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Marx's Confrontation with Utopia Darren Webb Department of Politics

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Marx's Confrontation with Utopia Darren Webb Department of Politics In Search of the Spirit of Revolution: Marx's Confrontation with Utopia Darren Webb Department of Politics Thesis presented to the University of Sheffield for the degree of PhD, June 1998 Summary This thesis offers a sympathetic interpretation of Marx' s confrontation with Utopia. It begins by suggesting that Marx condemned utopianism as a political process because it undermined the principles of popular self-emancipation and self-determination, principles deemed by Marx to be fundamental to the constitution of any truly working­ class movement. As a means of invoking the spirit of revolution, it was therefore silly, stale and reactionary. With regards to Marx's own 'utopia', the thesis argues that the categories which define it were nothing more than theoretical by-products of the models employed by Marx in order to supersede the need for utopianism. As such, Marx was an 'Accidental Utopian'. Two conclusions follow from this. The first is that Marx's entire project was driven by the anti-utopian imperative to invoke the spirit of revolution in a manner consistent with the principles of popular self-emancipation and self-determination. The second is that, in spite of his varied attempts to do so, Marx was unable to capture the spirit of revolution without descending into utopianism himself Such conclusions do not, however, justify the claim that utopianism has a necessary role to play in radical politics. For Marx's original critique of utopianism was accurate and his failure to develop a convincing alternative takes nothing away from this. The accuracy of Marx's original critique is discussed in relation to the arguments put forward by contemporary pro-utopians as well as those developed by William Morris, Ernst Bloch and Herbert Marcuse. In each case, it is argued, political utopianism descends into the messianic elitism ascribed to the utopian process by Marx. Rather than legitimating utopianism, therefore, Marx's failure to develop a convincing alternative means that socialists must develop a more convincing alternative. The conclusion tentatively suggests that the future of socialism lies in its ability to harness, not the spirit of utopia, but the spirit of adventure. Contents Acknowledgments v Note Concerning the Use of Translations VI Introduction The Aim of the Thesis Utopia Defined The Intellectual Context of the Thesis 6 Methodological Considerations 11 The Structure of the Thesis 13 Chapter 1: Marx's Critique of 'Utopian Socialism' 1.1 Introduction 17 1.2 The Means/Ends Dichotomy Consensus 19 1.3 Some Problems With the Consensus 25 1.4 Demonstrating the 'Utopianism' of the 'Utopian Socialists' 28 1.5 Why Utopianism is Now Silly, Stale and Reactionary 33 1.6 Conclusion 47 Chapter 2: Marx's Description of the Lower Phase of Communism 2.1 Introduction 50 2.2 The Lower Phase in the Manifesto and The Class Struggles in France 52 2.3 The Lower Phase in The Civil War in France 60 2.4 The Lower Phase in the 'Critique of the Gotha Programme' 69 2.5 Conclusion 75 Chapter 3: Marx's Description of the Higher Phase of Communism 3. 1 Introduction 77 3.2 The 'Mundane' Aspects of Full Communism 78 3.3 Marx's Visionary Conception of Full Communism 88 3.4 Conclusion 98 Chapter 4: The Function and Failings of 'Materialistically Critical Socialism' 4.1 Introduction 101 4.2 The Need to Set People in Motion 102 4.3 Here the Content Goes Beyond the Phrase 104 4.4 The Material Conditions for Emancipation 108 4.5 The Failings of Materialistically Critical Socialism 114 4.5.1 The Forces of Production, Historical Progress and the Classless Society 115 4.5.2 The Proletariat, Private Property and the Classless Society 124 4.6 Conclusion 134 Chapter 5: Marx the 'Accidental' Utopian 5. 1 Introduction 140 5.2 The Utopian Leap Via Teleology into 'The Dream of the Whole Man' 141 5.3 The Utopian Leap Via Structuralism into 'The All-Round Individual' 148 5.4 The Utopian Leap Via Pragmatism into 'The Ontological Necessity of Labour' 160 5.5 Conclusion 165 Chapter 6: The Limitations of Utopia as a Political Tool 6.1 Introduction 174 6.2 Utopia as a Blueprint to be Realised 177 6.3 Utopia as a Mode of Critique 181 6.4 Utopia as a Means ofInspiring Action 188 6.5 Utopia as an Irretrievably Messianic Process 193 6.6 Conclusion 199 Chapter 7: 'Utopian' Marxism in Action: A Critique of Morris, Bloch and Marcuse 7.1 Introduction 203 7.2 The Case ofWilliam Morris 204 7.3 Ernst Bloch's Attempt to Build a Concrete Utopia 219 7.4 Marcuse and the Dictatorship of an Educated Elite 234 7.5 Conclusion 257 Conclusion The Aim of the Thesis Restated 265 The Key Arguments of the Thesis Summarised 266 Some Concluding Remarks: In Search of the Spirit of Adventure 273 References 287 Acknowledgments There are various people whose help and support have made the final submission of this thesis possible. There are two, however, without whom it would have been quite impossible. The first is Carla. It was she who encouraged me to leave the suffocating confines of The Benefits Agency and return to full-time education in the first place, and the bulwark supplied by her constant love and friendship has enabled me to survive the subsequent ordeal relatively unscathed. The name of the second person I do not know because their identity is concealed behind the faceless wall erected by the ESRC. It is only a mild exaggeration to say that the studentship I received for the second and third years of my studies here was a life saver. Just when you think you've got the ESRC sussed, they go and present a studentship to a political theorist studying Marx! The decision bemused everyone, myself in particular, and I am eternally grateful to whoever made it. Thanks are also due to the University of Sheffield for presenting me with a full-time fees bursary for the first year of my studies and to Anthony Arblaster for his constant words of encouragement. Finally, my thanks go out to the many good friends I have made during my time in Sheffield and to those members of the Politics Department who did not consider it a chore to offer me their time. Dr. Mike Kenny deserves special mention here, as does the departmental secretary Sarah Cook. v Note Concerning the Use of Translations I must begin by conceding an inadequacy on my part, the inadequacy being that I cannot read German. Given that the primary aim of the thesis is to offer an interpretation of Marx, this would seem to place me at a certain disadvantage. For some people, no doubt, it would invalidate the project before it even began. Whilst, however, I readily concede that a reliance upon translations is hardly ideal, I also believe that the problems it raises are not as debilitating as they might appear. For the translations available to the Anglophone reader of Marx are now of the highest quality and are the product of a great deal of research and serious scholarship. Of course, no translation can do full justice to German concepts that have no English equivalent; the Hegelian notion of Aujhebung being a prime example. This does not mean, however, that the Anglophone reader is unable to understand this complex phrase, nor does the lack of a satisfactory English equivalent raise insurmountable problems: the problem is easily surmounted by a careful treatment of the translated phrase 'abolition'. In any case, many of the problems facing the Anglophone student of Marx turn out to be problems engendered, not by an inadequate grasp of his native tongue, but rather by the complexities of Marx's thought itself, whatever tongue it is read in. The concept of En(!remdul1g, for example, causes just as many problems for the German scholar as the English rendering of the concept (variously translated as 'alienation' or 'estrangement') does for the Anglophone scholar. Reading Marx in the original German, it would seem, gives rise to no special revelation - his system of thought still remains complex and still lends itself to conflicting interpretations. Nor is there a problem of incommensurability here, for German speaking scholars and their Anglophone counterparts find themselves referring to the same concepts, dealing with the same issues and becoming embroiled in the same disputes. I will therefore resist the temptation to flagellate myself with my linguistic inadequacies and will concentrate instead on offering an interpretation of Marx based upon the translations that even those fluent in German rely upon anyway. Introduction The Aim of the Thesis The relationship between Marxism and utopianism has become a popular field of study over recent years. These studies, almost without exception, argue that the role of utopianism in radical politics has been severely underestimated by Marxism and that, as a consequence, Marxism needs to rethink its attitude towards it. More often than not, such a line of argument is accompanied by a sense of political urgency, the implication of which is that Marxism's very survival depends upon its rethinking its attitude towards utopianism. M. Shiviah thus speaks for many when he proclaims that: It is time Marxists (hopefully freed from the scriptural shackles of Engels' .I,,'ocialislII: Utopian and Scientific) take note of the concept of utopia divested of its pejorative connotations. and project and draw upon the utopian features of Marxism in the quest for an alternative vision for our time (199 ..k 3(5). The present thesis seeks to challenge such a view. It seeks, in other words, to defend Marxism's traditional hostility towards utopianism and to argue that the faith placed in Utopia as a political tool by many contemporary writers is ultimately misplaced.
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