Relationship To Heideggerian and Hegelian Marxism
Axelos' variant of Open Marxism makes explicit connections to the existentialist critique of systems theory. He uses Martin Heidegger's phenomenology to reveal an open system of relations (loosely rule-governed "play") rather than a closed and deterministic totality that could be known and predicted by Marxist theory. For example, Axelos critiques theories of globalization that assume a closed world picture, as opposed to an open-ended process of world-forming (mondialisation) in which the neoliberal project to 'restructure' a crisis-ridden capitalism lacks a firm structural foundation. Axelos tries to maintain the unity of knowledge, even if he sees the world as multidimensional and unrepresentable (see world disclosure for the phenomenological concept of world). This was a departure from the Heideggerian Marxism of the early Herbert Marcuse, which was, like others in the Frankfurt School, influenced by Hegelianism.
While the majority of Open Marxists have rejected Hegelian Marxist approaches, there is also a tendency to interpret the work of Antonio Gramsci as non-Hegelian, or a departure from orthodox theory and practice. Thus, Open Marxism has served as the basis for neo-Gramscian research in international relations by Stephen Gill and Robert W. Cox, although some question the openness of metaphors such as "war of position" and "historic bloc" for analysis of micro-interactions and resistance within contemporary neoliberalism.
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