marxism21 it's been 10 years!

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By MARXISM COLLECTIVE21

An unprecedented and original experience in the field of Marxist studies

Created in August 2012 by a group of researchers and professors from several universities (public and private) in the country, marxism21 it is an unprecedented and original experience in the field of Marxist studies. Under a critical, plural and democratic orientation, the blog seeks to be the repository of the intellectual production of Brazilian Marxism available on the internet. If on the web, in Brazil and in the world, we can find websites and blogs that disseminate the work of a particular Marxist, marxism21 distinguishes itself from them insofar as it has disseminated the thinking of Brazilian interpreters, whatever their theoretical and political orientations within Marxism.*

Through the extensive material contained in different sections, the blog allows proving the richness, fruitfulness and diversity of Marx's theoretical work. From the perspective of its editors, there is no true Marxism, but different lineages and interpretations, nationally and internationally, of Marx's theory. marxism21 it does not privilege, therefore, a particular Marxist contribution on the Brazilian social and historical formation, but it presents to the reader – in a non-sectarian or dogmatic way – different interpretations linked to the thought of Marx and Engels.

Maintained intellectually and financially by a consulting board, whose members (teachers and researchers) are linked to different universities – located in 14 Brazilian states – marxism21 offers free books and articles from magazines that, sometimes, appear in a few collections of libraries in the country or are not available on the internet. In turn, academic works not published in books – master's dissertations and doctoral theses that are guided by Marxist theory and method – are also available in a specific section of the blog. Videos of lectures and courses on the works of Marx and Engels and authors from different traditions in the field of Marxism can be accessed in the Multimedia section.

In this sense, researchers, professors and students from the most remote cities in the country – sometimes deprived of financial resources and qualified collections where they work or live – can consult and download articles from magazines and works of the socialist left that, eventually, ceased to be edited and reissued in Brazil. In order to expand the available collection, the editors and members of the Council carry out works of digitalization of books and magazines that are out of print and accessible only in some libraries of public universities in the country.

Consulting the blog's statistics reveals – due to the high number of individual accesses and the number of downloads carried out daily by readers – who marxism21 it has been a valuable resource for researchers, professors, students (graduate, undergraduate and high school) and social movement activists.

We believe that, in these 10 years of existence, marxism21 fulfilled one of the main objectives for which it was created. As the editorial proposal reads, “the blog intends to be, above all, a useful and valuable instrument in the theoretical, political and ideological struggle for the dissemination of Marxist, critical and transformative thought. This expectation is based on the conviction that the tools offered by new supports and digital media, as well as issues related to their democratization and socialization, must be issues and challenges faced by Marxism in the XNUMXst century.”

 

the editorial work

The editorial committee of marxism21 – which seeks to always have the support and collaboration of its Advisory Board – is responsible for various tasks. One of them is to regularly organize dossiers that address four different issues: Marxist thought in Brazil; debates on theoretical issues of Marxism; conjunctural and special themes (ephemeris in the history of Marxism and socialism).

Over 10 years, 22 dossiers on the works of Marxist authors – books, articles, interviews, videos, etc. – have been published.** In the same direction, the Interventions section has also posted dossiers on the intellectual production of Marxists who are still active in the country's political and editorial scene.***

Theoretical debates on the State and democracy, social classes, imperialism, feminism, the environment and other issues of historical materialism and class struggle are the subject of the “Themes” section. In turn, the “Current issues” section publishes dossiers that discuss relevant issues that challenge Marxists to offer a critical interpretation and creative political interventions: “June 2013”, the “2016 coup”, “Bolsonaro government”, “pandemia ”, “fiscal adjustment”, “Pec 241” and other topics are some of these dossiers. Their particularity resides in the fact that almost all of their texts were prepared especially for marxism21; that is, the texts are by authors (external or not to the Council) who accepted an invitation from the blog to debate the issue of the dossier. In this sense, the blog innovates insofar as it no longer reproduces texts previously published in other media; it also began to edit unpublished texts, such as the left-wing printed magazines.

Under the rubric Specials, dossiers have been organized on relevant events in the history of Marxism and socialism, in Brazil or abroad; among them, we can mention: Marx 200 years, Engels 200 years, 100 years of the Russian Revolution, 150 years of Lenin, 80 years of the death of Leon Trotsky, Homage to Eric Hobsbawm, István Mészáros, Domenico Losurdo and other relevant Marxist critical thinkers .

Critical reviews of recently published books and relevant older works by Marxist authors are part of a specialized section of the blog. About 60 books were reviewed by specially invited authors. marxism21 it also disseminates texts extracted from publications available on the internet (among these are reviews of works by Florestan Fernandes, Caio Prado Jr., Jacob Gorender, Carlos Nelson Coutinho, Evgeni Pachukanis, Nicos Poulantzas, Domenico Losurdo and others).

 

Contribution to Marxist research

By way of conclusion of this brief Note, let us make two highlights that allow highlighting the valuable and original contribution of the blog to research and knowledge of Marxist intellectual production in Brazil.****

through the section left memory, marxism21 makes available collections of magazines and books, published decades ago, which are no longer published in the country. Bearing in mind that they are difficult for the public to access, Editoria and collaborators have digitized some of these Marxist and left-wing publications; some of them, it should be noted, were edited during the military dictatorship (1964-1985). Among these valuable publications, we mention: Notebooks of the Brazilian People, Debate Notebook, Debate, Encounters with Brazilian Civilization, Writing/Rehearsal, Social studies, New directions, Brazilian Civilization Magazine, Human Sciences Themes, Theory and Policy e plague. Due to the quality and importance of the journal, the blog – with the collaboration of Marxist researchers from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Mexico – exceptionally publishes 98 issues of Past and present notebooks, a magazine created in Córdoba, Argentina, in May 1969. Certainly, no public collection in Brazil has the privilege of having this excellent research material for the knowledge of Marxism in our continent.

The second highlight to be registered means an important editorial advance. Since 2020, marxism21 published four electronic books (E-books), offered free of charge. Are they: The challenges of Marxist feminism today (2020), a work that brings together texts by 16 feminist researchers and activists who discuss the relationship between feminism and Marxism; Florestan Fernandes. Trajectory, Memory and Dilemmas in Brazil (2021), a book that brings together eight unpublished interviews with Florestan Fernandes and analyzes of his sociological production prepared by seven researchers; Racism, ethnicity and class struggle in the Marxist debate (2021), a collection consisting of 23 articles written by 26 authors who analyze the ethnic-racial issue and its relationship with class struggles based on Marxist theory and Dialogues with Duarte Pereira on the History of Popular Action (2022), the book contains a series of interventions and records produced by the journalist and former leader of the AP, Duarte Pereira, over the last few decades.

At the beginning of 2023, marxism21 will publish the E-book “Feminist proses in times of a pandemic”, a collection produced by 14 researchers who took on the challenge of discussing the question: “What is the social condition of women and what are their possible resistances in the capitalist society of the XNUMXst century?”

Finally, it should be noted that the blog has been consistent with its editorial proposal, particularly when it states: “We understand (...) that Marxism will only be able to respond to the challenges of the XNUMXst century if it remains open to permanent confrontation with the new phenomena of today , whether in economics, politics, culture, etc., always testing the validity of their hypotheses”.

marxism21 therefore seeks to be guided by the theoretical and political perspective of the classics of Marxism, which has nothing to do with reductionism, dogmatism and sterile sectarianism. In this direction, the blog will continue to affirm that the dissemination of Marxism will never be a gratuitous act, as it implies a permanent historical commitment with the social and political struggles of the popular sectors and workers. From an anti-capitalist and socialist perspective, these struggles, in the country's current situation, are primarily aimed at overcoming social barbarism and defeating the fascist extreme right.

*Collective marxism21

Notes


* An important reference for Marxist research is the Marxist Archive on the Internet;

** The Brazilian Marxist authors who, until now, have been the subject of dossiers are: Alberto Passos Guimarães, Astrojildo Pereira, Caio Prado Jr., Carlos Nelson Coutinho, Ciro Flamarion Cardoso, Clóvis Moura, Duarte Pereira, Edmundo Fernandes, Ignácio Rangel, Florestan Fernandes, Jacob Gorender, Leandro Konder, Luiz Pereira, Mario Pedrosa/Livio Xavier, Nelson Werneck Sodré, Marialice Mencarini Foracchi, Octavio Ianni, Octavio Brandão, Rui Facó and Ruy Mauro Marini.

*** The authors whose works are part of this section are: Décio Saes, Dermeval Saviani, Iná Camargo, José Paulo Netto, Márcio Naves, Michael Löwy and Roberto Schwarz.

**** To be informed about Marxism21 publications on the networks: Blog page: https://marxismo21.org/

Instagram: @ marxismo21

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marxismo21

Twitter: @marxismo21

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@marxismo21videos57

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