The Possibility of Another World

Abstract

A central claim of How is Critical Economic Theory Possible is that Marxian critical theory as a theoretical and political project can only be meaningful if one can coherently describe, at least in general outlines, the alternative social arrangements that are supposed to supplant the currently existing ones. The argument presupposes a general principle: call for the radical transformation of existing social arrangements can only be justified, if one can describe, in general outlines, the suggested alternative, and show that it is capable of overcoming the pathologies of existing society without producing new and worse ones. If one wants to change the whole world, one must show that another world is possible. In this paper I examine the question of whether this principle is true. I will argue that it does not apply universally. There are cases when calls for radical social transformation can be justified even if one cannot produce a viable description of alternative social arrangements. Moreover, in some cases this can be justified even if one knows that another world is not possible.