In Defence of Marxism: A Reply to a Neo-Hindu's Reading of The Seductions of Karl Marx

摘要

Metaphysical niceties lie at the core of Bourgeois Reason. But when threatened, metaphysical niceties turn into the violence of Manipulative Reason. While Classical German Philosophy differentiated understanding from reason, it was the Frankfurt School thinkers who highlighted that understanding which is not able to transform itself into reason turns into a form of anti-humanist technique that they labeled ‘technological reason’. For both wings of the bourgeoisie—the liberal and the conservative—reason is technological reason: the reason not to know, but to calculate, control and destroy. The chief role of Manipulative Reason is an outright distortion of facts, but its chief function is to attack Critical and Emancipatory Reason. In India, over the last two decades the role of Manipulative Reason has dominated both the academic and political life-worlds through the triumph of the neo-religious rightists. Special mention should be made of the domination of the neo-Hindu ideology in academics and politics and its attack on liberal philosophies in general and secularism and Marxism in particular. This essay is a response to a neo-Hindu's reading of The Seductions of Karl Marx. It highlights how Marx's humanism and internationalism are transfigured into Eurocentric ideologies. For the neo-Hindu, the critique of Marxism is no longer based on Edward Said's Orientalism. Instead it borrows from the ideological discourses of the ‘New Orientalists’ and the anti-secular postmodern thinkers that follow Ashis Nandy and David Lorenzen in hypostasizing India as the ‘Hindu Nation’ that has existed from time immemorial with its idealist systems of philosophy that are resistant to secular ideals. The neo-Hindu, like the Orientalist in general, confuses the ideas of the ruling classes of India (dominated by the oligarchical Brahmanical castes) with the ideas of the popular classes.View full textDownload full textKeywordsAsiatic Mode of Production, Hinduism, Caste, Marxist-humanismRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00111619.2011.640064