Not for the first time, Marxism is considered to be in a state of 'crisis'. This thesis seeks to 'underlabour' on behalf of a particular version of Marxism, a version articulated with force, coherence and great originality for over two decades within human geography: what David Harvey (1985a: xii), in a paradigmatic formulation, has called 'historicalgeographical materialism'. A research programme, rather than the work of any one individual, historical-geographical materialism has in various ways and at various levels creatively extended the classical Marxist canon in a geographical direction. Yet today it is considered increasingly passe by critics on the Left as well as the Right of human geography, reflecting the wider ennui with Marxism outside the discipline. In particular, it is seen as being too 'modern' - too foundationalist, totalising and authoritative in its cognitive and normative claims - to contribute effectively to a critical human geography for the 1990s. Against this, this thesis seeks to develop an alternative reading of the core claims of this research programme by offering a novel reinterpretation of Marx's mature political-economy. Rewriting Marx's account of what Postone (1996: 1) calls "the fundamental core of capitalism", the thesis puts this reinterpretation of the explanatorydiagnostic basis of Marx's critique to work on three major themes of historicalgeographical materialism: the production of space, the production pf nature and the production of subjectivity. It does so in order to illustrate the explanatory power, thematic reach and theoretical coherence of this reinterpretation, as well as its relevance to the late capitalist world. In closing, the normative or anticipatory-utopian basis of this reinterpreted historical-geographical materialism is considered and its political implications for today thereby scrutinised.

This paper will examine the policy of multiculturalism using a Marxist perspective. This will be achieved through an analysis of the policy of multiculturalism in two aspects. The first will be concerned with examining a set of objective factors, such as the social milieu in Canada and the activities of the state when the policy of multiculturalism was institutionalised. A historical approach as well as the examination of the policy of multiculturalism as a federal parliamentary act, between the years 1972 to 1987 will be undertaken. The second aspect of social policy analysis, in this paper will be concerned with the analysis of the subjective response of an ethnic community, the Ismaili community to the policy of multiculturalism. This will be achieved through a discussion and analysis of a quantitative study conducted to assess the attitude of the Ismaili community in Toronto to different aspects of the policy. Key Marxist concepts as well as Berger and Luckmann's paradigm on social constructionism will be utilised as a framework through which the analysis of the policy of multiculturalism will be conducted.

This thesis represents the first attempt at the empirical estimation of Marxian categories in the Canadian economy for the 1961-76 period. The thesis also addresses the question of the relevance of Marxian economics for an understanding of contemporary capitalism. The first part of the thesis presents an overview of Marxian economics, more particularly a summary of Marx's Capital, Michio Morishima's Marx's Economics, and Ernest Mandel's Late Capitalism. The second part of the thesis reviews the conventional economic statistics in Canada over the 1961-76 period, elaborates the Marxian input-output frame-work as applied to the Canadian economy and estimates the basic Marxian categories such as variable capital, surplus value, and constant capital and the relationships between categories as expressed by the organic composition of capital, the rate of surplus value and the rate of profit. The final chapters of the thesis appraise the strengths and weaknesses of Capital and Late Capitalism and present an agenda for future research in empirical Marxian economics.

Marxism is often criticised for its 'outdated economics' which wrongly downplays the state's role in modern social life. This study uses readily available official statistics to test the validity of this critique. Although simple accounting principles are used, factory production data for 1923-70 is rigorously and systematically re-aggregated to approximate constant (fixed and circulating) and variable capital, manufacturers' surplus-value, capital composition, and rates of accumulation, exploitation and profit. A separate volume details all statistical operations and tabulates results. Capital accumulation is used to fix the curve of capitalist development and the interrelations between valueratios are used to explain the curve's shape. Conventional theories are also called on to explain trends in national income and factory production input/output series. Main conclusions drawn are that (1) marxism is empirically well-corroborated and (2) no consistent correlation holds between state intervention and economic growth. Marxian hypotheses concerning proletarianisation, economic concentration, class struggle, etc. are also tested systematically against New Zealand data and confirmed. In this light, and as rival theories of superior verisimilitude are absent, the criticism mentioned is rejected as unwarranted. Most NZ marxian analyses focus on superstructures, lacking objective bases for problem-formulation and solution, this study offers such a basis.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Riverside, 2008. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 253-262). Issued in print and online. Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Simon Fraser University, 1996. / Theses (School of Communication) / Simon Fraser University. Includes bibliographical references. Bibliography: p. 300-325. Available in PDF via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 414-447).

Thesis--Tübingen. / Cover title. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 79).

No description available.