Marxism and Psychology: An Outdated Interest or a Promising Research Field?

Abstract

In this article, 'Marxist psychology' is introduced within a historical and theoretical context. 'Which Marxism?' and 'which psychology?' were the initial questions for discussion which brought responses related to historical personalities, movements, schools of thoughts, countries and subfields. Alienation, ideology and methodology were considered to be major themes for a Marxist psychology. The relationship between Marxism in power (e.g. Marxism(s) in former Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China) and psychology was considered as a separate category to compare and contrast it with Marxist criticisms aimed at capitalism in capitalist countries. After briefly discussing the links between Marxism and critical psychology, the article proceeds to subfields of psychology to discuss the actual and potential links.

Mindfulness research and applications in the context of neoliberalism: A narrative and critical review

“…Given the extent to which Mindfulness interventions and private practices have deviated from Buddhist ethics (e.g., skillful behaviors and speech) reducing Mindfulness to a mere attentional training technique (Purser & Milillo, 2015), we advocate for the reintegration of ethics at the core of Mindfulness social psychology research. This necessitates a careful examination of the way “psychology supports the status quo by socializing its citizens to a capitalist ideology” (Gezgin, 2018, p. 4) and inadvertently contributes to the neglect of prevalent social and health inequalities, which are accentuated under neoliberal programs. Many previously cited scholars critique a science of Mindfulness that either complacently aligns with or fuels the Self‐help industry and the self‐exploitation of individuals (see Table 1 for a summary).…”

Intersectionality: A dialogue with Marxism–Leninism.

“…Identifying an appropriate and adequate materialist path for psychology, as opposed to a questionable idealist path (e.g., Limitovskii, 2022), has been and continues to remain a challenging aspiration (e.g., Au, 2007; Briffualt, 1921; Caudwell, 1938; Coe, 1980; Elhammoumi, 2012; Gezgin, 2018; Kvale, 1975; Leontyev, 1913/1981; Luria, 1976; Makarenko, 1953, 1955; Petrovsky, 1985; Sève, 1978; Vygotsky, 1978; Wells, 1954, 1956; Wendeng & Haosheng, 2014; Wortis, 1950; Yanitsky, 2021). This list of Marxist–Leninist psychology authors is meant to underscore that the dialectical and historical materialist theoretical psychology evolution has also been part and parcel to incredible revolutionary successes and disappointing failures (Levin & Silbar, 2019; Weil, 1996).…”