State, Politics, and Social Classes

This book offers a reassessment politics against the predominating economicist approach to historical materialism within contemporary Marxism. Boito draws on the structural interpretation of Marxism inspired by Althusser's works of the mid-1960s and, especially, by Poulantzas' Political Power and Social Classes. The volume aims to demonstrate the role of the political dimension (together with the economy) and, to a further extent, to contribute to renew contemporary Marxist political theory. The chapters cover topics such as: the nature of political power; the structure and functions of the state; the role of politics in historical change; political crises; and the political formation of the working class. The book highlights the role of political structures and practices in the reproduction of economic and social relations and also in the process of historical change. The aim of the book is to contribute to the renewal of Marxist thought, breaking with the economicist conception that dominated it throughout the last century, and finally meeting the demands of the socialist struggle in the 21st century.

Offers a reassessment politics against the predominating economist approach to historical materialism Aims to demonstrate the role of the political dimension and to contribute to renew Marxist political theory Highlights the role of political structures and practices in the reproduction of economic and social relations

Autorentext

Armando Boito is Professor of Political Science at the State University of Campinas, Brazil. He is editor of the Brazilian journal Crítica Marxista. Among other books, he has published Reform and Political Crisis in Brazil:Class Conflicts in Workers' Party Governments and the Rise of Bolsonaro Neo-fascism (2021).

Inhalt

Chapter 1: Preface.- Part 1: State, politics, social classes and historical change.- Chapter 2. Introduction.- Chapter 3. The capitalist state at the center: A Critique of Michel Foucault's concept of power.- Chapter 4. The place of State in the Marxist theory of history.- Chapter 5. State and transition to capitalism: Feudalism, Absolutism and Bourgeois political revolution.- Chapter 6. State and transition to socialism: Was the Paris Commune a workers' power?.- Chapter 7. The concept of revolutionary crisis: 1789: France in 1789.- Chapter 8. The Political scene and class interests in capitalist society: Marx's analysis.- Part 2: Politics and economy in the formation of the working classes.- Chapter 9. Pre-capitalism, capitalism and worker resistance: Elements for a theory of union action.- Chapter 10. The (difficult) formation of the working class.- Chapter 11. The constitution of the proletariat into a class in the Manifesto of the Communist Party: Polemicizing with Some Classic Interpretations.- Chapter 12. The exhaustion of the 20th century revolutionary cycle.- Chapter 13. Middle class and unionism.- Chapter 14. Citizenship and social classes.