Marx's Utopian legacy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4774914 |
|---|---|
| Authors | David Lovell (0000-0002-3938-7586), David W Lovell (0000-0002-2045-3731, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2004 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 629-640 |
| Publication date | 2004-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The European Legacy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1084-8770 • E-ISSN: 1470-1316 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/1084877042000306398 |
| OpenAlex | W2048870320 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
The terms "utopia" and "utopian" have long been used in predominantly dismissive ways. That this is the case is due partly to Karl Marx and his followers, who criticized socialist competitors as ineffectual dreamers. But while Marxism worked hard to present itself as realistic, serious and scientific, this essay argues that core elements of Marx's own project are utopian. Marx's utopianism lay in the aim of abolishing the distinction between state and civil society, and in the harmony he assumed would emerge as a result of that change. Consequently, the very concepts of "freedom" and "equality" would be transformed; the old debates about them would simply be redundant in communist society. This essay will explain why such objectives are utopian and even dangerous, and then evaluate the importance of and problems with this utopian legacy. In recovering Marx's utopianism we need not accept Marx's implication that utopianism itself has no real value for social and political change
Aesthetics · Capitalism · Communism · Economics · Epistemology · Neoclassical economics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Utopia · Utopian socialism · Law · Philosophy · Political Economy and Marxism
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2026 (9) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |