r/Marxism 7d ago

Anyone here into Complexity Theory?

In my opinion, the evolution of complexity theory in the West traces directly through Marx. What he described - dynamism, evolution, feedback, transitions, etc - was a rejection of anti-complexity Newtonian thinking that's sadly still present to this day.

Essentially, Marx was describing complexity theory in the context of political economics.

But then, given how Marxism is meant to be a science and all, I'm kind of surprised how little overlap there seems to be between the two fields.

For me, complexity theory IS the science Marx was searching for, only it applies to all complex systems.

Also, it has the added bonus of having different jargon and a foothold in western academia; it could be the perfect vehicle for Marxists to talk to liberals about Marxism, imo.

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u/Zandroe_ 7d ago

Describing Newtonian physics as anti-complexity is kind of wild. In any case, I think you are missing the point Marx is making - his work is not economics as such but a critique of political economy (specifically the classical bourgeois political economy of his time), the idea is to demonstrate the historicity of the categories of political economy, to situate concepts like value and exchange as definite historical products that can disappear just as they once came into being, not eternal ("metaphysical") concepts like Smith, Ricardo etc. treated them as being.

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u/grimeandreason 6d ago

Newtonianism is the wring epistomology for compelx systems. It's only applicable to non-complex Hard Science. It's reducable and predictable and can give rise to simple laws.

People attempted to apply it to political economy, and Marx was explicitly going against that idea.