The Problem of Class Abstractionism

Authors

Michael A. McCarthy, Marquette UniversityFollow
Mathieu Hikaru Desan, University of Colorado, Boulder

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-2023

Publisher

SAGE

Source Publication

Sociological Theory

Source ISSN

0735-2751

Original Item ID

DOI: 10.1177/07352751231152489

Abstract

With renewed interest in Marxism, class is back on the intellectual agenda. But so too is the familiar charge of “class reductionism.” This charge conflates two distinct claims regarding what we term the structural and political primacy of class. Structural primacy refers to the determinant role of class in social explanation, whereas political primacy refers to its centrality in radical politics. Crossing these distinct claims, we identify four possible positions on the primacy of class. Here, we focus on the two that affirm the structural primacy of class. What we call “class abstractionism,” which presumes to derive the political primacy of class from an account of its structural primacy, ultimately relies on an abstract conception of class that effectively presupposes its political primacy. In contrast, a more adequate account of structural primacy—what we call “class dynamism”—requires us to abandon the presupposition of class’s necessary political primacy.

Comments

Accepted version. Sociological Theory, Vol. 41, No. 1 (March 2023): 3-26. DOI. © 2023 SAGE Publications. Used with permission.

Recommended Citation

McCarthy, Michael A. and Desan, Mathieu Hikaru, "The Problem of Class Abstractionism" (2023). Social and Cultural Sciences Faculty Research and Publications. 356.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/socs_fac/356