Abstract
In pursuit of revolution, Marx aimed to establish a scientific socialism concerned with understanding social reality in all its complexity, in its unities and contradictions. Marx in the Field, a recent collection of essays edited by Alessandra Mezzadri, is a vital contribution to Marx’s original project. The book focuses on the practical application of Marxist thought to the study of development broadly construed. Its 16 methodologically minded chapters shine a much-needed light on an oft-neglected area of Marxism. Each contribution acts as an example of what methodologically rigorous Marxist (field)work looks like, calling the reader to engage critically with both Marx and methods.
The collection covers a dizzying range of theoretical, methodological and substantial issues. The chapters can be imperfectly divided into three groups. Some mainly argue ‘classical’ Marxist tropes are uniquely positioned to make sense of contemporary phenomena. Harriss-White applies Marx’s concept of merchant capital to contemporary India (Chapter 3). Mezzadri analyses exploitation in Indian sweatshops (Chapter 5). Hanieh interprets the Gulf through the concept of accumulation (Chapter 6). Newman analyses the global coffee commodity chain, emphasising the integration of production, exchange and finance (Chapter 7). Miyamura champions the Marxist understanding of labour relations for the study of contemporary India (Chapter 9). Toffanin extends Marx’s analysis on health and exploitation to Italian home workers in the textile industry (Chapter 12). Stevano compares the current nutritional situation in Mozambique and Ghana to that of British workers described by Marx (Chapter 13).
Other chapters mainly uncover how Marxist concepts might be disguised in the field. Ali Jan explores how the concept of class fractions can help make sense of heterogenous class formations (Chapter 4). Selwyn identifies labour dynamics in Brazilian grape production, noting how abstract concepts were adapted to the field (Chapter 8). Mtero, Bunce, Cousins, Dubb and Hornby detail how nuanced Marxist understandings of class can be deployed empirically in rural South Africa (Chapter 10). Lombardozzi problematises the application of ‘forced labour’ to Uzbek cotton farming and produces a more accurate reading of the industry (Chapter 11). Vertommen analyses the Georgian surrogacy industry through and beyond Marx (Chapter 14). Capps, LeBaron and Novak explore the usefulness and limitations of Marxism for studying ‘marginal’ figures in political economy: tribal chieftains, prisoners and refugees (Chapter 15).
A third group most extensively deals with methodological issues, although these are also present in the rest of the collection. Mezzadri highlights the importance of fieldwork for Marxists and the contributions Marxist thinking can make to rigorous fieldwork (Chapter 1). Bernstein discusses Marxist responses to questions of what, why and how to study (Chapter 2). Sinha discusses the ‘cyber-field’ with reference to recent pandemic-related internal migration in India (Chapter 16).
All contributions exemplify how abstract Marxist concepts can be deployed in the field and, in turn, how the field can help us refine the concepts brought into it. While no ready-made formula is provided for doing so, the connecting thread among the contributors is a refusal to treat Marxism as a fossilised paradigm. Rather, the book’s Marxism is a living tradition, which takes Marx as a necessary starting point but is more than willing to criticise and move beyond him. In an elegant formulation in Vertommen’s chapter, Marx is ‘indispensable but insufficient’ (2021: 190). This allows for the empirical Marxist study of concrete situations far removed, both spatially and temporally, from Marx’s own objects of study. Put differently, the contributors apply Marxist categories both when these are out in the open and when these are disguised.
Relatedly, the contributors are open to the merits of other approaches. Feminist analyses of social reproduction and postcolonial understandings of ethnicity are used to refine, revisit and expand Marxist concepts and make them more directly applicable to the field. In particular, operationalisations of class frequently rely on such moves, which emphasise the heterogeneity of actually existing class formations. Meanwhile, dominant liberal approaches are acknowledged and explicitly compared to Marxism, with the latter’s superiority being argued on methodological, rather than simply theoretical, grounds.
In addition, the book is also a tour de force through contemporary capitalism, cutting through numerous substantial debates across the social sciences with ingenuity and precision. All contributors are linked to London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in one way or another (Mezzadri, 2021: 9), and that institution’s vibrant approach to doing Marxist political economy is evident throughout. Although all contributions are thought-provoking, I found Ali Jan’s formulation of class fractions, Lombardozzi’s deconstruction of ‘forced labour’ and Vertommen’s reframing of surrogacy debates particularly compelling. Here, the breadth of substantial topics is a strength, highlighting the practical usefulness of applying Marxism to the study of (the totality of) society and the methodological need to incorporate systemic analysis.
However, the collection is not without trade-offs and limitations. Sixteen chapters condensed into 246 pages means many interesting points are left under-analysed. For instance, further attention paid to researcher positionality, perhaps in connection with Lukács’ corpus, might have introduced an interesting dimension. Along similar lines, more explicit interventions into methodological debates across the social sciences would have been welcome. Indeed, although successful at both, the collection does a better job at bringing methods discussion to Marxism than at bringing Marxism to general methods debates. Finally, while the book includes several practical pieces of advice for would-be Marxist researchers, it is not a fieldwork manual per se, which might have been the preference of some readers.
Discussions on academic methods can often be monopolised by bourgeois academics. Marx in the Field proves that that need not be the case. Through explicit discussion of methods and their rigorous application to different ‘fields’, the contributors capture the vibrancy of Marxism as a research paradigm and a political force. The collection compellingly (although unevenly) makes the dual case that methods matter for Marxism, just as Marxism matters for methods. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a long Marxist conversation on methods. If we are to fulfil Marx’s project for a scientific socialism, a thorough understanding of the social world is necessary. For that, we need methods.