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For a Sociological Marxism: The Complementary Convergence of Antonio Gramsci and Karl Polanyi

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  • Michael Burawoy

Abstract

The postcommunist age calls for a Sociological Marxism that gives pride of place to society alongside but distinct from state and economy. This Sociological Marxism can be traced to the writings of Gramsci and Polanyi. Hailing from different social worlds and following different Marxist traditions, both converged on a similar critique and transcendence of Classical Marxism. For Gramsci advanced capitalism is marked by the expansion of civil society, which, with the state, acts to stabilize class relations and provide a terrain for challenging capitalism. For Polanyi expansion of the market threatens society, which reacts by (re)constituting itself as active society, thereby harboring the embryo of a democratic socialism. This article appropriates “society†as a Marxist concept and deploys it to interpret the rise and fall of communist orders, the shift from politics of class to politics of recognition, the transition from colonialism to postcolonialism, and the development of an emergent transnationalism.

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  • Michael Burawoy, 2003. "For a Sociological Marxism: The Complementary Convergence of Antonio Gramsci and Karl Polanyi," Politics & Society, , vol. 31(2), pages 193-261, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:polsoc:v:31:y:2003:i:2:p:193-261
    DOI: 10.1177/0032329203252270
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    Cited by:

    1. James McCarthy, 2005. "Devolution in the Woods: Community Forestry as Hybrid Neoliberalism," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(6), pages 995-1014, June.
    2. Jamie Peck, 2013. "Disembedding Polanyi: Exploring Polanyian Economic Geographies," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(7), pages 1536-1544, July.
    3. Peter Evans, 2008. "Is an Alternative Globalization Possible?," Politics & Society, , vol. 36(2), pages 271-305, June.
    4. Giles Mohan, 2006. "Embedded Cosmopolitanism and the Politics of Obligation: The Ghanaian Diaspora and Development," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 38(5), pages 867-883, May.
    5. Tad Mutersbaugh, 2005. "Fighting Standards with Standards: Harmonization, Rents, and Social Accountability in Certified Agrofood Networks," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(11), pages 2033-2051, November.
    6. Nina Martin, 2011. "Toward a New Countermovement: A Framework for Interpreting the Contradictory Interventions of Migrant Civil Society Organizations in Urban Labor Markets," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 43(12), pages 2934-2952, December.
    7. Alawattage, Chandana & Wickramasinghe, Danture, 2008. "Appearance of accounting in a political hegemony," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 293-339.
    8. Voss, Kim & Williams, Michelle, 2009. "The Local in the Global: Rethinking Social Movements in the New Millennium," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt1c64s44f, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    9. Ahmed, Zahir Uddin & Hopper, Trevor & Wickramasinghe, Danture, 2023. "From Minnow to Mighty: A hegemonic analysis of social accountability in BRAC - the world’s largest development NGO," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).

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