This consequentialist criticism couldn’t be more wrong.
Political Marxism insists that specific social forms like capitalism — with their own specific material conditions,
their own specific social property relations,
and their own rules for reproduction — engender specific objects and forms of conflict.
It recognizes that their outcomes are not predetermined but are nonetheless shaped and limited by specific material conditions,
in historically specific ways,
in specific processes of historical change: class struggle in a feudal society,
whatever its outcome,
is necessarily a different process than is class struggle in a capitalist society; and, while there can never be a guarantee of outcomes,
socialism as a consequence of capitalist class struggle is a historical possibility in a way that it could never be in the context of feudal social property relations.
Even if socialism has been a conscious and deliberate objective of some capitalist class struggles in a way that,say,
capitalism was not the intended project of feudal class struggles, this doesn’t make socialism an inevitable consequence.
To recognize this is what it means to talk about history rather than teleology.
The criticism of Political Marxist as “voluntarist” demonstrates no understanding of what it means to talk about historical causality.
It suggests that we are compelled to choose between,
on the one hand,
completely contingent processes and,
on the other, unconditional predetermination.
This is particularly mystifying coming from advocates of the new consequentialism,
who have adopted a curious mixture of completely ahistorical contingency and absolute determinism.
They may remain convinced that class struggle is the moving force of history,
but they nonetheless insist that its outcome must be ultimately preordained.
They have found themselves defending the idea of
“bourgeois revolution”
less as a historical than a teleological moment.
Like so many others with vague conceptions of capitalism, then, those critics of Political Marxism can’t explain the origin of capitalism and can’t even define it in any meaningful way. If just about anything can count as a bourgeois revolution,
how do we recognize capitalism when we see it? For
that matter,
how is it possible to sustain a conception of capitalism as a specific social form,
with its own systemic operating principles,
if its laws of motion amount to transhistorical laws?
This consequentialist criticism couldn’t be more wrong.Political Marxism insists that specific social forms like capitalism — with their own specific material conditions,their own specific social property relations,and their own rules for reproduction — engender specific objects and forms of conflict.It recognizes that their outcomes are not predetermined but are nonetheless shaped and limited by specific material conditions,in historically specific ways,in specific processes of historical change: class struggle in a feudal society,whatever its outcome,is necessarily a different process than is class struggle in a capitalist society; and, while there can never be a guarantee of outcomes,socialism as a consequence of capitalist class struggle is a historical possibility in a way that it could never be in the context of feudal social property relations.Even if socialism has been a conscious and deliberate objective of some capitalist class struggles in a way that,say,capitalism was not the intended project of feudal class struggles, this doesn’t make socialism an inevitable consequence.To recognize this is what it means to talk about history rather than teleology.The criticism of Political Marxist as “voluntarist” demonstrates no understanding of what it means to talk about historical causality.It suggests that we are compelled to choose between,on the one hand,completely contingent processes and,on the other, unconditional predetermination.This is particularly mystifying coming from advocates of the new consequentialism,who have adopted a curious mixture of completely ahistorical contingency and absolute determinism.They may remain convinced that class struggle is the moving force of history,but they nonetheless insist that its outcome must be ultimately preordained.They have found themselves defending the idea of “bourgeois revolution”less as a historical than a teleological moment.Like so many others with vague conceptions of capitalism, then, those critics of Political Marxism can’t explain the origin of capitalism and can’t even define it in any meaningful way. If just about anything can count as a bourgeois revolution,how do we recognize capitalism when we see it? Forthat matter,how is it possible to sustain a conception of capitalism as a specific social form,with its own systemic operating principles,if its laws of motion amount to transhistorical laws?
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