Marxism in the Postmodern Age: Confronting the New World Order [Paperback]

Callari Et Al. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 21, 1994 | Series: Critical Perspectives

Diverse Marxian intellectual cultures are having important effects on political struggles over the subjects of history and knowledge, international law, television, the state, democratic theories and institutions, bodies, sexuality, masculinity, environmentalism, postmodernism, labor, the meanings of the end of the USSR, children, archaeology, the meanings of Columbus, cartography, the North American economy, welfare, NAFTA, the Gulf War, higher education, and the many other topics discussed by the contributors to this important volume. These essays show readers how Marxism's continuing vitality derives from its profound allegiance to diverse struggles for social justice. At this moment we need progressive imaginaries alternative to the tired and ineffectual ones that have left us with enormous challenges and compelling questions on every aspect of contemporary social relations. Here, well-known thinkers are joined by important new voices in exploring fruitful directions for vision, analysis, and political action. This is without question the best collection of mediations so far on postorthodox Marxian tendencies in contemporary global cultures.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Essays challenge ideals and concepts of Marxism, critique its successes and failures, and provide links between political theory and struggle and social results. This is a fine survey of the far-reaching implications of Marxism and its ongoing relevance to modern social institutions. -- Midwest Book Review

About the Author

Antonio Callari, Ph.D., is Professor of Economics at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Guilford Press (October 21, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089862424X
• ISBN-13: 978-0898624243
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,637,883 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars mixed bag on marxism, March 19, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Marxism in the Postmodern Age: Confronting the New World Order (Hardcover)

This collection is certainly 'diverse'. There are a number of interesting essays here, a number of mediocre ones, and a number which could fall into the 'relevant' category if they happen to be your thing. Overall a good introduction to the influence of what was then called 'postmodernism' on academic Marxism in the USA. 'Postmodernism' may have worn out its welcome by now but that by no means signifies a victory for complacent 'modernist' Marxists such as Eagleton, but rather might signal the end of Marxism's relevance in academic work and its relegation to political movements in Nepal, Chiapas, etc.
The one stand-out essay here is Warren Montag's paper on Louis Althusser's autobiography. Surely essential reading for anyone reading 'The Future lasts Forever'. You can probably photocopy that brief piece from the local library, however.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Updating Marx, April 6, 2000

By 

jabberwoq (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marxism in the Postmodern Age: Confronting the New World Order (Paperback)

Marxism in the Postmodern Age provides, perhaps, one of the most comprehensive reviews of current Marxist thought and action available today. Featuring over 50 essays by prominent theorists, artists, and educators dedicated to the progressive cause, this volume manages to cover nearly every aspect of Marxist theory in our society, from politics and economics to art and pop culture. While there are many standard pieces covering topics such as the global state of the anti-capitalist cause in the wake of the Soviet collapse, there are also more practical and lighter topics such as "Waiting for the Revolution, or How to Smash Capitalism in Your Spare Time" and chapters with specific focus on Marxism in popular culture. It is this diversity which is really this works greatest strength. By bringing together both "academic Marxists" and active radicals, reformers and revolutionaries, political commentators and protestors, this work provides a more comprehensive view of the current state of the struggle than most other sources. This book is an excellent reference source, most people won't be interested in every article in this compendium, and a significant number require at least a comfortable grasp of complex economic and political theorems, but the book does provide information on both common and rare topics of interest to most progressives and radicals. The one true drawback to this volume is its publication date; the book was originally published in 1995, and many of the articles date back to the 1992 conference on "Marxism in the New World Order" held at UMass Amherst. In a rapidly changing socio-political climate, this is a significant time period, and many issues, which are now at the forefront of the fight against capitalism, are mentioned only briefly or not at all. For example, the World Trade Organization, currently perhaps the organization against which there is, perhaps, the most domestic Marxist protest (as demonstrated in Seattle) isn't even mentioned. This, however, is not a crippling drawback, and the scope of the text easily makes up for it. This is an essential for anyone seeking to gain an understanding of Marxism not as a theory, but as an ideology, and as a possibility for the future.

4 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fifty Academic Marxists Treading Water, January 22, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Marxism in the Postmodern Age: Confronting the New World Order (Hardcover)

Insulated, tenured academic Marxists like Callari didn't lose their rudder after the cold war, they lost their keel. These essays are illuminating not because the subject matter is something we haven't heard before, but because they reveal the grumpy, cantankerous nature of self-indulgent authors who are bobbing around the ocean willing to say anything to get noticed.