Rethinking Marxism

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Rethinking Marxism

Rethinking Marxism is a peer-reviewed journal produced by the Association for Economic and Social Analysis and published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis.

The aim of Rethinking Marxism is to stimulate interest in and debate over the explanatory power and social consequences of Marxian economic, cultural, and social analysis. To that end, we publish studies that seek to discuss, elaborate, and/or extend Marxian theory. Our concerns include theoretical and philosophical (methodological and epistemological) matters as well as more concrete empirical an

alyses - all work that leads to the further development of distinctively Marxian discourses. We encourage contributions from people in many disciplines and from a wide range of perspectives. We are also interested in expanding the diversity of styles for producing and presenting Marxian discourses. One distinguishing aim of this journal is to ensure that class is an important part, but not the exclusive focus, of Marxism. We are therefore interested in the complex intersection of class with economic, political, psychological, and all other social processes. Equally important is the task of exploring the philosophical positions that shape Marxian analyses. We are interested in promoting Marxian approaches to social theory because we believe that they can and should play an important role in developing strategies for radical social change-in particular, for an end to class exploitation and the various forms of political, cultural, and psychological oppression (including oppression on the basis of race, gender, and sexual orientation). We especially welcome research that explores these and related issues from Marxian perspectives.

11/07/2025

"Credit and Its Legal Context in Sharecropping Relations in Postbellum Mississippi Delta: From Ownership to Controlling of Laboring Bodies" by Serap A. Kayatekin

In the latest issue of Review of Radical Political Economics, Serap Kayatekin, a member of the editorial board of Rethinking Marxism, examines the role of credit and its framing by lien and vagrancy laws in the postbellum Mississippi delta. It is argued that the credit system that was established after the abolition of slavery ensured the control of the formerly enslaved population through the institution of “furnishing.” The credit system of postbellum South represented a new mode of control of the bodies of the laborers through a direct and personal control of their necessary labor. This control was nourished by a legal framework that secured the priority of the landowner's share of the crop over the merchant's and the laborer's. Another important dimension of the mode of control over the bodies of the sharecroppers was the vagrancy laws through the restriction of the mobility of the newly freed laboring populations. All these conditions were embedded in a context of structural and direct violence. Further analyses of this history are necessary in order to understand better some of the existing patterns of racialized capitalism in the United States.

This article examines the role of credit and its framing by lien and vagrancy laws in the postbellum Mississippi delta. It is argued that the credit system that...

01/07/2025

In the latest issue of 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗲𝗹 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘅 dedicated to Lacan, 𝗬𝗮𝗵𝘆𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝗱𝗿𝗮 & 𝗖𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗢𝘇𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗰𝘂𝗸, the editorial board members of Rethinking Marxism, has an article titled "Le discours capitaliste : la valeur de la force de travail dans les liens sociaux" (Capitalist discourse: the value of labor power in social bonds).

Here is a teaser (in English):

In 1968, in Seminar XVI, Jacques Lacan identified the labor market as the place where Marx initiated a new departure, producing a new master signifier: "Its novelty is the place in which he situates labor there. It is not that labor is new, it is that it is bought, that there is a labor market. This is what allows Marx to demonstrate what is inaugural in his discourse, and which is called surplus value."

The labor market, both the site of the capitalist social relationship (between wage labor and capital) and the privileged terrain of class struggle and "revolutionary" action, is also our starting point in this article. We read Lacan's assertion as a key moment in his persistent tendency toward formalization. This tendency to render the absent presence of a constitutive impossibility through a "discourse without words" would materialize quite early in the articulation of the famous "four discourses."

From this perspective, the labor market is no longer just an economic, political, or sociological category, but a function, which grasps the proletarian as a divided subject (“the truth of capitalism is the proletariat,” Lacan notes in the same seminar) and which, from its surplus labor, extracts surplus value through the mediation of the value-form. What Lacan calls function here can also be conceived as a device (or a matrix) that gives the capitalist symbolic order a place for its founding signifier: the value of labor power...

Lacan

07/05/2025

Last reminder about this great opportunity for graduate students to publish in Rethinking Marxism and win a cash prize. Deadline June 1, 2025.

The Association for Economic and Social Analysis, in collaboration with Rethinking Marxism: A Journal of Economics, Culture, and Society, is proud to present the annual Stephen A. Resnick Graduate Student Essay Prize.

03/05/2025

See below for the full text of "What is Marxism in Sociology?' by Samuel Mercer, an editorial board member of Rethinking Marxism:

29/04/2025

Maliha Safri and Stephen Healy, members of the Editorial Board of Rethinking Marxism, were guests at Richard D. Wolff's Economic Update to discuss their new book, SOLIDARITY CITIES AS ALTERNATIVES TO CAPITALISM.

[EU s15e16] Solidarity Cities as Alternatives to Capitalism**** SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT ****For those of you in the New York area, we'd like to invite you to jo...

28/02/2025

Reminder about this great opportunity for graduate students to publish in Rethinking Marxism and win a cash prize. Deadline June 1, 2025.

08/01/2025

The Association for Economic and Social Analysis, in collaboration with Rethinking Marxism, is proud to present the annual 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗔. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗘𝘀𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲.

Submissions are invited from graduate students in any academic discipline whose work offers a novel, compelling engagement of the modes of analysis and philosophical concerns found in Resnick’s work or in the pages of Rethinking Marxism.

For details visit:

02/12/2024

𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗣𝗔𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦: 𝘙𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘮, in collaboration with the 𝘎𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘰 𝘥𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘦𝘮 𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘢 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘪́𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢 (Research Group on Political Economy) will publish a special issue honoring the Brazilian economist, Professor 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗱𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗴 𝗠𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼. Please see the link below for details:

https://rethinkingmarxism.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Call-for-Papers-special-issue-honoring-Professor-Maria-de-Lourdes-Rollemberg-Mollo.pdf

31/10/2024

"𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀: 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺, 𝗠𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻" by Maliha Safri, Stephen Healy, Craig Borowiak and Marianna Pavlovskaya.

Product of 11 years' of work with inspiring people and groups in New York City, Philadelphia and Worcester, MA, the book analyzes the deeply entrenched racial and economic divides from which cooperative networks emerge as they work to provide unmet basic needs, including food security, affordable housing, access to fair credit, and employment opportunities.

(The 40% discount code below is good till December 15th.)

23/09/2024

Fredric Jameson (1934-2024)

We are immensely saddened by the passing of the foremost Marxist theorist & critic of cultural production under capitalist totality. A member of our advisory board, he was a supporter of our efforts since the very beginning.

His work, increasingly focusing on the utopian register, kept alive the necessity of thinking beyond the capitalist present. This remains the “unfinished project” for all of us to keep working on.

PDF is free access for the next two months.

Published in Rethinking Marxism: A Journal of Economics, Culture & Society (Vol. 1, No. 1, 1988)

12/09/2024

𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘅𝗶𝘀𝗺 is happy to announce the publication of its new special issue dedicated to Jack Amariglio, one of the founders of the journal and its first main editor:

RM Vol. 36, No. 3
𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗚𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝘀: 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘅𝗶𝘀𝗺, 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲, 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽: 𝗔 𝗙𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗿𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗝𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗔𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗹𝗶𝗼

You can find the Table of Contents and the full text of the Editors' Introduction here: https://rethinkingmarxism.org/

13/06/2024

Next week on Wednesday, June 19, 11 am EST // 8:30 IST

Whither the Prophets of Hate?

An online discussion on the Indian General Elections of 2024.

feat. Deepankar Basu, Soundarya Chidambaram, Rajesh Bhattacharya, Anup Dhar and Shahram Azhar (chair).

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/whither-the-prophets-of-hate-a-discussion-on-the-indian-general-elections-of-2024-tickets-924734163777?aff=oddtdtcreator

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http://rethinkingmarxism.org/, http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rrmx20/current

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