Orthodox Marxism is the body of Marxist thought which emerged after the deaths of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the late 19th century, expressed in its primary form by Karl Kautsky . Kautsky's views of Marxism dominated the European Marxist movement for two decades, and orthodox Marxism was the official philosophy of the majority of the socialist movement as represented in the Second International until the First World War in 1914, whose outbreak caused Kautsky's influence to wane and brought to prominence the orthodoxy of Vladimir Lenin . Orthodox Marxism aimed to simplify, codify and systematize Marxist method and theory by clarifying perceived ambiguities and contradictions in classical Marxism . It overlaps significantly with instrumental Marxism .
44-651: [REDACTED] Look up orthodox in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Orthodox , Orthodoxy , or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion [ edit ] Orthodoxy , adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-paganism or Hinduism Christian [ edit ] Traditional Christian denominations [ edit ] Eastern Orthodoxy ,
88-495: A "hands-on" approach to revolution. Luxemburgism is also highly critical of the reformist Marxism that emerged from the work of Eduard Bernstein 's informal faction of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. According to Rosa Luxemburg, under reformism "[capitalism] is not overthrown, but is on the contrary strengthened by the development of social reforms". The tradition founded by Leon Trotsky purports that
132-512: A bourgeois revolution and go through a capitalist stage of development before socialism became technically possible and before the working class could develop the class consciousness for a socialist revolution . The Mensheviks were thus opposed to the Bolshevik idea of a vanguard party and their pursuit of socialist revolution in semi-feudal Russia. Karl Kautsky is recognized as the most authoritative promulgator of orthodox Marxism following
176-672: A branch of Judaism Haredi Judaism , groups within Orthodox Judaism that reject modern secular culture Hasidic Judaism , a sub-group within Haredi Judaism noted for its religious conservatism and, typically, social seclusion Modern Orthodox Judaism , is a movement within Orthodox Judaism Kemetic Orthodoxy , an Egyptian neo-pagan religion that intends to reform and restore ancient Egyptian religion Orthodox Bahá'í Faith ,
220-450: A branch of Judaism Haredi Judaism , groups within Orthodox Judaism that reject modern secular culture Hasidic Judaism , a sub-group within Haredi Judaism noted for its religious conservatism and, typically, social seclusion Modern Orthodox Judaism , is a movement within Orthodox Judaism Kemetic Orthodoxy , an Egyptian neo-pagan religion that intends to reform and restore ancient Egyptian religion Orthodox Bahá'í Faith ,
264-511: A common business or class background, and that their decisions will reflect their business or class interests". There have been a number of criticisms of orthodox Marxism from within the socialist movement. From the 1890s during the Second International, Eduard Bernstein and others developed a position known as revisionism , which sought to revise Marx's views based on the idea that the progressive development of capitalism and
308-470: A confessional Presbyterian denomination located primarily in the northern United States Paleo-orthodoxy , (20th–21st century), a movement in the United States focusing on the consensus among the ecumenical councils and church fathers Reformed Orthodoxy (16th–18th century), a systematized, institutionalized and codified Reformed theology True Orthodox church , also called Old Calendarists ,
352-407: A confessional Presbyterian denomination located primarily in the northern United States Paleo-orthodoxy , (20th–21st century), a movement in the United States focusing on the consensus among the ecumenical councils and church fathers Reformed Orthodoxy (16th–18th century), a systematized, institutionalized and codified Reformed theology True Orthodox church , also called Old Calendarists ,
396-467: A movement that separated from the mainstream Eastern Orthodox Church in the 1920s over issues of ecumenism and calendar reform Academic term [ edit ] Proto-orthodox Christianity , a term coined by New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman to describe the Early Christian movement which was the precursor of Christian orthodoxy Non-Christian [ edit ] Orthodox Judaism ,
440-402: A movement that separated from the mainstream Eastern Orthodox Church in the 1920s over issues of ecumenism and calendar reform Academic term [ edit ] Proto-orthodox Christianity , a term coined by New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman to describe the Early Christian movement which was the precursor of Christian orthodoxy Non-Christian [ edit ] Orthodox Judaism ,
484-681: A multi-party democratic model of revolutionary organizations and proposes a solution for the USSR's bureaucratic caste, that of a political revolution that reinstates those aspects the bureaucrats erased. Trotskyists maintain that the countries of the Eastern bloc, China , North Korea , Vietnam , Cuba and others were " deformed workers' states " which needed political revolutions while critically defending these countries from imperialist aggressions. Anti-revisionists (which includes radical Marxist–Leninist factions, Hoxhaists and Maoists ) criticize
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#1732757799049528-487: A small Baha'i denomination Orthodox Hinduism , a term for Sanātanī Orthodox Islam , generally refers to Sunni Islam Slavic Native Faith or Orthodoxy, a term used by Neo-Slavic pagan religious organizations Other uses [ edit ] Left-arm orthodox spin , a bowling technique in cricket Orthodox (album) , a 2013 album by American rock band Beware of Darkness Orthodox (band) , an American metalcore band from Tennessee. Orthodox File Managers ,
572-487: A small Baha'i denomination Orthodox Hinduism , a term for Sanātanī Orthodox Islam , generally refers to Sunni Islam Slavic Native Faith or Orthodoxy, a term used by Neo-Slavic pagan religious organizations Other uses [ edit ] Left-arm orthodox spin , a bowling technique in cricket Orthodox (album) , a 2013 album by American rock band Beware of Darkness Orthodox (band) , an American metalcore band from Tennessee. Orthodox File Managers ,
616-677: A user interface to work with file systems Orthodox (Jordan) , a Jordanian basketball club Orthodox Marxism , the dominant form of Marxist philosophy between the death of Karl Marx and the beginning of World War I Orthodox seed , a seed which may be preserved via drying or freezing Orthodox stance , a way of positioning the feet and hands in combat sports See also [ edit ] Anti-Orthodox (disambiguation) Heterodoxy Orthodox calendar (disambiguation) Orthodox Church (disambiguation) Orthodox Communion (disambiguation) Orthodoxy by country (disambiguation) Unorthodox (disambiguation) Topics referred to by
660-677: A user interface to work with file systems Orthodox (Jordan) , a Jordanian basketball club Orthodox Marxism , the dominant form of Marxist philosophy between the death of Karl Marx and the beginning of World War I Orthodox seed , a seed which may be preserved via drying or freezing Orthodox stance , a way of positioning the feet and hands in combat sports See also [ edit ] Anti-Orthodox (disambiguation) Heterodoxy Orthodox calendar (disambiguation) Orthodox Church (disambiguation) Orthodox Communion (disambiguation) Orthodoxy by country (disambiguation) Unorthodox (disambiguation) Topics referred to by
704-460: Is a form of orthodox Marxism that both rejects the reformism of revisionist Marxism and opposes the Leninist theories of imperialism, vanguardism and democratic centralism (which argue that socialism can be constructed in underdeveloped, quasi-feudal countries through revolutionary action as opposed to being an emergent result of advances in material development). An extreme form of this position
748-543: Is contrasted with revisionist Marxism as developed in post-First World War Social Democratic parties . Some writers also contrast it with Marxism–Leninism as it developed in the Soviet Union, while others describe the latter as firmly within orthodoxy: Orthodox Marxism rested on and grew out of the European working class movement that emerged in the final quarter of the 19th century and continued in that form until
792-650: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages orthodox [REDACTED] Look up orthodox in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Orthodox , Orthodoxy , or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion [ edit ] Orthodoxy , adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-paganism or Hinduism Christian [ edit ] Traditional Christian denominations [ edit ] Eastern Orthodoxy ,
836-484: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Orthodox Marxism Orthodox Marxism maintained that Marx's historical materialism was a science which revealed the laws of history and proved that the collapse of capitalism and its replacement by socialism was inevitable. The implications of this deterministic view were that history could not be "hurried" and that politically workers and workers' parties must wait for
880-646: Is held by the Socialist Party of Great Britain . In contrast, the anti-revisionist tradition criticised official Communist parties from the opposite perspective as having abandoned the orthodox Marxism of the founders. A number of theoretical perspectives and political movements emerged that were firmly rooted in orthodox Marxist analysis, as contrasted with later interpretations and alternative developments in Marxist theory and practice such as Marxism–Leninism, revisionism and reformism. Impossibilism stresses
924-492: Is primarily to distinguish it from the reformism of Eduard Bernstein . Such " revisionists " were reviled by the orthodox Marxists for breaking with Marx's thought. The emergence of orthodox Marxism is associated with the latter works of Friedrich Engels , such as the Dialectics of Nature and Socialism: Utopian and Scientific , which were efforts to popularise the work of Karl Marx, render it systematic and apply it to
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#1732757799049968-488: Is the scientific conviction that dialectical materialism is the road to truth and that its methods can be developed, expanded and deepened only along the lines laid down by its founders. It is the conviction, moreover, that all attempts to surpass or 'improve' it have led and must lead to over-simplification, triviality and eclecticism. Western Marxism , the intellectual Marxism which developed in Western Europe from
1012-565: The Third International was based in orthodox Marxism combined with Leninist views on revolutionary organization initially. The terms dialectical materialism and historical materialism are associated with this phase of orthodox Marxism. Rosa Luxemburg , Hal Draper and Rudolf Hilferding are prominent thinkers in the orthodox Marxist tradition. Orthodox Marxism is contrasted with later variations of Marxism, notably revisionism and Stalinism . In contrast to Stalin's idea of
1056-496: The 1920s onwards, sought to make Marxism more "sophisticated", open and flexible by examining issues like culture that were outside the field of orthodox Marxism. Western Marxists, such as György Lukács , Karl Korsch , Antonio Gramsci and the Frankfurt School , have tended to be open to influences orthodox Marxists consider bourgeois , such as psychoanalysis and the sociology of Max Weber . Marco Torres illustrates
1100-907: The People's Republic of China became state capitalist after Mao's death. Hoxhaists believe that the People's Republic of China was always state capitalist and uphold Socialist Albania as the only socialist state after the Soviet Union under Stalin. Menshevism refers to the political positions taken by the Menshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party prior to the October Revolution of 1917. The Mensheviks believed that socialism could not be realized in Russia due to its backwards economic conditions and that Russia would first have to experience
1144-454: The USSR was a " degenerated workers' state " on the basis that, although maintaining that it held onto some aspects of a revolutionary workers' state (such as state control of foreign trade or the expropriation of the bourgeoisie), it lacked key aspects it used to have, namely soviet democracy and freedom of organization for workers, which only benefitted a bureaucracy led by Joseph Stalin . In his book The Revolution Betrayed , Trotsky supports
1188-543: The centralization of political power in any elite group of people as espoused by Leninism and Marxism–Leninism. This perspective is maintained by the World Socialist Movement , De Leonism , and to some extent followers of Karl Kautsky and pre-reformist social democracy. Kautsky and to a lesser extent Plekhanov were in turn major influences on Vladimir Lenin , whose version of Marxism was known as Leninism by its contemporaries. The official thought of
1232-542: The death of Friedrich Engels in 1895. As an advisor to August Bebel , leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) until Bebel's death in 1913 and as editor of Die Neue Zeit from 1883 till 1917, he was known as the "Pope of Marxism". He was removed as editor by the leadership of the SPD when the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) split away from the SPD. Kautsky
1276-516: The extension of democracy meant that gradual, parliamentary reform could achieve socialism. But Bernstein himself was a revolutionary and joined the Independent Social Democratic Party in Germany which advocated for a socialist republic in 1918. This view was contested by orthodox Marxists such as Kautsky as well as by the young György Lukács , who in 1919 clarified the definition of orthodox Marxism as thus: [O]rthodoxy refers exclusively to method. It
1320-521: The fundamental questions of philosophy. Daniel De Leon , an early American socialist leader, contributed much to the thought during the final years of the 19th century and the early 20th century. Orthodox Marxism was further developed during the Second International by thinkers such as Georgi Plekhanov and Karl Kautsky in Erfurt Program and The Class Struggle (Erfurt Program) . The characteristics of orthodox Marxism are: Orthodox Marxism
1364-415: The limited value of economic, social, cultural and political reforms under capitalism and posits that socialists and Marxists should solely focus on efforts to propagate and establish socialism, disregarding any other cause that has no connection to the goal of the realization of socialism. Impossibilism posits that reforms to capitalism are counterproductive because they strengthen support for capitalism by
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1408-508: The material economic conditions to be met before the revolutionary transformation of society could take place. For example, this idea saw the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) adopt a gradualist approach, taking advantage of bourgeois parliamentary democracy to improve the lives of workers until capitalism was brought down by its objective internal contradictions. The use of "orthodox" to refer to Kautsky's line
1452-515: The middle years of the twentieth century. Its two institutional expressions were the 2nd and 3rd Internationals, which despite the great schism in 1919, were marked by a shared conception of capital and labour . Their fortunes therefore rose and fell together. Trotskyism and Left communism were equally orthodox in their thinking and approach, and therefore must be considered left-variants of this tradition. Two variants of orthodox Marxism are impossibilism and anti-revisionism . Impossibilism
1496-494: The rule of the communist states by claiming that they were state capitalist states ruled by revisionists . Though the periods and countries defined as state capitalist or revisionist varies among different ideologies and parties, all of them accept that the Soviet Union was socialist during Stalin's time. Maoists view the Soviet Union and most of its satellites as "state capitalist" as a result of de-Stalinization ; some of them also view modern China in this light, believing that
1540-413: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Orthodox . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Orthodox&oldid=1257427416 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
1584-413: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Orthodox . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Orthodox&oldid=1257427416 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
1628-706: The shift away from orthodox Marxism in the Frankfurt School: In the early 1920s, the original members of the Frankfurt Institute—half forgotten names such as Carl Grünberg , Henryk Grossman and Karl August Wittfogel , were social scientists of an orthodox Marxist conviction. They understood their task as an advancement of the sciences that would prove useful in solving the problems of a Europe-wide transition into socialism, which they saw, if not as inevitable, at least as highly likely. But as fascism reared its head in Germany and throughout Europe,
1672-445: The socialism in a single backward country, orthodox Marxists said that Imperial Russia was too backwards for the development of socialism and would first have to undergo a capitalist (bourgeois) phase of development even if a Marxist party would head its government. Lenin urged a socialist revolution in Russia to inspire a socialist revolution in Germany and in the majority of the developed countries. His and Bukharin's New Economic Policy
1716-421: The working class by making its conditions more tolerable while creating further contradictions of their own, while removing the socialist character of the parties championing and implementing said reforms. Because reforms cannot solve the systemic contradictions of capitalism, impossibilism opposes reformism, revisionism and ethical socialism. Impossibilism also opposes the idea of a vanguard-led revolution and
1760-541: The world's second largest Christian denomination Oriental Orthodoxy , which does not accept the theological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon Modern denominations [ edit ] Lutheran orthodoxy , an era in the history of Lutheranism which began in 1580 from the writing of the Book of Concord Neo-orthodoxy , a theological position also known as dialectical theology Orthodox Presbyterian Church ,
1804-436: The world's second largest Christian denomination Oriental Orthodoxy , which does not accept the theological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon Modern denominations [ edit ] Lutheran orthodoxy , an era in the history of Lutheranism which began in 1580 from the writing of the Book of Concord Neo-orthodoxy , a theological position also known as dialectical theology Orthodox Presbyterian Church ,
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1848-585: The younger members of the Institute saw the necessity for a different kind of Marxist Scholarship. Beyond accumulating knowledge relevant to an orthodox Marxist line, they felt the need to take the more critical and negative approach that is required for the maintenance of an integral and penetrating understanding of society during a moment of reaction. This could be described as the politically necessary transition from Marxist positive science to Critical Theory . In parallel to this, Cedric Robinson has identified
1892-572: Was an outspoken critic of Bolshevism and Leninism, seeing the Bolsheviks (or Communists as they had renamed themselves after 1917) as an organization that had gained power by a coup and initiated revolutionary changes for which there was no economic rationale in Russia. Kautsky was also opposed to Eduard Bernstein's reformist politics in the period 1896–1901. Instrumental Marxism is a theory derived from classical Marxism which reasons that policy makers in government and positions of power tend to "share
1936-465: Was to develop capitalism in Russia initially. Luxemburgism is an informal designation for a current of Marxist thought and practice that originates from the ideas and work of Rosa Luxemburg . In particular, it stresses the importance for spontaneous revolution which can only emerge in response to mounting contradictions between the productive forces and social relations of society and therefore rejects Leninism and Bolshevism for its insistence on
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