Historical Materialism

Misyurov D.A. Dialectical formulas based on the binary notation as the development formulas // Credo New. 2012. №2

by Dmitry Misyurov

The article suggests dialectical formulas based on the binary notation as the development formulas: formula with... more The article suggests dialectical formulas based on the binary notation as the development formulas: formula with dominant and the non-dominant elements; universal formula; formula with symbolic weight of elements; tautological formula. For example, it suggests an opportunity to use the dialectical formulas for modeling and artificial intelligence creation, etc.

Comments on Graham Harman's response to my article, 'The Future of Speculation?'

by Wesley Phillips

On 6th May, Graham Harman responded on his blog to a passage from my article, ‘The Future of Speculation?’, which... more On 6th May, Graham Harman responded on his blog to a passage from my article, ‘The Future of Speculation?’, which appeared a couple of days earlier in Cosmos and History. As Harman points out, I gave a version of this paper at SEP in York last year, but we didn’t meet on that occasion (I did however ask him about the place of ‘value’ in his system, which he rightly took to be a question about ‘politics’). I shall briefly respond to his remarks, which are reproduced further below. My numbers roughly correspond to those of Harman. Unfortunately, it was not possible to comment on the blog itself because it does not permit comment.

Evald Ilyenkov, "Materialism Is Militant and Therefore Dialectical" (translation)

by Evgeni V. Pavlov

The Future of Speculation?

by Wesley Phillips

in Cosmos and History, Vol 8, No 1 (2012)

The emergence of a philosophical movement amidst the precarious situation of 'continental philosophy' is today... more The emergence of a philosophical movement amidst the precarious situation of 'continental philosophy' is today notable. Whilst welcoming a turn to questions of speculation and realism, this article will contend that speculative realism has misplaced the concept of speculation. Its quasi-naturalism prevents it from relating ‘necessary contingency' to any future-oriented task. What, then, is the future of speculative realism? I will examine the extent to which the phenomenon may at least prompt a self-problematisation of historical materialism, amidst the ongoing problem historical totalisation.

My case study is Iain Hamilton Grant's Philosophies of Nature After Schelling (2006), for the reason that it allows for a clear comparison between ‘Schellingian naturephilosophy' and its competing, Hegelian and Hegelian-Marxist alternatives. Hegel's speculative philosophy of history faces a set of problems of its own. In contrast to Grant's reading of Schelling, an examination of the relationship between Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit and the middle Schelling can address some of these problems. An alternative future to research on speculation is outlined.

What symbols

by Dmitry Misyurov

This article contains 12 questions about the symbols. What are your thoughts in response? This article contains 12 questions about the symbols. What are your thoughts in response?

Unveiling to Know Avail: Revealing the Wariness of Womanhood

by Jacob Miller

Melancholy Science? Critical Theory and German Idealism Reconsidered

by Wesley Phillips

published in Telos, no. 156, Winter 2011/12

During the 1960s, Adorno was reproached with the charge of resignation – echoes of which have continued in recent... more During the 1960s, Adorno was reproached with the charge of resignation – echoes of which have continued in recent radical thought. In what is the most substantial critique of Adorno to date, Gillian Rose initially sympathised with his ‘melancholy science’, only to reject its ‘neo-Kantian Marxism’ just three years later – the problem being that the melancholy science involves a masochistically infinite task, leading to a methodological detachment from the social object. Whilst following Rose’s orientation toward German idealism – for its critique of neo-Kantianism and methodologism – this article argues that a return to Hegel alone is insufficient. Rather, a dialectic of Hegel and his rival Schelling suggests an account of determinate negation that avoids Melancholia without rejoicing in the actuality of world spirit. This is made possible by way of an affinity between conceptions of melancholy (as Trauer) and history in Schelling and Benjamin, from whom Adorno develops his traurige Wissenschaft.

Vom Nutzen der Geschichte, vom Wissen der Akteure und vom Nachteil der Multi-Sited Ethnography-Welthandel, Wirtschaftskrise und Standortwettbewerb in …

by Patrick Neveling

Archaeological Periods and their Purpose

by Christopher Pare

History or Counter-Tradition? The System of Freedom After Walter Benjamin

by Wesley Phillips

published in Critical Horizons, vol. 11, no. 1, 2010

In this article I seek to interpret Walter Benjamin in light of the “system programme” of German Idealism in order to... more In this article I seek to interpret Walter Benjamin in light of the “system programme” of German Idealism in order to confront an antinomy of con- temporary radical thought. Benjamin has usually been regarded as an anti-Hegelian thinker of the exception. Reading him against the grain, I draw out a concept of counter-tradition that eschews the opposition of intra-historical progress and extra-historical exception. The philological inspiration is a book by Franz Joseph Molitor, a student of Schelling and source for Benjamin: The Philosophy of History, or, On Tradition.

Dinàmiques d'organització social i territorial "in territorio Terrachone"

by Xavier Gonzalo Arango

Treball per a l'obtenció del DEA dins del Master "Études Médiévales" M2 a la Université de Toulouse 2 - Le Mirail (2011)

"Review of Ingelore Hafemann, Dienstverpflichtung im Alten Ägypten während des Alten und Mittleren Reiches. IBAES, 12. Pp. 246. London, Golden House Publications, 2009. ISBN 978 1 906137 11 3"

by Juan Carlos Moreno García

Published in "Journal of Egyptian Archaeology", 97 (2011), 251-253.

Dialectics of Enlightenment: Understanding Recent Materialist Receptions of German Idealism

by Jeffrey Bernstein

published in Idealistic Studies, 34: 2, 2004, 131-150.

Becoming Social: Prehistoric Humanity in The Island of Doctor Moreau and "A Story of the Stone Age"

by Laura Eidam

M.A. thesis (2008)

Accumulating-Capital, Accumulating-Carbon, and the Very Big Vulnerable Body: An Object of Responsibility for Ecocriticism

by Daniel Gustav Anderson

This is a journal article published online at Public Knowledge.  Read the full text here: 

http://pkjournal.org/?page_id=1698

Neoliberalism as discourse: between Foucauldian political economy and Marxian poststructuralism

by Simon Springer

Springer, S. Forthcoming. Neoliberalism as discourse: between Foucauldian political economy and Marxian poststructuralism. Critical Discourse Studies.

Contemporary theorizations of neoliberalism are framed by a false dichotomy between, on the one hand, studies... more Contemporary theorizations of neoliberalism are framed by a false dichotomy between, on the one hand, studies influenced by Foucault in emphasizing neoliberalism as a form of governmentality, and on the other hand, inquiries influenced by Marx in foregrounding neoliberalism as a hegemonic ideology. This article seeks to shine some light on this division in an effort to open up new debates and recast existing ones in such a way that might lead to more flexible understandings of neoliberalism as a discourse. A discourse approach moves theorizations forward by recognizing neoliberalism is neither a ‘top down’ nor ‘bottom up’ phenomena, but rather a circuitous process of socio-spatial transformation.

Newton Duarte - Education as Mediation

by Newton Duarte

Against Critical Realism

by Kevin Magill

Published in Capital and Class, Autumn 94, Issue 54, p113-136.

It has been claimed that the ontological theories of Roy Bhaskar can provide guiding principles for social scientists,... more It has been claimed that the ontological theories of Roy Bhaskar can provide guiding principles for social scientists, which can help steer them through errors and misconceptions. This article argues that neither Bhaskar's 'Critical Realism' nor any overarching philosophical ontology can provide workable guiding principles for social scientific research and that such principles are unnecessary.

Class Struggle and Class Compromise in the Netherlands and Switzerland (1914-1950)

by Adrian Zimmermann

Abstract of the paper to be presented at the ESSHC-confernce, Glasgow 11-14 April 2012

Common Sense, Response and Power: Reconnecting Historical Materialism and Poststructuralism in IPE

by Florent LIETO

The following paper aims to evaluate the persuasiveness of contemporary Marxism (or historical materialism) concerning... more The following paper aims to evaluate the persuasiveness of contemporary Marxism (or historical materialism) concerning its interpretation of the role of ideas in international politics. The role of ideas is rephrased as the response to ‘common sense’; the realm of analysis is narrowed to the field of international political economy (IPE). This article argues that historical materialism, as a critical approach, is particularly persuasive in destabilizing a hegemonic common sense with an emancipatory purpose. The main limit to this view is exposed: historical materialism starts from a conception of power as ‘domination’ or ‘power over’ and is challenged by poststructuralism which rather develops a conception of power as ‘productive’ or ‘power to’. My argument is twofold. (1) Considering historical materialism ‘s concept of power as negative is misleading. It reinforces an imaginary gap with the poststructuralist approach. (2) Associating indelibly historical materialism with Marx constitutes the very foundation of this gap and is highly contestable. Re-engaging Marx’s foundational writings allows first interpreting power as productive and suggests a necessary dialogue with poststructuralism; while reconnecting historical materialism with its historicist leanings highlights how complementary the two approaches are.

Historical materialim – poststructuralism – critical approach - common sense – power.