Many Marxisms

Abstract

Revolutionary projects travelling around the world in the last century under the heading of “Marxism” have always morphed into significantly different forms, depending upon precisely where, when, and how they travelled. In this think piece honoring the career of Richard Peet, I argue that Marxism has thus been less a singular and unified phenomenon than a sprawling and variegated experience of resistance to capitalism, colonialism, and imperialism. Nonetheless, if there is one common thread in virtually all forms of Marxist thought, it is an emphasis on class. But what conception of class? I assert the centrality of class analysis to Marxist thought, albeit versions of class analysis that flexibly address the gendering and racialization of class relations along with other factors that shape and express class in given contexts. I illustrate the argument by noting the importance of Marxist class analysis to critical studies of imperialism, racism, and gender relations.