538-1617 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230524214333/https://ndpr.nd.edu/reviews/making-communism-hermeneutical-reading-vattimo-and-zabala/ . 24 May 2023.
  39. Web site: Self . Andrew . Mexico's masked Marxists: meet the Zapatistas . 31 March 2023 . . 13 January 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230521230056/http://theconversation.com/mexicos-masked-marxists-meet-the-zapatistas-21726 . 21 May 2023.
  40. Web site: Interview with Abdullah Öcalan . 31 March 2023 . The Anarchist Library . https://web.archive.org/web/20230616060408/https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/abdullah-ocalan-interview-with-abdullah-ocalan . 16 June 2023.
  41. Web site: Otto . Mark . 2 June 2022 . Newsletter #31: Prison Abolition and Communism, with Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Alberto Toscano, and Brenna Bhandar . 31 March 2023 . The Dig Radio . https://web.archive.org/web/20230607031155/https://thedigradio.com/newsletter31/ . 7 June 2023.
  42. Web site: Frédéric . Lordon . 8 November 2021 . In search of luxurious communism . 24 May 2023 . Le Monde diplomatique . https://web.archive.org/web/20231105205358/https://mondediplo.com/outside-in/luxury-communism . 5 November 2023.
  43. Book: Hatherley, Owen . 2 June 2016 . Landscapes of Communism . . https://web.archive.org/web/20230331014755/https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/192515/landscapes-of-communism-by-hatherley-owen/9780141975894 . 31 March 2023.
  44. Bloom . Steve . 17 February 2023 . For a 21st Century Marxism . 7 April 2023 . Cosmonaut . https://web.archive.org/web/20231127232828/https://cosmonautmag.com/2023/02/for-a-21st-century-marxism/ . 27 November 2023.
  45. Žižek . Slavoj . September 2001 . Have Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri Rewritten the Communist Manifesto for the Twenty-First Century? . . 13 . 3–4 . 190–198 . 10.1080/089356901101241875 . 140777766 . 0893-5696.
  46. Book: Žižek, S. . Douzinas . C. . Costas Douzinas . Žižek . S. . Slavoj Žižek . Slavoj Žižek . December 2010 . Introduction . The Idea of Communism . vii–x . 1 . London . . 978-1-84467-459-6.
  47. The End of Socialism (Review) . . Casey . Gerard . Gerard Casey (philosopher) . 29 . 3 . 2016 . 0889-3047.
  48. News: Jeffries . Stuart . 4 July 2012 . Why Marxism is on the rise again . . 11 August 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231012071650/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/04/the-return-of-marxism . 12 October 2023.
  49. Marxism as a Science of Interpretation: Beyond Louis Althusser . . Lamola . M. John . 32 . 2 . 2013 . 187–196 . 10.1080/02580136.2013.817635 . 144299487 . 0258-0136.
  50. Web site: Bastani . Aaron . Aaron Bastani . 13 January 2023 . Is This the Most Important Book So Far This Century? . 24 May 2023 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20230915232231/https://novaramedia.com/2023/01/13/is-this-the-most-important-book-so-far-this-century/ . 15 September 2023.
  51. Web site: The Communist Necessity 2nd Ed. . 4 April 2023 . Leftwingbooks . https://web.archive.org/web/20230924161443/https://leftwingbooks.net/en-us/products/the-communist-necessity-2nd-ed . 24 September 2023.
  52. News: Merchant . Brian . 18 March 2015 . Fully automated luxury communism . . 31 March 2023 . 0261-3077 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230411165646/https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/mar/18/fully-automated-luxury-communism-robots-employment . 11 April 2023.
  53. Book: Saito, Kohei . Kohei Saito . 2023 . Marx in the Anthropocene: Towards the Idea of Degrowth Communism . . 978-1-108-84415-4 . Cambridge . https://web.archive.org/web/20231203135211/https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/marx-in-the-anthropocene/D58765916F0CB624FCCBB61F50879376 . 3 December 2023.
  54. Book: Garo, Isabelle . Isabelle Garo . 2023 . Communism and Strategy . . 9781839768231 . 1371140528 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230720171014/https://books.google.com/books?id=dqCvEAAAQBAJ . 20 July 2023.

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