I impatient to see the next instance of Marx, perhaps it will lead to a breakthrough. But I’ll add this section to reflect on the themes uncovered so far and then revisit one of the questions I posed initially.
Stereotypical anti-Marxist views
One theme is my frustration with Moreno’s stereotypical anti-Marxist views. On the positive side, Moreno’s value lies in integrating Marxism into something else, his sociometry. .
Science and religion
Interestingly, Moreno’s recovery of religion in a secular way aligns him more as a scientist—parallel to Marx the scientist. The term materialism doesn’t capture this shared spirit. It’s about the experimental method, open-ended philosophy, and a willingness to explore, review, and invent.
The word for their shared endeavour is praxis – conscious intentional practice.
The small group and large categories like class.
My reflection here is that they are different. The theories behind them are about different processes and have a different purpose. What is intriguing is that Moreno references Marx, and does want to be in the political, not just the psychological domain.
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My quest
In the Introduction I said:
“Might the distinction between the two dissolve entirely? Marx isn’t opposed to psychology, and Moreno certainly advocates for social revolution.”
The distinction has become more pronounced. Marx attends to one category and Moreno to another. The idea that the two shall meet is further from my mind now than it was when I began this exploration. The question is, is the psychological just individual and personal, irrelevant to the political? I’ve landed on a book about Marxism and feminism, that got me thinking: Beyond Female Masochism by Frigga Hauge. (1992) She emphasises the personal experience of women in the quest for social change for women:
In this spirit I have taken up a whole set of Marxist ideas: the notion of human beings as producers of their own circumstances, histories and personalities; the conceptualization of things as caught up in a process full of contradictions and a methodology which, recognizing this complexity, situates human actions in the context of both production and gender relations; the political and praxis-orientated approach which consists of taking as a starting point people’s actual experience; and concrete theories of work, ideology, learning and social action.
(Haug, 1992, x.)
Note the last line about experience, we may have to return to that thinking.
Maybe while Marx would agree about experience being the starting point, understanding the psychological depth is outside of his realm. Personal therapy, even when focused on new actions, does not relate to the means, the forces or the mode of production. Those three Marxist categories are not what people who are interested in their personal salvation, focus on.
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This post is part of a series.
See Intro Marx and Moreno Monograph
Reference
Haug, V. (1992). Beyond Female Masochism, Verso Books
https://www.scribd.com/document/444543904/Frigga-Haug-Beyond-Female-Masochism-Memory-Work-and-Politics-1992-Verso-pdf Accessed, 05 January 2025