Talk:Marxist cultural analysis

A Dictionary of Critical Theory - Ian Buchanan

Encountered a problem adding this source, Wikipedia's citation tool couldn't find the ISBN (odd). Was entering the one on Amazon. Amazon also listed Ian Buchanan's bio, which can be viewed here: https://www.amazon.com.au/stores/author/B001H6NT9K/about

During this search for the ISBN, I found the book had been updated to a 2018 version - the description of which mentions The Frankfurt School explicitly: https://www.amazon.com.au/Dictionary-Professor-University-Wollongong-Australia-dp-0198794797/dp/0198794797/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

It also locates the book as having been published by "The University of Wollongong" - a relatively small town on the east coast of Australia. Given that the source was updated in 2018, I'm hesitant to add it until the updated text in question can be reviewed further. 203.219.38.81 (talk) 03:30, 28 November 2023 (UTC)

If anyone is wondering why there's caution around the term 'cultural Marxism' it's because it's expressly been connected to a conspiracy theory, and the academic meaning is said to have been "hijacked" by far-right politics [1]. A term with parallels to Cultural Bolshevism (according to this source [2]). 203.219.38.81 (talk) 03:54, 28 November 2023 (UTC)]

A Dictionary of Critical Theory, Ian Buchanan, DOI 10.1093/acref/9780198794790.001.0001, ISBN 9780198794790, Online: https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780198794790.001.0001/acref-9780198794790-e-740?rskey=hmk01t&result=776

The University of Wollongong is not the publisher. The publisher is Oxford University Press. Ian Buchanan is Professor of Critical Theory and Cultural Studies at the University of Wollongong (https://scholars.uow.edu.au/ian-buchanan)

By the end of the Second World War, Western Marxism had become the almost exclusive preserve of the academy—whereas figures like Antonio Gramsci and György Lukàcs had been active in government, scholars like Walter Benjamin, and more especially Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer were strictly academic. It also started to focus more on cultural rather than economic problems and it is for this reason also known as cultural Marxism.

Same as previous edition. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.60.136.6 (talk)

Thank you for checking that out. I'll add the reference and content to the page now. 14.2.46.211 (talk) 17:56, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

Sorry, I reverted without realizing there was a talk page discussion. The second edition, however, which is the most recent, does not use the phrase "cultural Marxism". (The addition of "2018" to the Amazon product description linked above is the innovation of a third-party seller; the same page says that the item for sale is the second edition.) Patrick J. Welsh (talk) 23:28, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

It makes sense that various websites aren't necessarily updating their text. It's probably important on a topic we're handling with extra care to use actual source texts rather than the hearsay of the internet. I will note this standard for any further sourcing around the term. 14.2.46.211 (talk) 00:57, 30 November 2023 (UTC)

That's significant. Thanks for discovering it. Sennalen (talk) 01:26, 30 November 2023 (UTC)

My copy of the second (2018) edition and Google Books' version of the second (2018) edition both say the same thing:

It also started to focus more on cultural rather than economic problems and it is for this reason also known as cultural Marxism.

It also started to focus more on cultural rather than economic problems and it is for this reason also known as cultural Marxism

Perhaps you could transcribe the last two or three sentences from the entry for Western Marxism from your copy of the dictionary, to check if there are any typographical errors or other problems. 194.60.136.6 (talk) 15:28, 30 November 2023 (UTC)

Apologies to all!

I was looking at the 2010 (2nd ed.) A Dictionary of Cultural and Critical Theory ed. Michael Payne and Jessica Rae Barbera, which does not use the term. I see now that the 2018 Buchanan Dictionary does indeed use the term as cited. My mistake.

I would still caution against adding this to the article, however, because it is a dog-whistle for a "far-right antisemitic conspiracy theory". See also this lengthy debate about precisely this issue on the Western Marxism article.

Lastly, I just want to add that y'all are awesome for using the talk page to get consensus like this.

Cheers, Patrick J. Welsh (talk) 17:29, 30 November 2023 (UTC)

I removed the sidebar on Marxism.

Despite the name "Marxist Cultural Analysis" this discourse has steadily traveled away from Orthodox Marxism, and towards Social Democracy and Liberalism.

It is an anti-fascist, anti-capitalist critique... but that's not necessarily the same as being a Marxist critique. Theorists like those of The Frankfurt School and Birmingham School (who make up most of the topic's content) were operating solidly under Western Capitalist Democracies. The Frankfurt School even aided that infrastructure throughout WW2, and The Cold War (as reflected in their work against the Nazis for the OSS and later against the USSR during The Cold War. Likewise it's the viewpoint of some academics that they were anti-communist in their actions.

The Birmingham School barely even touches on Marxism, with this peer reviewed paper (fully available on Sci-Hub) saying on page 5 of Sci-Hub's PDF, or 228 of the actual journal: "Hoggart’s political viewpoints were not outwardly expressed until much later in life, and make clear his aversion to Marxism"... likewise Stuart Hall of The Birmingham School writes about media consumption, messages, and culture, within the neo-liberal paradigm.

No one recommends Marxism, and they barely mention Marx for the majority of their writings. Even something like, this chapter of The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception by Adorno, mentions The Marx Brothers more than Karl Marx. Likewise his essay "On the Problems of The Family" shows not even the remotest desire for Marxism. Nor does Marcus' Repressive Tolerance. They in fact express modern ideals and values in line with Social Democracy. Marcus lists who he believes are the biggest threats to freedom (and the most likely to damage democracy):

promote aggressive policies, armament, chauvinism, discrimination on the grounds of race and religion, or which oppose the extension of public services, social security, medical care, etc.

There is no desire to replace Capitalism with Marxism in their writings beyond giving sharp criticism of the moneyed classes, and industrial elites. Criticizing Capitalism is not the same as wishing to replace it with Marxism. They denounced the student revolutionaries] as doing a form of reactionary machine wrecking that was a risk to educational institutions. Adorno went so far as to call the police on protests... leading them to develop the slogan "If Adorno is left in peace, capitalism will never cease".(Source) This role as a stabilizing Socially Democratic force within Western Liberal Capitalism is even made apparent in Stuart Jefferies Timeline of The Frankfurt School (https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/blogs/news/2844-the-frankfurt-school-a-timeline Available [here via Verso Books]) where it's stated that at just the age of 20:

1918: WW1 ends. The Habsburg Empire collapses, and defeated Germany seems on the brink of revolution. Soviet-style republics briefly established in Bavaria, and in Berlin. In Berlin’s Alexanderplatz, a young Herbert Marcuse sees revolutionary action when he is charged with shooting rightwing snipers who themselves were targeting left-wing demonstrators and revolutionary agitators.

So because of these factors, whilst this discourse has been informed by Marx, it will not be placed as "Part of a series on Marxism". It is unfortunate that this group of essentially Western Leftist thinkers have been refused admittance into The Western Cannon, and hence, have never been given an apt name that accurately describes their political position - however the least we can do is not further the idea that they were Orthodox Marxists. They are more correctly and accurately places a part of a series on The New Left. However, I cannot locate a template for that grouping. Progressivism may have to do. 118.208.226.30 (talk) 05:02, 18 February 2024 (UTC)

As per WP:NAVBOX "The collection of articles in a sidebar template should be fairly tightly related, and the template should meet most or all of the preceding guidelines." I've not attached any sidebar. Still looking for the right one (assuming one exists), suggestions welcome. 118.208.226.30 (talk) 05:11, 18 February 2024 (UTC)

I'm not sure Wikipedia has, or needs, a sidebar on unorthodox Marxism. Nor do I believe that the Marxism sidebar is, or should be, restricted to orthodox Marxism... Newimpartial (talk) 00:59, 20 July 2024 (UTC)

It's a complicated question to ask, whether The Frankfurt School's work was done in their capacity as academic Sociologists - a discipline where Marx was one of the 5 major founders (Comte, Durkheim, Spencer, and Weber being the other 4) or whether, due to being Neo-Marxists trying to combine aspects of Marx and aspects of Freud, they were writing in an effort to push some sort of ideological position that could be described as Marxist.

There are sources that illustrate some of the complexities, such as this statement from The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy's page on Adorno:

Politically the Frankfurt School sought to position itself equidistant from both Soviet socialism and liberal capitalism. The greater cause of human emancipation appeared to call for the relentless criticism of both systems.

...and obviously Marcuse did work criticizing Soviet Marxism too (but both those are descriptions of their attitudes to Soviet Marxism in particular). There's also this article about some of their less known efforts against Communism, from The Philosophical Salon... as well as what's known in general about Horkheimer's shift towards more liberal attitudes. We also have to take into account that ultimately they created Critical Theory, which I don't think is widely considered to constitute Marxism. Again, it's generally considered an emancipationist/liberationist area of Sociology (which again, was their official area of study).

That's part of the issue here, is that The Frankfurt School are seen as transitioning from Marxism, to more Social Democratic and Liberal philosophies. The page should probably reflect this, rather than sticking a flag down for any particular ideology.

According to the Frankfurt School page they were critics of Marxism–Leninism, seeking alternative paths to social development (again, sounds very progressive). Likewise, they wouldn't let anyone with a communist party membership into their group (quoting from The Frankfurt School page "Korsch and Lukács participated in the Workweek, which included the study of Marxism and Philosophy (1923), by Karl Korsch. Their Communist Party membership precluded their active participation in the Institute for Social Research; nevertheless, Korsch participated in the School's publishing venture.")

I would say The Frankfurt School were Sociologists who started out trying to find whether Marx's criticisms could be fleshed out for their era, and then found their ideas led elsewhere - to progressiveness, social democracy, activism, and ideas focused on liberation from oppression/intolerance (directions the left were going already) - but not necessarily to Marxism. In my view, that was just their jumping off point.

The page would probably better fit in a series about Sociology (as that was their official area of research).

The Birmingham School who are also included on the page likewise, precluded anyone with a Communist Party membership from participating, and in fact, Richard Hoggart is described as having a strong political aversion to Marxism.

"Hoggart’s political viewpoints were not outwardly expressed until much later in life, and make clear his aversion to Marxism" [Source].

It's going to seem somewhat contradictory to many lay people, that a page titled "Marxist Cultural Analysis" is readily placed in a series on Marxism. To which I think the appropriate response is to point out, that Marx is seen as one of the founders of Sociology (which analyzes culture), and that the page isn't about Karl Marx's views of culture (as he didn't write widely on the topic). But is mostly about sociologists and social theorists.

The page has always had an issue when it comes to defining it's limitations and boundaries, and that may at some point come to a head. I think placing it in part of a series on Sociology, would help resolve that debate sooner rather than later, and prevent any future attempts at kitchen sinking into being something other than what it's intended. 2405:6E00:2290:E3D9:8058:18A1:4DA3:232D (talk) 08:48, 23 July 2024 (UTC)

Partially agree. Birmingham School does not demonstrate how it is Marxist. Frankfurt School is part of critical theory, which is technically not Marxism. But sections on Trotsky and Gramsci are Marxist. Propose to merge Birmingham School back into Cultural studies where there is a section already. And move section on Frankfurt School in separate article of "Critical cultural studies", which is justified due to enough literature. HudecEmil (talk) 16:32, 23 July 2024 (UTC)

This article is historically an umbrella treatment of Marxist and Marxian approaches to the study of culture, including the Frankfurt School, "Cultural Studies", Gramscian, "Orthodox Marxist", Marxist Humanist and other approaches. While the article is certainly uneven in its coverage of different approaches, it does broadly follow the literature on its topic in its scope. I'd rather not see being "not Marxist enough" used as a justification for paring the article down, since it represents an approach not generally taken by sources on the topic.

Also note that any treatment based on the assumption that Marxism and Sociology, or Marxism and Critical Theory, are mutually exclusive categories is not likely to be viable since, again, this isn't an approach taken by most good sources on this topic. Newimpartial (talk) 17:11, 23 July 2024 (UTC)

Marx is mentioned at Richard Hoggart, Raymond Williams, and Stuart_Hall_(cultural_theorist), aka the founders of The Birmingham School. 2405:6E00:2290:E3D9:482F:E01B:F5C7:444C (talk) 03:18, 26 July 2024 (UTC)

Alright, I propose we have it as it was before, a stand alone article, not "part of a series on anything". Currently it's giving the impression that Critical Theory, The Frankfurt School, and The Birmingham School, were all Marxists, which I don't think we should be saying. 2405:6E00:2290:E3D9:A9E4:7CAA:D91F:4624 (talk) 04:27, 25 July 2024 (UTC)

I am generally agnostic about sidebar, but since we have any sourcing that 20th-century Critical Theory, Birmingham School Cultural Studies, or the Frankfurt School were not Marxist? That strikes me as a surprising suggestion. Newimpartial (talk) 10:56, 25 July 2024 (UTC)

Okay, so the page isn't confined to Sociology then either? 2405:6E00:2290:E3D9:482F:E01B:F5C7:444C (talk) 03:19, 26 July 2024 (UTC)

I'm not sure why it would be confined to Sociology. Newimpartial (talk) 17:16, 26 July 2024 (UTC)

Because Karl Marx was one of the 5 major founders of Sociology, and that's generally the area of discourse that investigates structural approaches to culture. 2405:6E00:22EC:780C:CC0:5B83:F13E:F9F2 (talk) 04:54, 27 July 2024 (UTC)

Surely this article is not limited to "structural approaches to culture"? That would be only one set of Marxist approaches among many... Newimpartial (talk) 09:23, 27 July 2024 (UTC)

I mean, The Frankfurt School ultimately states that it is wealth that defines who controls the Culture Industry;

In our age the objective social tendency is incarnate in the hidden subjective purposes of company directors, the foremost among whom are in the most powerful sectors of industry – steel, petroleum, electricity, and chemicals. Culture monopolies are weak and dependent in comparison. They cannot afford to neglect their appeasement of the real holders of power if their sphere of activity in mass society (a sphere producing a specific type of commodity which anyhow is still too closely bound up with easy-going liberalism and Jewish intellectuals) is not to undergo a series of purges. The dependence of the most powerful broadcasting company on the electrical industry, or of the motion picture industry on the banks, is characteristic of the whole sphere, whose individual branches are themselves economically interwoven. All are in such close contact that the extreme concentration of mental forces allows demarcation lines between different firms and technical branches to be ignored. 1

Marx of course held up the base and superstructure models, and I don't think any of these Marxist cultural theorists depart from Historical Materialism as their fundamental framework. I think if they did they'd probably face some level of claim in their public life that they're not actually Marxists, or no longer using a Marxist lens.

I think everyone on the page starts with a Marxist structuralist model, and then extends from it. I'm not aware of any Marxist approaches that depart from the structural framework of Historical Materialism. 2405:6E00:22EC:780C:3129:A554:B78B:F950 (talk) 10:54, 28 July 2024 (UTC)

I seem to have forgotten to reply to this IP comment. Many Marxisms - including Marxist humanism, Marxist Critical Theory, many Gramscian approaches including the Birmingham School, and many Marxist feminisms - depart from a Marxist structuralist model. Whether in doing so they have also departed from Historical Materialism is one of the reccuring questions in Marxist scholarship, IMO. Newimpartial (talk) 19:10, 23 August 2024 (UTC)

Proposal to Merge "Cultural Marxism Conspiracy Theory" and "Marxist Cultural Analysis" Pages

Hi everyone, new editor here,

I would like to propose merging the "Cultural Marxism Conspiracy Theory" page with the "Marxist Cultural Analysis" page. Here are my reasons for this suggestion:

• Clarification of Terms: The term "Cultural Marxism" has been used in both legitimate academic contexts and as part of a conspiracy theory. Merging the pages would help clarify the differences and relationships between these uses.
• Comprehensive Understanding: Combining the pages would provide readers with a more comprehensive overview of how Marxist theory is applied to cultural analysis, as well as how the term has been co-opted into conspiracy theories. This would enhance the educational value of the content.
• Elimination of Redundancy: Both pages discuss overlapping concepts related to Marxist theory and its cultural implications. A merged page would eliminate redundancy and present a unified narrative.
• Balanced Perspective: A merged page would allow for a balanced discussion that includes multiple viewpoints and sources, ensuring that no single perspective dominates the narrative.
• Improved Navigation: Merging the pages would simplify navigation for readers seeking information on this topic, as they would no longer need to switch between two separate articles.

I believe that merging these pages will provide a clearer, more informative resource for readers. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback on this proposal.

Best regards, MrTwisted12 (talk) 14:18, 15 July 2024 (UTC)

One of these articles is about a field of study that is actually engaged in, and the other is a antisemitic conspiracy theory that claims that academics secretly want to destroy American values. Mixing these two concepts in one article would not be more clear, and a 'Balanced Perspective' between reality and made-up conspiracy theories is not desirable anyway - see WP:FALSEBALANCE. This proposal is a lot like suggesting that Modern flat Earth beliefs should be merged into Earth. MrOllie (talk) 14:26, 15 July 2024 (UTC)

Also, the term "cultural Marxism" as used by conspiracy theorists was not taken from a variation of Marxist cultural analysis, but was an update of the term cultural Bolshevism. TFD (talk) 16:27, 15 July 2024 (UTC)

wrong, the term "Cultural Marxism" was coined in 1973 by marxist writer Trent Schroyer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Schroyer#Teaching_career 2804:6A00:F014:8700:4D5B:73F5:B44F:BD32 (talk) 17:13, 27 September 2024 (UTC)

Sorry if I did not explain myself correctly. Although one can find the words "cultural Marxism" occasionally in obscure sources written by proponents of critical theory, the conspiracy theorists were not aware of them when they chose to use the term "cultural Marxism." It was a happy (for them) coincidence that they later found the words had been used before. That's why an otherwise forgotten book about critical theory in the UK is advanced by every conspiracy theorist trying to prove that cultural Marxism is a real thing, not just a figment of their imagination. TFD (talk) 09:40, 9 October 2024 (UTC)

I see. Thank you for the false balance link and your analogy. Your insight has allowed me to view this issue more critically. MrTwisted12 (talk) 19:14, 17 July 2024 (UTC)

"One of these articles is about a field of study that is actually engaged in, and the other is a antisemitic conspiracy theory that claims that academics secretly want to destroy American values."

wrong, that's why we should have a "Cultural Marxism" article like we had in 2014 and before and a section dedicated to the "Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory" in it, as well as it having a separated article.

"Mixing these two concepts in one article would not be more clear, and a 'Balanced Perspective' between reality and made-up conspiracy theories is not desirable anyway - see WP:FALSEBALANCE."

then should we remove the mention of the "Epstein didn't kill himself conspiracy theory" on the articles about Jeffrey Epstein and Death of jeffrey epstein as well?

"This proposal is a lot like suggesting that Modern flat Earth beliefs should be merged into Earth."

the moment you make a false equivalence to flat-earth, you already lost the argument, it's not different than the Godwin's Law, you are just doing a guilty-by-association and a poisoning the well fallacy.

Cultural Marxism is both a real thing and a conspiracy theory, both things can be true at the same time. but hey, nuance is dead i suppose. 2804:6A00:F014:8700:4D5B:73F5:B44F:BD32 (talk) 17:19, 27 September 2024 (UTC)

If it were a false equivalence, perhaps. But in this case we really are talking about merging in material about antisemitic nonsense. The Wikipedia community has weighed in on this several times and consensus is clear: we're not going to do such a merge. MrOllie (talk) 17:35, 27 September 2024 (UTC)

These are two completely separate topics. It is important that the two articles are linked, so that anybody who accidentally finds the wrong one initially, can be guided to the one they actually want but that's pretty much it. They are separate subjects, which should not be confused or conflated, each worthy of an article in their own right. --DanielRigal (talk) 21:22, 17 July 2024 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure we can have a more nuanced prespective here, like for example, if we had a "Cultural Marxism" article like we had in 2014 and before, as well as a "Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory" article as we have today. 2804:6A00:F014:8700:4D5B:73F5:B44F:BD32 (talk) 17:21, 27 September 2024 (UTC)

The community decided that "there was no there, there", when it comes to supposedly real "Cultural Marxism". And the community was probably right: Shroyer did not actually create a proper noun "Cultural Marxism", nor did any such distinct topic "already exist" when he wrote - he was talking about Marxism in the domain of culture, i.e. Marxist cultural analysis.

But anyway, there is a process to review community decisions, because WP:CONSENSUSCANCHANGE; a casual suggestion that we restore an article that was deleted after a widely-participated discussion, closed by a panel of three administrators - well, that isn't the process. Newimpartial (talk) 08:55, 4 October 2024 (UTC)

Cultural hegemony, Base and superstructure

@Pokerplayer513 You reverted the referencing of Cultural hegemony and Base and superstructure. Can you please explain your reasoning? HudecEmil (talk) 08:45, 24 July 2024 (UTC)

I am not the editor in question, but my concern about the added passage is that it presents base/superstructure (and hegemony within that framework) as the Marxist model of culture. More accurately it would be stated to be one family of Marxist models. Newimpartial (talk) 09:58, 24 July 2024 (UTC)

Agree, will reinsert these sentences in a new section and highlight that this approach is contentious and not the only approach. HudecEmil (talk) 16:25, 24 July 2024 (UTC)

Good. Also, the section in question should cite recent (21st-century) secondary sources, not primary sources. Newimpartial (talk) 16:43, 24 July 2024 (UTC)

@Newimpartial does this mean you're proceeding from the idea that the article should focus on all and any Marxists who mention culture, which means including basically all and any Marxists from Western Marxism?

If so, why not merge it into Western Marxism? Will Althusser have a section? Nancy Fraser? George Ritzer? Zizek? We're getting to the point where we might need a future plan for the article.

I believe you already made some statements in the Clarification Needed section above, where you stated: "this article follows the approaches taken, since the "cultural turn" of the 1930s to 1960s, by the main line of secondary sources" but I suspect more clarification may be needed. After all, does that include Trotsky, Gramsci, Lukacs? 2405:6E00:2290:E3D9:A9E4:7CAA:D91F:4624 (talk) 09:13, 25 July 2024 (UTC)

To be clear, I am saying that the article needs to reflect the sources on Marxism and culture. That includes orthodox (Trotsky), Gramscian and Lukacs-inspired ("Western") approaches as well as Marxist Humanism. And I don't see any policy-based reason to exclude structuralists or Critical Theory practitioners either insofar as they are included by the relevant HQRS. Newimpartial (talk) 10:52, 25 July 2024 (UTC)

Thanks for clarifying. So it's an anything goes, Marxism and Culture article, as long as there are good enough sources. 2405:6E00:2290:E3D9:6C0F:35D1:D4A3:D51 (talk) 13:53, 25 July 2024 (UTC)

Anything goes, as long as the content is well-represented in the high quality reliable sources about Marxist analysis of culture. Newimpartial (talk) 17:27, 25 July 2024 (UTC)

I second @Newimpartial. If @Pokerplayer513 wants their revert to stand, they really need to explain their objection. I have a weirdly difficult time reading diffs, but I don't see any obvious problems with the edits. This is a pretty lame article, and I'm happy to see someone come in to make improvements.

On general Marxist topics, I'm a fan of Tom Bottomore's Dictionary of Marxist Thought (2nd ed.). A full pdf used to pop up in a search of the open web, but I'm not seeing it now. With access to the Wikipedia Library, though, it should be easy to locate another such dictionary/encyclopedia to which a description of the base-superstructure model could easily be sourced.

Cheers, Patrick (talk) 17:39, 24 July 2024 (UTC)

Trotsky's writings on literature

Thread retitled from "Please do not treat this section lightly. It is an important philosophical distinction, and we must position this article correctly.".

Hear me out: Leon Trotsky's writings on literature are not part of "Marxist cultural analysis" as it's thought of in modern times. It is a relatively modern phenomena, specifically tied up with Neo-Marxism, and Trotsky is clearly not doing it as we've defined it:

"...a form of cultural analysis and anti-capitalist cultural critique, which assumes the theory of cultural hegemony and from this specifically targets those aspects of culture which are profit driven and mass-produced under capitalism." [Emphasis added]

The largest problem with claiming he is doing this; is that neither the concept of "hegemony" (as defined by Gramsci), nor the concept of an industry that mass produces culture (eg. the culture industry as defined by The Frankfurt School) were around when Trotsky was writing Literature and Revolution.

These seem to be the two elements (1, cultural hegemony and 2, mass produced capitalist culture) that come together in modern definitions of what 'Marxist cultural analysis' is, which would perhaps be better labelled "Neo-Marxist cultural analysis" (I'm certainly open to renaming the page as such).

Gramsci is included on this page as a precursor to The Frankfurt School (and a creator of one of these two definitive elements). Including not just Trotsky as well, but also the Marxism sidebar, creates an inaccurate viewpoint of what the modern conception of Marxist Cultural Analysis is (casts it as Orthodox Marxism).

As a corollary, discussion of whether groups like The Frankfurt School are "actually doing Marxism" can be found in critiques like "The Grand Hotel Abyss" by Lukacs, and "The Strange Death of Marxism" by Gottfried. They are part of a valid and ongoing academic discussion about current strains of Neo-marxist cultural theory (and whether the Sociology of "The New Left" is actually Marxist or just a form of neo-liberalism). Ergo, we shouldn't be mixing a Marxist in with modern Neo-Marxist Sociologists. Doing so (casting the page in the light of Orthodox Marxism), doesn't just go against our definition in the lead, but also goes against Wikipedia's NPOV policy.

Wikipedia SHOULD NOT be putting their thumb on the scales of this ongoing debate. It violates Wikipedia's policies to do so. We shouldn't be proposing that these two distinct phases/groups (traditional/orthodox Marxism, and the Neo-Marxist theorists of the New Left) are equivalents, as Trotsky doesn't have the basic components that define modern "Marxist cultural analysis" (which again, would better be named "Neo-Marxist cultural analysis").

Trotsky is doing a traditional Historical Materialist analysis which is mostly focused on an imagined post-Capitalist/post-Communist society and culture. It is NOT an analysis of the "profit driven aspects of mass produced culture" as seen through the duel lenses of cultural hegemony and the mass productions of the culture industry. Doing such an analysis doesn't automatically class someone as an "Orthodox Marxist", despite the name of the current page, which also serves to obscure this ongoing debate within academia, philosophy, and public life. 117.102.151.28 (talk) 05:27, 4 October 2024 (UTC)

Without rejecting or endorsing your change proposal, i must say that far-right author Paul Gottfried can not be used as reliable source in Wikipedia. Visite fortuitement prolongée (talk) 10:16, 4 October 2024 (UTC)

I used him as an example of someone giving the "Frankfurt School is just neoliberalism" criticism from the far-right (I chose him and Gyorgy Lukacs from the far left, because they're on opposite ends of the political spectrum but are united in this particular complaint). So as a source of that criticism, from a specific ideology/perspective (the right wing), he can be used (as long as it's attributed to him or his book). He did study under Marcuse, so has slightly more credibility than many on the far right. But there are multiple people/groups (from across the political divide) who have made this type of critique. The World Socials Web, and Reason Magazine would be another pairing of a left and a right source for this type of critique. This is because it's a widely given critique, which is my main point.

I'm not actually asking for any of these sources to be used, because I'm actually just asking for a consensus on the removal of content from the current version of the page (because it's giving authority to a perspective in this ongoing debate which has been laced in, suggested, or grandfathered in unduely).

We shouldn't accidentally give undue credibility to the idea that The Frankfurt School are part of an unbroken chain of hardcore orthodox Marxism dating back to Trotsky, nor should we give a mistaken idea of what "Marxist cultural analysis" means in the context of modern theory/usage/practices.

Modern Marxist cultural analysis, is a cultural divergence away from more orthodox forms of Marxism, even when those orthodox forms are discussing their cultural visions of the implementation of a post-communist society (as Trotsky is). The Frankfurt School broke away from that orthodox vision in the 1930s, and started critiquing both it and Capitalism. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy mentions such in their entry on Adorno, saying the school sort to be critical and hence "equidistant from both Soviet socialism and liberal capitalism". 117.102.146.108 (talk) 03:42, 5 October 2024 (UTC)

The first reference to Trotsky says,"The original theory behind this form of analysis is commonly associated with Leon Trotsky, Georg Lukács, Antonio Gramsci, and the Frankfurt School." But the two sources used don't mention Trotsky.

The section on Trotsky says, "Soviet scholar Robert Bird considered his work as the "first systematic treatment of art by a Communist leader" and a catalyst for later, Marxist cultural and critical theories." While Bird might be right, it does not belong in the article unless that is a frequent observation.

The rest of the section on Trotsky does not belong in any case. He is not providing analysis of capitalist culture, but writing about what culture should be under socialism.

I agree therefore to remove references to him. TFD (talk) 06:09, 5 October 2024 (UTC)

The first few paragraphs of this article from The Platypus Review 1 - confirm that there's very little mention of Trotsky in The Frankfurt School's writings. He doesn't seem to have influenced them, or be acting as a precursor at all.

This combined with the fact that Trotsky was a contemporary of The Frankfurt School, actively writing in the same time period makes the current Wiki article's claim that he was somehow a precursor extremely unlikely.

Bird references Trotsky as performing a "Russian Critical Theory" at one point in his essay (a very unusual phrasing I've never seen anywhere else), but other than this is only able to draw parallels and perceived similarities, no hard evidence of a connection is provided. The Platypus article is outright saying there aren't any substantial/documented connections or exchanges. 117.102.146.108 (talk) 09:30, 5 October 2024 (UTC)

Here is the text that I mentioned in the post below:

"After 1917, Trotsky took sides against the concept of 'proletarian culture" and maintained a keen interest in bourgeois and avant-garde movements. Literature and Revolution (1923) discusses pre-revolutionary art; literary 'fellow-travellers' of the revolution; contemporary developments in futurism; and communist policy towards art. 'The Formalist School of Poetry and Marxism' defends a Marxist account of the relative autonomy of art against vulgar materialism and formalism, a position echoed by the Bakhtin circle and P. N. Medvedev, The Formal Method in Literary Scholarship (1928; trans. 1978). Trotsky's interest in culture and political hegemony was shared by Gramsci, whose letter to Trotsky on Italian Futurism was printed in the Russian edition of Literature and Revolution, but not in the English translation (see A. Gramsc, Selections from Cultural Writings (1985)). Trotsky continued to pursue his interestin politics and aesthetics in the 1930s, writing a manifesto for revolutionary art with Diego Rivera and Andre Breton while in Mexico." (p. 46) Patrick (talk) 19:47, 5 October 2024 (UTC)

The fact that both Trotsky and members of the Frankfurt School were interested in culture is a weak connection. Since Marxism is a systematic view of human history and social science, it's not surprising that some Marxists would examine human culture. TFD (talk) 09:44, 9 October 2024 (UTC)

@The Four Deuces, Sorry, almost missed this! That Trotsky, a prominent Marxist, wrote at length and has been anthologized writing about culture is my only argument for his inclusion in the article. (I have no position as to his influence on anyone else.)

Per the title of the article and its interpretation by @Newimpartial (as I understand them) and myself, Trotsky should be included. The lead sentence/paragraph should, per me, be broadened, and the maintenance banner should be removed. I have no specific language to propose, but I can come up with some if no one else steps up.

Or, if the scope of this article is narrower than just any credible Marxists analyzing culture, this needs to be clarified and justified with citations to a corresponding literature. Patrick (talk) 22:14, 11 October 2024 (UTC)

For the record, I agree that the first sentence of the lead section is too narrow.

Overall, my preference is that the scope of the article should reflect the scope of the best sources on the article's topic: my sense is that these sources encompass the traditions of Western Marxism without being strictly limited to them. Newimpartial (talk) 01:48, 12 October 2024 (UTC)

"Marxist cultural analysis" is a topic with a body of literature that this article is supposed to summarize. This article cannot be about every Marxist who decided to analyze culture. Trotsky is only relevant if books and articles about Marxist cultural analysis decide to mention him.

When terms such as Marxist cultural analysis are coined, they are considered a concept distinct from the words that are put together. FDR's "New Deal" was not the only new deal in the history of the world, but the article New Deal is about his program only. TFD (talk) 07:34, 12 October 2024 (UTC)

Would you mind pointing us to a few works in the secondary literature that define the scope of "Marxist cultural analysis"? Right now, it's not clear to me that your analogy to the New Deal holds even weakly. If this is just my ignorance, that's totally fine—but the article should be edited to clarify this. (See also the thread below.) Cheers, Patrick (talk) 16:01, 12 October 2024 (UTC)

If there isn't a body of literature about cultural Marxism, then the topic fails notability and should be deleted. TFD (talk) 16:08, 12 October 2024 (UTC)

I agree. But you cannot be agnostic on the existence of such a body of literature and also insist that it narrows the scope of the article beyond the meaning of the words "Marxist cultural analysis." So, could you please point us to a few works? Patrick (talk) 16:20, 12 October 2024 (UTC)

If you don't think that sources exist, then nominate the article for deletion. TFD (talk) 02:36, 13 October 2024 (UTC)

That would not be constructive. If sources exist that narrow the scope of the article beyond what is described by the words in its title, please share those sources. Patrick (talk) 14:24, 13 October 2024 (UTC)

Notability requires that a topic has been covered by reliable secondary sources. We cannot define a topic and put in whatever meets the definition. Whether or not it belongs depends on what secondary sources say. That's why Trotsky does not belong, whether or not you think he meets the criteria in the lead.

If on the other hand, there is no evidence of a distinct topic covered in reliable sources, then the article should be deleted. Since you think that is the case, I suggest you either nominate the article for deletion or move on. TFD (talk) 14:38, 13 October 2024 (UTC)

I've cited an anthology that includes Trotsky. If there is a larger literature that excludes him, that is completely fine with me too. Only please just share it. Patrick (talk) 14:44, 13 October 2024 (UTC)

Which anthology is that? Also, you would need to show that the anthology specifically stated that Trotsky's work was part of Marxist cultural analysis. TFD (talk) 19:22, 13 October 2024 (UTC)

Idea for establishing inclusion criteria and filling out the body

I noticed all the activity in my newsfeed and came over to see what was going on. Mostly I was just struck again by how underdeveloped this article is. It's not an accident that editors have contemplated a merge on more than one occasion (a suggestion to which I am at least sympathetic).

With this in mind, could anyone suggest a high-quality overview source that might help determine what thinkers (or what topics, if we wanted to structure it that way) ought to be included?

For instance, I don't really know Trotsky's work, but just to see if it might provide something useful to the discussion above, I checked the TOC of Marxist Literary Theory: A Reader (1996) edited by Terry Eagleton and Drew Milne. It does include Trotsky, and the editors' brief intro made what seems to me like a compelling case for his inclusion. (If I can get a good scan with my phone, I'll share it.)

But the reason for this post is to share that the TOC of this anthology (23 figures, presented chronologically [3]) looks a lot a survey of what I would expect to be included in this article. It would not take a lot to go through a work like this and write the main body of the article sourced entirely to the editors' synopses (bonus points for checking them against another reference source!). The shortcomings of such a method are obvious, but that could be acknowledged here with encouragement to editors to improve the coverage of whatever parts they care about. There would at least be a rough draft of a fuller and more cohesive article to work from.

This would not, of course, put an end to the lengthy talk page discussions, but it might steer them in a more productive direction.

To be clear, I'm not volunteering to do this at this time. I am just curious what others think of the idea. Also: suggestions for appropriately short and selective sources would be most welcome. I picked this one for no other reason than that I have a copy on my shelves. Something more recent and more readily available online would easier to work with and discuss.

Cheers, Patrick (talk) 19:39, 5 October 2024 (UTC)

I think we don't have the resources for that level of inclusionism, I think part of the problem with this article is that it was created after the struggles at Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory as to not close down the possibility of making a genuine "cultural Marxism" article from a leftwing perspective... and that the main conflicts for the future of this article will be based around displaying an aesthetic distance from Marxism, for each author raised on the page.

Given that The Frankfurt School went out of their way to criticize Soviet Marxism, and to separate themselves from Orthodox Marxism (to the point that the Neo-Marxism stub mentions they didn't call themselves Neo-Marxists at all), they shouldn't be linked so strongly to Marxism (a difficult task given the title of the article).

Trotsky brings them too close to Marxism, as does the sidebar. This is why I raised the various academic/professional criticisms in the previous section as to whether their work can still be counted as Marxist, or whether at some point in cultural analysis it just becomes an extension of neoliberal Capitalism (as Marcuse suggests in One-Dimensional Man). Negotiating that distance from Marxism proper is the problem. The fact that most of the authors mentioned are Neo-Marxist, but the title is "Marxist cultural analysis" is the problem. The question of whether a "Marxist cultural analysis" is possible when Marx didn't write at length on the topic, is the problem. We're living in a Marxist contradiction when writing this article.

Given the contradictions in this task the aesthetic distance from Marxism will remain the problem, which is why I prefer a practical and exclusionist model, that focuses on a modern post-WW2 understanding of a globalized, industrialized, and a multi-media savvy analysis of culture (eg. analysis which explicitly references hegemony, and the mechanical reproduction/industrialization of mass culture).

Perhaps having a pre-WW2 section, and a post-WW2 section, with the former swinging towards Marxism proper, and the latter swinging towards Neo-Marxism and Post-Marxist schools of thought might be a way to negotiate that aesthetic distance from Marx, and the contradictions there in, landing the article more gracefully in modern times and theories.

But I also think that the title of the article - along with having a focus on The Frankfurt School, Birmingham School, and new left - renders anything I say somewhat moot. Because at any point someone might decide "Oh well, if The Frankfurt School didn't call themselves Neo-Marxists, and if people like Richard Hoggart specifically said he didn't like Marxism, then these topics can be pruned". Then we're left with a page just for orthodox Marxists who have commented on culture or done any sort of analysis of it... which would be quite far removed from modern culture, cultural studies, the new left turn, and other modern theories, and relegate the article to being a historical litany exclusionist of anyone who isn't a self-described Marxist.

Accordingly, here's how I see the "To Do List":

• Carry out the summaries of authors/ideas as you prescribe.
• Separate these into the pre-WW2 (Marxist), and post-WW2 (Neo-Marxist) sections
• Figure out our sidebars, so they more correctly remove the notion the that a) Trotsky was somehow the cause/catalyst of all these school, and that b) the entire page is about Marxists proper (eg. we need a sidebar that illustrates that theorists in the latter half of the page aren't necessarily Marxists).

Anyways, that's how I see us bringing an order to the page. But like you, I'm yet to find the motivation to perform these tasks, so progress might be slow. 117.102.146.108 (talk) 05:11, 6 October 2024 (UTC)

P.S I'm aware this is not a clean, clear, or accurate distinction I've suggested. The point is it's simple. It lends its self to a focus on The Frankfurt School and Gramsci as the founders of the theories of the culture industry and hegemony respectively (making them "the eye of the needle" so to speak), and it resolves some of the contradictions within writing this article. Gramsci and The Frankfurt School act as a sort of gateway between the two eras. Perhaps (although again, inaccurately) Gramsci is can be cast as sort of as the final product of Pre-WW2 era of theory, and The Frankfurt School are kind of the new hope, or the carriers of the flame across Europe to the current cultural hegemon (America). I think that has a certain poetic and narrative truth, even if the categories themselves won't line up perfectly. 117.102.146.108 (talk) 05:22, 6 October 2024 (UTC)

Thanks for this detailed response. The amount of work you had to do even just there, however, strengthens my suspicion that this article does not meet Wikipedia WP:NOTABILITY criteria for inclusion. Those sources ought to govern discussions about what we include. Editors are not supposed to have to make them up for themselves.

If we were to do a merge, the Trotsky material could be merged into whatever other article is deemed most appropriate, and the everything else of value should probably be integrated into Western Marxism, with the Birmingham School added in an "Influence" or "Legacy" section. (Currently it doesn't even have its own article!)

The location of the redirect could be determined with reference to the original rationale for the creation of this article.

Tagging the top author (without a block) and page creator, @Howard Alexander, and top editor, @Newimpartial. I know this has come up before, but might it be worth reconsidering? If not, could you point me to the sources that establish notability to justify this as a self-standing article? I don't see them in either the first or the current version.

I'm not trying to play Wikipedia cop here. It is just that it is difficult to develop the article without at least a few good sources defining the subject, its scope, and major concepts/theories/figures.

Cheers, Patrick (talk) 16:45, 6 October 2024 (UTC)

One source that directly links Western Marxism and the Birmingham School is Bottomore's Dictionary (2nd ed) entry on "Culture" (p. 128–30). Patrick (talk) 17:16, 6 October 2024 (UTC)

See now this is just confusing because you were just detailing Terry Eagleton's extended history of the cultural strain and turn within Marxism that led to the creation of The New Left.

It's my understanding that this is what this page is about - this is a subject more focused than just say Western Marxism as OBVIOUSLY a lot of Marxists from Western Marxism weren't involved in any of the work that came before The New Left, or simply, weren't focused on Capitalist culture.

If you go to the page on The New Left you can read some of what this page is about, like wise if you go to Cultural Studies you can read some of what this page is about, likewise if you go to the pages on Gramsci, The Frankfurt School, Freudo-Marxism, and The Birmingham School...

My understanding is that this page is supposed to provide what's not mentioned or included in those other pages, show the bridge/workings of how and what Marxist cultural analysis is, and demonstrate its history.

This is a historical/content blindspot on Wikipedia, and a hot topic within American culture currently. It's clear that Marxism, and Marxists have commented on culture, and that this led to, or acted as a pre-cursor to various strains of discourse (eg. The New Left, and Cultural Studies). The naming of the article seems tangential to this.

My understanding is that it became clear on Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory that there are quite numerous references to a "cultural Marxism" and so Wikipedia should document what areas and schools of thought those references discussed. So this page was created with that scope.

"Cultural Marxism" as a term however, has become more synonymous with a conspiracy theory, so WP:NEO dictates that we should avoid it as a title, and went to a more general title "Marxist cultural analysis".

I'll add here - all of these are MY assumptions about the page. There's no evidence for them other than how I read the events and assumptions I'VE MADE. So it changes nothing of what other people may have suggested. This is just my best guess as someone who wasn't involved with the creation of this page.

I may be completely wrong, and this page may mean something broader involving the entire history of Marxist theory - which is why I'm open to your suggestion of using the Eagleton TOC as a jumping off point. But either way I still think we need some sort of structure for the page, so WW2 seems as a good as any (a fairly common category for pages on 20th century Western European history). 117.102.146.108 (talk) 02:10, 7 October 2024 (UTC)

Oh, and as to the sidebars, they are not page-specific, but their own templates designed to connect readers to related articles. You can edit them by clicking the little 'E' in the bottom right corner. I would strongly encourage that you check in on the talk before making any changes, however, because they will appear in every article that includes the template. Changes without consensus are likely to be promptly reverted. Patrick (talk) 16:52, 6 October 2024 (UTC)

Patrick, the main reason for activity in this page's newsfeed, over the years, is people arriving from Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory and wondering why there isn't an article about "the real Cultural Marxism". The article is designed to include Marxist approaches to culture - which certainly is a notable topic, subject of monographs and anthologies, and those books pretty much invariably include content from Gramscian and Western Marxist traditions, and sometimes also Leninist, Marxist Humanist and Structuralist work.

While I can see the point in establishing better connections between this article and specific traditions, certainly a lot of Gramscian or Western Marxist scholarship is not about cultural analysis, and no disambiguation page is going to orient the reader to the contributions of, say, E.P. Thompson in this field. Newimpartial (talk) 11:59, 7 October 2024 (UTC)

Hi @Newimpartial, I myself would be inclined to send misguided folks to the Frankfurt School and Western Marxism articles instead of creating an article just for them. After all, no one actively promoting a conspiracy theory is going to change their mind based on new information. Still, I do not want to make things any more difficult for all you brave and patient souls keeping the conspiracy article grounded in fact.

Perhaps there is a way to clarify the scope of this article instead of a merge and redirect. I find it confusing, and I would describe myself as a well-informed non-expert. It never occurred to me, for instance, that Trotsky did not belong; yet the IP editor makes a compelling case.

Is there any reason not to open it up with a title along the lines of "Marxist cultural theory"? There is definitely a literature on this, and no expert knowledge would be required to assess relevance. Disallowing Soviets, for instance, seems entirely arbitrary. (And there is little danger of them overshadowing the stuff by Lukács, Gramsci, and the traditions building upon their work—for the simple reason that previous Marxists, to my knowledge, did not not spend much time reflecting upon the superstructure, which was supposed to basically just follow from the base.)

Also, the current title seems to promise second-order scholarship reporting and reflecting upon the methodology of Marxist cultural analysis in action. But that is not what it delivers, and I don't think it should be. For even if we could find such a literature, it would be difficult to explain in a manner intelligible to an audience not already familiar with at least the general Marxist conception(s) of superstructure/ideology/culture/etc.

Your thoughts?

Cheers, Patrick (talk) 19:38, 7 October 2024 (UTC)

Oh, and feel free to point me to any old discussions that might have already addressed the issue I raise. Patrick (talk) 19:40, 7 October 2024 (UTC)

I don't really think the article scope issue has been addressed at length "at this end". And while I personally don't have anything against "Marxist cultural theory", I suspect that the scope of the discourse that this article "is meant to" include features a lot of analysis that is not adequately termed "theory" - the whole bottom-up tradition represented by E.P. Thompson would fall in that category, for example, and ought to be included here. So while this ought to be the survey article for Marxist scholarship about culture, I think "analysis" does better than "theory" as a descriptive title. And as I read it, the current title reflects an article talking about avowedly Marxist analysis of actually existing culture, and is not about the analysis of Marxist cultural projects as such - large as my personal appetite might be for scholarship on Constructivism and the Situationists, that isn't the point of this article here.

Also, I'll point out that there have been discussions of disambiguation options at the Conspiracy Theory page, and those discussions landed on the DAB notice pointing here. To summarize those discussions, most editors seem to agree that "cultural Marxism" when used as a phrase in scholarship carries many possible referents, so collapsing it to the Frankfurt School or Western Marxism would represent a kind of reification. Conspiracy theorists using the phrase might be engaged in caricature of Adorno, Marcuse, Angela Davis and/or Rudi Dutschke (the latter two being out of scope for this article) - but the article scope should be based on actual Marxist cultural scholarship, and not cater to such vagaries. Newimpartial (talk) 21:44, 7 October 2024 (UTC)

Okay! If it's clear to those actively editing the article, that's good enough for me.

Should Trotsky be removed then? Patrick (talk) 21:59, 7 October 2024 (UTC)

To answer your question, I'd keep the discussion open for another week ago to see if other perspectives are presented, before making changes to the article. Newimpartial (talk) 23:23, 7 October 2024 (UTC)

No rush on my account. For what it's worth, however, absent good reason against it, I lean towards inclusionism. This would require rewriting (or probably just moving down in the lead with slight qualification/rewording) the opening sentence of the lead. Patrick (talk) 16:33, 8 October 2024 (UTC)

Yes, because he did not contribute to the school. TFD (talk) 02:37, 13 October 2024 (UTC)

What school? Patrick (talk) 14:25, 13 October 2024 (UTC)

Marxist cultural analysis. TFD (talk) 14:26, 13 October 2024 (UTC)

I await with bated breath the supporting literature. Patrick (talk) 14:34, 13 October 2024 (UTC)

Again, if you think that this topic does not exist, get the article deleted. TFD (talk) 19:20, 13 October 2024 (UTC)

Over on the Cultural Marxism conspiracy talk page[[4]], consensus seems to be that cultural Marxism doesn't need a standalone article, because it's substantially the same topic. And there seems to be no disagreement from sources that Marxist cultural analysis has also been referred to as "cultural Marxism". So shouldn't that be clarified in the intro to the article, as is common practice on Wikipedia, instead of waiting until the third paragraph? Stonkaments (talk) 20:38, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

That discussion indicates that there are only two topics, sure, but that's not the point of the text you stripped out. The two terms (even if one agrees that 'Cultural Marxism' was in wide use pre-1990, itself disputed) don't mean the same thing post-1990. That should be given context and explained, not collapsed into 'also referred to as'. MrOllie (talk) 20:48, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

There are no sources saying the term was ever in wide use; Bruane, the only secondary source we have on that usage, says that it was used very occasionally and that it specifically was not used in a pattern that connected it to the Frankfurt school in any coherent way. While we have a lot of cites in the section for random things people found when throwing "cultural marxism" into Google scholar, those are the only usages of the two words adjacent to each other that exist distinct from the conspiracy theory, at least as far as people could find during the previous discussions; their usage here to argue that it's a significant term is mostly WP:SYNTH already. --Aquillion (talk) 20:56, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

• The usage isn't concrete or significant enough to be used as a see-also (the sources that we have here are literally the only ones that exist, and it's unclear that they all refer to the same topic.) As Bruane says, The term does appear very occasionally in Marxist literature, but there is no pattern of using it to point specifically to the Frankfurt School; truthfully, we should probably trim or remove the final paragraph based on that. Disregarding the WP:PRIMARY sources, what the sources really say is that the words "cultural" and "marxism" have appeared about seven times adjacent to each other throughout all the literature, without a single coherent definition and without being a properly defined term - that is to say that the people who use "cultural Marxism", small-c, to refer to this topic today are largely adherents of the conspiracy theory trying to falsely give the impression that it refers to something coherent or real. --Aquillion (talk) 20:56, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

  It seems that there were only five sources for the use of cultural Marxism in writings by critical theorists, the first being in 1978, long after the school's heyday. These sources would have been forgotten, except that the conspiracy theorists discovered them after they had coined their theory cultural Marxism and routinely trot them out to prove its a real thing. While "Marxist cultural analysis has also been referred to as "cultural Marxism"", it isn' signficant for inclusion in this article. TFD (talk) 23:13, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

Sources for "any clear relationship to Marxist cultural analysis"

Thread retitled from "Unsupported lede claim that the conspiracy theory doesn't have "any clear relationship to Marxist cultural analysis"".

What sources support this claim?

The cited source (Braune 2019) says: "The term does appear very occasionally in Marxist literature, but there is no pattern of using it to point specifically to the Frankfurt School"--this is a specific claim about the Frankfurt School, not the concept of Marxist cultural analysis as a whole.

In fact, other sources specifically identify a clear relationship between the conspiracy theory and Marxist cultural analysis:

• Jamin 2018: "When looking at the literature on Cultural Marxism as a piece of cultural studies, as a conspiracy described by Lind and its followers, and as arguments used by Buchanan, Breivik, and other actors within their own agendas, we see a common ground made of unquestionable facts in terms of who did what and where, and for how long at the Frankfurt School."
• Tutors 2018: "In an ironical sense this literature can perhaps be understood as popularizing simplified or otherwise distorted versions of certain concepts initially developed by the Frankfurt School, as well as those of Western Marxism more generally." Stonkaments (talk) 20:54, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

The full quote from Braune is Furthermore, there is no academic field known as “Cultural Marxism.” Scholars of the Frankfurt School are called Critical Theorists, not Cultural Marxists. Scholars in various other fields that often get lumped into the “Cultural Marxist” category, such as postmodernists and feminist scholars, also do not generally call their fields of study Cultural Marxism, nor do they share perfect ideological symmetry with Critical Theory. The term does appear very occasionally in Marxist literature, but there is no pattern of using it to point specifically to the Frankfurt School--Marxist philosopher of aesthetics Frederic Jameson, forexample, uses the term, but his use of the term “cultural” refers to his aesthetics, not to a specific commitment to the Frankfurt School. In short, Cultural Marxism does not exist—not only is the conspiracy theory version false, but there is no intellectual movement by that name. Her overall point is that those scattered usages are without coherent meaning, and that the usage in the conspiracy theory is not connected to any real-world ideological framework. Jamin and Tutors don't disagree; Jamin's point is that the conspiracy theoriests are consistent with each other, not with reality. And if you read the next sentence of Tutors, it is clear the irony he is talking about is the way in which the conspiracy theorists themselves fit into the Frankfurt School's view; One such example might be the concept of “the Cathedral” (Yarvin 2008), developed by figures in the so-called neo-reactionary movement on the far right as a kind of critique of the hegemonic, unconscious consensus between powerful figures within academia and the media who use the concept of “political correctness” as a tool of oppression developed by those who (falsely) imagine themselves as being oppressed. He is saying that the irony is this mode of analysis is in line with what the Frankfurt school believed, not that the conspiracy theory itself has merit. --Aquillion (talk) 21:03, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

• I’m not convinced that the claim “without any clear relationship to Marxist cultural analysis” is adequately supported by the cited source. As OP notes, the Braune paper [5] does not assert any claims about “Marxist cultural analysis” as a whole. Instead, the quoted statement specifically references “the Frankfurt School.” If we are now equating the two, how do we justify the existence of a separate article on “Marxist cultural analysis”?

There is another logical inconsistency. Braune states that the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory [...] misrepresents the Frankfurt School’s ideas and influence. Logically, if A misrepresents B, then A must have at least one clearly defined relationship with B, meaning it misrepresents it. Therefore, it is contradictory to claim that there is no clear relationship between the two.

Thirdly, to highlight another logical inconsistency: if there is no (clear) relationship between “Marxist cultural analysis” and “Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory,” then why do these two Wikipedia articles extensively link to each other?

Lastly, I searched for the term 'clear relationship' and found an archived discussion from 2021 that includes this phrase.[6] Unfortunately, that discussion quickly devolved into arguments about the conspiracy theory. Here, I hope we can stay focused on this article and the specific issue of consistency with logic and sources. 87.116.182.140 (talk) 12:07, 26 October 2024 (UTC)

You must be new to Wikipedia, Welcome to Wikipedia! What you're confused about is called Wikivoice. One of the statements is us REPORTING on Braune's viewpoint (aka an WP:INTEXT). The other is in Wikivoice. For more information, click this link to the policy: WP:Wikivoice. I hope that clears things up for you. P.S Also, usually new additions to the discussion, or new comments on the talk page go at the bottom of a page as per WP:Indent, Wikipedia has a lot of these policies and guidelines, and your time here will involve less conflict if you learn about them. 101.115.143.188 (talk) 01:13, 27 October 2024 (UTC)

Also, just adding to this, they're usually easier to learn about if you sign up an account - because you'll be told about them, and given other helpful tips on your talk page. 101.115.143.188 (talk) 01:26, 27 October 2024 (UTC)

That information is already included in the third paragraph of the lede section:

"The tradition of Marxist cultural analysis has also been referred to as "cultural Marxism", and "Marxist cultural theory", in reference to Marxist ideas about culture. However, since the 1990s, the term "Cultural Marxism" has largely referred to the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory, a conspiracy theory popular among the far right without any clear relationship to Marxist cultural analysis."

So Wikipedia has already done its due diligence to represent the major academic viewpoints in as accurate manner as possible for this topic. 101.115.139.171 (talk) 03:21, 19 October 2024 (UTC)

Poll

How should we address the issue raised in this discussion?

1. Do nothing.
2. Remove the phrase “without any clear relationship to Marxist cultural analysis” from the sentence. See diff.
3. Replace it with: “However, since the 1990s, the term 'Cultural Marxism' has frequently been associated with Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory embraced by the far right, which distorts the ideas and impact of the Frankfurt School.” See diff.
4. Something else (please specify).

Shall we take a poll? 87.116.182.140 (talk) 10:12, 30 October 2024 (UTC)

• Option 3, because it clarifies the original sentence and is closer to what the source (Braune 2019) states: the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory [...] misrepresents the Frankfurt School’s ideas and influence. :87.116.182.140 (talk) 10:13, 30 October 2024 (UTC)
• Option 1 - no clear reasons to change the sentence have been presented in this discussion, and option 3 in particular presents a (sourced) statement out of context, in wikivoice, in a way that posits a determinate relationship between the conspiracy theory and the Frankfurt School in a way the sources, taken as a whole, do not support. Newimpartial (talk) 00:31, 31 October 2024 (UTC)

  Seconded. There's still no clear ideological, political, or academic movement calling its self "Cultural Marxism". No academics identify that way. So Braune is accurate to the academic viewpoint. 101.115.130.228 (talk) 06:40, 31 October 2024 (UTC)

• Option 1 or remove the final paragraph of the lead entirely (that is, remove any mention of cultural marxism in any context from the lead completely) per my arguments above. Perhaps some rewording is possible, but I'm not seeing any of these as an improvement; a central point in the sources is that the conspiracy theory is not connected to reality and that "cultural marxism" isn't a concretely-defined thing, which needs to be clearly conveyed if we are going to mention it at all. The connection is tenuous enough that it would also be reasonable to remove it from the lead; it's just not leadworthy. --Aquillion (talk) 15:42, 31 October 2024 (UTC)
• Option 3, because this is important enough to mention in the lead, and reliable sources are in agreement that there is some connection between the conspiracy theory and ideas from the Frankfurt School. Could maybe tweak the wording somehow to emphasize that the connection between the two is imprecise, but to deny that any connection exists is plainly wrong and contradicts the sources. —- Stonkaments (talk) 02:34, 1 November 2024 (UTC)

  Re: reliable sources are in agreement that there is some connection between the conspiracy theory and ideas from the Frankfurt School - they aren't, though. That's the whole problem. There isn't any particular connection between the FS and the CT, except for some misleading name dropping. Newimpartial (talk) 09:00, 1 November 2024 (UTC)

  It can be argued that A misrepresenting B isn't a real relationship, but that leads us into semantics. It's better to use clearer language to avoid confusing the reader. Misrepresents is clearer than "without any clear relationship," and it's the phrasing currently used in the CT article lede. 87.116.182.140 (talk) 09:59, 1 November 2024 (UTC)

Historical vs Contemporary

I've created this temporary division on the page whilst the discussion on what counts as Marxist cultural analysis continues to sort its self out. As a rule of thumb; if a theorist/school uses or comes after the creation of Gramsci's sense of hegemony, it's probably contemporary. If not, it's probably historical. Keep in mind this page should be for the WP:Primarytopic (which does discuss the "profit driven" aspects of Capitalist hegemony), and we should keep that in mind as we want to avoid becoming a WP:Coatrack article. 101.115.143.188 (talk) 03:24, 27 October 2024 (UTC)

Trotsky (1879 – 1940) and Gramsci (1891 – 1937) were contemporaries. If categorization and subdivision is needed, it should probably use different labels than Historical vs Contemporary. 87.116.182.140 (talk) 18:03, 27 October 2024 (UTC)

Trotsky doesn't use the term hegemony, and thus, isn't really known for having done a modern, sociological version of Marxist cultural analysis. The main jumping off point for this page is Gramsci, and descendant theories, such as The Frankfurt School, The Birmingham School, and E. P. Thompson. You can read the lead section to understand the primary topic, and definition of terms that make up the subject matter intended for this page. 101.115.143.188 (talk) 05:01, 28 October 2024 (UTC)

Hi! I appreciate the effort to organize the article. Do you by chance have a source to support this distinction? I don't have a particular problem with it other than it seems weird to call someone who died in 1937 a contemporary of us in the 21st century. This cut-off would also relegate the other major figure featured in the lead (but conspicuously absent in the body), early Lukaćs, to history. Maybe that's not a problem, but it feels a bit arbitrary.

Cheers, Patrick (talk) 18:05, 27 October 2024 (UTC)

Actually, Lukaćs uses the term hegemony throughout History and Class Consciousness (but of course, this is just the English translators choice in 1972, almost 50 years after it was originally written), I'm not that familiar with how much he references the industrialization of the mechanisms of cultural reproduction (eg. culture as an industrial function of Capitalism) - but I think given that he seemingly discusses cultural hegemony in some way that could be translated, then by virtue of that you're free to include him in the contemporary section (at least, that's how I see this suggested division playing out). I don't want to be too strict with this. I'm assuming the reasons Lukaćs hasn't been included thus far is because he's not as influential or well known as Gramsci and The Frankfurt School et al.

I don't personally see the use of 'hegemony' as being an arbitrary inclusion requirement for a theorist to be seen as 'contemporary' (although if it comes down to a question of translation, it does become more arbitrary). Either way, to me it's simply coherent with the lead section. The lead section appears to be an enduring aspect of the page, and hence crucial to the subject matter within the contemporary context (especially in regards to Sociology and Neo-Marxism).

I believe concessions were given in the above section (eg. "It never occurred to me, for instance, that Trotsky did not belong; yet the IP editor makes a compelling case.") but I don't want to step on any toes, and I think it's a complex topic area that we're all being careful to not limit too much - whilst still having some direction (and my suggestion is just that we follow the lead). My understanding is still that the article was intended to be about contemporary Marxist cultural analysis WITHIN the sociological context, and that even that much is a misnomer, as all Marxist cultural analysis is almost by definition Neo-Marxist (Karl Marx having not done much cultural analysis at all).

But you are indeed correct - it feels odd to say theories from the 1930s are contemporary. In my view this is more a problem of just how effective Cold War propaganda was on American (and hence global) cultural hegemony, WW2 is often a common demarcation and turning point for the consideration of what is "contemporary". It defined a lot of the new western mode of global analysis, internationalism, and trade. We (as in the cultural majority) are only just now catching up to the theorists of back then, but if you have less questionable terms for the headings, I'm all for finding a better match. "Pre-hegemonic theory" and "Post-hegemonic theory" might be more direct for instance (albeit, not a traditional division that Wikipedia pages commonly use).

Sorry if this response is not satisfying, I suppose another option would be to use Pre-WW2 and Post-WW2, and have sections for Gramsci and Lukaćs in the former, making it a purely chronological division. 101.115.143.188 (talk) 05:27, 28 October 2024 (UTC)

Thanks for this detailed reply!

It is a Wikipedia guideline (and I think a very good one) that WP:LEADFOLLOWSBODY. (Edit: that's actually an individually authored essay, but it is largely an explication of MOS:LEADREL.) Unless there is a literature that supports limiting this article more narrowly than what is included in anthologies and introductions to Marxist cultural/aesthetic/literary analysis/theory/studies, I believe the article should be open to encompass all material commonly included in such overview publications, and the lead should be edited accordingly.

Lukaćs is widely credited with reinjecting Hegel into Marx, whom he additionally synthesized with Weber. There would be no Frankfurt School without him. Per just my own reading of History and Class Consciousness, I do not believe that "hegemony" is a key term for him. What he does is theorize commodity fetishism as an empirical totality under the heading of reification, which he presents as the form of false consciousness that must be overcome by a genuine class consciousness.

None of that (of course!) is at all on you to add, but is just to say that he theorizes independently and in a significantly different way what is at least more-or-less the same phenomenon as Gramsci. This is low on my to-do list because I don't have a great source ready to hand, but I'll add a section on him at some point in the future if no one beats me to it.

I don't have any proposals with respect to section headings and organization—other than that I think we should continue to keep it chronological, absent a strong reason to do otherwise. We should probably also remove the maintenance template added in response to the addition of Trotsky. The way that he is treated in the lead should probably be adjusted as well to avoid overstating his influence on the Western tradition stemming from Lukaćs and Gramsci.

Cheers, Patrick (talk) 17:11, 28 October 2024 (UTC)

Lead did follow body until someone decided that the title of the page referenced all of Marxist cultural theory, because they didn't understand that the title was actually a way of avoiding the Neologism "Cultural Marxism" whose primary topic was a conspiracy theory, and hence problematic under WP:NEO. This was one of the reasons the original Cultural Marxism page was deleted, as per the AfD, and one of the reasons that title can't be used (because it was salted WP:SALT).

So a much more efficient and effective way to make the lead follow the body, would be to delete the sections that go against the purpose of the page up until now (eg. everything under the "Historical Approaches" section), and rename the page.

What your proposing (re-writing the lead to fit new additions that have been made to the body) would break it's relevance to the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory page, and drastically change the direction of the page. So it seems, we really have an issue with the title of the current page, which should perhaps be changed to "Gramscian cultural analysis".

Rather than straining to make additions to the page, and risking turning it into a coatrack for any Marxist past or present who remotely touches on, or mentions culture (regardless of whether those comments formed a solid theory or mode of analysis), I move that we simply re-title the page. That way we can keep the current lead, and majority of the contents, and avoid recreating the Western Marxism page or making a WP:coatrack here. After all it's clear neither of us have time for a large amount of copy editing right now.

Do you oppose this path forwards? If so, it may be a time for an RfC, to take the burden of deciding the fate of this page off our shoulders, and we can have it instead put on the wider community where it perhaps belongs. But if you don't oppose this path forwards, I'm happy to discuss what the appropriate naming should be, and then to get that done. 101.115.143.188 (talk) 04:54, 29 October 2024 (UTC)

Contemporary to what? Visite fortuitement prolongée (talk) 18:05, 29 October 2024 (UTC)

The usage of the term "Hegemony" and the idea that culture is "mechanically reproduced". As per the lead. eg. Gramscian marxist analysis as being a landmark or watershed that altered the history of Marxist analysis from then on. 101.115.130.228 (talk) 08:45, 30 October 2024 (UTC)

So the 1920s and the 1930s. But the 2 subsections of «Historical approaches» are about the 1920s and the 1930s too («Marxist-Leninist analysis of culture during the 1920s and 1930s», «In Literature and Revolution [1924], Leon Trotsky»), so your titles are incorrect. If you want to distinguish groups/persons who carried Marxist cultural analysis and groups/persons who carried something similar but different, then a correct title would be «Similar approaches» instead of «Historical approaches». Visite fortuitement prolongée (talk) 10:42, 30 October 2024 (UTC)

This raises the question of why we have historical approaches at all, like Trotsky and Marxist-Leninism just isn't a classification The Frankfurt School and post-Gramscian cultural theory fits into.

People have just added that to the page because they've looked at the title and assumed it belongs here. So the question is - does it? We could change the name of the page to resolve this, or just allow the page to be a WP:coatrack of Marxists who have discussed culture. 101.115.130.228 (talk) 06:45, 31 October 2024 (UTC)

«This raises the question of why we have historical approaches at all» => The section was titled «Development of theory» from the creation of the article in 2020 to Special:Diff/1208602111 in february 2024. Visite fortuitement prolongée (talk) 08:32, 31 October 2024 (UTC)

Coatrack.

At this point the article has become a coatrack. It now starts with Leon Trotsky (for some reason), being classed as a "main author" (of what?) along side Gramsci, The Frankfurt School, who specifically said they wanted to be "equidistant from Marxism, and Capitalism" [7], and The Birmingham School, which was in part founded by Richard Hoggart who expressed an aversion to Marxism [8]. The page has two side bars. It has tacked on sections at the end for Marxist-Leninism, and the cultural Marxism conspiracy theory. The title of the page is clearly too broad for what it was intended to be (what the lead section describes, or once described), and we now have too many editors trying to go in too many different directions with it.

In short it's become an unmanageable WP:coatrack and should probably be deleted. 101.115.130.228 (talk) 12:49, 1 November 2024 (UTC)

Mischaracterization of major thinkers.

The majority of theorists on this page, weren't Marxists. Many explicitly weren't Marxists (as per the previous section of this talk page)... they were NEO-Marxists at best, and some weren't even that. Thus, it's inappropriate for Wikipedia to be labeling and categorizing thinkers, theorists, and historical figures, as Marxist when they weren't Marxists. Getting basic categorization correct isn't too much to ask, and isn't unreasonable. These thinkers really shouldn't be bookended by Trotsky and Marxist-leninism as if that was their domain. 101.115.130.228 (talk) 02:05, 2 November 2024 (UTC)

See Etymological fallacy. It doesn't matter whether these people were Marxists, but that they were identified as cultural Marxists. The West Indies isn't actually off the coast of India, but we can refer to people as West Indian. TFD (talk) 02:57, 2 November 2024 (UTC)

Leon Trotsky and "Marxist Leninism" was never identified as "cultural Marxism". Gramscian cultural analysis was (eg. people influenced by Gramsci, like The Frankfurt School, The Birminham School, and E.P Thompson). "Marxist cultural analysis" is just Wikipedia's term, due to "Cultural Marxism" being most well known as a right wing WP:NEO Neologism. So someone randomly chose an alternative they thought matched enough. But they didn't foresee the consequences.

Trying to preserve the term "Marxist cultural analysis" when it's just Wikipedia's arbitrary choice for the article (eg. it's our choice, not the prevalent academic term for Gramscians) doesn't make any sense. Wikipedia's chosen term, isn't accurate... I agree the page is essentially supposed to be about "cultural Marxism" (The Frankfurt School, The Birminham School, and E.P Thompson) - but Trotsky and the section for "Marxist Leninism" don't belong here then, and shouldn't be included.

They've been included because the page title Wikipedia has landed on, is too general. It should be changed to "Gramscian cultural analysis" (and the redirect on Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory updated accordingly). WITHOUT doing THAT, you have a general sounding page title, that doesn't retain its original function. So it includes a section on Trotsky, and Marxist-leninism for no real good reason (other than the arbitrary page title WP:NEO, allowing them to be included, because it's now a broader topic than it should be.117.102.133.36 (talk) 06:05, 3 November 2024 (UTC)

Cultural hegemony is averaging less than 1 view/day and could be cannibalized to improve coverage of Gramsci in this area. I'm not sure why, though, you think this article is properly about him and his heirs/successors/whatever. Why not just let it be whatever is covered in an introductory cultural studies course on Marxist theory?

The problem is that the body is underdeveloped and doesn't appear to follow any particular secondary literature. My approach would be to look at a few anthologies or introductory overview sources. The figures or schools that receive the most attention in the most of them are what should be covered here. Surely this would include precursors such as Marx himself and perhaps Trotsky as well.

But no one is asking me for an assignment...so, over and out.

Cheers, Patrick (talk) 19:50, 5 November 2024 (UTC)

I stated directly above that several of the thinkers/groups listed weren't particularly Marxist, and can best be described as neo-Marxist OR LESS. Such as Hoggart (of The Birmingham School) whose described in academic sources as having an aversion to Marxism [9]... and The Frankfurt School who are widely understood to have been critical of both Capitalism AND orthodox Marxism, wanting to be (as the internet encyclopedia of philosophy page for Adorno states) equidistant and critical of both systems ("The final break with orthodox Marxism occurred with the Frankfurt School’s coming to condemn the Soviet Union as a politically oppressive system. Politically the Frankfurt School sought to position itself equidistant from both Soviet socialism and liberal capitalism. The greater cause of human emancipation appeared to call for the relentless criticism of both systems.").

So to proclaim them as a major part of MARXIST cultural analysis, is a falsification of their position. This (along with my other complaints to you about Trosky's inclusion) is precisely why I don't think the page title is appropriate, and is in fact, a mischaracterization of the bulk of the authors being used (eg. from The Frankfurt School, and Birmingham School).

Saying "we can just add more thinkers" doesn't resolve the problems with their inclusion. Removing Trotsky and this silly little stub section about "Marxist-lenism" and renaming the page to Gramscian cultural analysis DOES resolve these issues (and is a lot easier, doesn't require handing out assignments, or cannibalising other pages).

P.S Wikipedia isn't about the popularity or view count of pages, saying "this page gets less views, so we should canibalise it" goes against being here to WP:BUILD and encyclopedia, which is suppose to be a repository of authoritative knowledge, not a popularity contest, or a website for only the knowledge which is popular or widely viewed/clicked/desirable. 117.102.149.13 (talk) 04:54, 6 November 2024 (UTC)

I support development of this article's coverage of Gramsci. Copying from the article I mentioned would be one very easy way to do this, and I'm sure the original contributors would be happy to expand the reach of their work. (For instance, the Frankfurt School section was lifted from my own rewrite of the lead to that article. My reaction was basically just "Lazy, but sure, fine—I did a decent job with that sentence.")

Although I will probably check in on this article from time-to-time, I am unfollowing. The discussion here is too rarely about improving the actual article. Those reading this should be aware that I am extremely unlikely to support renaming or deleting this article. Please don't ask. Feel free, though, tag me in any discussion about improving the article.

Cheers, Patrick (talk) 13:31, 6 November 2024 (UTC)