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Utopia and the Critique of Political Economy

by David Ruccio on July 6, 2017

Utopia and the Critique of Political Economy

David Ruccio | July 6, 2017

Tags: Wheelwright Lecture
Wheelwright Lecture
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Utopia and the Critique of Political Economy

In my article, published in the Winter 2017, No. 79 issue of the Journal of Australian Political Economy (JAPE), based on my 2016 E. L. Wheelwright Memorial Lecture, I show that Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels had a much more positive assessment and appreciation of “utopian socialism,” especially the work of Robert Owen, than we find in traditional, “scientific” interpretations of Marxism (emanating from both inside and outside the Marxian tradition). I also connect that debate over utopian socialism to the rich, long history of intentional communities and utopian literature in Australia, beginning with Herrnhut in 1853. Finally, I argue that, while Marxian theory is not a utopianism (unlike, for example, neoclassical economics), it does have what I consider to be a “utopian moment,” which is based on the idea of ruthless criticism. In my view, it is the twofold critique of political economy—the critique of capitalism and of mainstream economic theory—that needs to be recaptured and rethought, since it is particularly relevant to the debate about the causes and consequences of the crash of 2007-08 and the ongoing crises of capitalism in the world today.

Previous Wheelwright Lectures have been delivered by Walden Bello (2008), Jim Stanford (2009), Fred Block (2010), Sheila Dow (2011), Diane Elson (2012), Susan George (2013), Leo Panitch (2014), and Erik Olin Wright (2015).

The decennial Wheelwright Lecture will be delivered by J.K. Gibson-Graham on Thursday 26 October 2017, with further details HERE.

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Author: David Ruccio

David F. Ruccio is Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame and former editor (from 1997 to 2009) of the journal Rethinking Marxism. His most recent book is Marxian Economics: An Introduction (Polity Books, 2022). He is currently working on two book manuscripts: "Utopia and Critique" and "What's the Matter with Exploitation." His blog, Occasional Links & Commentary on Economics, Culture, and Society, can be found at https://anticap.wordress.com.

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  • Home
  • About
  • Manchester University Press Book Series
  • Past & Present Reading Group
  • A Political Economy of Australian Capitalism
  • Journal of Australian Political Economy (JAPE)
    • Journal of Australian Political Economy (JAPE)
    • JAPE Issues
    • JAPE Submission Guidelines
    • JAPE Young Scholar Award
  • Australian IPE Network (AIPEN)
  • Forums
    • Forums
    • Debating Anatomies of Revolution
    • Debating Debtfare States
    • Debating Economic Ideas in Political Time
    • Debating Making Global Society
    • Debating Mass Strikes and Social Movements in Brazil and India
    • Debating Social Movements in Latin America
    • Debating The Making of Modern Finance
    • Debating War and Social Change in Modern Europe
    • Feminist Global “Secureconomy”
    • Gendered Circuits of Labour and Violence in Global Crises
    • Scandalous Economics
    • The Military Roots of Neoliberal Governance
    • Politicising artistic pedagogies
  • Literary Geographies of Political Economy
  • PPExchanges
  • Pedagogy
    • IPEEL Of The Environmental Crisis
    • Five Minute Honours Theses
    • Piketty Forum
    • Radical Economics Pedagogy
    • Unconventional Wisdom
    • Journal Club
    • Marxism Reading Group
  • Wheelwright Lecture
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • Links
    • Political Economy At Sydney
    • PHD in Political Economy
    • Master of Political Economy
    • Centre for Future Work
    • Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice (CSSGJ)
    • Climate Justice Research Centre (UTS)
 

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