Just curious - what’s the standing of Marxism nowadays? Does it still have any legs as an economic/political theory with any academics or political types? Or has it withered away with the fall of the USSR?
I know that China is technically Marxist, but once Deng said, “To get rich is glorious,” I think they kinda jumped the shark.
So, is there anywhere that the Marxist theory still is in vogue, other than Cuba and Vietnam?
What about the Sendero Luminoso in (I think) Peru? And isn’t there a Maoist rebel group in Nepal?
Hmm. Is Cuba actually “Marxist”?
I think Sendero Luminos is Maoist, which I guess is a sub-set of Marxism - but is there any likelihood that they’ll be able to put their ideas into operation?
I think you could add North Korea.
I would consider “Marxism” a misnomer when used to describe any governmental structure. I would include Bolshevik Russia in that as well. Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin corrupted the premise in the Soviet Union. Mao did the same in China. I believe that the representative governments that we see today are more accurately defined as Maoist or Stalinist. I don’t have a cite handy, but Marx, toward the end of his life saw his view of utopia being corrupted and said something to the effect, “Is this is Marxism, I am not a Marxist”.
I know these are all quibbling points but still, there is nothing resembling Marxism in the way these governments have operated. They have largely supplanted one powered elite with another. (“Meet the new boss, the same as the old boss”)
Thanks
Hawk
The governments of the Indian states of West Bengal and Kerala are run by the freely elected Communist Party of India (Marxist), which has “Marx” in the name.
Thank you. I will look into those governments. However, I have found that the existence of a reference to Marx or Marxism, when used by a government is not necessarily accurate.
This is about the Saskatchewan election, the NDP, and the Regina Manifesto, isn’t it? 
Usually about as accurate as when they use the term Democratic (see “German Democratic Republic”, i.e. East Germany).
There are Maoist rebels in Nepal.
Yes, Cuba’s government is self-defined as Marxist. From the preamble to the Cuban constitution:
" GUIADOS
por el ideario de José Martí y las ideas político-sociales de Marx, Engels y Lenin;"
translated:
"GUIDED
by the ideology of Jose Marti and the socio-political ideas of Marx, Engels and Lenin;"
The Marxist idea that History is guided by Economic events & trends is alive & well.
Marxists are fond of saying this whenever someone points out that Marxism has been the proximate cause of some of the worst failures of the 20th Century. The problem with these statements is that it’s shifting the goalposts: Those countries were indeed founded on a Marxist footing and Marxists then accepted them as such. Claiming they were not Marxist now that they have failed is redefining your terms midstream and is fundamentally dishonest.
Marxist Economic Determinism predicted that the governments of the world would wither and die once the Revolution had been stabilized and the Proletariat empowered. Needless to say, Marxist Economic Determinism is a crock of fragrant shit.
Heck, I don’t think Marx is even covered in school anymore in China. You can rarely find a Mao statue, and I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a Marx one here. (do have one of Pushkin in my neighborhood for some unknown reason.)
You’ll still see a little bit of lip service to Marxist-Leninist-Mao Zedong thought by Rolex sporting bourgoise in the back of an imported BMW while the driver is taking them to a 5-star hotel for a round of karaoke and hookers. Not sure if that counts though.
I think most of the few surviving Marxists are now in the Liberal Arts section of Duke University, where they use their positions for important social actions like attacking evil lacrosse players …
w.
I don’t think you can hold groups like these to the same standard as actual governments. They’re trying to establish a theoretically Marxist state but haven’t done so. The Soviet Union had sixty years to build a Marxist government - if it was unable to do so, there’s a fair indictment against Marxism (as are similar failures in other countries). But you can’t fairly call a regime a failure before it actually had a chance to run things.
As far as being a theory goes, Marxism is today regarded as a fascinating, thought-provoking theory whose predictions were pretty much dead wrong.
Not unlike neoconservatism…
To be fair, the Neocons haven’t had nearly as long as the Marxists did to prove their worth.
Yet the Marxist doctrine that states that all war is fought for economic reasons is clearly correct.