Revista Marx e o Marxismo – Revista do NIEP-Marx
A Revista Marx e o Marxismo – Revista do NIEP-Marx é a publicação oficial do Núcleo Interdisciplinar de Estudos e Pesquisas sobre Marx e o Marxismo (NIEP-Marx). A revista adota uma explícita orientação marxista, aberta para todos os campos do conhecimento social e para a reflexão teórica. O Núcleo Interdisciplinar de Estudos e Pesquisas sobre Marx e o Marxismo (NIEP-Marx), da Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), é um grupo interdisciplinar formado por pesquisadores (professores e estudantes) da UFF e por pesquisadores de instituições diversas do Brasil e do exterior. ISSN: 2318-9657 Site do NIEP-Marx - www.niepmarx.blog.br
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Editorial da Edição volume 13, número 24, jan/jun, 2025
Copyright (c) 2025 Equipe Editorial https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
A century later: the relevance of Imperialism as the highest stage of capitalism
This article proposes a characterization of the current turbulent and dramatic global economy in light of the Marxist method and, specifically, of the formulation of imperialism proposed by Lenin in his 1916 book, Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism That is, not as one option among others, but as the final stage into which capitalist society inevitably leads, given the laws that govern it. This includes a political corollary regarding the reactionary nature of reformism and class collaboration.
Copyright (c) 2025 Xabier Arrizabalo Montoro https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Daniel Bensaïd's work is a treasure: an interview with Michael Löwy
Nesta entrevista, Michael Löwy comenta sobre a obra e a trajetória de Daniel Bensaïd (1946-2010), intelectual francês de quem foi companheiro de militância e amigo. Inicialmente, ele aborda seu contato inicial com Bensaïd e a relação que se construiu entre ambos ao longo dos anos. Em seguida, discute as contribuições teóricas de Bensaïd, destacando as noções de aposta melancólica e profecia condicional. Discute ainda o lugar do Brasil na reflexão de Bensaïd, bem como o seu papel enquanto teórico e dirigente no interior da Quarta Internacional. Contextualiza a relevância da Liga Comunista no cenário político e intelectual francês e situa a relação de Bensaïd com Nicos Poulantzas. Por fim, apresenta o que entende serem as principais lições de Bensaïd para as novas gerações.
Copyright (c) 2025 Pedro Gava, Michael Löwy (entrevistado) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Vehicles of exploitation in the 21st century: platform-mediated labor in light of Marx’s categories
The article discusses platform-mediated work in the context of the historical structural crisis of capitalism, alongside the deep process of productive restructuring and the emergence of new technologies. It aims to carry out a detailed analysis of the work performed by drivers and delivery workers, and to identify interpretive keys through Marxian categories such as piece wages, the industrial reserve army, and productive labor, through which these forms of work can be understood.
Copyright (c) 2025 Maria Laura Paiva https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
From “hot labor summer” to the winter of Trump: an analysis of current political and organizational dynamics of the American labor movement
After decades of decline, the US labor movement has demonstrated signs of revitalization since the COVID-19 pandemic, with new organizing practices, the realization of a larger and broader number of strikes in the public and sectors, and the incorporation of less corporatist issues in their social dialogue agendas. This new wave of unionization differs from earlier attempts to increase union power for being more directly protagonized by rank-and-file workers. This article will analyze the current union dynamics in the USA, using quantitative and qualitative indicators, to better understand the ruptures and continuities between the current situation and previous forms of unionism prevalent in the USA, including business unionism and labor liberalism. The preliminary results of this study indicate that, despite the qualitative innovations in the organizational forms and political positions of the unions that form part of this new current, there has not been an increase in quantitative strength, due to legislative limitations, widespread anti-union practices by employers, and the lack of political parties more directly linked to the working class.
Copyright (c) 2025 Jana Karen Silverman https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
René Guénon, Olavo de Carvalho and the formation of a metapolitical intellectual elite
The French metaphysician René Guénon and the Brazilian writer Olavo de Carvalho shared the same diagnosis of the western’s civilization crisis. They identified its origin in the birth of the modern world. For them, the scientific and philosophical currents that emerged from the Renaissance have shaken the spiritual world and degraded contemporary culture. Not only was the diagnosis shared, but the remedy for restoring tradition was also common. Guénon and Carvalho considered forming a new intellectual elite essential to perform a spiritual renovation. In this regard, they proposed a pedagogical program that mobilized different superstructures: salons and journals, in the French case, courses and social networks in the Brazilian one. The outcomes, however, are quite different. While Guénon’s ideas penetrated the high culture of the time, Carvalho has always remained at its margins.
Copyright (c) 2025 Alvaro Bianchi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Neoliberalism and neo-fascism in the present time: notes on the so-called crisis of contemporary democracy
Contrary to what mainstream liberal interpretations claim, the contemporary “crisis of democracy” is, in our view, the expression of a crisis of bourgeois hegemony, that is, a crisis of bourgeois domination. It is, therefore, the increasing difficulty of the ruling class in preserving, at least in the way it did until the 2008 crisis, the armored democratic regime as the optimal and stable form corresponding to an increasingly total, predatory and destructive capitalist accumulation of the socio-environmental conditions of its own reproduction, and which, therefore, has less and less capacity to produce consensus, to the extent that its concrete substrate, the concessions to the popular masses, is increasingly scarce.
Copyright (c) 2025 Felipe Demier https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Trotsky and the role of individuals in history: the thesis of the irreplaceable Lenin
In Chapter XVI, “Rearming the party”, of Volume I of History of the Russian Revolution, Trotsky introduces the discussion on the role of individuals in history, questioning whether the revolution would have triumphed without Lenin. He argues that the opportunity would probably have been missed, highlighting the Bolshevik leader as an essential link in the chain of events. For his part, Deutscher raised questions about this interpretation and, relying on Plekhanov, criticized Trotsky, claiming that his approach was too subjectivist. The aim of this article is to analyze the theme of the role of the individual in history, based on the debate about Lenin’s role in the Russian Revolution. The article is structured in four parts. The first part presents Trotsky’s interpretation of Lenin’s role. The second part sets out Deutscher’s criticisms, based on his reading of Plekhanov. The third part discusses the fatalism present in the “traditional Marxist” conception. Finally, the fourth part argues that Trotsky’s interpretation is supported by the theory of uneven and combined development, as well as by the emphasis on the protagonism of the masses in struggle.
Copyright (c) 2025 Carlos Prado https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Copyright (c) 2024 Equipe Editorial https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Editorial da Edição volume 12, número 23, jul/dez, 2024
The hidden subject of removals: entrepreneurs and favelas in Guanabara (1962-1973)
In the years 1962-1973, the city of Rio de Janeiro was deeply transformed by a policy of systematic slums removal. Although many past researches have frequently pointed to the alignment of such a policy to the interests of real estate capitals, this particular matter remains to be thoroughly examined. Therefore, the present article seeks to analyze the policy of favela removal taking into account the deep entanglement between the dimensions of State and civil society in that historical period. The main hypothesis is that the business community in real estate sector was not a passive beneficiary of such a policy, but a decisive agent in its design and effective implementation, specially during the military-entrepreneurial dictatorship that began in 1964.
Copyright (c) 2024 Marco Marques Pestana https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
The name is changed, but the tale is told of you! Colonialism and slavery in Volume I of Capital
Karl Marx, in the first volume of Capital, points to the need to study modern colonial slavery in detail since it would reveal a world shaped according to the image of the bourgeoisie, establishing, thus, the colonial slavery as a structure able to reveal a truth about capitalism itself. Therefore, this article intends to understand how this could work. This is, then, an exercise to highlight aspects of Marxian investigation of the capitalist mode of production, considering the metropolis-colony relations. To do so, in addition to the reading of Capital, this article also draws on Marx’s writings on the Civil War in the United States, a theme that is present throughout Volume I. This comparative reading between these two Marx’s texts shows the functioning of this investigative procedure, which departs from the particular historical fact to extract truth concerning the general logic of capitalism.
Copyright (c) 2024 Mathias Galli Tatsch https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
50 years of April in Portugal: a velvet revolution?
In Europe, the Carnation Revolution marked the end of the revolutionary cycle opened in 1917 by the Russian Revolution. It was the result of a military uprising triggered by junior officers in the Portuguese Armed Forces. It put an end to a four-decade fascist and colonialist dictatorship and made Portugal a unique case in the processes of “democratic transition” in the second half of the 20th century, since its origin was revolutionary and not agreed upon. Based on a broad overview of the PREC (The Ongoing Revolutionary Process) [Processo Revolucionário em Curso], the article aims to highlight this revolutionary rupture which, although halted, has been directly responsible for the quality of “Portuguese democracy” since then. In the end, we point to the reconstruction of the unity of the working class and its revolutionary party as a historical requirement of April for the present time.
Copyright (c) 2024 Andre Vianna Dantas https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Letter from Karl Marx to Friedrich Engels on December 7, 1867
Translated by João Leonardo Medeiros (professor at the Universidade Federal Fluminense/researcher at NIEP-Marx) from the English version published in: Karl Marx & Frederick Engels. Collected Works, Vol. 42 (1864-1868). New York: International Publishers, 1987, pp. 493-495. Then, Tiago Camarinha Lopes (professor at the Federal University of Goiás) compared the Portuguese version with the German text published in: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Werke, Vol. 31. Berlin, Dietz, 1965, pp. 403-405."
Copyright (c) 2014 Karl Marx; João Leonardo Medeiros https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Services as productive work and its complexity
The premise for understanding the participation of services in contemporary capitalist production is a confrontation with the controversy over productive or unproductive labor. It is understood that the capitalist use of services responds to a specificity that makes its analysis complex, consequence of services having human beings and not nature as their object. It is concluded that the complexity of services does not prevent them from being productive labor, whose definition derives from the social insertion of the activity in capitalist production and not from its material or non-material content. However, it is noted that this specificity requires an analysis that goes beyond a simplistic analogy with factory work, especially in view of the current forms of insertion of workers in the capitalist mode of production.
Copyright (c) 2024 Ellen Tristão https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Democracy and constitution in the Critique of Hegel’s philosophy of law
This paper aims to analyze the way in which Marx addressed the antinomies of the constitution and the question of democracy in the Critique of Hegel's philosophy of law, which are issues of paramount importance for constitutional law and political modernity. Moreover, the text contains a brief historical contextualization of the main philosophical, political and theological debates that took place in Prussia, especially in the 1830s. The research found, based on Michael Heinrich, that the traditional interpretation of the dissolution of hegelianism and the “young Hegelians” was a later historical-philosophical construction. In addition, it was demonstrated that Marx, in the Kreuznach Manuscripts, identified four antinomies of the constitution. Finally, it was explained that, in the Marxian conception, the resolution of such contradictions require the overcoming of the state and civil-bourgeois society, through a social revolution led by the proletariat.
Luiz Humberto da Costa e Silva Rezende Campos
Copyright (c) 2024 Luiz Humberto da Costa e Silva Rezende Campos, Jonnas Vasconcelos https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Toward a political economy of subjection: the fetishistic dialectic and the production of subjects in capitalism
Through an approach that combines political economy and psychoanalysis, this paper proposes a way to understand how the logic of capitalist reproduction produces both the subjects and the processes of subjectivation that sustain this social bond. To this end, we explore the homology established by Jacques Lacan between his concept of surplus-enjoyment and Marx's surplus-value. Based on this homology, we believe it is possible to conceive the dialectic in the early chapters of Capital as a movement of signifiers, which produces meaning. In this process, the fetishistic containment and negation of the forms and contents associated with the commodity create the space of possibility for reason and subjection that support the reproduction of capital.
Copyright (c) 2024 Daniel Pereira da Silva https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Review of the film "UMA BA´ÍA". Directed by Murilo Salles
Review of the film UMA BAÍA. Director: Murilo Salles. Production: Murilo Salles. Rio de Janeiro, Pandora Filmes, 2023.
Copyright (c) 2024 Edson Pereira Silva, Luca Ribeiro Mendes Nicola, Carmen Edith Pazoto, Victor Hugo Cordeiro Vianna, Michelle Duarte https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
"Materialism and empiriocriticism" and the objectivity (in teaching) of science
Based on the postmodern worldview, reason is a declining myth that favors anti-science attitudes. However, considering historical-critical pedagogy, we believe that science, as a human achievement, should be properly valued and transmitted to new generations. Given these points, the current paper takes the critical fortune of Materialism and empiriocriticism by V. I. Lenin, and comments its fifth chapter, which addresses advancements achieved in physical and natural sciences at the turn of the 20th century. Revisiting this classic Marxist work can help recovering the concept of objectivity in sciences, which is passed over by postmodernism in favor of subjectivist, relativist, and even irrationalist conceptions.
Copyright (c) 2024 Adriano Veloso da Silva, Julia de Campos Silva, Lara de Amaral Sibo, Natalia da Silva Galvão, Rafael Mori https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Memories and histories of the dictatorship in times of Bolsonaro’s neofascism
The article begins with a characterization of the political phenomenon of Bolsonarism, in order to explain its recourse to a positivized mythical vision of the dictatorship, through an analysis of the speeches of the leadership of the Armed Forces. The next step is to present a critical reading of certain historiographical analyses, produced by academic specialists and widely circulated, which, although not directly related to the views of the military and Bolsonarism, end up sharing elements in common with these reactionary memories of the dictatorial past. The aim is to draw attention to the complex relationship between social memory and the history produced by professional historians, in order to highlight their political and social responsibility.
Copyright (c) 2024 Marcelo Badaró Mattos https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
How did the feudal economy work? The economic logic of medieval societies
This article aims to create a model for the underlying economic logic of the feudal economy, which can then be contrasted with the much better-known models for the capitalist economy. It does so by developing a discussion of a very frequent pattern in pre-industrial, feudal, societies: active local economies with highly developed exchange, which never, even remotely, developed in the direction of capitalism. It is argued here that this is because they obeyed a different economic logic, rather than just a simpler version of the logic of the capitalist world, which was somehow “blocked” from developing any further. The article then sets out the basic elements of what that logic could be.
Copyright (c) 2024 Chris Wickham; Tradutora: Cinthia M. M. Rocha https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
As clearly stated in its title, the article discusses the relationship between the works of Marx and Spinoza. In particular, the purpose is to demonstrate, through an immanent analysis of the works of both authors, but also by resorting to various and established interpretations regarding this possible relationship, that Spinoza’s ideas are not irreconcilable with those of Marx. The first step for this is to reject the notion that it is necessary to choose between Hegel, a philosopher who had a significant influence on Marx’s thought, and Spinoza. Next, it shows that there are various possible connections in the ontological realm, especially concerning the metabolism between society and nature. Finally, the article demonstrates how Marx allows us to go beyond Spinoza by critically addressing capitalist society.
Copyright (c) 2024 Alex Callinicos; João Leonardo Medeiros https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Review of "Daniel Bensaïd: intelectual em combate", by Fabio Mascaro Querido
Review of Daniel Bensaïd: intelectual em combate, by Fabio Mascaro Querido. Belo Horizonte: Fino Traço, 2022. ISBN 9788580545463
Copyright (c) 2024 Pedro Gava https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
International relations, agrarian question and colonial slavery: the clash between economic systems in the US Civil War from the perspective of Marx and Engels
The XIX century stretched the moment of consolidation of capitalism worldwide. Many transformations have taken place. In the former American colonies, the contradiction and conflicts were even more evident. Above all, in the United States, in full spatial expansion and in dispute over the new lands for the current economic systems. The incompatibility of coexistence between them led to civil war, which was responsible for paradigmatic revolutionary changes, reverberating impacts across the globe from that moment on. The progressivism of these social struggles caught the attention of Marx and Engels, who focused on the subject based on analyzes that apply the historical and dialectical materialist method, in a development of theoretical concepts that will flow into the book Capital. Based on these ideas, the text will point out the centrality of the agrarian question and colonial slavery in the midst of the dynamics of international relations that fosters the authors' discussions.
Copyright (c) 2024 Luiz Felipe Osório https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
JAIR BOLSONARO AND THE ENTREPRENEURS OF PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY
The article aims to analyze the relations of President Jair Bolsonaro with pharmaceutical companies involved in the production of drugs for the treatment of Covid-19. Disobeying science, Bolsonaro became a “propaganda boy” for hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, which have no scientifically proven efficacy for the treatment of the disease. The companies advertised are Apsen, EMS, Cristália and Vitamedic, whose presidents of the laboratories are their supporters and have seen their profits increase substantially with the pandemic. Bolsonaro's behavior contributed to aggravate the health crisis, caused the death of many Brazilians who used the drugs, in addition to having spent public resources wrongly. To carry out the research, surveys were carried out in the press, in the media with the largest circulation in the country, for the period from March 2020 to September 2021.
Bolsonaro, Covid-19, pharmaceutical companies
Copyright (c) 2022 Marx e o Marxismo - Revista do NIEP-Marx https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Review of "Marxismo e sociologia do sindicalismo", by Richard Hyman
Review of Marxismo e sociologia do sindicalismo, by Richard Hyman. Florianópolis: Enunciado Publicações, 2023. ISBN 9786585215015
Copyright (c) 2024 Tarik Dias Hamdan https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
The relationship between Rosa Luxemburg and the General Jewish Workers’ Union of Lithuania, Poland and Russia (1897-1903)
The aim of this article is to analyse the relationship between the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL) and the General Jewish Workers’ Union of Lithuania, Poland and Russia (Bund), especially the main leader of Polish social democracy, Rosa Luxemburg, and the Jewish party between 1897 and 1903. The article is divided into four parts: in the first section, we describe the Jewish question in the Kingdom of Poland, the portion of Poland inserted into the Russian Empire by the Congress of Vienna, also known as “Congress Poland”, and the emergence of the Bund in 1897; then we analyse the implicit dialogue between Luxemburg and her party with the Bund, starting with the emergence of the Russian Social Democratic Workers’ Party (RSDLP); and finally, we present the tensions between the SDKPiL and the Bund at the Second Congress of the RSDLP; and the conclusion, which analyses the competition between these organisations.
Copyright (c) 2024 Antonio Mota Filho https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Editorial da Edição volume 12, número 22, jan/jul, 2024