Sociology

Marxist and other

pp. 63-75

in: Tom Bottomore, Marxist sociology, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 1975

Abstract

There are numerous reasons for approaching with great caution, and even scepticism, an attempt to portray Marxism as a distinctive system of sociology. First, as the earlier discussion should have made clear, Marxism itself is far from being a homogeneous or unified body of thought. The controversies which have taken place during the past hundred years have produced very diverse interpretations and even 'schools' of Marxist thought. There is a major division between those who conceive of Marxism as a philosophical world view, or a philosophy of history, and those who conceive of it primarily as a general social science, or sociology; but there are still many differences of opinion within each of these broad conceptions — about the basic ideas of the Marxist system, about the interpretation of particular forms of society or historical events, and about the relation of a Marxist analysis to the choice of political action in any given set of circumstances.