Reading and Misreading Marx

Reading the review by Murzban Jal of Kevin Anderson’s book Marx at the Margins: On Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Non-Western Societies(2010) published in EPW triggered for us a general critique of certain convoluted and often misleading forms of writing current in the social science arena today. The review itself was provocative enough to urge a sharing of views, even though we had not read Anderson’s book.

Very often, texts are regarded as valuable simply because of the importance of the themes addressed, while their contents remain undiscussed. For instance, one was drawn to read this review initially because it referred to significant dimensions of Marx’s work, its readings, and to attempts made to use his ideas in politics. But what, if anything, is it actually saying?