In this study, distinguished international contributors project an 'open' Marxism - a rejection of the determinism and positivism which characterise so much of contemporary left-wing thought. Topics covered in the two volumes include Marxism and political economy, historical materialism, dialectics, state theory, class, fetishism and the periodisation of capitalist development.

Against historical materialism - Marxism as first-order discourse, Richard Gunn; historical-materialist science, crisis, and commitment, Joseph Fracchia and Cheyney Ryan; interpretation of the class situation today - methodological aspects, Antonio Negri; the inversion of class perspective in Marxian theory - from valorization to self-valorization, Harry Cleaver; crisis, fetishism, class composition, John Holloway. Through a series of interconnected articles, this book makes available a range of international authors for an English readership. Topics covered include: Marxism and political economy, historical materialism, dialectics, state theory, class crisis, fetishism and the periodization of capitalist development. Picking up where the debates of the 1970s left off, these collections assess current debates in Marxist theory and project an "open" Marxism by way of critical response to the determinism and positivism which characterize much of contemporary left-wing thought. A text for students, researchers and teachers of Marxist thought and philosophy. Through a series of interconnected articles, the book makes available a range of international authors for an English readership. This study examines an "open" Marxism and looks at its theory and practice.