Topic: Theory and Philosophy

Is there a labour aristocracy in Australia?

Tom Bramble debunks the theory that there is an aristocracy of labour in Australia.

What kind of organisation do socialists need?

Corey Oakley looks at the discussions about socialist organisation that have been thrown up by unity talks on the Australian left.

Marxism and women's liberation

Louise O’Shea analyses the position of women today. Engaging with recent feminist and Marxist discussions of women’s oppression argues that Marxism offers the only satisfactory theory and strategy for women’s liberation.

Georg Lukács’s theory of revolution

Daniel Lopez argues that Georg Lukács made an indispensible contribution to a revolutionary Marxist understanding of revolution, consciousness, organisation and dialectics. This amounts to a philosophical defence of Lenin's theory and practice.

The roots of sexual violence

Sandra Bloodworth examines the widespread sexual violence in our society: from intimate partner abuse, to paedophile priests, to attacks on the elderly, the disabled, the mentally ill and children in institutions which supposedly “care” for the oppressed and vulnerable.

Ordering Australian capitalism: property, fetishism, debt and social order

Ben Hillier shows how the economic ordering of Australian capitalism helps consolidate bourgeois hegemony.

Marx and the state: the politics of philosophy

Sadia Schneider on Marx's theory of the state.

Daniel Bensaïd and “the last generation of October”

Darren Roso on the political activity and theoretical concerns of an important figure on the French far left from the mid-1960s until his death in January 2010.

Review: Alan Shandro, Lenin and the Logic of Hegemony

Viktoria Ivanova reviews the book Lenin: The Logic of Hegemony, a contribution to recent debates about Lenin by Alan Shandro.

Between Como and confinement: Gramsci’s early Leninism

Rjurik Davidson, winner of the Ditmar Award, author of Unwrapped Sky, The Stars Askew and other fiction, examines Antonio Gramsci’s political practice in his early years.

Kautsky: the abyss beyond parliament

Darren Roso contributes to debates about what kind of parties the revolutionary left needs and the role of Karl Kautsky, the leading theorist of the Second International before World War I.

Foucault’s 'History of Sexuality': A Marxist engagement

Jordan Humphreys argues that Foucault’s explanation of sexuality under capitalism can be incorporated into a Marxist understanding of sexuality and serve to clarify and enrich it.

Totality and oppression: A reply to “Against reductionism: Marxism and oppression"

Daniel Lopez responds to Sarah Garnham's article about Marxism and Oppression, drawing out some methodological disagreements for further discussion.

Against reductionism: Marxism and oppression

Sarah Garnham critically examines theories on the left that have emerged in response to identity politics.

Marx at 200: reflections on his life and work

Michael Lazarus sketches a portrait of Marx’s life 200 years after his birth.

The social construction of sectarianism in the Middle East

Omar Hassan outlines a materialist explanation of sectarian conflict in the Middle East, arguing that true social liberation is bound up with the abolition of capitalism in the region.

Marxism and state theory

In this fascinating lecture given just a few years before he died, the late Colin Barker makes the case for a revolutionary overthrow of the bourgeois state and for further Marxist theorising about its complex dynamics.

Marxism and post-colonial theory

Sagar Sanyal argues that post-colonial theory is an inadequate theoretical and political response to the horrors of colonialism.

Review: Karl Marx and the birth of modern society

Darren Roso reviews the first volume of a sweeping new biography of Marx's life.

Isabelle Garo on Marx’s strategic thought and the spirit of revolt

Isabelle Garo makes the case for a dynamic application of Marx's method to today's political problems via a critique of Alain Badiou and Laclau and Mouffe.

Mariátegui: A South American revolutionary

Tom O'Lincoln examines the politics of an influential Latin American revolutionary, Jose Mariátegui.

Post-structuralism: A marxist alternative

In part one of a two-part series, Tony Sullivan draws on Hegel and Lukacs to defend the crucial concepts of historical materialism, labour and truth against the post-structuralists.

Poststructuralism: A Marxist alternative – part two

In part two of this series on poststructuralism, Tony Sullivan critiques the ideas of Nietzsche, Foucault and Derrida, putting forward alternative views of power and social control.

Economic crises are unavoidable under capitalism

Rick Kuhn explores the debates about crisis theory among Marxist economists, focusing in particular on the work of Henryk Grossman.

Capitalism, colonialism and class: A Marxist explanation of Indigenous oppression today

Jordan Humphreys offers a Marxist explanation of Indigenous oppression today.

Review: Lenin Embalmed

Sadia Schneider reviews a new collection of essays on the application of Lenin's ideas to the contemporary politics.

Draper, Lenin and the dictatorship of the proletariat

Duncan Hart examines the concept of the “dictatorship of the proletariat” in its historical context, and argues that Hal Draper was wrong to argue that Lenin’s interpretation was an anti-democratic departure from that of Marx and Engels.

Engels after Marx: A (critical) defence

Darren Roso enters the debate on Engels’ contribution to the Second International after the death of Marx.