Why Marx was Right

March 7, 2011
A lively defense of Karl Marx's ideas attempts to reassert their relevancy for a world in the throes of global financial instability. Taking issue with what he sees as the 10 most common criticisms of Marxism, literary and cultural theorist Eagleton (The Illusions of Postmodernism) offers a richer, more complex and nuanced picture of the father of modern socialism. Examining such charges as socialism's naïve utopianism or that its view of history is too rigidly deterministic, he offers a view of Marxism that does not so much oppose it to capitalism as seek to complicate and enrich their relationship, so the former might come to be seen as the most logical and reasonable response to the failings of the latter. Throughout, the author is witty, entertaining, and incisive, cutting through the thickets of Marx's work to expose a body of thought devoted to emancipation, welfare, and human flourishing. Though he perhaps tries too hard toward the end to provide a foundational connection between Marxism and contemporary environmental concerns, Eagleton fluidly demonstrates the value of reappraising Marx in the current climate, offering a timely reminder that, despite the dominance of the free market, history is an ongoing process and that people still have the power to bend it toward justice.