Contradictions: Only in Capitalism?

Abstract

The distinguished Marxist historian, G.E.M. de Ste. Croix, in his magisterial study of class struggle in the ancient Greek world, felt obliged to explain and defend his conception of 'class struggle' by emphatically dissociating it from 'contradiction'. I have to admit to a certain sympathy with Ste. Croix's approach to contradiction. In fact, it is tempting to go even further. The use of the concept by Marxists (with some notable exceptions, of course) has tended to oscillate between the absurd and the trivial, between pretentious and empty theoretical verbiage and ritual cliche, vague enough to cover almost anything we Marxists happen not to like. That would be reason enough to be nervous about using it, not only in relation to class struggle but altogether, and I have more than once been accused of ignoring 'contradiction' or at least of avoiding the word when clearly alluding to something that other Marxists would call a contradiction. Still, I have used the word, probably far too often, and my usage has been as vacuous as anyone else's. So, when asked to provide this theoretical overview, I agreed with some hesitation. And yet, there is something in Ste. Croix's observations that demands closer scrutiny, which may help to salvage the concept of contradiction by identifying a specific meaning with a real explanatory value, capable of shedding light on our contemporary realities. The concept, as a key to social explanation, may in fact have more meaning today that at any other time in history.