TY - JOUR
T1 - The Althusserian moment and the concept of historical time
AU - Hindess, Barry
PY - 2007/2
Y1 - 2007/2
N2 - The period running from the late 1960s through to the 1980s is often seen as one in which theory assumed a particular importance in many areas of the humanities and social sciences. This paper focuses on the Althusserian component of this moment of theory in Britain, but it also reflects on the emergence of the form of historical understanding, and of the understanding of historical time in particular, in which such objects as 'the moment of theory', 'the spirit of the age' or 'England in 1819' can appear as objects of historical enquiry. The first section sketches some of the links between the Althusserian component of the British moment of theory and this broader issue, and I return to the latter in my final section. The intervening sections examine the Althusserian component more directly. After presenting Althusser's account of the concept of historical time I consider the ramifications of two features of his intervention in the realm of theory. One is that his distinction between Marxist science and the theoretical ideologies which threaten its existence cannot be sustained, and the other that, in spite of its manifest iconoclasm in certain respects, this intervention has a distinctly defensive character.
AB - The period running from the late 1960s through to the 1980s is often seen as one in which theory assumed a particular importance in many areas of the humanities and social sciences. This paper focuses on the Althusserian component of this moment of theory in Britain, but it also reflects on the emergence of the form of historical understanding, and of the understanding of historical time in particular, in which such objects as 'the moment of theory', 'the spirit of the age' or 'England in 1819' can appear as objects of historical enquiry. The first section sketches some of the links between the Althusserian component of the British moment of theory and this broader issue, and I return to the latter in my final section. The intervening sections examine the Althusserian component more directly. After presenting Althusser's account of the concept of historical time I consider the ramifications of two features of his intervention in the realm of theory. One is that his distinction between Marxist science and the theoretical ideologies which threaten its existence cannot be sustained, and the other that, in spite of its manifest iconoclasm in certain respects, this intervention has a distinctly defensive character.
KW - Althusser
KW - British Althusserianism
KW - Historical time
KW - Uneven development
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33845920864&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/03085140601089812
DO - 10.1080/03085140601089812
M3 - Article
SN - 0308-5147
VL - 36
SP - 1
EP - 18
JO - Economy and Society
JF - Economy and Society
IS - 1
ER -