THE SOCIALIST PERSPECTIVE OF DIFFERENCE: TOWARDS A NEW COMPOSITION OF ITS MATERIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

Abstract

This article deals with the concept of "difference" as it is shaped socially, politically and philosophically, within the contemporary framework of postmodernism. Initially, it mentions and analyzes the paradox of today's capitalist world: while the production system tends to be integristic, the operational premise of production is fragmentation. In an age that subscribes unconditionally to the myth of the natural supremacy of capitalism, "difference" gives birth to "cultural policy," sidelining economic policy. At the same time, this notion is incorporated into the conceptual structure of philosophical-scientific field, as well as the notions of "otherness" and "Other." These notions surrender to the artifices of linguistic invention, slipping away from established meanings condemned to serve as a support for a specific power structure. In the framework of the socialist ideology whose core focus is the struggle against social injustice, economic exploitation and adjection, a proposal to maintain the centrality of the economicmaterial element of difference sounds commonplace. What seems open to exploitation and reflection is how "difference" is handled in the context of a socialist social practice.