Textbook for the Materialist Conception of History - (Historical Materialism Book) by Max Adler (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Max Adler's text is central to understanding the German-Austrian approach to Marxism. It rejects the claims of Lenin and others that Marxism in a culture is a necessary objective reality. Instead, it focuses on the cultural needs of a population at a given period of time. Thus, an assessment of the political, economic, and social-cultural milieu must be made continually. Since this milieu changes constantly, a Marxist must maintain a cultural awareness of the ever-changing state of affairs and act accordingly.

This English translation, the first since the publication of Adler's book in 1930, makes available a key contribution of the Austro-Marxist current in European Marxism.

About the Author

Max Adler (1873-1937) was one of the major theoretical figures of Austro-Marxism. A legal scholar and a philosopher, his writings are a major component of one of the most influential Marxist movements of the early twentieth century.

Mark E. Blum earned his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He published 14 books, six on Austrian Marxists and eight on phenomenological historical writing, which is central to Max Adler's interpretation of Marxism.