Historical materialism

Marx himself took care to indicate that he was only proposing a guideline to historical research (Leitfaden or Auffassung), and was not providing any substantive "theory of history" or "grand philosophy of history", let alone a "master-key to history". Numerous times, he and Engels expressed irritation with dilletante academics who sought to knock up their skimpy historical knowledge as quickly as possible into some grand theoretical system that would explain "everything" about history. To their great annoyance, the materialist outlook ...

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Historical materialism, Historical materialism - Development of the materialist outlook, Historical materialism - Disclaimers, Historical materialism - Historical materialism as doctrine, Historical materialism - Criticisms, Historical materialism - Marxist beliefs about history, Historical materialism - Alienation and freedom, Historical materialism - Marx and Wakefield, Historical materialism - A revision of historical materialism?, Historical materialism - Commentaries on different aspects of historical and dialectical materialism, Historical materialism - Note

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Other Marxists and Marx-scholars - including György Lukács, Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Maurice Godelier, Franz Jakubowski, Edward P. Thompson and Michael Lowy - completely reject the interpretation of Marx and Engels as "economic determinists". They claim this idea is based on a poor and selective reading of their work. They argue that this interpretation originated in the early years of the Second International and was popularised by Karl Kautsky and Nikolai Bukharin among many others. They refer to the disclaimers by Friedr ...

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Economic Determinism, Economic Determinism - Economic Determinism's relation to Marxist philosophy, Economic Determinism - Marxist Views of the Human Mind, Economic Determinism - Conclusion, Economic Determinism - Criticism of the concept, Economic Determinism - Sources, Economic Determinism - Reference

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History of communism Schools of communism Marxism · Leninism Trotskyism · Maoism Council communism Religious communism Communist parties Communist International World Communist Movement Communist revolution World revolution Communist states The Soviet Union People's Republic of China Cuba · Vietnam Laos · North Korea Related subjects Socialism Planned economy Historical materialism Marxism-Leninism Eurocommunism Left communism Anar ...

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• Autonomist Marxism - Articles

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• Marxism - The Hegelian roots of Marxism
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Louis Pierre Althusser (October 16, 1918 - October 23, 1990) was a Marxist philosopher. He was born in Algeria and studied at the prestigious École Normale Supérieure in Paris, where he eventually became Professor of Philosophy. He was a leading academic proponent of the French Communist Party and his arguments were a response to multiple threats to the ideological foundations of that socialist project. These included both the threat from an empiricism which was beginning to invade Marxist sociology and economics, and a threa ...

Including:

• Louis Althusser - Biographical information
• Louis Althusser - Early Life
• Louis Althusser - Health
• Louis Althusser - Post-War
• Louis Althusser - 1980s
• Louis Althusser - Thought
• Louis Althusser - The 'Epistemological Break'
• Louis Althusser - Practices
• Louis Althusser - Contradiction and Overdetermination
• Louis Althusser - Ideological State Apparatuses
• Louis Althusser - Influence

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History of communism Schools of communism Marxism · Leninism Trotskyism · Maoism Council communism Religious communism Communist parties Communist International World Communist Movement Communist revolution World revolution Communist states The Soviet Union People's Republic of ...

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History of communism Schools of communism Marxism · Leninism Trotskyism · Maoism Council communism Religious communism Communist parties Communist International World Communist Movement Communist revolution World revolution Communist states The Soviet Union People's Republic of Chi ...

Including:

• Council communism - History of Council Communism
• Council communism - Council Communism within the Soviet Union
• Council communism - Literature

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History of communism Schools of communism Marxism · Leninism Trotskyism · Maoism Council communism Religious communism Communist parties Communist International World Communist Movement Communist revolution World revolution Communist states The Soviet Union People's Republic of China Cuba · Vietnam Laos · North Korea Related subjects Socialism Planned economy ...

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• Communist state - Definition of a Communist state
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• Communist state - List of current Communist states
• Communist state - Defunct Communist states
• Communist state - References and further reading
• Communist state - References on human rights violations by Communist states

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History of communism Schools of communism Marxism · Leninism Trotskyism · Maoism Council communism Religious communism Communist parties Communist International World Communist Movement Communist revolution World revolution Communist states The Soviet Union People's Republic of China Cuba · Vietnam Laos · North Korea Related subjects Socialism Planned economy Historical mater ...

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• Communism - Early Communism
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• Communism - Maoism
• Communism - Communism after the collapse of the Soviet Union
• Communism - Criticism of communism
• Communism - Comparing Communism to communism
• Communism - Schools of communism
• Communism - Organizations and people

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History of communism Schools of communism Marxism · Leninism Trotskyism · Maoism Council communism Religious communism Communist parties Communist International World Communist Movement Communist revolution World revolution Communist states The Soviet Union People's Republic of China ...

Including:

• Communist party - History of Communist Parties
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• Communist party - Non-Soviet controlled Communist governments
• Communist party - Western European Communist Parties after the war
• Communist party - Third world Communist parties
• Communist party - Cuba
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• Communist party - Structure of Communist parties

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History of communism Schools of communism Marxism · Leninism Trotskyism · Maoism Council communism Religious communism Communist parties Communist International World Communist Movement Communist revolution World revolution Communist states The Soviet Union People's Republic of Chin ...

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In philosophy, materialism is that form of physicalism which holds that the only thing that can truly be said to 'exist' is matter; that fundamentally, all things are composed of 'material' and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. Science uses a working assumption, sometimes known as methodological materialism, that observable events in nature are explained only by natural causes without assuming the existence or non-existence of the supernatural. Materialism - Overview. The first detailed ...

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• Materialism - Overview
• Materialism - Varieties of materialism
• Materialism - History of materialism

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Lenin himself never used the term "Leninism," nor did he refer to his views as "Marxism-Leninism." However, his ideas diverged from classical Marxist theory on several important points (see the articles on Marxism and Leninism for more information). Bolshevik communists saw these differences as advancements of Marxism made by Lenin. After Lenin's death, his ideology and contributions to Marxist theory were termed "Marxism-Leninism," or sometimes only "Leninism." Marxism-Leninism soon became the official name for the ideology of ...

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Marxism-Leninism, Marxism-Leninism - History of the term, Marxism-Leninism - Current usage

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The basic Marxist idea is that everything can be explained by one thing -- Matter. Matter is the total explanation for space, nature, man, psychic conciousness, human intelligence and every other aspect of existence. Marxism then assigns the task of knowing all truth to science. If science can get to know everything about matter, then it can get to know about everything. Conclusively, matter is accepted as the beginning and ending of all reality. Taking the concept of matter, Marxism then sets forth to answer three quesions: What is the orig ...

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Marxist philosophy of nature, Marxist philosophy of nature - Basic Overview, Marxist philosophy of nature - Law of Opposites, Marxist philosophy of nature - Law of Negation, Marxist philosophy of nature - Law of Transformation, Marxist philosophy of nature - The Origin of Life, Marxist philosophy of nature - Opposition Views

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Althusser's earlier works include the influential volume Reading Capital, which collects the work of Althusser and his students on an intensive philosophical re-reading of Marx's Capital. The book reflects on the philosophical status of Marxist theory as "critique of political economy," and on its object. The current English edition of this work includes only the essays of Althusser and Étienne Balibar, while the original French edition contains additional contributions from Jacques Ranciere and Pierre Macherey, among others. ...

See also:

Louis Althusser, Louis Althusser - Biographical information, Louis Althusser - Early Life, Louis Althusser - Health, Louis Althusser - Post-War, Louis Althusser - 1980s, Louis Althusser - Thought, Louis Althusser - The 'Epistemological Break', Louis Althusser - Practices, Louis Althusser - Contradiction and Overdetermination, Louis Althusser - Ideological State Apparatuses, Louis Althusser - Influence

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Communist Party of the Soviet Union - VKPb. In 1919 a Politburo was created initially with five members, to run the party on a day to day basis. Previously, the highest body of the party had been the Central Committee. The first full members of the Politburo were Lenin, Trotsky, Kamenev, Stalin and Krestinsky with Bukharin, Zinoviev and Kalinin as candidate members (ie alternates). Through the 1920s Party Congresses were held almost every year. ...

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Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Communist Party of the Soviet Union - Structure, Communist Party of the Soviet Union - VKPb, Communist Party of the Soviet Union - CPSU, Communist Party of the Soviet Union - Membership, Communist Party of the Soviet Union - History, Communist Party of the Soviet Union - End of Communist rule, Communist Party of the Soviet Union - Branches

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Unlike the earlier forms of Marxism-Leninism in which the urban proletariat was seen as the main source of revolution, and the countryside was largely ignored, Mao focused on the peasantry as a revolutionary force which, he said, could be mobilized by a Communist Party with their knowledge and leadership. The model for this was of course the Chinese Communist rural insurgency of the 1920s and 1930s, which eventually brought the Communist Party of China to power. Furthermore, unlike other forms of Marxism-Leninism in which large-scale industr ...

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Maoism, Maoism - Maoist theory, Maoism - Maoism in China, Maoism - Maoism Internationally, Maoism - Military strategy

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Historians are divided over that question. The continuity theorists believe that Stalinism was the logical conclusion of Leninism and that both of them have more similarities than differences. Whereas the discontinuity theorists claim that they were two fundamentally different ideologies and regimes. But who is right or do we have to find a compromise of both? Stalinism - Continuity theory. Those who support that train of thought emphasise the continuity between Lenin’s and Stalin’s policies. They thin ...

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Stalinism, Stalinism - Stalinism as political theory, Stalinism - Stalinist political economy, Stalinism - Points of view on Stalinism, Stalinism - Was Stalinism the logical conclusion of Leninism?, Stalinism - Continuity theory, Stalinism - Discontinuity theory, Stalinism - Bibliography

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Communism is a social system that abolishes private property, social classes, and the state itself. As such, a "communist state" would be an oxymoron. No country or government ever called itself a "Communist state"; however, various states gave the Communist Party a special status in their constitution and laws[1], while claiming to be heading in the direction of communism. The term "Communist state" has been coined and used in the West to refer to s ...

See also:

Criticisms of communism, Criticisms of communism - 20th century Communist states, Criticisms of communism - General critique of Communist states, Criticisms of communism - Communist and Left critique of Communist states, Criticisms of communism - Marxist theory, Criticisms of communism - Historical materialism, Criticisms of communism - Labor theory of value, Criticisms of communism - Relevance of the Communist states for Marxist theory, Criticisms of communism - Other views of Marx and Marxists, Criticisms of communism - References and bibliography, Criticisms of communism - References, Criticisms of communism - Bibliography

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