/es, there is a certain re element is the rediscovery of the Frankfurt School. There is an evaluation by a new generation of intellectuals from Europe, the United States, and Latin America, of the critique which made it the western paradigm of modernity. This implies a deepening and radicalisation of Marxism, away from negativ- | re-invigorates the Marxist vision which characterises the new stage ity, as opposed to its weakening and reconciliation with bourgeois thought. Marxism needs to confront current problems, to radicalise its critique of modernity, of the paradigms of western, industrial, modern, bourgeois, civilisation.
The ecological question is another factor which radically alters perspectives and also This is a process which has been developing for a long time, with the so-called third industrial revolution . of the world. That is extremely important; we are questioning many ideas, like the development of productive forces being positive, or the domination of humans over nature forming part of our emancipation from work. These ideas were inherited from the Enlightenment and the ideology of progress amongst Marxists, and are being questioned today. more anchronistic, and its political consequences are very dangerous.
There still exists a large workThis has very important political consequences. The current ecological crisis is a direct threat to the survival of every lifeform on the planet, not only to our little biped mammal homo sapiens. This is a new problem, which Marx and Engels were unaware of. Because of this, we need to review, for example, the concepts of productive force, progress, The second aspect is that there is a large underclass of people becoming marginalised by the system. In Europe, as in the First World as a whole, there is now a large number of people living on the margins of society. The uprising in Los Angeles is an example of this.
But the problem is much greater in Latin America and the Third World as a whole.
Today it is clear that alongside the growth of the working class there is also a growing number of poor people, people permatechnology, as a neutral element, and the idea of domination over nature.
A re-evaluation is needed, but one which leads to a radicalising of our critique of modern industrial civilisation and a strengthening of opposition to it. There is sense of urgency in this: our civilisation is leading us to a mass suicide. nently or temporarily excluded from production, consumption and society as well.
There are people who make a living from small businesses, as itinerant traders, as self employed, or from prostitution, crime, and the drugs trade; everything is getting worse.
This is a big challenge not only. to the theory but also to the practice of liberation. The problem is to get unity between these groups of people, which I call the 'pooretariat', with the I organised working class.