Aims and Scope

Marxism & Sciences Journal

Marxism & Sciences is a biannual peer-reviewed international journal published online (open access).

The aim of the journal is to contribute to Marxist science studies including Marxist theory development and critical knowledge studies in a pluralist and internationalist sense.

The term ‘sciences’ refers to all forms of knowledge, but especially to the natural, social and human sciences, as well as to the humanities, such as history, philosophy, literature, and the arts. It points to the ideal of scientific knowledge as an emancipatory project. The social orientation of research and education is by no means a given but a field of struggle and engagement.

In this sense, the task of the journal is to provide the ground for an encompassing, universalist Marxist conceptualization of the sciences and knowledge production, social reality and nature in order to inform and motivate social political actions.

This task includes continuing the idea of radical science and attempts to develop emancipatory practices in ecological and socialist forms.

In order to pursue this, we deem it necessary to critically engage with the historical heritage of Marxism as a global perspective with local and historical differences including the legacy of the liberation movements as well as the socialist states.

The theoretical focus is on the Marxist conception of complex totality based on a materialist understanding of history and materialist dialectics. Our aim is to draw on the entirety of the intellectual domains and thus relink the sciences to emancipatory struggles. This project was initiated by Marx and Engels and taken up in many different ways later on. The journal considers the materialist conception of history as being related to both the geological and biological evolution of nature, as well as to the economical and social history of human societies. We strive for an integrative understanding of the different sciences and multiple forms of knowledge to understand these aspects in their interdependence.


Marxism & Sciences accepts studies that contribute to its aim, to further human emancipation by increasing human understanding about our species being, our place in nature, and our capacity to overcome suppression of its potential.

Submissions satisfying this condition may come from any branch of the sciences as well as from related activism. The journal especially promotes submissions which are collaborations of more than one author (or author collectives) from different and/or remote disciplines and/or regions, or cover more than one discipline by one author. Apart from research articles, Marxism & Sciences publishes research articles, essays, manifestos, communications, archival material, translations and reviews and welcomes any contribution that falls within the domain of its aims and scope.

Marxism & Sciences especially encourages submissions with following qualifications:

1. Foundational studies in the sciences and philosophy from a Marxist point of view.

2. Class struggles: Studies covering class struggles in the realm of knowledge.

3. Geographical prevalence: Studies by authors from the Global South.

4. Gender balance: Studies from feminist perspectives and by non-male authors.

5. Marxist ecology: Studies which consider humans as part of nature,
in particular studies which continue the legacy of the Radical Science and Social Ecology projects. 

 

The journal is an independent, self-organised, nonprofit endeavour supported by the SOC21 foundation (Amsterdam) without any funds. We encourage readers and authors for donations to keep it independent, support its infrastructure and the labour involved.

Publication of articles and access to accepted and published material is free. A submission accepted for publication is first published as an early access article/essay and then at the upcoming issue. Early access articles/essays are citable via a registered DOI number.

Texts should be written in a style that is accessible to a broader audience and specialist jargon should be either explained or avoided.

Each issue of the journal is dedicated to a specific topic announced publicly at the web page through the Call for Papers (CFP). Submissions outside the special focus are welcome as well.