A Contemporary Critique of Historical Materialism

A Contemporary Critique of Historical Materialism

by Anthony Giddens

This powerful critique of Marx's historical materialism - as a theory of power, as an account of history, and as a political theory -has been revised to take note of the profound intellectual and political changes that have occurred since the first edition was published. Reviews from the first edition 'Giddens draws upon a formidable knowledge of anthropology, archaeology, geography, and philosophy to demonstrate the limitations of Marxism and to formulate his own interpretation of the history of societies . He does a masterful job of setting his theory within a historical and critical framework of writings on Marx. His clarity of thought and his deft and often humorous handling of the unavoidable jargon of sociology and Marxist political theory makes this book a critical work of the highest quality.' Journal of International Law and Politics 'By contrast with many practictioners in the rather murky area of social theory, Giddens clearly seeks to make himself understood, and he has the useful quality of provoking one to argument. He has let light into some dark places.' The Times Higher Education Supplement 'Although Marx, Durkheim, and Weber continue to fill more index space than any other authors, Critique is Giddens's most explicit and committed statement of his own conceptualization of social theory . It is his most original and therefore most vulnerable book, at once a cause for celebration and an invitation to critical reappraisal of the author's entire theoretical project.' (Publisher)

Genres: Philosophy

1 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Anthony Giddens, Baron Giddens (born 18 January 1938) is a British sociologist who is renowned for his theory of structuration and his holistic view of modern societies. He is considered to be one of the most prominent modern contributors in the field of sociology, the author of at least 34 books, published in at least 29 languages, issuing on average more than one book every year. In 2007, Giddens was listed as the fifth most-referenced author of books in the humanities.

Three notable stages can be identified in his academic life. The first one involved outlining a new vision of what sociology is, presenting a theoretical and methodological understanding of that field, based on a critical reinterpretation of the classics. His major publications of that era include Capitalism and Modern Social Theory (1971) and New Rules of Sociological Method (1976). In the second stage Giddens developed the theory of structuration, an analysis of agency and structure, in which primacy is granted to neither. His works of that period, such as Central Problems in Social Theory (1979) and The Constitution of Society (1984), brought him international fame on the sociological arena.

The most recent stage concerns modernity, globalization and politics, especially the impact of modernity on social and personal life. This stage is reflected by his critique of postmodernity, and discussions of a new "utopian-realist"[3] third way in politics, visible in the Consequence of Modernity (1990), Modernity and Self-Identity (1991), The Transformation of Intimacy (1992), Beyond Left and Right (1994) and The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy (1998). Giddens' ambition is both to recast social theory and to re-examine our understanding of the development and trajectory of modernity.

Currently Giddens serves as Emeritus Professor at the London School of Economics.

Reviews

[Alexander Ucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a phenomenal book, and while obviously a product of its time (he seems to be responding to the structuralist and instrumentalist interpretations of Marx, and mentions Foucault and others around that time) its relevance goes beyond just those who are interested in Marxism, and a critique of it (including a self-critique).

What is really valuable about this book is how seriously Giddens takes theory and history, and offers his own insights; for example, he points out that Marxists generally focus only on “allocative” resources (wood, iron, land, etc.), as opposed to “administrative” resources (resources which people use to control or affect the actions of others - such as PR data, surveillance, criminology experts, etc.); and he then uses this to make a point about the origin of the state - that it emerged as a ‘storage container’ for said administrative resources, rather than being a product of allocative surplus. The book consists almost entirely of these moments <3

That said, I didn’t really get the point of using Heidegger’s theory of dasein, etc. - granted there was some connection to his comments on nationalism, but I feel like he could have made them without all of the background, which seemed to only bring him off-topic. But maybe that’s just me.