[NOTE: This was written on the nineteenth of January, 2021. I suggest you read my essay On Marx, for it not only goes over what it is covered in this essay in a more lucid and smarter fashion, but it also expands upon what is put forward in this essay. I MUST ALSO NOTE THAT A LOT OF MY EARLIER ESSAYS HAVE BEEN LEFT UNFINISHED AND I DO NOT PLAN ON FINISHING THEM!!!]
Reference Codes
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BR — Bataille, The Bataille Reader
PPP — Botting & Wilson, Pow Pow Pow: Hamlet, Bataille & MARXISM NOW
“A Bataillean response, then, to the so-called postmodern, postindustrial, posthistorical
period heralded or exemplified by the symbolic death of Marxism is not to resurrect
the Kantian moral imperative in the ghostly shape of Marx’s spectre or ‘spirit’, it is
to follow and act in the negative determinations of the irreversible death, destruction
and sacrifice forming the ‘blind spot’ around which meaning circulates, to act in a
Marxism that does not give up on its desire, a Marxism that exists in the sovereign
space disclosed by its symbolic death, a Marxism without reserve. POW POW POW” (PPP)
1 — On Marxian sociology
Marxian sociology is often the starting point for many Marxists and is integral to any understanding of Marx. This is a good and bad thing for Marx though. It is good in that Marxists can justify things such as the labor theory of value using Marxian sociology (e.g., I.L. Rubin’s papers on the labor theory of value. I.L. Rubin says, in Essays on Marx’s Theory of Value, “The Theory of fetishism is, per se, the basis of Marx’s entire economic system, and in particular his theory of value”), as well as other economic claims they make. It is bad that Marxists have this glaring weakness. So, to create a ‘Marxism without Reserve’, we will solidify areas of Marxian sociology which we (with Bataille) see as needing solidification.
1.1 — On base-superstructure
1.1.1 — Establishing a Bataillean revision of base-superstructure
Bataille actually revises the base and superstructure model. Take note that in The Psychological Structure of Fascism, Bataille uses the term ‘the infrastructure’ as a substitute for ‘the base’.
Just like Marx, Bataille situates the infrastructure/base (hereon referred to as just ‘the base’) in the realm of production; Bataille says, “Production is the basis of social homogeneity. Homogenous society is productive society” (BR 122). Like Marx, Bataille also includes the relations of production to be a part of the base, and this is clear when Bataille says, “the producer is distinguished from the owner of the means of production, and it is the latter who appropriates the products for himself” (BR 123). The former quote of Bataille’s is important because it allows us to easily establish a revised Marxian Sociology. When Bataille says, “social homogeneity… forms spontaneously in the play of productive organization” (BR 124), and we juxtapose this quote with the first quote wherein Bataille says, “Production is the basis of social homogeneity. Homogenous society is productive society” (BR 122), we can establish that all homogenous societies have production, the organization of production, and therefore also the relations of production at “the base”. Capitalist society is homogenous society and therefore all capitalist societies have the aforementioned elements at their base.
1.1.2 — Establishing the fact that the base and superstructure “shape and maintain” each other
Another element of the base-superstructure model which is vital to its composition is the idea that the base and superstructure maintain and shape one another. Because of the fact that we are revising the model of base-superstructure in a Bataillean light, we will not establish the superstructure as something which shapes the base, rather we will have the base as the dominant “actor” that shapes the superstructure, and the superstructure will maintain the base.
“The protection of homogeneity lies in its recourse to imperative elements which are capable of obliterating the various unruly forces or bringing them under the control of order” (BR 124). The implications of this quote are various, but we will specifically focus on the fact that the base (social homogeneity) is employing elements from the superstructure (imperative elements: e.g., the state) to protect (maintain) itself.
2 — On Marxian Philosophy
2.1 — On Dialectics
2.1.1 — Bataillean Dialectics
