Marxism and Twenty-first-Century Socialism

Abstract

Throughout this book, I have constantly invoked Marxism as being more conducive to understanding racism and its relationship to capitalist society than CRT; and have defended Marxism against CRT critiques of it. In order to both substantiate my defense of, and indeed, exaltation of the modern Marxist project; in order specifically to argue CRT attempts to render it passé, no longer relevant, racist and oppressive, it is incumbent on me to justify the overall strengths of Marxism as a worldview. The most effective way to do this, I would argue, is to address some common objections to Marxism, and to attempt to answer them from a Marxist perspective (this will also provide a backdrop and a base, as well as some political energy, for my discussion of classroom practice in the next chapter). After doing this, in order to further make the case that Marxism is not a spent force and is relevant to the twenty-first century, I then look, as a case study, at ongoing developments in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, focusing on the notable social democratic changes designed to improve the lives of the Venezuelan working class. These include a number of very impressive reforms to the education system, which serve as a beacon of enlightenment when compared to the educational practices in the United States and the United Kingdom that antiracist educators are challenging (see chapter 4 of this volume). I go on to discuss the potential in Venezuela for twenty-first-century socialism. To counter CRT claims of an incompatibility between Marxism and antiracism, I conclude the chapter with a discussion of the way in which President Hugo Chávez and others are championing indigenous and Afro-Venezuelan rights as part of what they perceive to be the transition to socialism (given the prominence I give to the voice of Hugo Chávez, a Venezuelan with both indigenous and African roots, hopefully my analysis in this part of the chapter might strike a chord with Critical Race Theorists).