For much of the twentieth century, the ideas of Karl Marx provided the backbone for social justice around the world. But today the legacy of Marxism is contested, with some seeing it as Eurocentric and irrelevant to the wider global struggle.

In Global Marxism, Simin Fadaee argues that Marxism remains a living tradition and the cornerstone of revolutionary theory and practice in the Global South. She explores the lives, ideas and legacies of a group of revolutionaries who played an exceptional role in contributing to counter-hegemonic change. Figures such as Ho Chi Minh, Kwame Nkrumah, Ali Shariati and Subcomandante Marcos did not simply accept the version of Marxism that was given to them - they adapted it to local conditions and contexts. In doing this they demonstrated that Marxism is not a rigid set of propositions but an evolving force whose transformative potential remains enormous.

This global Marxism has much to teach us in the never-ending task of grasping the changing historical conditions of capitalism and the complex world in which we live.

Reviews

'Whatever its flaws, Marxism is not and never was Eurocentric. That is Simin Fadaee's refreshing and bold thesis. She advances it first by showing how Marx himself was far from Eurocentric and second by showing how a Marxist tradition was born from wrestling with the anomalies and contradictions found in Marx's writings. This tradition spread across the globe through such extraordinary figures as Fanon, Guevara, Shariati, Ho Chi Minh and Mao. Global Marxism is a long overdue and magisterial correction to the provinciality of much decolonisation theory.'
Michael Burawoy, author of Public Sociology: Between Utopia and Anti-utopia

'Global Marxism is an excellent intellectual testament to Marxism as a theory that has travelled, transversed and been translated into a potent weapon of revolutionary force for liberation across the modern world. An elegant and fantastic academic gift indeed.'
Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, author of Beyond the Coloniality of Internationalism

'In moments of intensification of the capitalist crisis, the search for clues and answers to the question of revolution also deepens. This book is a reminder of the legacy of the non-Eurocentric revolutionary leadership that can be traced from Jawaharlal Nehru to the Zapatistas, passing through Ho Chi Min and Amilcar Cabral, with which we must critically engage to reinvent the radical subject today.'
Ana Cecilia Dinerstein, co-author of A World beyond Work

Introduction: rethinking Marxism's revolutionary potential
1 Jawaharlal Nehru: a living force in the tremulous world
2 Ho Chi Minh: always truly uncle
3 Mao Zedong: a virtual god
4 Kwame Nkrumah: a political prophet ahead of his time
5 Amilcar Cabral: a charismatic visionary leader
6 Frantz Fanon: the Marx of the Third World
7 Ernesto Che Guevara: the model of a revolutionary man
8 Ali Shariati: an international fighter
9 Subcomandante Marcos: a guerrilla with a difference
Conclusion: whatever happened to global Marxism?
Index

Author

Simin Fadaee is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Manchester and President of the International Sociological Association Research Committee on Social Classes and Social Movements. She is the author or editor of several books, including Marxism, Religion and Emancipatory Politics (2022) and Understanding Southern Social Movements (2016).