Perry Anderson

R.G. Williams

This short essay is a study of the Marxism of Perry Anderson. Anderson is one of our best Left historians — one of our best Left thinkers. He has developed, since the 1950s and 1960s, as one of the most original and creative writers of the British New Left – shaping our ideas, our hopes, and our politics. His essays and his books are known across the world – and are known for their rich theory and for their rich ideas. His editing of the New Left Review (NLR) has made him a legend of the international Left. Anderson must be one of the most dynamic figures ever produced by British Marxism and by British Socialism — both in terms of his own thought, his own ideas, and his own writing, but also in terms of his influence. He deserves his importance — both for his work and for his ideas. In this short essay I just want to praise Anderson – as one of the best Socialist thinkers of our times.

Anderson, firstly and most importantly, is a Socialist and a Marxist – a major figure of the British New Left.1 He is a committed Socialist. He is a committed Marxist. Over decades he has always refined and developed his Socialism, and his Marxism, and remained committed to the basic political vision of Socialism – the emancipation and freedom of humanity. Despite all the difficulties and losses that the Left has suffered during his lifetime, Anderson, it seems, has never given up hope on the ability of humanity to build a better (and Socialist future). Despite this, Anderson has always been realistic – like Gramsci, he has always maintained his pessimism of the intellect and his optimism of the will. Anderson, as a Socialist, has always been a committed Socialist. Anderson, as a Marxist, has always been a realistic Marxist.

Anderson is also a writer. Indeed, he is one of the most prolific writers of the Left since the 1960s. He has produced several great books and essays – ranging from history to politics, from philosophy to literary criticism. Indeed, his essays often contain more ideas than some entire books. His actual books on European history– ‘Passages from Feudalism to Antiquity’ and ‘Lineages of the Absolutist State’ – are classics of Marxist history writing.2 His analysis of the crisis of British politics, in particular, has also stood the test of time. Indeed, his entire analysis of British society, in the 1960s, in essays like ‘The Origins of the Present Crisis’, have been validated by British politics today – as Britain remains stuck in Capitalist crisis.3 His writing on Gramsci is classic – some of the best analysis ever written on the Italian revolutionary.4 His surveys of some of the great intellectuals, revolutions, and struggles of our times are priceless. His essays in the New Left Review, both as writer and editor, are timeless. All of this means he has been one of the most influential Socialist writers of the second half of the 20th century. In terms of the great writers of the British Left, Anderson is still one of the best.

Anderson’s Marxism has been central to his work. His Marxism is a specific type of Marxism: Western Marxism. It is a Marxism which developed through the struggle of the New Left against Stalinism in the 1950s. The distinctive features of Anderson’s Marxism are clear in each of his essays and each of his books. The first feature is his theory — his commitment to a clear, analytical, rigorous, Marxist theory. The second feature is his politics — his commitment to Marxist politics – e.g. the struggle for human emancipation. The third feature is his ability to place all of these commitments into a historical framework, a theoretical framework, and a political framework. For Anderson, Historical Materialism is not simply a method of historical analysis but one which can be applied to most other aspects of social theory — from politics to economics, from culture to theory. In many ways, Anderson has been the best example of the many thinkers to have emerged within Western Marxism since the 1950s. Indeed, Anderson is probably the most politically and historically engaged thinker of the New Left — as is shown by his more political and historical essays. There is also the fact that Anderson is one of the few remaining thinkers of the original New Left — from the 1950s and the 1960s. Anderson might be a Left theorist, interested in theory, but his best work has come from his engagement with history and with politics. He is, above all else, a political writer.

Anderson has often been criticised. Indeed, his responses to criticism have often produced some of his best work and his best theory. In a career which has lasted since the 1950s it would have been impossible for Anderson to avoid criticism or critiques.5 His disputes with others on the Left have often been fierce — and dramatic — though they have tended to be friendly. His great debate with E.P. Thompson, and the debate over the direction of the New Left Review, are great examples of where Anderson has welcomed debate and discussion.6 Indeed, the debate with Thompson produced many of Anderson’s best essays — particularly ‘Origins of the Present Crisis’, ‘Socialism and Pseudo-Empiricism’ and ‘Figures of Descent’.7 Anderson’s debates with others in the Left, from Thompson to Unger, from Althusser to Bobbio, has produced not only some of Anderson’s best work but also some of the best work in the Marxist tradition. In recent years Anderson has concentrated on trying to understand the modern development of the Capitalist States since the end of the Cold War, particularly the United States, the European Union, and India. He has followed this with a powerful analysis of both the Russian Revolution and the Chinese Revolution.8 Anderson might be criticised yet his impact for the Left, for Marxism, and for Socialism, has always been positive.9

Thinking about Anderson and his work will continue. Anderson has done enough, written enough, and thought enough to be remembered within the tradition of British Marxism — and beyond it. Anyone who reads his work will always be struck by its effective variety and its effective writing. The Marxism of Anderson is a Marxism which can still help us — both politically and historically.

Notes

1. P. Anderson, Considerations on Western Marxism, (1976)
2. P. Anderson, Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism, (1974)
P. Anderson, Lineages of the Absolutist State, (1974)
3. P. Anderson, Origins of the Present Crisis, (1964)
4. P. Anderson, The Antinomies of Antonio Gramsci, (1976)
5. P. Anderson, Origins of the Present Crisis, (1964)
6. P. Anderson, Socialism and Pseudo-Empiricism, (1966)
7. P. Anderson, Figures of Descent, (1987)
8. P. Anderson, Two Revolutions, (2010)
9. G. Elliott, Perry Anderson: The Merciless Laboratory of History, (1998)
P. Blackledge, Perry Anderson, Marxism and the New Left, (2004)

(2017)

Categorised in: Article

This post was written by R.G. Williams