A Marxian Interpretation of the New Left

Abstract

M_ OST WESTERN scholars avoid applying Marxian theory in the analysis of contemporary political events. When Marxian theory is put on the academic agenda, the analytical focus of Western scholars is on its lack of usefulness. For example, there are studies which in effect tell us 101 ways in which Marx was wrong, but without discriminating between the essential and trivial parts of Marxian thought.l There are also studies which dismiss the entire body of Marxian thought because its argument about the inevitability of the socialist revolution violates scientific norms.2 The popular history of ideas approach to Marxian theory is a variation on this theme of inutility which enjoys support even among social critics such as C. Wright Mills. In this view Marxian thought is studied as an interesting artifact of the nineteenth century with little relevance for the scientific analysis of contemporary social and political events.3 The mainstream of the historical approach focuses almost exclusively on finding the true historical Marx. Was he the Hegelian humanist? The calculating revolutionary? Is the young Marx the same as the old Marx?4 In the course of the search for the qualities of the man, the implications of Marxian thought for the analysis of contemporary political and social life are ignored. These postures of rejection of Marxian theory for the analysis of contemporary political life are unfortunate because they blind us to the possible usefulness of the theory in helping us understand the revolutionary potential of industrialized societies. What we do not look for we are not likely to see. The usefulness of Marxian theory in contemporary political analysis can be illustrated by the study of the New Left. The following analysis is divided into two parts. The first part is an extended interpretation of Marxian theory which sets the stage for the analysis of the New Left in the second part. The extended discussion in the first part is necessary because the interpretation of Marxian theory used to analyze the New Left departs from conventional interpretations which traditionally have led to a focus on the politics of the manual working class. It