John Holloway (economist)
Encyclopedia
John Holloway is a lawyer, Marxist-oriented sociologist and philosopher, whose work is closely associated with the Zapatista
movement in Mexico
, his home since 1991. It has also been taken up by some intellectuals associated with the piquetero
s in Argentina; Abahlali baseMjondolo
movement in South Africa
and the Anti-Globalization Movement
in Europe
and North America
. He is currently a teacher at the Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences at the Autonomous University of Puebla
.
, and has a Ph.D in Political Science from the University of Edinburgh
.
He is brother to writer and academic David Holloway, and first cousin to Canadian political activist Kate Holloway and Canadian entertainer Maureen Holloway
.
, particularly in his support of an approach to the state as a social form constituted ultimately by the contradictory relations of class struggle between capital and working class. This approach was developed primarily through the critical appropriation of aspects of the German state derivation debate of the early 70s, in particular the work of Joachim Hirsch, and lead to the publication of "State and Capital: A Marxist Debate" an anthology of texts from the German debate with a critical introduction, in collaboration with Sol Piccioto. Around this conception of state, social form and class struggle, a particular current developed within the Conference of Socialist Economists
from which the Open Marxism
school of thought ultimately emerged, and in which Holloway remained a significant participant. This current is typified by its rejection of both traditional Marxist ideas of State monopoly capitalism
and more recent innovations such as Poulantzas' Althusserian state theory, and the Regulation school
, and an affirmation of the centrality of the class relation between capital and working class, conceived as a relation of struggle.
His 2002 book, Change the World Without Taking Power
, has been the subject of much debate in Marxist, anarchist and anti-capitalist circles, and contends that the possibility of revolution resides not in the seizure of state apparatuses, but in day-to-day acts of abject refusal of capitalist society – so-called anti-power, or 'the scream' as he puts it repeatedly. Holloway's thesis has been analysed by thinkers like Tariq Ali
and Slavoj Žižek
. Holloway is considered by supporters and critics to be broadly Autonomist in outlook, and his work is often compared and contrasted with that of figures such as Antonio Negri
.
Zapatista Army of National Liberation
The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is a revolutionary leftist group based in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico....
movement in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, his home since 1991. It has also been taken up by some intellectuals associated with the piquetero
Piquetero
A piquetero is a member of a political faction whose primary modus operandi is based in the piquete. The piquete is an action by which a group of people blocks a road or street with the purpose of demonstrating and calling attention over a particular issue or demand...
s in Argentina; Abahlali baseMjondolo
Abahlali baseMjondolo
Abahlali baseMjondolo , also known as AbM or the red shirts is a shack-dwellers' movement in South Africa which is well known for its campaigning for public housing. The movement grew out of a road blockade organized from the Kennedy Road shack settlement in the city of Durban in early 2005 and now...
movement in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and the Anti-Globalization Movement
Anti-globalization movement
The anti-globalization movement, or counter-globalisation movement, is critical of the globalization of corporate capitalism. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist movement, anti-corporate globalization movement, or...
in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. He is currently a teacher at the Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences at the Autonomous University of Puebla
Autonomous University of Puebla
The Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla is the oldest and largest university in Puebla, Mexico...
.
Background
He was born in Dublin, IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, and has a Ph.D in Political Science from the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
.
He is brother to writer and academic David Holloway, and first cousin to Canadian political activist Kate Holloway and Canadian entertainer Maureen Holloway
Maureen Holloway
Maureen Holloway is a Canadian radio personality, entertainer and comedian that is best known for her radio segments The Last Word. Holloway broadcasts live, weekday mornings, in consecutive segments with the hosts of Canadian morning shows in various cities.-Personal life:Holloway, a mother of...
.
Work
During the 1970s, Holloway was an influential member of the Conference of Socialist EconomistsConference of Socialist Economists
The Conference of Socialist Economists describes itself as an international, democratic membership organisation committed to developing a materialist critique of capitalism, unconstrained by conventional academic divisions between subjects....
, particularly in his support of an approach to the state as a social form constituted ultimately by the contradictory relations of class struggle between capital and working class. This approach was developed primarily through the critical appropriation of aspects of the German state derivation debate of the early 70s, in particular the work of Joachim Hirsch, and lead to the publication of "State and Capital: A Marxist Debate" an anthology of texts from the German debate with a critical introduction, in collaboration with Sol Piccioto. Around this conception of state, social form and class struggle, a particular current developed within the Conference of Socialist Economists
Conference of Socialist Economists
The Conference of Socialist Economists describes itself as an international, democratic membership organisation committed to developing a materialist critique of capitalism, unconstrained by conventional academic divisions between subjects....
from which the Open Marxism
Open Marxism
Open marxism is a "school" of Marxism which draws on anarchist critiques of Party communism and stresses the openness to praxis and to history, the "practical reflexivity" of Marx's own concepts. The "openness" in Open Marxism also refers to a non-deterministic view of history in which the...
school of thought ultimately emerged, and in which Holloway remained a significant participant. This current is typified by its rejection of both traditional Marxist ideas of State monopoly capitalism
State monopoly capitalism
The theory of state monopoly capitalism was initially a Marxist doctrine popularised after World War II. Lenin had claimed in 1916 that World War I had transformed laissez-faire capitalism into monopoly capitalism, but he did not publish any extensive theory about the topic...
and more recent innovations such as Poulantzas' Althusserian state theory, and the Regulation school
Regulation school
The Régulation School is a group of writers on political economy and economics whose origins can be traced to France in the early 1970s where economic instability and stagflation were rampant in the French economy. The term ‘régulation’ was coined by Frenchman Destanne de Bernis who aimed to use...
, and an affirmation of the centrality of the class relation between capital and working class, conceived as a relation of struggle.
His 2002 book, Change the World Without Taking Power
Change the World Without Taking Power
Change the World Without Taking Power: The Meaning of Revolution Today is a book by John Holloway that looks at the concept of revolution.The book was first published in 2002. It opened up a wave of debate between Holloway and intellectuals on the far left...
, has been the subject of much debate in Marxist, anarchist and anti-capitalist circles, and contends that the possibility of revolution resides not in the seizure of state apparatuses, but in day-to-day acts of abject refusal of capitalist society – so-called anti-power, or 'the scream' as he puts it repeatedly. Holloway's thesis has been analysed by thinkers like Tariq Ali
Tariq Ali
Tariq Ali , , is a British Pakistani military historian, novelist, journalist, filmmaker, public intellectual, political campaigner, activist, and commentator...
and Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher, critical theorist working in the traditions of Hegelianism, Marxism and Lacanian psychoanalysis. He has made contributions to political theory, film theory, and theoretical psychoanalysis....
. Holloway is considered by supporters and critics to be broadly Autonomist in outlook, and his work is often compared and contrasted with that of figures such as Antonio Negri
Antonio Negri
Antonio Negri is an Italian Marxist sociologist and political philosopher.Negri is best-known for his co-authorship of Empire, and secondarily for his work on Spinoza. Born in Padua, he became a political philosophy professor in his hometown university...
.
Books in English
- State and Capital: A Marxist Debate (1978), ISBN 0-7131-5987-1, ed. with Sol Piccioto
- Social Policy Harmonisation in the European Community (1981), ISBN 0-566-00196-9
- Post-Fordism and Social Form: A Marxist Debate on the Post-Fordist State (1991), ISBN 0-333-54393-9, ed. with Werner Bonefeld
- Global Capital, National State, and the Politics of Money (1995), ISBN 0-312-12466-X, ed. with Werner Bonefeld
- Open MarxismOpen MarxismOpen marxism is a "school" of Marxism which draws on anarchist critiques of Party communism and stresses the openness to praxis and to history, the "practical reflexivity" of Marx's own concepts. The "openness" in Open Marxism also refers to a non-deterministic view of history in which the...
: Emancipating Marx (1995), ISBN 0-7453-0864-3, ed. with Werner Bonefeld, Richard Gunn and Kosmas Psychopedis - Zapatista!: Reinventing Revolution in Mexico (1998), ISBN 0-7453-1178-4, ed. with Eloína Peláez
- Change the World Without Taking PowerChange the World Without Taking PowerChange the World Without Taking Power: The Meaning of Revolution Today is a book by John Holloway that looks at the concept of revolution.The book was first published in 2002. It opened up a wave of debate between Holloway and intellectuals on the far left...
(2002), ISBN 0-7453-1864-9 - Negativity and Revolution: Adorno and Political Activism (2008) ISBN 978-07453-2836-2, ed. with Fernando Matamoros & Sergio Tischler
- Crack Capitalism Pluto Press (2010) ISBN 0745330088 ISBN 978-0745330082
Online articles
- Going in the Wrong Direction or Mephistopheles: Not Saint Francis of Assisi
- Twelve Theses on Changing the World without taking Power
- The concept of power and the Zapatistas
- Dignity's revolt
- The Scream (Chapter 1 of Change the World Without Taking Power)
- Walking We Ask Questions, 2005
- Against and Beyond the State
- The Politics of Dignity and the Politics of Poverty, 2010
Music
- Composer Reynaldo YoungReynaldo YoungReynaldo Young [b. 1966] is a London-based Uruguayan composer, arranger, guitarist, teacher and workshop leader. He has written concert pieces as well as music for dance, theatre, and video – many of them performed worldwide; he is also an active player at the free improvisation scene around...
acknowledges in the performance notes of his piece "ay'tik" that Change the World Without Taking PowerChange the World Without Taking PowerChange the World Without Taking Power: The Meaning of Revolution Today is a book by John Holloway that looks at the concept of revolution.The book was first published in 2002. It opened up a wave of debate between Holloway and intellectuals on the far left...
is the "theoretical source which the strategic principles of this score came from." Both Holloway and the composer attended the world premiere of the piece, which took place on 26 July 2002 in Bretton Hall, West Yorkshire.