Marx and New Left

Kolakowski describes the New Left revolution of the 60s as an “explosion of academic youth” and “an aggressive movement born of frustration.” It “easily created a vocabulary for itself out of Marxist slogans, or some expressions from the Marxist story: liberation, revolution, alienation, etc.” Yet, in fact, “its ideology really has little in common with Marxism.” He enumerates: “It consists of ‘revolution’ without the working class; hatred of modern technology as such (Marx glorified technical progress and believed that one reason for the impending breakdown of capitalism was its inability to sustain such progress . . . ); the cult of primitive societies (in which Marx took scarcely any interest) as the source of progress; hatred of education and specialized knowledge; and the believe in the American lumpenproletariat as a great revolutionary force.” Marxism’s “apocalyptic side” came to the forefront among New Leftists, but the New Left exemplifies the ironic fact that at the time of his book (1978) “Marxism provides ideological pabulum for a wide variety of interests and aspirations, many of them unconnected with one another.”