The Relevance and Irrelevance of Marxian Economics
by NSER Editorial Board on January 12, 2009
During the last century, Marxian thought was often presented as an all comprehensive ideology, a Weltanschauung called “Marxism” or “Marxism-Leninism”. The process of producing this ideology started with the popular writings of the late Engels, who not only tried to present a popular version of Marxian theory, but also attempted to satisfy the desire of growing parts of the working class to have their own view of the world, which was distinguished from the dominating views of bourgeois society. The transformation of Marxian theory in Weltanschauung was enforced by the social democratic parties of the late 19th century, which needed short formulas and brief descriptions as weapons of propaganda. This process continued in the writings of Lenin and culminated after his death in “Marxism-Leninism”: a deterministic picture of history, an economic picture of society and a mechanical understanding of dialectics as an eternal set of “laws of development” – constructions which served above all as instruments of ideological justification for the policies of the communist parties.
Heinrich, Michael. 2004. “Relevance and Irrelevance of Marxian Economics” New School Economic Review 1(1): 54-58
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