Situated Marxism: Theoretical Practices in State Socialist Europe

Situated Marxism analyzes theoretical practices in postwar Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union on their own terms and within their institutional, social, and historical contexts. Challenging enduring narratives of dogma and decline, twelve case studies from across the region trace how Marxist thought engaged with science, ecology, global futures, and Western philosophy, and how these engagements shaped new understandings of orthodoxy. The volume reveals a rich intellectual tradition with continuing relevance to today’s debates on knowledge, crisis, and social justice.

Adela Hîncu is an intellectual historian of Marxist social theory, social sciences, and women’s political thought in East Central Europe after the Second World War.

Stefan Baghiu is a literary scholar researching Romanian literature, cultural ideologies, and global literary circulation, with a focus on socialist cultural production.

Alex Cistelecan is a philosopher researching the history of Marxism, state socialism, and critical theory.

Christian Ferencz-Flatz is a philosopher and media scholar, specializing in phenomenology, critical theory, and the study of useful media, with a focus on socialist and postsocialist Europe.