Marxism-Leninism: A Response to Comments Raised by Dr. G. Lock

Law and Social Inquiry-journal of The American Bar Foundation, 1990

This article concerns the relationship between the thought of Karl Marx and the fate of law, and the rule of law, in the communist states of the Soviet Union and east and central Europe. It takes the rule of law to be primarily an attempt to institutionalize restraint on power through law, and it takes it to be realized to a far greater extent in Western liberal democracies than in once-communist states. It argues that Marx's thought offered no support for such institutionalization of restraint, but, on the contrary, considerable support to the repressive, ideological and purely instrumental uses of law and the rejection and destruction of the rule of law, which were characteristic of communism. And what about Marx's words? Did they serve to illuminate an entire hidden plane of social mechanisms, or were they just the inconspicuous germ of all the subsequent appalling gulags? I don't know: most likely they are both at once.

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Halil İbrahim Yenigün, 2013

"Abstract: This paper sets out to inquire into the ethical character of Marx’s objections to capitalism by revisiting the North American debate during the 1970s. Toward this end, it probes the theoretical implications of the recent ethical turn in political theory as well as the transition from Marxism to post-Marxism. In a broader sense, the question is the possibility, necessity, and boundaries of deriving an ethical theory from Marx’s thought. I argue that there is an implicit ethical dimension in his philosophical system, one that he deliberately does not make explicit. Nonetheless, this dimension can be better articulated after the recent ethical turn. However, insofar as Marx opposes any moralizing discourse and struggle vis-à-vis capitalism due to his materialist commitments, it is essential for him that the struggle remains on the ground, material, and political. Keywords: Marxist Ethics, Fair Distribution, Functionalist Justice, Moral Realism, Radical Historicism, Ethical Turn Öz: Bu çalışmada Marx’ın kapitalizm eleştirisinde kullandığı kınayıcı ahlâkî tabirlerden yola çıkılarak kapitalizme yaptığı itirazların etik niteliği soruşturulmaktadır. Ayrıca 1970’lerde bilhassa Kuzey Amerika akademyasında geniş yer tutan tartışma, siyaset felsefesinde post-yapısalcı etik dönümün ve post-Marxizm’e geçişin ertesinde bu dönüşümlerin muhtemel teorik sonuçlarıyla birlikte yeniden ele alınmaktadır. Daha genel olarak da Marx’tan bir etik teori çıkarmanın imkânı, gereği ve sınırları araştırılmaktadır. Sonuç olarak Marx’ın özellikle öne çıkarmadığı ahlâkî eleştirinin yine de felsefi sisteminde içkin olduğu ve etik dönüm sonrası daha belirgin biçimde ortaya konulabileceği savunulmaktadır. Ancak Marx’ın ahlak temelli söylem ve mücadele aleyhinde ve temelde materyalist duyarlıklarında köklenen tutumu gereği anti-kapitalist mücadelenin tabanda, maddi ve siyasi kalmasının Markist görüşte esas olduğu vurgusu yapılmaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Marxist ahlâk, adil bölüşüm, fonksiyonalist adalet, ahlâki gerçekçilik, radikal tarihselcilik, etik dönüm"

2009

This special section on ‘Rethinking Leninism’ emerges from sessions organized at the Society for Socialist Studies’ Annual Meetings, held at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences in May 2009 at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The articles re-consider Lenin’s legacy, suggesting new ways of understanding his political thought and the implications for political strategies on the left today. Resume: Cette section speciale sur le theme ‘Re-penser le leninisme’ est le resultat de sessions organisees lors des reunions annuelles de la societe pour les etudes socialistes, qui se sont deroulees pendant le Congres des sciences humaines en mai 2009 a Carleton University a Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Les articles reinterrogent l’heritage de Lenine, suggerant des nouvelles manieres de comprendre sa pensee politique et leurs consequences en termes de strategie politique pour la gauche aujourd’hui.

An Introduction to Marxist Philosophy, 2021

Socialist Studies: the Journal of the Society for Socialist Studies, 2009

This special section on ‘Rethinking Leninism’ emerges from sessions organized at the Society for Socialist Studies’ Annual Meetings, held at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences in May 2009 at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The articles re-consider Lenin’s legacy, suggesting new ways of understanding his political thought and the implications for political strategies on the left today.

Rethinking Social Action. Core Values in Practice, 2017

Firstly, this paper will define the two main concepts in the title "Marxianism and Marxism", because one of them, Marxism, is a term frequently met in the writings about Marx, while the other, namely Marxianism, designates the actual work of Marx. Secondly, the main objective of this paper is to observe the difference between the two terms with examples from Marx's work, his theories and the way they were applied by his followers, the twentieth century communists. And to narrow the area we will discuss only how the Marxianism was interpreted in Stalin's regime. We will see to what extent Marx's ideas were followed when applied in real life. In our research, we will see that we can talk about a degradation of Marx's ideas and that this degradation occurred gradually. They have been degraded with the passage of time and after going through the minds of others who changed his ideology in order to meet their own interests and ideas, as Stalin's ideology did. Regarding the results we expect from our research, we want to see if nowadays Marx can be held responsible for the extreme forms of twentieth century communism and, if not, what happened to the theory of Marx and most important how was it changed.

1993