ABSTRACT
In this 2004 article by Valerie Scatamburlo-D’Annibale and Peter McLaren, it is argued that post-Marxists reduce Marxism to economic determinism while ignoring the continued relevance of class in the present day, in the context of cultural and other politics of identity and difference. The authors charge that as a result, understanding of global capitalism has been undermined, to the ultimate detriment of leftist theory. As the authors note, the politics of difference often neglects class and material and economic forms of analysis when considering identities and inequality. Yet while culture is emphasised in new approaches, it is reduced in unfortunate ways when isolated from economic factors. Marx remains useful here, as the authors note that a Marxist analysis recognises how differences such as cultural ones are also produced and reproduced within socioeconomic contexts. Against this backdrop, they argue for a historical materialist approach to difference which does not exclude key insights from Marxist thought. Within such a view, class is emphasised as significant to culture, identity, and difference. Furthermore, class analysis is also illustrious with regard to understanding racism and racial oppression, which require more conceptual tools than race alone. The authors conclude their analysis by exploring the continued significance of socioeconomic inequality globally, and appealing to readers to continue to explore class as a foundational aspect of social constructions of difference and identity moving forward.
