Rational Choice Marxism

To begin with, rational choice Marxism, promised to construct historical explanations and social theories with clarity and rigour. Subsequently, it took a political turn' in addressing issues of class and production, and the prospects for electoral socialism. This anthology commences with the founding classics - Erik Olin Wright's What is Analytical Marxism?' and Alan Carling's spirited challenge to the Marxist establishment - which are answered with critical responses detailed by Ellen Meiksins Wood and Michael Burawoy in previously uncollected debates. Also included are further debates charting the historical progression of rational choice Marxism. The editors demonstrate that the clarity and rigour originally promised by the rational choice Marxists was never in fact achieved, but that rational choice Marxism has considerably enhanced the theoretical treatment of class and production in a world of commodification and difference.

Inhalt
Editors' Introduction; T.Carver & P.Thomas - What is Analytical Marxism?; E.O.Wright - Rational Choice Marxism; A.Carling - Rational Choice Marxism: Is the Game Worth the Candle? (with a Postscript 1994); E.M.Wood - Marxism without Micro-Foundations; M.Burawoy - Class, Production and Politics: Reply to Burawoy; A.Przeworski - Mythological Individualism: The Metaphysical Foundation of Analytical Marxism; M.Burawoy - Social Democracy and Rational Choice Marxism; D.King & M.Wickham-Jones - Marx and Methodological Individualism; M.Warren - Philosophical Foundations of Analytical Marxism; G.Kirkpatrick - The Limits of Rational Choice Theory; M.Goldfield & A.Gilbert - Rational Choice Marxism and Postmodern Feminism: Towards a More Meaningful Incomprehension; A.Carling - References and Select Bibliography - Notes on the Contributors - Index