1st Edition

Alien Politics Marxist State Theory Retrieved

By Paul Thomas Copyright 1994

    Alien Politics retrieves from the writings of Marx an original theory of the state which remains viable and relevant today. Paul Thomas traces the process by which Marx's theory of the state as the instrument of the capitalist ruling class became transformed into communist dogma under the auspices of Lenin and other "official" Marxist stalwarts. He argues that Marx's writings still have something to teach us and should not be pulled down with the monoliths and mausoleums of communism.

    REFACE
    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    INTRODUCTION : WHAT PRICE THE STAT E ?

    1. THE STATE AS A FINISHED THING ”
    2. MARX AND HEGEL : MEMORIES OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT
    3. “THE SABRE , THE COWL , THE M U S K E T ” : M A R X ’S B R U M A IR E
    4. THE S TATE AS TOPOS : LENIN AND GR AM S C I
    5. S U B J E C T - S T A T E , O B J E C T - S T A T E : FROM G RAM SC I TO P OU L AN T Z A S
    6. THE S TATE OF THE S TA T E : KAU T SK Y , E U R O C O M M U N ISM AND BEYOND CONCLUSION

    Biography

    Paul Thomas is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of Karl Marx and the Anarchists, published by Routledge.

    "Free of jargon and verbosity, gentle and generous in guiding the reader through its arguments, and completely sustained in its clarity, Alien Politics is a compelling read." -- Paul Breines, Boston College
    "...this book opens up some important questions in social and political theory, drawing some new connections between what are often seen as disparate parts of Marx's work." -- Journal of Political and Military Sociology