Reading Marx today: a program of research and interpretation

Abstract

This study presents a project of reading and interpretation of Marx’s texts about the French politics. The greater purpose that inspires this project is the desire to make Marx’s thoughts a normal social science in two very precise ways: as a type of scientific knowledge, rather than a normative theory and/or social view of the world; and as an interpretative genre, which consists on connecting the actions and political institutions to their social dimension. This posture necessarily implies a comprehension different from the works of Marx that are more interested in his analytical operations than in the monumental theoretical paraphernalia upon which they are based. These analytical operations may (or may not) help formulate intellectual strategies to connect microevidence to macrotheory and propose medium-range concepts to help the social research. Only then will Marxist studies be able to stop being what they have frequently been: the illustration of theory.

Keywords

• Marx
• Marxismo
• Ciência social
• Teoria social
• Teoria política.