Thread by @TaylorPetrey

Given the recent silly controversies about the supposed #Marxism of #BLM, I wanted to write a very brief essay on how I understand it. Many people seem to have an extremely simplistic view of what Marxism means through the lens of the Cold War or right-wing propaganda, but 1/

Marxist analysis or politics does not necessarily mean that you think the government should own all the means of production (though it certainly might for some). Rather, it is a theory about the roots of social problems and the roots of successful social change. Therefore, 2/

when it comes to thinking about a #BLM as a movement to address a super complicated problem like police brutality and criminal justice reform, it just so happens that Marx and the legacy of Marx have something important to say, which 3/

is why "Marxism" has influenced everything from the Labor movement (Happy Labor Day!), feminism, and of course Civil Rights. So, how then does Marxism manifest in the contemporary #BLM movement? No doubt there will be different ways of answering this, but I see four ways 4/

First, #BLM is a mass movement representing a class of people, not the interests of one particular leader or organization. This can be a weakness because it is hard to pin down, but that is also the source of its strength. We have already seen assassinations of #BLM leaders, 5/

and by not building a movement around a particular charismatic leader, an assassination or failure of one individual cannot discredit the movement. So, the Marxism in this "leaderful" movement is about keeping the movement democratic and class based. Second, 6/

the "Marxism" of #BLM is about an analysis of a structural problem that is on-going, and cannot be solved by a single piece of legislation or symbolic action. This is different from other political movements that fizzle when "success" is achieved in a court case or new law, but7/

racism in policing and the criminal justice system is a problem that is bigger than just changing attitudes or providing body cameras. The Marxist analysis sees racism as a reflection of broader social issues and perhaps a permanent struggle. Third 8/

as an ongoing, leaderless movement, the Marxism of #BLM also means that there are larger issues that affect the analysis of policing and criminal justice reform. Here, there is less agreement about what needs to be done, with some quite radical and some quite modest solutions. 9/

For instance, it means that things like housing policy, education policy, public health policy, environmental policy, and finance are all intertwined with policing and criminal justice. Marxist analysis points to broader structural issues like these as critical for #BLM's 10/

larger goals, even though there is still an early conversation and mobilization about those. So, while there is room for disagreement and different sorts of analysis, the common misunderstanding of what #Marxism is does not really constistute a serious criticism of #BLM. 11/11