Status of the Class in the Critique of Political Economy and Politics
by Luca Basso
pp. 138-154 Issue 11 (6,1) – January-June 2019 ISSN (online): 2539/2239 ISSN (print): 2389-8232 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14718/SoftPower.2019.6.1.7
Abstract
This essay is centered on the element of the class, often removed in these years, focusing on its conceptual status, its relationship with reality and its critical potential. To address this theoretical plexus, the reference to Marx remains crucial. My essay, which tries to make reflection of Marx (and some Marxist theorists) interact with the contemporary debate, is divided into three parts. The first deals with the relationship between the critique of political economy and politics. The second focuses on the consequences of this approach on the status of the class. In the third part I try to highlight strengths and open problems in the investigated approach. What is at stake is to understand how we can relaunch this question in today’s scenario, changed with respect to the Marxian context, and on the basis of an interaction between the lines of class and race.