Abstract
The ideas of Karl Marx have been argued to have lost its relevance in the West; however, Ravi Kumar’s edited volume shows its continued importance (p. 7), particularly in the Indian scenario. The book’s intended audience is for graduate and specialised undergraduate students that seek a holistic introduction of the broad spectrum of ideas in Marxism. This is helped by the review questions at the end of the initial chapters that seek to cement the reader’s understanding before delving deeper into more complex analysis in later sections. While there are plenty of volumes that engage with introductory Marxism, this book stands out in two ways. First, most books about Marxism explore the global and Western context while very few, like this volume, simultaneously address the contemporary Indian environment. Second, this book challenges the view that Marxism is outdated, rigid and deterministic, by demonstrating its continuing significance comprehensively in the chapters contributed by Ravi Kumar and Anjan Chakrabarti (pp. 5, 11–75).
This edited book is divided into two sections, the first which engages with the fundamental concepts that constitute Marxist thought and the second that applies it to the context of India. It explores not only Marx’s works but also notable contributions of renowned Marxist scholars such as G. A. Cohen and his functional interpretation of historical materialism over the dialectical method, Robert Brenner’s critique to this approach as well as a glimpse into Althusser’s school (pp. 11–80). Critical thinkers such as Rosa Luxemburg (pp. 213–215, 262), Walter Benjamin’s critique of social democracy and historicism (pp. 250–256), Gramsci (pp. 263–267) are explored while applying appropriate case studies of Venezuela and Russia to demonstrate the context of the ideas. It should be noted that this volume is not restricted to Western Marxist thinkers but also looks at the views of its Indian counterparts such as Patnaik, Desai, K. N. Raj and Amal Sanyal. Their perspectives are explored in a range of issues such as the nature of the Indian State, the role of the Five Year Plans, planning and capitalist development after independence.
The structure of the book is fairly straightforward. The chapters are well-integrated and consistent in conveying the ideas foundational to Marxism in a very thematic, coherent and logical manner. The better known concepts are dealt with in the beginning before progressing to more advanced ideas in a chapter. The lesser discussed ideas of Marx such as commodity, labour, surplus value, capitalism are explored in great detail for conceptual clarity (pp. 145–189); however, it would have been beneficial to have better differentiated between different types of labour such as abstract labour, concrete labour, living labour, dead labour, labour power and socially necessary labour. Nevertheless, the explanation of surplus value is written for easy comprehension despite this lack of distinction between the types of labour, which may puzzle the beginner. However, the terminology can also be argued to be self-explanatory and not so difficult to understand.
The contributors to this volume come from various fields with a significant number from the branch of economics. This is well suited as the concepts are explained in a direct and concise manner that benefits the introductory reader to Marxism. Certain chapters in the book tend to have an excessive focus on equations and numeric descriptions that can sometimes stem the flow of smooth reading. Though, in defence of the authors, it may facilitate easier comprehension for readers than long-winded explanations.
An important aspect of the book apart from the theoretical engagement of Marxism is its particular application to India. There are various features examined such as the emergence of farmer’s movements, the rise of business elites and capitalism, the hallmark economic change in 1991 geared towards liberalisation, the nature of the Indian state at key temporal junctions as well as an analysis into the concepts of caste and jati system and how it has been affected by the rise of capitalism in India. Despite the wide range of topics covered, the lack of mention of workers’ movements in India is a noticeable absence. This becomes even more apparent as the book discusses the changes of 1991, as workers and their trade unions were arguably the most severely affected and are at difficult crossroads even today. Even as the book makes almost mentions to the plight of workers as one among the victims of capitalism, there is rather a larger focus on the industrial and business elites and their progression with capitalism.
Overall, this book is riveting and engrossing for those that are new to the deeper nuances of Marxism. It is also useful for seasoned readers that view Marxism as diminishing in the new age for being too ‘ideological’ and ‘deterministic’ (p. 5), as the authors quickly overturn that notion by showing the theory’s continuing relevance in a myriad of issues in India. It also furnishes advanced Marxist ideas “in simple language” to facilitate easy comprehension for the introductory reader. Despite the lack of “attention to” workers’ movements, the book addresses other pertinent issues with remarkable clarity and finesse that makes it a satisfying read.