Marx's Dialectic Method

A methodological framework for studying policy-oriented teacher inquiry in qualitative research contexts

“…According to Kain (1980), Marx's dialectic method begins with abstract categories and then moves toward concrete categories. Kain (1982) explained that not only the praxis of labor or industry transforms the object, but consciousness is also a form of praxis that dialectically transforms and constitutes the object.…”

“…The examination of relationships enables researchers to understand the concrete, such as prices, profit, and rate of profit (accountability movement, inequity, or teachers' lack of pedagogical independence). In his later work, including The German Ideology (Marx, Engels, Arthur, & Marx, 1970), Marx slightly redefined his method and described three parallel processes: historical generation of the actual concrete, historical rise and development of categories that represent the actual concrete, and methodological ordering, prioritizing, and establishing interconnections of categories (see Kain, 1980). Kain (1980) proposed that Marx's understandings of the actual concrete are interpretations situated within particular paradigms.…”

“…In his later work, including The German Ideology (Marx, Engels, Arthur, & Marx, 1970), Marx slightly redefined his method and described three parallel processes: historical generation of the actual concrete, historical rise and development of categories that represent the actual concrete, and methodological ordering, prioritizing, and establishing interconnections of categories (see Kain, 1980). Kain (1980) proposed that Marx's understandings of the actual concrete are interpretations situated within particular paradigms. By considering the earlier development of the actual concrete, one can understand one's own ideas and science.…”

“…The responsiveness and interaction embedded in policy work prompted me to propose an adaptation of Marx's dialectical method (Engels & Marx, 1967;Kain, 1980). In the context of this paper, dialectics refers to a systematic method of 768 M. Koro-Ljungberg argument that attempts to resolve contradictions in opposing views or ideas by understanding relations.…”

“…These classifications and reconstructions of social worlds enable transformation and the translation of theory into social and political action (see, e.g. Kain, 1980;Ollman, 2006). Dialectic method allows researchers to look back from the present -not to study historical developments but the development of categories and relationships.…”