On Marxism and cybernetics

Starting from the era when a strong Marxist sociology developed, including structural functionalism, communicative approaches, the Frankfurt school, etc. In your opinion, to what extent does it make sense to use Marx’s dialectical approach for analyzing phenomena of robotization, mass communication, information revolution, developments that Marx and his followers could not even imagine, especially taking into account the mechanisms of governing, control, and violence concentrated in the hands of the ruling class? Is this approach universal, could be it based on the universal solidarity of all people, regardless of their class?

Yes, I think so. That’s why I work within the Marxian tradition. I think the Marxism we have today is not the same Marxism as we had at the moment that Marx completed capital. Because it is not only the continuing revolutionary tradition, but it is a continuing learning tradition. So the validity of Marxism continues if only we have the persistence of capitalism as the dominant mode of production. Obviously there are aspects, which go beyond what Marx could observe in his time. But many of the aspects of his analysis of the logic of the system persist, so contemporary Marxism has to be a mix of things that stay constant and things that change.

Some of the things that change I believe may have to change quite radically. The Marxism we have today is, for example, a  Marxism that had a serious encounter with feminism, with environmentalism, because probably in these two areas, on issues of gender and on the issue of relations with nature, Marx was mostly a man of his age, 19th century. But revision can be a profound process. I believe there is still an enormous amount to be learned from it in regards to the basic logic of capitalism.

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