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Critical Analysis on Marxist Orthodoxies: a Contribution of Social History of Political Theory

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Critical Analysis on Marxist Orthodoxies: a Contribution of Social History of Political Theory CRITICAL ANALYSIS ON MARXIST ORTHODOXIES: A CONTRIBUTION OF SOCIAL HISTORY OF POLITICAL THEORY A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY BERKAY KOÇAK IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION SEPTEMBER 2017 i Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Tülin Gençöz Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Prof. Dr. Ayşe Ayata Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Assist. Prof. R. Ömür Birler Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Örsan Ö. Akbulut (TODAİE) Assist. Prof. R. Ömür Birler (METU, ADM) Assoc. Dr. O. Galip Yalman (METU, ADM) ii I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Signature : iii ABSTRACT CRITICAL ANALYSIS ON MARXIST ORTHODOXIES: A CONTRIBUTION OF SOCIAL HISTORY OF POLITICAL THEORY Koçak, Berkay MS., Department of Political Science and Public Administration Supervisor : Assist. Prof. Ömür Birler September 2017, 155 pages This thesis aims to identify the different approaches to historical materialism in a way describing the existing controversy between Political Marxism and mainstream (Orthodox) Marxism especially concentrating on their perspectives viewing the history of political thought. As the unique effort to understand the origins of political theory, the discipline namely ‘the social history of political theory’ -which was founded and developed by Ellen Meiksins Wood (1942-2016)- is revisited and re- evaluated in comparison with the works of mainstream Marxism in writing history of political thought. In addition, this study aims to illuminate the influence of other epistemologies on Marxist historical materialism in a way setting up the outlines of historical materialism’s original position. Keywords: Marxism, Methodology, Political Marxism, Political Thought, Historical Materialism iv ÖZ MARKSİST ORTODOKSİLERE ELEŞTİREL BİR ANALİZ: ‘SİYASAL DÜŞÜNCENİN TOPLUMSAL TARİHİ’ KATKISI Koçak, Berkay Yüksek Lisans, Siyaset Bilimi ve Kamu Yönetimi Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi : Yrd..Doç.Dr. Ömür Birler Eylül 2017, 155 sayfa Bu tezin amacı tarihsel maddeci yöntem üzerine farklı yaklaşımları, Siyasi Marksizm ve ana akım Ortodoks Marksizm arasında geçen siyasal düşünceler tarihi alanındaki çatışmayı ele alarak incelemektir. Siyaset kuramının kökenlerini anlamak için Ellen Meiksins Wood (1942-2016) tarafından bulunan ve geliştirilen ‘siyasal düşüncenin toplumsal tarihi’ yöntemi bu tezde ana akım Ortodoks Marksizm’in siyasal düşünceler tarihine dönük yaklaşımıyla karşılaştırmalı bir biçimde yeniden değerlendirilecektir. Buna ek olarak bu çalışma Marksist tarihsel maddeci yöntemi etkileyen diğer epistemolojik ve metodolojik gelenekleri araştırarak, bu anlamda tarihsel maddeciliğin kuramsallaştığı pozisyonun ana hatlarını ortaya koyacaktır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Marksizm, Tarihsel Maddecilik, Siyasi Marksizm, Metodoloji, Siyasi Düşünce v To My Parents vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to express his deepest gratitude to his supervisor Assist. Prof. Ömür Birler for her guidance, advice, criticism, encouragements and insight throughout the research. The author would also like to thank Prof. Dr. Örsan Akbulut and Assoc. Prof. Galip Yalman for their suggestions and comments. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM............................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................... iv ÖZ ................................................................................................................................ v DEDICATION ........................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................................................... vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................... viii I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 II. ON THE ORIGINS OF HISTORICAL MATERIALIST METHOD .................... 9 2.1 An Overview of Dialectical Relations ............................................................... 10 2.1.1 The Double Dimension ................................................................................ 10 2.1.2 Determinant and Determined ....................................................................... 12 2.1.3 Constant Movement and Change ................................................................. 14 2.1.4 Formal (Mainstream) Logic Building in Comparison .................................. 16 2.2 Historical Materialism in Context ....................................................................... 19 2.2.1 Marx and Engels on Historical Materialism................................................. 22 2.2.1.1 Demystification of Theory: Alienation, Power and Property................ 23 2.2.1.2 Rethinking Political Economy: Labour, Class, Capital ......................... 26 2.2.1.3 The Question on Historical Progress: Division of Labour .................... 32 III.THE FOUNDATIONS OF MARXIST ORTHODOXIES IN METHODOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE .................................................................. 38 3.2 Regarding the Orthodoxy ................................................................................ 42 3.3 Construction of Orthodoxy in Methodological Perspective ............................ 44 3.3.1 Rethinking Class and Method .................................................................. 45 3.3.1.1 The Succession in the Orthodoxy ...................................................... 46 3.3.1.2 Karl Kautsky and the Codification of German Marxist Orthodoxy .. 47 3.3.1.3 Lenin and the Recodification of the Marxist Orthodoxy .................. 52 3.3.1.4 The Legacy of Plekhanov .................................................................. 53 viii 3.3.1.5 Lenin and Materialism: The Struggle Among Polemics ................... 59 3.3.2 Power and Revolution .............................................................................. 63 3.3.2.1 The Intellectual Crossfire .................................................................. 64 3.3.2.2 Lenin and the Recodification of the Orthodoxy ................................ 71 3.3.3 The Theories on Imperialism ................................................................... 74 3.3.3.1 Road to Power and the Theory of Ultra-Imperialism in Methodological Perspective .......................................................................... 74 3.3.3.2 Lenin on Imperialism ........................................................................ 81 3.4 Marxist Orthodoxy on History of Political Thought Writing ......................... 83 IV. THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF POLITICAL THEORY ...................................... 87 4.1 The British Marxist Historical Tradition ........................................................ 89 4.1.4 The Contribution of Robert Brenner and ‘The Brenner Debate’ ............... 103 4.2 Foundations of the Method ‘the Social History of Political Theory’ ........... 105 4.2.1 Rethinking the Findings of the Transition Debate ................................. 106 4.3 The Emergence of ‘Social History of Political Theory’ as Method.............. 108 4.3.1 Determining Methodological Position ................................................... 109 4.3.2 The Separation of the 'Economic' and the 'Political' in Capitalism ........ 112 4.3.3 Against Mainstream and Orthodox Approaches in Political Thought ... 116 4.3.4 The Social History of Political Theory in Methodological Perspective 119 4.3.5 Locating the Beginning and the Journey of Political Thought .............. 121 4.4 The Question of Political Marxism as a Tradition ........................................ 123 V. CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................ 128 5.1 Reconsidering the Social History of Political Theory with Historical Materialism ......................................................................................................... 128 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................ 134 APPENDICIES ....................................................................................................... 144 A. TURKISH SUMMARY/TÜRKÇE ÖZET ..................................................... 144 B. TEZ FOTOKOPİSİ İZİN FORMU ................................................................. 155 ix CHAPTER I I. INTRODUCTION Marxism has long been debated with its methodological approach that brought in a new way to explain the world according to the social and material conditions of production. Beyond this particular vision that it has, Marxism is both identified as a methodology and also an ideological positioning. Methodologically Marxism was constructed starting with
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