A CasP Dialogue with Marxists?

[Jonathan Nitzan]

In a recent comment on our 2021 research note, ‘Corporate Power and the Future of U.S. Capitalism’, Ikonoclast wrote that, despite their differences, CasP and Monthly Review ‘are talking about all the same things’, and that he ‘would love to see them creatively combine and hammer out a mutually agreed analysis if that were possible’.

Well.

For about forty years now, Shimshon and I — and recently also other CasP writers — have dialogued with classical and neo-Marxists. But the dialogue has been rather uneven and only half scientific.

As CasP researchers, we have read closely, critically analyzed and wrote extensively on the pros and cons of Marxism. Many of the 600+ items in The Bichler & Nitzan Archives contain this engagement.

Marxists, on the other hand, have chosen a different route. A handful engaged with us openly and scientifically. But the vast majority haven’t. Instead, they have actively sabotaged our work and tried to block its publication, occasionally plagiarized and reposted it in Marxist attire, and mostly ignored it altogether.

For highlights from this historical journey, see:

‘Manuscripts Don’t Burn’ (2020).

For the most recent episode, see:

‘The Capital As Power Approach. An Invited-then-Rejected Interview with Shimshon Bichler and Jonathan’ (2020).

We have tried. The onus now is on the Marxists.

• This topic was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Jonathan Nitzan.

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