The immanent Utopia : from Marxism on the state to the state of Marxism

The spectacular growth of Marxist literature on politics and the state in capitalist society has been widely hailed as cumulative proof of Marxism's success in producing an effective theory of the political superstructure.

More generally, it has been seen as confirmation of the health and vigor of Marxist theory.

Axel van den Berg raises serious questions about both claims.

Through comprehensive analysis of Marxist thought on bourgeois politics and the state, from that produced by Marx himself to the present, van den Berg radically challenges the viability of a distinctly Marxist theory of the state and of recent Marxist theorizing in general.

In an exhaustive review of the literature, van den Berg shows that neo-Marxist theories are, for the most part, not empirically testable.

To the extent that it is possible to draw any empirical implications from these theories at all, such implications are virtually indistinguishable from those of "bourgeois" theories.

Van den Berg further demonstrates a contradiction: Marxist theories presuppose the viability and desirability of some ideal socialist society. Nevertheless, Marxism's "anti-utopian" insistence that all criticisms of capitalism must rest on foundations immanent in capitalism itself prohibits any open discussion of such a utopia.

Now available in paperback, this is a fundamental work for political and social theorists.