Marxism


Book Description

This introductory text is a critical theory toolkit on how to how to make use of Karl Marx’s ideas in media, communication, and cultural studies. Karl Marx’s ideas remain of crucial relevance, and in this short, student-friendly book, leading expert Christian Fuchs introduces Marx to the reader by discussing 15 of his key concepts and showing how they matter for understanding the digital and communicative capitalism that shapes human life in twenty-first century society. Key concepts covered include: the dialectic, materialism, commodities, capital, capitalism, labour, surplus-value, the working class, alienation, means of communication, the general intellect, ideology, socialism, communism, and class struggles. Students taking courses in Media, Culture and Society; Communication Theory; Media Economics; Political Communication; and Cultural Studies will find Fuchs' concise introduction an essential guide to Marx.




The Marx Revival


Book Description

An international set of eminent scholars examine the contemporary relevance and continuing contribution of Marx's work. This indispensable volume presents Marx's theories in a new light, both for specialists who might think they already know everything about Marx and for a new generation of readers who are approaching his work for the first time.




Key Elements of Social Theory Revolutionized by Marx


Book Description

Marx's oeuvre is vast but there are key elements of his ever evolving, class-based contribution to social theory. Declining usefulness for him of Hegelian philosophy and his deepening confrontation with Ricardian political economy were expressions. While the French edition of Capital is closest to Marx’s mature thought, Engels did not understand how work on Russia related to Marx’s evolution, and Engels distorted the outcome. Accumulation of capital is particularly difficult conceptually, including use of ‘primitive accumulation’, and is carefully addressed, as is composition of capital. After Marx, Luxemburg is the most significant contributor to Marxism and her works on political economy and on nationalism are highlighted here. The modern topic of state conspiracies, too often avoided, concludes the book. Troubling issues, however, remain.




Marxism and Media Studies


Book Description

Marxism and Media Studies: Key Concepts and Contemporary Trends By Mike Wayne




Understanding Marxism


Book Description

Marxism as an intellectual movement has been one of the most important and fertile contributions to twentieth-century thought. No social theory or political philosophy today can be taken seriously unless it enters a dialogue, not just with the legacy of Marx, but also with the innovations and questions that spring from the movement that his work sparked, Marxism. Marx provided a revolutionary set of ideas about freedom, politics and society. As social and political conditions changed and new intellectual challenges to Marx's social philosophy arose, the Marxist theorists sought to update his social theory, rectify the sociological positions of historical materialism and respond to philosophical challenges with a Marxist reply. This book provides an accessible introduction to Marxism by explaining each of the key concepts of Marxist politics and social theory. The book is organized into three parts, which explore the successive waves of change within Marxist theory and places these in historical context, while the whole provides a clear and comprehensive account of Marxism as an intellectual system.




Encyclopaedia Britannica


Book Description

This eleventh edition was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time and it is considered to be a landmark encyclopaedia for scholarship and literary style.




Another Marx


Book Description

Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, Marx was regarded as a thinker doomed to oblivion about whom everything had already been said and written. However, the international economic crisis of 2008 favoured a return to his analysis of capitalism, and recently published volumes of the Marx-Engels-Gesamtausgabe (MEGA2) have provided researchers with new texts that underline the gulf between Marx's critical theory and the dogmatism of many twentieth-century Marxisms. This work reconstructs with great textual and historical rigour, but in a form accessible to those encountering Marx for the first time, a number of little noted, or often misunderstood, stages in his intellectual biography. The book is divided into three parts. The first – 'Intellectual Influences and Early Writings' – investigates the formation of the young Marx and the composition of his Parisian manuscripts of 1844. The second – 'The Critique of Political Economy' – focuses on the genesis of Marx's magnum opus, beginning with his studies of political economy in the early 1850s and following his labours through to all the preparatory manuscripts for Capital. The third – 'Political Militancy' – presents an insightful history of the International Working Men's Association and of the role that Marx played in that organization. The volume offers a close and innovative examination of Marx's ideas on post-Hegelian philosophy, alienated labour, the materialist conception of history, research methods, the theory of surplus-value, working-class self-emancipation, political organization and revolutionary theory. From this emerges “another Marx”, a thinker very different from the one depicted by so many of his critics and ostensible disciples.




The Social Thought of Karl Marx


Book Description

Part of the SAGE Social Thinkers series, this brief and clearly-written book provides a concise introduction to the work, life, and influences of Karl Marx, one of the most revered, reviled, and misunderstood figures in modern history. The book serves as an excellent introduction to the full range of Marx’s major themes—alienation, economics, social class, capitalism, communism, materialism, environmental sustainability—and considers the extent to which they are relevant today. It is ideal for use as a self-contained volume or in conjunction with other sociological theory textbooks.




Main Currents of Marxism


Book Description

The commanding study of Marxism, now in one masterful volume with a new preface and epilogue by the author.




Key Concepts in Economic Geography


Book Description

"A comprehensive and highly readable review of the conceptual underpinnings of economic geography. Students and professional scholars alike will find it extremely useful both as a reference manual and as an authoritative guide to the numerous theoretical debates that characterize the field." - Allen J. Scott, University of California "Guides readers skilfully through the rapidly changing field of economic geography... The key concepts used to structure this narrative range from key actors and processes within global economic change to a discussion of newer areas of research including work on financialisation and consumption. The result is a highly readable synthesis of contemporary debates within economic geography that is also sensitive to the history of the sub-discipline." - Sarah Hall, University of Nottingham "The nice thing about this text is that it is concise but with depth in its coverage. A must have for any library, and a useful desk reference for any serious student of economic geography or political economy." - Adam Dixon, Bristol University Organized around 20 short essays, Key Concepts in Economic Geography provides a cutting edge introduction to the central concepts that define contemporary research in economic geography. Involving detailed and expansive discussions, the book includes: An introductory chapter providing a succinct overview of the recent developments in the field. Over 20 key concept entries with comprehensive explanations, definitions and evolutions of the subject. Extensive pedagogic features that enhance understanding including figures, diagrams and further reading. An ideal companion text for upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate students in economic geography, the book presents the key concepts in the discipline, demonstrating their historical roots and contemporary applications to fully understand the processes of economic change, regional growth and decline, globalization, and the changing locations of firms and industries. Written by an internationally recognized set of authors, the book is an essential addition to any geography student′s library.