Marxism and Islamism : intellectual conformity in Aron’s time and our own

Document Type

Journal article

Source Publication

Journal of Classical Sociology

Publication Date

5-2011

Volume

11

Issue

2

First Page

173

Last Page

190

Publisher

Sage Publications Ltd.

Keywords

Aron, Bolshevism, conundrum of specificity, fear, Islamophobia, lawfare

Abstract

We celebrate great writers not only by reconstructing their ideas but also by thinking in their spirit. Many aspects of Raymond Aron’s legacy could, today, be exploited by writers of an Aronian turn of mind. They might draw on his philosophy of history; his defense of the specificity of politics; his acute awareness of the burdens of responsibility imposed on great powers. In this article, I flag a different topic: Aron’s concern with the impact of regimes and local cultures on political discussion. Of special interest to him were state-sponsored ideology and self-induced groupthink (the ‘opium of the intellectuals’). After briefly describing Aron’s views of both of these phenomena within the context of official and unofficial Marxism, I examine two modalities of communicative inhibition that have emerged since his death. Both turn on the emergence of Islamism as a major modern political ideology; both entail impediments to free speech: the vilification of political disagreement as ‘phobic’ and, relatedly, the political use of law (‘lawfare’) to halt debate on matters sensitive to Islamists.

DOI

10.1177/1468795X10396272

Print ISSN

1468795X

E-ISSN

17412897

Publisher Statement

Copyright © SAGE Publications

Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Baehr, P. (2011). Marxism and Islamism: Intellectual conformity in Aron’s time and our own. Journal of Classical Sociology, 11(2), 173-190. doi: 10.1177/1468795X10396272

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