Talk:Marxist sociology

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Marxist sociologists
I think this article should list some of the most important Marxist or Marxian-influenced sociologists. Here is a list of some, which at least for some period of their career where considered or self-proclaimed Marxists, Neo-Marxists, or Post-Marxists (organized by schools of thought):

Frankfurt School

- Jürgen Habermas - Herbert Marcuse - Theodor W. Adorno - Max Horkheimer - Claus Offe

Analytical Marxism

- Erik Olin Wright - Jon Elster

World-systems theory/Dependency theory

- Immanuel Wallerstein - Andre Gunder Frank - Fernando Henrique Cardoso - James Petras (not 100% sure he fits here)

Birmingham School

- Stuart Hall - Paul Willis

Structural Marxism

- Nikos Poulantzas

Budapest School of Philosophy

- Agnes Heller

Post-Marxism

- Göran Therborn

Unspecified affiliation within Marxism

- Michael Burawoy - Stanley Aronowitz - Fred Block - Michael Mann - Antonio Negri

While never considered Marxists, two of the most important contemporary sociologists had serious engagements with Marxian ideas, namely Pierre Bourdieu and Anthony Giddens (of whom Erik O. Wright said "there are certain specific discussions . . . in which Giddens’s position is closer than many contemporary Marxists’ to orthodox Marxism" ). Another highly influential sociologist that seriously engaged with Marxist theory is Theda Skocpol. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Guzmas31 (talk • contribs) 04:05, 9 July 2010 (UTC) Guzmas31 (talk) 04:42, 9 July 2010 (UTC)


 * Please add it to the article - but remember that information has to be cited. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus 22:14, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

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=Recent expansion moved here for review= Given that I found this expansion by it's use of an unreliable source, and that it's clearly written without regard to the rest of the article or related articles, I thought it best to remove: --Ronz (talk) 16:01, 17 November 2019 (UTC)

Frankfurt School
Marxist sociology opened up a new pathway for later 20th century sociologists in many schools of thought. Some notable Marxist sociologists were found in the Frankfurt School and others derived this form of sociology into their own spin-offs like Analytical Marxism, Structural Marxism, and Post Marxism. A prominent Marxist, Felix Weil, founded the Frankfurt School in 1923. Originally, Weil organized a conference (the Erste Marxistische Arbeitswoche) with other Marxist sociologist including Georg Lukacs, Friedrich Pollack, and Karl August Wittfogel to gather the some of the different  viewpoints of Marxism together. Because this week-long convention of sociologists turned out to be very successful, Weil began working towards turning this meeting into a permanent institution. With his collaboration with the state, Weil was able to make his new institution a university. Even though Weil was a orthodox Marxist, the Frankfurt School ideology focused mainly on the workers' movement in historical and social perspectives. The school also focused on the birth of anti-semitism, an idea which was very very rarely talked about in Germany at the time. Carl Grünberg was named the first director of the institution and worked primarily on the labor movement, another term for the workers' movement. His successor, Max Horkheimer, shifted the schools focus on to a more diverse outlook on social sciences.

Coming from a conservative jewish family, Max Horkheimer was born in 1895 rom his parents Moritz and Babette Horkheimer. Max would be expected to take over the family business: taking over several textile factories nearby his home. Following years of being a junior manager at the factories, he would find himself at the University of Frankfurt years later. He began to learn philosophy and psychology. He was offered a job at Frankfurt University when he received his degree(Philosophy), and faced with a decision, opted to stay at Frankfurt and pursuing academics. While a lecturer at Frankfurt, he would center his lectures around the 18th and 19th century Philosophy.

While the Institute of Social Research was officially opened in 1924, Horkheimer did not officially take the post of Director until October of 1930. In addition, he was fired from both of his titles (Director and Professor). His move to New York came a year later. As the years passed, he continued to make his mark on the world by producing the Dialect of Enlightenment with fellow theorist, Theodor Adorno. Following the Nazi's fall, Horkheimer would eventually decide to return to Europe. By 1949, he had regained his "professor" status at the University of Frankfurt, and the Institute would come back a year after that. He would eventually retire after eight more years of dedication in 1958, and would pass away on July 7, 1973.

Theodor Adorno
Born from a singer and a wine merchant, Theodor Adorno was born in 1903. For many years, Adorno would excel i academics, and ,ore notably, music. Seeking to follow his mothers footsteps, Adorno studied under notable composer Alban Berg, where his musical talents were shown on full display, attracting attention from many. A star pianist, it seemed as though Adorno was well on his way to doing great things while following in his mother's footsteps. To some surprise, however, Theodor Adorno opted to join the faculty of the Frankfurt School in the late 1920's to take up teaching Philosophy. However things would go downhill from there for Adorno, whose heritage came bak at an inopportune time.

The Frankfurt School of Critical Theory
While the Frankfurt school was not a literal school in the physical sense, it was made up of a specific group of philosophers that sought to learn more about society and teach the world their ways. One of the more notable achievements form this group was the development of what is known as the Critical Theory. According to Max Horkeimer, one of the members of the Frankfurt School, he showed that a critical theory has two dominant goals: "it must account for society within a historical context" and "it should seek to offer a robust and holistic critique by incorporating insights from all social events."

Analytical Marxism
Analytical Marxism became increasingly popular throughout the 1980's, however, unlike some Marxism in the past, this type of Marxism became of particular interest throughout English-speaking philosophers. Although it's not clear exactly when Analytical Marxism made it's debut, the first traces of it can be found in 1978 from the publishing of "Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defense." It is said that the three official founders of Analytical Marxism are G.A. Cohen, Jon Elster, and John Roemer. Unsurprisingly, these three men were key aspects of the September as well.The official definition of Analytical Marxism is defined as, "a movement within Marxist theory... that seeks to investigate and develop the substantive these of standard Marxism using the techniques of conceptual analysis associated with analytical philosophy."

The September Group
Going by the name of the September Group based on their meetings that occurred every other year in September, the group had established themselves as the leaders and most notable people within Analytical Marxism. These people had varying occupations, from english philosophers to social scientists. The most notable names from the bunch included Jon Elster, Erik Olin Wright, G.A. Cohen, and others, Their goal was to try and understand what aspects of Marxism were able to be observed and experienced through the use of analytics. Some of these members had successful publishes throughout the years in the September group. This included Jon Elster's story "Making Sense of Marx," which was published in 1985, and fellow member Adam Przeqorski's book called "Capitalsim and Scoial Democracy," which was published a year later.