History and Revolution
A Revolutionary Critique of Historical Materialism

Cardan, Paul (Cornelious Castoriadis)

Publisher:  Solidarity (London)
Year Published:  1971   First Published:  1965
Pages:  34pp  
Resource Type:  Article/Report/Letter
Cx Number:  CX5608

Paul Cardan's critique of Marx's exclusively materialistic views of history, and the need for other historical discourses in the wake of the unparalleled technological changes of the twentieth century.

Abstract:  Marx's theories of historical meaning are at best incomplete and at worst hopelessly misleading. His emphasis on "contradictions" between forces of production and relations of production betrays a fatal reductionism, and nineteenth century understandings of societal relations and economics are used throughout his work to explain pre-nineteenth-century times. The assumption of constant technological improvement overlooks the thousands of years of human society in which there existed near-complete technological stagnation. Marx's distinctions between "infrastructure" and "superstructure" overemphasize the degree to which"what people do" can or should be separated from "what people think."

Subject Headings

• History
• Revolution