《时间、劳动与社会支配》中译本出版| 悼念马克思主义社会理论家Postone
芝加哥大学历史学系教授Moishe Postone(普殊同,1942-2018)于1993年出版的马克思主义社会理论专著,Time, Labor, and Social Domination: A Reinterpretation of Marx’s Critical Theory,终于今年6月出了中译本《时间、劳动与社会统治》(北京大学出版社)。
普殊同的这本作品,是美国社会学会理论分会理论奖(The Theory Section's Theory Prize)自1980年创办以来,唯一一本授予马克思主义研究的专著(完整获奖记录见页底)。
这是普殊同一生的唯一一本专著。普殊同一生只出版过这一本书。他在最后一次更新简历(2015年)时写下两篇正在写作的专著:
2016 Capital. A Reading, The University of Chicago Press (in preparation)
2017 Critical Social Theory and Contemporary Historical Transformations, (in preparation)
遗憾的是,这两本专著都还没有如期于2016年、2017年出版,普殊同已于2018年去世。
Barbara Brick, Moishe Postone, Harold Marcuse, 1979, after Herbert Marcuse’s death
一生仅凭出版一本专著并以此成名于世,不多。普殊同的这本书已经翻译成西班牙语、法语、日语、德语、葡萄牙语和罗马尼亚语。
这本书究竟讲的是什么?
通过重新诠释马克思的《政治经济学批判大纲》(或<1857-1858年经济学手稿>),普殊同将既往的马克思主义研究称之为“传统的马克思主义”,批评其传统都是以劳动(labor)为“超历史”的概念,导致对资本主义的理解停留在自由市场资本主义阶段,对后资本主义社会的想象停留在重建分配模式而已,用公式表示:
生产力 vs. 生产关系 = 工业生产 vs.(私有财产+市场)= 生产 vs. 分配
因此,阶级对立= 被剥削者vs.剥削者=普遍利益vs.特殊利益,对资本主义的批判就变成了要实现普遍利益。
因此,普殊同指出,这种传统的马克思主义无法解释二战后兴起的国家干预主义,并且也无法解释废除了私产财产和市场的苏联(actually existing socialism)为何无法成为人类解放的方案。
同时,普殊同站在新自由主义兴起、认同政治兴起的门槛上(20世纪80年代末90年代初),也看到一直困扰马克思主义,以致西方马克思义发展至所谓的“后马克思主义”的难题:非阶段因素的兴起(如生态)、科技进步,因而传统马克思主义胜于解释危机与资本家之间竞争,弱于解释新社会运动。
普殊同基于自己的法兰克福学派传统——
Dr. Phil. summa cum laude (political science/sociology), J.W. Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt, West
Germany, 1983.
Dissertation: "The Present as Necessity: Toward a Reinterpretation of the Marxian Critique of Labor and Time"
Readers:Prof. Iring Fetscher; Prof. Heinz Steinert; Prof. Albrecht Wellmer
不同意批判理论的悲观取向,并从中文语境中不作为重点的波洛克和霍克海默作为理论资源。
普殊同从《大纲》重新评估《资本论》,指出自己的区分性立场:如果说
(1)传统马克思主义:市场中心+超历史的劳动;
(2)卢卡奇-法兰克福学派:国家中心+超历史的劳动;
(3)Postone:历史的劳动,要研究labor in capitalism(而非transhistorical labor)
简单地讲,批判资本主义是批判“支配的抽象形式” ,也是批判工作/人的破碎化或异化。
从《大纲》中的物质财富(material wealth)和价值(value)区分,进入《资本论》的具体劳动和抽象劳动,进而指出了资本主义社会实在总是存在抽象与切实(abstract and concrete)两个层次,而要命的是资本主义抽象劳动会转化为抽象时间,从而形成了“跑步机效应”(treadmill effect),一种特殊的“动态的停滞”——社会在向前迈进,但似乎又一成不变:
‘increased productivity results neither in a corresponding increase in social wealth nor in a corresponding decrease in labour time, but in the constitution of a new base level of productivity’ (p.347).
在普殊同去世之后,他的多年基友、芝加哥大学历史系教授William H. Sewell在其合办的刊物Critical Historical Studies上撰写了悼念文章,其中回顾了普殊同的成长经历与职业生涯,不乏对芝加哥大学学术环境的吐糟。
Postone父母都是从东欧到北美的犹太人,并且他的父亲是拉比,因而Postone一生都致力于反对反犹思想,并且身上都受到犹太传统的影响。在大学本科期间,Postone学的是生物化学(1963),辅修历史。他是受到了全球史开创者William McNeil的感召,转而学习欧洲现代思想史。到了70年代,Postone到法兰克福学派,研读马克思,写下了传世之作的博士论文。
按理来说,Postone应是一帆风顺,从讲师到教授,但是用Sewell的话来说,却是:Moishe’s academic career was unorthodox.
Postone毕业后在芝加哥的一个小型智库,the Center for Psychosocial Studies工作。有幸的是,他与一群思想青年——后来当了LSE校长的Craig Calhoun、批判理论的美国旗手Nancy Fraser交游,从而保持了自己的学术活力。然而,他也在45岁的“高龄”,再读了了博士后,在芝加哥大学 Social Sciences Collegiate Division仅谋得了instructor的职位,给本科生开设一门《自我、文化与社会》课程。直到1990年,已经48岁的Postone才在芝加哥大学社会学系得到了一个untenured副教授。
作为好基友,即使与社会学界交往甚密,Sewell也直接对芝大社会学系表达不满:
The sociology appointment was never a comfortable fit: most of the department had little use for social theory and less for Marxism.
甚至直到1995年,芝大社会学系还一直拒绝给Postone以tenure。Sewell进一步讽刺芝大社会学系,说道:1995年还不给他终身教职是多么foolish,因为次年(1996年),美国社会学会就把理论分会的理论奖颁给他。
其实不光是Sewell一人不满。在当时,甚至人文社科的一些学者发起了抗议运动。有幸的是,最后是芝加哥大学历史学系给了Postone终身教职。
即便教职生涯不顺,但Postone一直是个活跃的组织者。芝加哥大学的多个理论组织都有他的身影: Committee on Critical Practice (CCP) , the Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory (commonly known as 3CT), the Social Theory Group,以及和William Sewell合伙办了期刊Critical Historical Studies。而著名的a biweekly interdisciplinary social theory workshop,从1992年直至Postone去世,持续了整整26年。
作为多年挚友,Sewell不无怜惜地体味Postone的生活:Moishe did most of his writing while the rest of us slept, in the wee hours of the morning—he managed to get by on very few hours of sleep. He often told me that it was the total quiet of the hours after midnight that enabled him to attain the concentration required to think through the most difficult intellectual problems.
(Sociological理论大缸第308期)
ASA
The Theory Section's Theory Prize
The Theory Prize was first awarded in 1980.
2018: Gabriel Abend, The Moral Background: An Inquiry into the History of Business Ethics. Princeton University Press. 2014.
2018: Josh Pacewicz, Partisans and Partners: The Politics of the Post-Keynesian Society. University of Chicago Press. 2016.
2017: Gabriel Abend, New York University
2016: Mustafa Emirbayer and Matthew Desmond, The Racial Order. University of Chicago Press. 2015.
2015: Erin Metz McDonnell, “Budgetary Units: A Weberian Approach to Consumption,” American Journal of Sociology 119(2):307-350. 2013.
2014: Christian Borch, Copenhagen Business School, The Politics of Crowds: An Alternative History of Sociology. Cambridge University Press. 2012.
2013: Dan Silver, University of Toronto, "The Moodiness of Action," Sociological Theory 29(3):199-222. 2011.
2012: John Levi Martin, University of Chicago, The Explanation of Social Action. Oxford University Press. 2011.
2011: Stephen Vaisey, "Motivation and Justification: A Dual-Process Model of Culture in Action," American Journal of Sociology 114(6):1675-1715. 2009.
2010: John Levi Martin, University of Chicago, Social Structures. Princeton University Press. 2009.
2009: Andreas Wimmer, University of California, Los Angeles
2008: James M. Jasper, Getting Your Way: Strategic Dilemmas in the Real World. University of Chicago Press. 2006.
2008: William H. Sewell, Jr., Logics of History: Social Theory and Social Transformation. University of Chicago Press. 2005.
2007: Jeffrey Alexander, "Cultural Pragmatics: Social Performance between Ritual and Strategy," Sociological Theory 22(4):527-573. 2004.
2006: Karin Knorr Cetina and Urs Bruegger, "Global Microstructures: The Virtual Societies of Financial Markets," American Journal of Sociology 107(4):905-950. 2002.
2005: Noah Mark, Stanford University, "Culture and Competition: Homophily and Distancing Explanations for Cultural Niches," American Sociological Review 68(3):319-345. 2003.
2004: Andrew Abbott, University of Chicago, Chaos of the Disciplines. University of Chicago Press. 2001.
2003: Edward J. Lawler, Cornell University, “An Affect Theory of Social Exchange,” American Journal of Sociology 107(2):321-352. 2001.
2002: R.S. Perinbanayagam, Hunter College of the City University of New York, The Presence of Self. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2000.
2001: Paul DiMaggio, Princeton University, “Culture and Cognition,” Annual Review of Sociology 23:263-287. 1997.
2000: Carol A. Heimner and Lisa R. Staffen, Northwestern University, For the Sake of the Children: The Social Organization and Responsibility in the Hospital and the Home. University of Chicago Press. 1998.
1999: Noah Mark, Stanford University, “Beyond Individual Differences: Social Differentiation from First Principles,” American Sociological Review 63(3):309-330. 1998.
1998: Linda D. Molm, University of Arizona, Coercive Power in Social Exchange. Cambridge University Press. 1997.
1997: William H. Sewell, Jr., University of Chicago, “Historical Events as Transformations of Structures: Inventing Revolution at the Bastille,” Theory and Society 25(6):841-881. 1996.
1996: Moishe Postone, University of Chicago, Time, Labor, and Social Domination: A Reinterpretation of Marx’s Critical Theory. Cambridge University Press. 1993.
1995: Carol A. Heimer, Northwestern University, “Doing Your Job and Helping Your Friends: Universalistic Norms about Obligations to Particular Others in Networks,” Pp. 143-164 in Networks and Organization: Structure, Form and Action. Harvard Business School Press. 1995.
1994: Donald Black, University of Virginia, The Social Structure of Right and Wrong. Academic Press. 1993.
1993: Michael W. Macy, Brandeis University, “Social Learning and the Structure of Collective Action.” Pp. 1-36 in Advances in Group Processes, Vol 10. JAI Press. 1993.
1991: Alan Wolfe, “Mind, Self, Society, and Computer: Artificial Intelligence and the Sociology of Mind,” American Journal of Sociology 96(5):1073-1096. 1991.
1990: Stephen Kalberg, “Rationalization of Action in Max Weber's Sociology of Religion,” Sociological Theory8(1):58-84. 1990.
1989: Daniel Chambliss, Hamilton College, “The Mundanity of Excellence: An Ethnographic Report on Stratification and Olympic Swimmers,” Sociological Theory 7(1):70-86. 1989.
1987: Norbert Wiley, University of Illinois, “Early American Sociology and the Polish Peasant,” Sociological Theory4(1):21-40. 1986.
1986: Ann Shola Orloff Theda Skocpol, “Why Not Equal Protection? Explaining the Politics of Public School Spending in Britain, 1900-1911, and the United States, 1880s-1920,” American Sociological Review 49(6):726-50. 1986.
1985: Mark Granovetter, “Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness,” American Journal of Sociology 91(3):418-510. 1985.
1984: Donald Carveth, “Psychoanalysis and Social Theory: The Hobbesian Problem Revisited,” Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Thought 7(1):43-98. 1984.
1982: Randall Collins, “On the Microfoundations of Macrosociology,” American Journal of Sociology 86(5):984-1014. 1981.
1980: David Rubinstein, “The Concepts of Action in the Social Sciences,” Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior7(2):209-236. 1977.