Of Concepts and Methods: 'On Postisms' and Other Essays

New Roads #9

by Ajith, K. Murali

Of Concepts and Methods is K. Murali’s (Ajith's) new collection of essays, which covers a wide range of topics that are tied together by the author’s ongoing endeavor of “deepening the critique of mechanical thinking.”

Written mostly in prison, these texts grapple with different trends of post modernism which have had a stranglehold on “new” thought for that last several decades, Chavismo and “21st Century Socialism,” and the particularities of the manifestation of fascism in India. The essays not only delve into critique and analysis of contradictions in the world today, but also investigate questions about the basis for a materialist ethics, the politics of liberation, and the essential qualities of a vanguard party in current times.

Genres: India, Theory, Nonfiction, Philosophy

277 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2020

Reviews

[Suryashekhar Biswas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ajith's essays, for the most part, are well-informed and provide a compelling analysis of the historical trajectory of Brahmanism, efforts in the revolutionary movement to theorise the history of caste-feudalism (particularly by the martyred revolutionary and scholar Saketh Rajan from Karnataka), as will as the socio-economic foundations of the various political trends dominating Indian polity - presently the RSS-BJP fascist government. Where Ajith's analysis runs into trouble is on the question of intra-caste contradictions among Dalits and intermediate castes, and seems to create a Brahmanical (or equivalent) elite out of upwardly-mobile Dalits and intermediate castes - which seems to be a generalised claim, without sufficient empirical backing.

In any case, these essays are worth reading. However, Saroj Giri's introduction to the book is unnecessary, pretentious and irrelevant - so unlike Ajith's essays.

[Pozzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essay Sammlung von Schriften die Ajith im Gefängnis geschrieben hat. Besonders die am Anfang sind philosophisch schwer zu verstehen.

Gleichzeitig mit dem Fehlen von Wissen über Indien werden einige Sachen nicht unbedingt klar aber zeigt eine gute Anwendung des MLM und auch Ansatzpunkte für die imperialistischen Zentren

[J. Moufawad-Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection by one of the important revolutionary thinkers of our time. I wrote a full review here:
https://marxandphilosophy.org.uk/revi...