Orthodox Marxism

Orthodox Marxism is the body of Marxist thought that emerged following the death of Karl Marx which became the official philosophy of the socialist movement as represented in the Second International until the First World War. Orthodox Marxism aims to simplify, codify and systematize Marxist methodology and theory, ironing out the perceived ambiguities and contradictions of Classical Marxism.

The "orthodoxy" in orthodox Marxism specifically refers to the methodology of historical materialism and dialectical materialism employed and not to any of the normative aspects inherent to classical Marxism. "Orthodox" does not imply adherence to the results of Marx's own investigations.

The fundamental characteristics of orthodox Marxism include the understanding that material development (advances in technology in the productive forces) is the primary agent of change in the structure of society and human social relations, and that social systems and their relations (e.g.: feudalism, capitalism, etc.) become increasingly contradictory and inefficient as the productive forces advance, resulting in some form of social revolution arising in response to these mounting contradictions. This revolutionary change serves as the vehicle for fundamental society-wide changes and ultimately leads to the emergence of new economic systems.

The emergence of orthodox Marxism can be associated with the late works of Friedrich Engels, such as Dialectics of Nature and Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, which were efforts to popularise Marx's work, make it more systematic, and apply it to the fundamental questions of philosophy.Daniel De Leon, one of the early American socialist leaders, contributed much during the last years of the 19th century and early 20th century. Orthodox Marxism was further developed during the Second International by thinkers such as George Plekhanov and Karl Kautsky. Kautsky, and to a lesser extent, Plekhanov, were in turn major influences on Vladimir Lenin, whose version of Marxism was known as Leninism by its contemporaries. The official ideology of the Third International was based in orthodox Marxism combined with Leninist views on revolutionary organization. The terms dialectical materialism and historical materialism are associated with this phase of orthodox Marxism. Rosa Luxemburg, Hal Draper and Rudolf Hilferding are prominent thinkers in the orthodox Marxist tradition.

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