Marxism and Social Science

Has Marxism ceased to be part of our political present and future? Crises are not new to Marxism, but many believe that the current crisis is terminal. For much of the twentieth century, a critical engagement with Marx and Marxism has been an essential part of social science, with even anti-Marxists reliant on Marxist thought for the formulation of their ideas. Yet for many engaging for the first time with social science in a post-cold war world, Marxist ideas, concerns, and methods seem to belong to a past era. Marxism and Social Science argues that Marxism continues as a living tradition, a system of thought that remains relevant and instructive to other theoretical positions and contemporary world changes. Contributors address Marxism's engagement with other perspectives in social science, including feminism, the New Right, and postmodernism, as well as the utility of Marxist approaches to a wide range of substantive issues: the state, welfare, democracy, culture, class, globalization, ecology, nationalism, and communism. intellectual tradition and its enduring importance for understanding the twenty-first century world.