Taking detours toward the Aufhebung of Religion: Roland Boer on the attachment between Marxism and political myth
This article responds to Roland Boer's Marxism and Theology (2007-13) that offers a unique contribution to understanding the current impasse in revolutionary Left politics and illustrates the importance of the numerous references to theology in Marxist literature. In this response, I focus on B...
| Published in: | Critical research on religion |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage
[2016]
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| In: |
Critical research on religion
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Boer, Roland 1961-
/ Boer, Roland 1961-, On Marxism and theology
/ Religion
/ End
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| IxTheo Classification: | AA Study of religion AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism FA Theology |
| Further subjects: | B
Theology
B political myth B criticism of heaven and earth B Roland Boer B Marxism |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Summary: | This article responds to Roland Boer's Marxism and Theology (2007-13) that offers a unique contribution to understanding the current impasse in revolutionary Left politics and illustrates the importance of the numerous references to theology in Marxist literature. In this response, I focus on Boer's argument of Marxism and Judaeo-Christian theology occupying a similar contested space with respect to their uses of "political myth." I argue that the key to Boer's critical project is a two-pronged approach: "materializing" theology and "theologizing" historical materialism. For this critical endeavor to make inroads, it relies not just on the ambivalence of political myth, but also that myths are essential to Marxist theories of emancipation, as well as to Marx's notion of "the Aufhebung of Religion." I focus on two figures: Ernst Bloch as a Marxist who emphasizes myth's emancipatory qualities; and Theodor Adorno as wary of myth while adhering to the theological motif of the bilderverbot. From this analysis, we can begin to see how much Boer's project depends on a wager on political myth itself. |
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| ISSN: | 2050-3040 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Critical research on religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/2050303216647106 |