Why Read Marx Today?
by Jonathan Wolff; Oxford University Press, U.K., 2002; pages viii + 236, 11.99 (hardback). IN the midst of all the contentious debates of our times, there seems to be a remarkable degree of consensus about the irrelevance of Marxism. At least, this is what the corporate-dominated media and the mainstream political discourse all over the world would have us believe. To be acceptable in the current intellectual climate, therefore, one must invoke Marxism only to excoriate its flaws and followers. Critics of Marxism are never tired of deriding its imperfections and pointing out its `failures’ in the former Soviet Union and other countries of the erstwhile socialist bloc. Except for `moth-eaten’ states such as Cuba and North Korea, apparently, the world has jettisoned communism, a fact underscored by the recent, de facto acceptance of capitalism by China. Given the overwhelming propaganda against Marxism, one could be forgiven for assuming that Marx and his ideas are meaningless. Besides,
