Whither Marxism

Alex Callinicos The collapse of 'actually existing socialism' in the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, and the eagerness with which surviving communist regimes such as those in China and Vietnam have embraced market capitalism, have contributed to the widespread discrediting of the very idea of socialism. Marxism has also been forced onto the defensive as an intellectual tradition with the rise of post-structuralism and post-modernism. As a prelude to a discussion of the future of Marxism, one must first consider the causes of its present marginalisation.