Skip to main content

A Marxian trend that queries undemocratic customs and traditions of capitalism

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* 

A very well-meaning comrade called me a pluriversal Marxist with a wild smile full of English irony, while chairing my book release function in the Marx Memorial Library, London. I dedicate this piece to her…
There is no other philosopher who is more abused and misunderstood like Marx. There is no other philosophy like Marxism which is more demonised on a regular basis. The mindless vilification campaign against Marx and Marxism continues without any form of reason. The propaganda and portrayal of Marxism as a devilish doctrine signify its importance as a philosophy of human emancipation from the very forces who demonise it.
Marxism is a philosophy of praxis which helps us to understand the centrality of creative power of labour in producing socially meaningful value. It helps us to analyse the laws governing production, distribution, consumption, exchange, market, profit, pricing and private property in the development of class-based society.
As a humanist philosophy, Marxism helps to understand the processes of history of class formation, mass alienation and class conflict. It informs us the subjective and objective conditions, and causes of inequalities, exploitation and injustice. Many distractors of Marx have tried to reduce Marx as a European philosopher and Marxism as the European philosophy.
But for Marx, ‘no human is alien’. Marx was writing for the emancipation of every human being in the planet. Marxism is not only a critique of capitalist system but also offers alternative systems based on compassion, humanism, equality, justice, freedom and democracy. Provincializing Marx and Marxism is not possible. He is the first philosopher from Europe who moved away from the dominance of the Cartesian dualism within European knowledge traditions and revolutionised it with dialectics.
The dialectical knowledge traditions are based on differentiation which moves away from the narrow silos of casual analysis and focuses on the conditions or relationships between different factors of history, economics, politics, culture, religion, traditions, science and secularism. The dialectical knowledge tradition accommodates contradictions, diversities, debates, discourses, dilemmas, opposition and negations based on different contexts.
In this way, the dialectical tradition in Marxism is fundamentally opposed to the dualities of European knowledge traditions and its universalizing tendencies during and after colonialism. ‘The knowledge that is emanating from Europe is science whereas African, Asian and American knowledge traditions are ethnography. 
European knowledge is reason and other knowledge traditions are mystic, cultural and religious beliefs’. Such bogus dualities of distinction within Eurocentric knowledge traditions are not only reductionist but also racist.
The European colonialism has universalised its knowledge traditions based on Descartean duality by silencing multiple knowledge traditions within and outside western Europe. It is within this context, one needs to engage with issues of class consciousness, class organisation and class struggle from the Marxist perspectives by moving away from the narrow silos of dualities.
The dynamism of capital and its global system has created conditions where the concept of ‘class’ is very different from the concept of ‘class and class-based’ exploitation during nineteenth century. There are different layers of class-based exploitation in twenty first century. 
These exploitative layers are based on gender, sexuality, race, religious and linguistic marginalisation. These multiple and overlapping forms of exploitations, violence and oppressions are not independent from each other but intersect with each other within a capitalist system.
Capitalism has used these layers as fragmented fault lines to divide and demonise class-based politics of emancipation. Therefore, the emancipatory politics of intersectionality needs to be inclusive and engage with the pre-existing conditions of unequal social, economic political, religious, regional and cultural relations shaping production and reproduction within different forms of capitalism. It is significant to look at different contemporary issues in historical terms and locate inherently exploitative systems promoted by capitalism.
A pluriversal Marxist is not an intersectional Marxist. Intersectionality helps to understand multiple and overlapping forms of exploitation and oppression. It helps to understand different layers of violence under capitalist system embedded with reactionary social, cultural, political, religious and economic forces.
For a successful mass struggle, pluriversal Marxism needs to engage with specific conditions and understand different layers of capitalism
However, the politics of intersectionality ignores pre-existing social relations and economic conditions that continue to exist and accelerated by capitalist system. The politics of mere representation is not radical enough to change these unequal conditions in the society. 
The intersectionalists attempt to find answer within capitalism. Reform and not revolution is their moto. In this way, the intersectionalists reproduce different forms of inequalities. Intersectionalists have failed to offer any alternatives and failed to create sites of struggles for alternatives.
The de-radicalisation is an inadvertent outcome of libertarian and liberal intersectionality as a political approach to emancipatory struggles. Therefore, for a successful mass struggle, pluriversal Marxism needs to engage with specific conditions and understand different layers, structures and institutions of capitalism and its reactionary culture in different spheres of life in a class-based capitalist society.
Pluriversal Marxist means embracing all in our planet where all live-in harmony with nature and with each other. It means solidarity of all marginalised voices in the world to ensure shared peace, prosperity and non-discriminatory coexistence with equal access to resources.
Pluriversal Marxism questions all forms of dominant narratives, power relations, institutions and structured established by capitalism and its undemocratic customs and traditions. Pluriversal consciousness helps Marxism in establishing co-relationship between multiple forms of existence within a mode of dialectical thought that is inclusive in spirit and actions.
It helps Marxism to move beyond its myopic linearity, empiricist tendencies and functionalist formalisms. It is important to understand pluriversal nature of the capitalist world to struggle for another world free from all forms of exploitation, inequalities, oppressions and violence. A pluriversal Marxism can only establish and intersect diverse issues and multiple conditions within a thread of solidarity for a radical emancipatory future.
---
*University of Glasgow, UK

Comments

TRENDING

'Very low rung in quality ladder': Critique of ICMR study on 'sudden deaths' post-2021

By Bhaskaran Raman*  Since about mid-2021, a new phenomenon of extreme concern has been observed throughout the world, including India : unexplained sudden deaths of seemingly healthy and active people, especially youngsters. In the recently concluded Navratri garba celebrations, an unprecedented number of young persons succumbed to heart attack deaths. After a long delay, ICMR (Indian Council for Medical Research) has finally has published a case-control study on sudden deaths among Indians of age 18-45.

SC 'appears to foster' culture of secrecy, does not seek electoral bond details from SBI

By Rosamma Thomas*  In its order of November 2, 2023 on the case of Association for Democratic Reforms vs Union of India contesting constitutional validity of electoral bonds, the Supreme Court directed all political parties to give particulars of the bonds received by them in sealed covers to the Election Commission of India. SC sought that information be updated until September 2023. 

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Savarkar in Ahmedabad 'declared' two-nation theory in 1937, Jinnah followed 3 years later

By Our Representative One of the top freedom fighters whom BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi revere the most, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, was also a great supporter of the two nation theory for India, one for Hindus another for Muslims, claims a new expose on the man who is also known to be the original proponent of the concept of Hindutva.

Only 12% of schools RTE compliant: Whither 6% budgetary allocation for education?

By Ambarish Rai* Despite Indian state’s commitment of 6% GDP on education, the Finance Minister completely ignored right to education for children and strengthening implementation of RTE Act which makes education a fundamental right in her budget speech . The Right to Education (RTE) Forum, which is a collective of different stakeholders in education, condemns this neglect of a legal entitlement, which is unconstitutional and demand for overall increase in the budget to ensure improvement in learning outcomes and overall enhancement of quality education.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Reject WHO's 'draconian' amendments on pandemic: Citizens to Union Health Minister

By Our Representative  Several concerned Indian citizens have written to the Union Health Minister to reject amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted during the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA75) in May 2022, apprehending this will make the signatories surrender their autonomy to the “unelected, unaccountable and the whimsical WHO in case of any future ‘pandemics’.”

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'Ambiguous policy': India late in advocating EVs as energy storage in national grid

By Shankar Sharma*  This is regarding the points raised by the Chief Electricity Authority’s (CEA's) advocacy for usage of electrical vehicles (EVs) as energy storage technology, and few associated issues . An objective reading of what he states should reiterate the enormously growing importance of battery energy storage systems (BESS) in our need to transition to a net-zero carbon scenario for the country.

Union Health Ministry, FSSAI 'fail to respond' to NHRC directive on packaged food

By Our Representative  The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has expressed deep concern over the adverse health effects caused by packaged foods high in salt, sugar, and saturated fats. Recognizing it as a violation of the Right to Life and Right to Health of Indian citizens, the quasi-judicial body called for a response from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) regarding its selection of front-of-pack labels aimed at providing consumers with information to make healthier choices.