Question Details	Asked By	Asked On
neo Marxism	USstudent244	05/19/04
What is neo-marxism? Thank you for your time and knowledge.
Answered By		Answered On
stevehaddock		05/19/04
Although Marx is one of the most studied authors on the planet (and one of the most misunderstood), even his best friends in academic circles have to admit that much of what Marx says is contradictory. As such, Marxism always leaves itself open to the criticism that it isn't a consistent system and, therefore, is impossible to apply to even a theoretical situation. The Neo-Marxists, working out of either Oxford or Cambridge (I forget which) found much useful and original in Marxism and wondered if that couldn't be salvaged. As such, they set about essentially cutting out all the contradictory parts of Marx to see what was left. In this way, they hoped to build a less contradictory but less powerful system. However, they felt that what was left could be tested even in the real world without any worries that they were doing something wrong. The work is ongoing. Marx is quite dense and fundamental concepts are hard to come by. However, Marxism does obviouly contain some important and consistent precepts (the most important being that labour is the source of all capital). It is hoped that once this is done, neo-Marxist theorists can continue to build on Marxism and restore its status in economics.

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