Lecture Series on Marxist Dialectics Pt: II: Althusser versus Marx and Hegel
Channel: Communism and Dialectical Materialism
Date: 2020-05-18

Part II of a Lecture series by Thomas Weston, presented at  Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Tijuana, Mexico, April 9, 2019. Summarizes Althusser's critique of Marx's dialectics and Marx's base and superstructure model of revolutionary change. Examines Althusser's argument that the Russian revolution of 1917 and the mass repression of 1937-38 in the USSR are not consistent with Marx's base and superstructure formulation, and that Althusser's own "overdetermination" explanation is superior. Argues that Althusser's rejection of Marx's use of an essence /  phenomena distinction is wrong, and works out an example of explaining why lightning strikes. Discusses Althusser's structuralist claims that human history has no subject. Reviews changes in Althusser's views in the late '70s and after.