Marxism and history

If you understand German or French, I recommend watching the ARTE documentary on the history of the peasantry, in which Wickham is one of the main commentators.

Another major historian has passed away. Yesterday, Chris Wickham (1950–2026), one of the most influential medievalists and a British Marxist historian, died. His work fundamentally reshaped our understanding of medieval history, particularly the transformations of European and Mediterranean societies between the fifth and twelfth centuries. Among his major works are Framing the Early Middle Ages: Europe and the Mediterranean, 400–800 (2005), and The Donkey and the Boat: Reinterpreting the Mediterranean Economy, 950–1180 (2023). Wickham also wrote extensively about Marxist approaches to history. Unfortunately, his work remains largely unknown in the post-Soviet world. To my knowledge, only one of his articles on Marxism and medieval studies, and one of his books, «Средневековая Европа. От падения Рима до Реформации», have been translated in #ru. I am not aware of any Ukrainian translations.

Continuing the theme of the transition debates. Here is another critique of the Brenner-Wood-Chibber approach - specifically, their methodological nationalism - but this time from a perspective close to value-form analysis. In his article “A Commodity-Form Theory of Transition”, historian Andrew B. Liu revisits the classic Marxist debates on the origins of capitalism, arguing that the transition to capitalism cannot be reduced to the emergence of free wage labor or industrial production. Instead, he proposes understanding capitalism through the universalization of the commodity form and the global dynamics of value accumulation: In short, past Marxist scholars who fixated on the site of production envisioned a global economy composed of a patchwork of capitalist and non-capitalist producers, of local “transitions” and “non-transitions” to capitalism. In the nineteenth century, hypothetically, the British waged economy may have been capitalist but the suppliers of their sugar, tea, raw cotton, and other consumer goods and materials remained non-capitalist. The logical and historical problems that arise from this conception should be plainly visible. Instead, it is more useful to read Marx as positing one fundamental epochal transformation, which he called at various moments “the capitalist mode of production” or “capitalist era” or “capitalist epoch.” He described this transition conceptually. In terms of real history, he speculated that it began several centuries ago and has since become global in scale. It has also been characterized by unevenness, or the impersonal dynamics of many capitals in contention with one another. For those of us studying the last two centuries, my guess is that many of the “transitions” we are attempting to theorize are transitions not to capitalism but from within capitalism’s history — namely, from absolute to relative surplus-value, or, from inherited processes (slavery and family farms) to novel ones overhauled and restructured in capital’s image (industrial plantations and Fordist factories). #en #article #history #theory Liu is Associate Professor of History at Villanova University and the author of Tea War: A History of Capitalism in China and India (Yale University Press, 2020). His research brings together the history of modern Asia, global capitalism, and Marxist political economy.

😐 Чи завжди діє правило «одна нація — одна держава»? На межі ХІХ–ХХ століть над цим питанням розмірковував Карл Реннер — австрійський державний службовець, правник і один із провідних теоретиків австромарксизму. В умовах, коли багатонаціональну Австро-Угорську імперію зсередини роздирали національні рухи, Реннер сформулював альтернативний підхід до національного питання. Виходячи з того, що держава і нація — не одне й те саме, він розробив ідею спільної федерації, у межах якої національні спільноти мали б самоврядування у справах мови, культури та освіти незалежно від місця проживання. Описана в його книжці «Боротьба австрійських національностей за державність» модель нетериторіальної автономії стала однією з найвпливовіших ідей австромарксизму та вийшла далеко за межі дискусій у Габсбурзькій імперії. Подібні принципи втілювалися, зокрема, і в УНР. Як зазначає автор передмови до нового англомовного видання цієї книжки, її основна тема «й нині залишається напрочуд актуальною для сучасних дискусій про національну належність, суверенітет і способи врахування етнічного різноманіття». 📚 Публікуємо український переклад цієї передмови — про історичний контекст появи ідей Реннера, його суперечливу політичну біографію та спробу уявити багатонаціональну державу без боротьби націй за панування одна над одною.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything in German. I just came across a short interview with the renowned Marxist historian Isaac Deutscher for the West German Abendschau program on SWR, dated March 20, 1965. He talks about his criticism of ex-communists (renegades) and why heretics are better:). #de #history #lecture Abkehr vom Kommunismus. Ein Gespräch mit Isaac Deutscher 20.03.1965. SWR Retro – Abendschau.

A lovely fragment from Émile Chabal’s new book on Eric Hobsbawm about the historian’s first journey to India in 1968. #en #article #book #history Hobsbawm arrived to discover that he was already something of a Marxist academic superstar: his writings on pre-capitalist formations had circulated through cheap reprints, photocopies, study groups, cafés and communist bookshops, and were being argued over by Indian historians years before he appeared in person. Then, after being “mobbed” by students at Aligarh, he travelled through northern India, attended communist meetings in Bihar, took notes on party cadres, asked about the wages of rickshaw pullers and shoemakers and the illnesses of the working class, and became fascinated by a bandit-turned-Communist candidate who looked suspiciously like material for his work on social banditry. The piece is an excerpt from Chabal’s The Age of Hobsbawm: The Life of a Revolutionary Historian (2026).

Episode 47: Does Central Asia need left-wing politics? #en #podcast In the latest episode of Turan Tales, Agnieszka Pikulicka talks to Georgy Mamedov - curator, activist, and scholar of Marxism and Soviet socialism - about why organized left-wing politics is so strikingly absent from much of contemporary Central Asia. They discuss the Soviet legacy, the strange fate of Marxism after 1991, why radical politics did not simply survive underground, and whether the region needs a new Left today. Worth listening to, especially for anyone interested in what remains of the socialist political imagination in the post-Soviet space.

I haven’t posted anything in German for quite a while, so here’s a good reason to do so: the ARTE documentary “Polen 39. Wie deutsche Soldaten zu Mördern wurden” (Poland ’39: How German Soldiers Became Murderers). The film looks at the German invasion of Poland in 1939 and at how, from the very first days of the Second World War, the Wehrmacht and the SS committed crimes against the civilian population. Its central question is a simple but important one: how could “ordinary men” become perpetrators of mass violence in such a short period of time - and why did some nevertheless refuse to take part? The story is told in part through the diaries and letters of three German participants in the campaign, alongside archival footage, maps, and commentary by German and Polish historians, sociologists, and psychologists. You can switch from the German to the French version as well. ARTE also offers subtitles in several languages (incl. English). #de #fr #history #documentary

The Bolshevik Rank and File by Eurasian Knot #en #podcast #history In 1917, the Bolshevik Party had roughly 24,000 members. A decade later, it boasted about 1.2 million. Recruitment came in waves and so did the purges. Still, Party members were found at the top and bottom of the system. In the Kremlin and in the factories. The Party rank and file were vital to the establishment of the Soviet system, its day-to-day functioning, and the human material for campaigns whether they be for literary, industrialization, collectivization or terror. But who were these people? How engaged were they in politics? Were they a constituency for Party leaders to appeal to or was the rank and file mere material to be mobilized and directed without its own agency? There are few studies looking at the Party at the shop floor and its place in shaping Soviet socialism. Yiannis Kokosalakis’ book Building Socialism does just that. The Eurasian Knot spoke to Kokosalakis to learn more about the role of the Bolshevik rank and file in the early Soviet system. Guest: Yiannis Kokosalakis is a visiting researcher at Bielefeld University. He’s the author of Building Socialism: The Communist Party and the Making of the Soviet System, 1921-1941 published by Cambridge University Press.

Ukraine’s politics of memory are sliding further and further into the quagmire of nationalism. After Nazi collaborator Melnyk, they’re now reburying Konovalets, "Führer, Founder, and Renewer" of OUN, in the national pantheon of heroes. The far right even held a farewell ceremony for Konovalets yesterday in Kyiv. If they manage to reburial Bandera as well, the reunification of the OUN finally comes. Figures like Kovpak or Skrypnyk won’t be part of that pantheon. Thank you to the Historical Expertise for pointing out Oleksandr Zaitsev’s article on OUN anti-Semitism: The concept of “hostile nations” was applied not only to the political and economic aspects of interethnic relations but also to personal relationships. The OUN fought against mixed marriages with members of nations it considered hostile. When Stsiborsky himself disregarded this principle in early 1934 by marrying a Jewish woman, he faced sharp condemnation from his comrades. Even Yevhen Konovalets, who stood out among other OUN leaders for his greater tolerance and broad-mindedness, felt it necessary to condemn his comrade in a personal letter: "When nationalism fights against mixed marriages involving foreigners (particularly Poles and Russians), it cannot ignore the issue of mixed marriages with Jews, who are undoubtedly, if not greater, then at least equal enemies of our national revival. When we demand that our declared principles be applied to rank-and-file members, we cannot make exceptions for ourselves. […] Your actions have greatly burdened the organization…" Konovalets did not explain exactly how Stsiborsky’s actions had burdened the organization, but it was not difficult to guess: it was precisely at that time, in connection with the Polish-German rapprochement, that the Nazis began to withdraw their support for the OUN, and in this situation, a “misalliance” between a member of the PUN and a Jewish woman was entirely inappropriate. Oleksandr Zaitsev is the author of what is currently the best intellectual history of Ukrainian radical nationalism - "Ukrainian Integral Nationalism, 1920s–1930s" (2013).

Виклав невеликий, але дуже цікавий текст Григорія Нудьги 1965 року про історію українських перекладів «Інтернаціоналу». У ньому - ранні, часом доволі химерні версії гімну робітничого руху, історія його поширення в Україні та еміграції, переклади Миколи Вороного, Євгена Григорука й інших, а також кілька забутих сторінок української революційної пісенної культури. #ua #article #history

Iván Szelényi (1938–2026), the Hungarian sociologist, has died after a long illness, in the 88th year of his life. Szelényi was one of the most influential scholars of socialist and post-socialist societies. Szelényi’s scholarship occupies a central place in the sociology of state socialism and post-socialist transformation. His studies of class formation, intellectuals, entrepreneurship, poverty, and inequality shaped debates on the nature of socialist and capitalist societies for several decades. His best-known books include The Intellectuals on the Road to Class Power (1979), Urban Inequalities under State Socialism (1983), Socialist Entrepreneurs (1988), Making Capitalism without Capitalists (1998), and Patterns of Exclusion (2006). Here I am sharing his Yale overview course on social theory (thanks to a comrade for bringing it to my attention). #lecture #en #theory

Here are a few photos I took at the California African American Museum in LA and the Black Panther Museum in Oakland.

I haven’t posted in a while - too much work. Here I've put together a short selection of great #podcasts on the revolutionary Black movement in the United States - from its connections with the Comintern and the CPUSA to the emergence of an independent Marxist workers’ movement in Detroit. Black Radicalism and the USSR — The Eurasian Knot Meredith Roman and Minkah Makalani on Black radicalism, the Comintern, and Soviet antiracism. Black Communists and the Soviet Union with Gerald Horne — Reimagining Soviet Georgia Discussion about the political connections between the Soviet Union, the CPUSA, and the Black liberation movement. The conversation covers Paul Robeson, Black Marxists, communist involvement in struggles against segregation, and the ways in which Cold War competition with the USSR increased pressure on the US government over civil rights. The League of Revolutionary Black Workers — Working Class History On the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, which emerged among Detroit automobile workers in the late 1960s. The League sought to combine resistance to racism in the workplace with class-based workers’ self-organization and a broader strategy of socialist revolution. The episodes feature the voices of movement participants. Well, and if anyone's interested, there's also an article about how a Hungarian in the USSR came up with the constructivist concept of race.

📚 Сучасна історична наука визначає початком формування націй кінець XVIII століття. Утім, чимало істориків і далі шукають нації в античності, середньовічних королівствах і там, де люди ніколи не мислили себе в національних категоріях 🦖 Проєктуючи сучасне розуміння нації на далеке минуле, вони залишають поза увагою класові відносини, імперії, релігійні та локальні спільноти. Внаслідок чого історія починає виглядати як безперервний шлях до сучасної національної держави, хоча насправді була значно складнішою й суперечливішою.

«Оскільки такі дослідження „створюють ту саму реальність, яку нібито лише описують“, вони спотворюють знання про минуле і мають бути відкинуті як хибний спосіб його репрезентації».

👇 Читайте, як працює дослідницький підхід методологічного націоналізму в історії, на яких практиках він ґрунтується та чому вони спотворюють наше уявлення про минуле, а зрештою — і про сучасність.

На Медузе вышел хороший подкаст с украинским историком Георгием Касьяновым о конфликте памятей между Украиной и Польшей, а также об исторических ОУН и УПА. Советую всем, кто хочет разобраться в теме. #ru #podcast

Чи має Україна радянську історію? 🤷🏻 Після розпаду СРСР у багатьох історичних наративах радянська епоха зображується як завершений, віддалений або навіть екзотичний світ. Водночас Україну зазвичай розглядають або як жертву імперського панування, або як простір національного відродження. Та чи не губиться в такій оптиці власне радянський досвід України? І чому ми так вперто від нього відмовляємося? Про важливість цього питання нагадують не лише архіви, а й матеріальна реальність довкола: електростанції, дамби, заводи та інфраструктура, яка попри десятиліття приватизації, занепаду та війни досі підтримує життя цілих регіонів. А ще — інтелектуальні традиції, міжнародні зв’язки та соціальний світ, що формув життя людей і продовжує впливати на сучасність. Повернути цей вимір українського минулого в поле зору пропонує історик Володимир Рижковський. У своєму есеї він запрошує до публічної дискусії в межах «Спільного» про те, чи не є радянська Україна необхідною ланкою для осмислення історії ХХ століття та суперечностей нашого сьогодення. Заохочуємо вас продовжити цю розмову, надіславши свої роздуми за посиланням.

A Conversation with Jairus Banaji on A Brief History of Commercial Capitalism #en #ua #article #history #theory Jairus Banaji is one of the most original Marxist historians. In A Brief History of Commercial Capitalism, Banaji intervenes in the classic Marxist debate on the transition to capitalism. His argument should be read as a challenge to Political Marxism (Brenner/Wood, I've already written about them and Chibber here), which located the origins of capitalism primarily in the transformation of agrarian class relations in England. Banaji shifts the focus to commercial capital and its long history. For Banaji, merchants were not merely intermediaries moving goods between markets. In many medieval and early modern contexts, they directly shaped production through credit, debt, advances, putting-out systems, and other forms of labour subordination. This makes the history of capitalism less a story of one English or European breakthrough than a much broader and uneven process, stretching across Afro-Eurasia. Commons is publishing the first part of Histories of Capitalism Reading Group's conversation with Banaji on his book. Українською тут.

Two great historians have passed away in the last few days - Alex Rabinowitch, an specialist on the Russian Revolution, and an Italian microhistorian Carlo Ginzburg. His Cheese and Worms was a delight to read during my undergraduate studies; after that, I dove into microhistory for a couple of months. Sean Guillory just published a wonderful interview with Rabinowitch that he recorded back in 2017. #en From Guillory: It's hard to state how much Rabinowitch's work influence our understanding of 1917. Before him, it was assumed that the Bolsheviks were a highly disciplined, unpopular political party that came to power through a coup. What Rabinowitch repeatedly showed in his four books on Revolution, the Bolsheviks had popular support, most importantly in factories in Petrograd and in other large cities and at the front. Lenin's slogans, particularly, "Peace, Land, Bread!" had mass support, and by October 1917, successfully rode a wave of revolution into power. Today, the Ukrainian Local History website published an interesting interview with Ginzburg by Daria Mattingly, which she conducted back in the distant and tragic year of 2022. They talk not only about the Inquisition and Stalin's repressions, but also about his father from Odesa and his issues with Foucault. #ua Please take a look! #history #article #podcast