Traditional political Marxism itself sometimes tries to present itself as no more than a scientific theory, with the anti-capitalist politics merely following as a consequence.
But Marxism is not a theory that just happens to have political implications. Marxist theory is essentially a device; a device designed to produce regime change. The theory may be the part that most catches the eye of intellectuals, but it is strictly secondary to the political goal.
Marx himself made this aspect of his thinking very clear: he despised social theorising unless it had a political objective. His attitude is encapsulated in his well-known assertion:
Philosophers have merely interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.Marx's idea of 'change' was not one of slow improvement, or of bringing society more into line with the preferences of the less well-off. Marx disapproved of piecemeal politics, and he wasn't greatly interested in what individual workers wanted. What he aimed at was complete revolution: revolution of rulership, revolution of the economy, and revolution of thinking.
Marx's intellectual followers, by and large, adopted the same attitude: social theorising must always have a practical goal, and the goal should be revolutionary rather than partial. Those followers set out to help their master's plans, by constructing complex social and psychological theories which would help to convince people that Marxist doctrine was correct and that it should be implemented.
This goal-driven approach to theorising has had — via intellectuals' embracing of Marxism — a major impact on research, and on the university environment. Social theories are now often blatantly judged, even in academic contexts, not by how well they correspond to reality, but by whether they are more likely to lead to political action or inaction. (Action good, inaction bad.)
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The important thing to realise about any given element of Marxist theory is: there is always an agenda. However abstract or obscure a component theory may seem, there is likely to be a political purpose driving it.
To attempt to understand a Marxist theory purely on its own terms — as though it is only about what it seems to be about — is futile. Most of the theories of cultural Marxism can only be properly understood by recognising what is driving them. The question to ask in each case is: what are the consequences of accepting that this theory or perspective is correct? How is accepting it likely to affect the way people see themselves, one another, their society, and the notion of government? Will acceptance of the theory facilitate the Marxist agenda?
The pseudo-rebellious impression often generated by cultural-Marxist theorising — its air of 'anything is possible' or 'all speculations are allowed' — should be regarded as a deception. This impression of philosophical rebellion or playfulness is best interpreted as one of the tropes of Marxist theory. That is to say, it is a specific device, used to achieve a specific effect, while masquerading as something more genuine.
Similarly, Marxism's attempts to gain the moral high ground, by exploiting sympathy for less privileged social groups, and implying that application of its ideas would improve matters for those groups ('implying' because, for good reasons, Marxists rarely spell out how precisely their ideal society will avoid differentials of privilege), should be seen as yet another political device, rather than as a theory intended to have correspondence with reality.
Extract from my forthcoming book The 12 tropes of cultural Marxism.