Marxism and postmodernism

Peter Thomas examines the work of the French philosopher Jacques Derrida, who died in October Derrida is often regarded in the Anglophone world as a leading French postmodern philosopher whose doctrine of “deconstruction” propounded a moral relativism and political passivity. In fact Derrida was neither French nor post-modern. He was as opposed to doctrines as he was insistent on the necessity of moral and political choices and commitments. He was, to be sure, a philosopher, but one whose life and work were spent interrogating and problematising precisely those responsibilities which accompany...

Click here for Barbara Epstein's article from from New Politics, vol. 6, no. 2 (new series), whole no. 22, Winter 1997.

by Gerry Byrne My immediate reaction to the Madrid bombing I imagine I shared with millions across the political spectrum. It is the second thoughts that divide us. I don't quite know how to express my disquiet at some of those second thoughts expressed on the left. We can't take an attitude till we know who is responsible. They're human beings. It's wrong. It should be condemned. How will it affect the prospects of the anti-war movement? That depends on how the anti-war movement responds, with human decency or mealy-mouthed apologism. What's happened to our humanity? When did the left lose...

'How Mumbo Jumbo Conquered the World: a History of Modern Delusions' by Francis Wheen This book comes with a fluffy duck on the cover and a recommendation from Nick Hornby, so I expected to find it dire. Fortunately my expectation was confounded. This is a sustained political polemic from one of the most talented polemicists alive. The book covers the last twenty-five years, starting from the two catastophes of the election of Margaret Thatcher in Britain and the return of Ayatollah Khomeini to Iran, cataloguing the many competing and complimentary forms of irrationality which have...

For Murray Kane's article in Workers' Liberty 50/51, click here .