Introduction

This introduction tries to address the questions and concerns of academics and students (who are not familiar with Marxism and its controversies). It begins by stating (what I imagine to be) the questions both groups would have upon reading the title of the manuscript. The discussion then begins by explaining the two sides of Karl Marx’s materialism (technological development and class struggle) and their relevance for the analysis of today’s world. After that, various criticisms concerning this enterprise are addressed and used to introduce the importance of the concept of ideology for a development of a non-reductionist account of Marx’s materialism. The discussion then moves onto critical theory’s passive conception of the social subject and how the present work seeks to remedy this. Having addressed these points, the introduction offers a very brief overview of the book’s structure.