ABSTRACT
Classifi cations are the cornerstone in any theorizing. Angkie Hoogvelt (2001: 217)
The previous chapter explored the challenge of incorporating history into a neo-classical/positivist frame. This chapter now explores the dominant efforts within Marxism to develop a unifi ed and predictive theory of capitalist development and social change. Its principal focus is on three central problems in Marxist social theory. One concerns the classifi cation of economic and social relations. A second concerns the interpretation of historically contingent processes and events. A third concerns the methodological terms on which the people standing behind the structures of political economy may be represented in Marxist social theory.
