Dictionary

cultural Marxism en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Coined by Trent Schroyer's The Critique of Domination: The Origins and Development of Critical Theory (1973). In the more recent (US) politics sense mirroring the older cultural Bolshevism used in Nazi Germany.

Meanings

1. (Marxism, uncountable) Marxist analysis applied to culture and cultural phenomena.
   • A student of youth subcultures, Hall crossbred the increasingly influential cultural Marxism, exemplified by E. P. Thompson, with the French structuralism of the anthropologist Claude LéviStrauss, which burst onto the intellectual scene in the 1960s and soon enjoyed international prestige. 2014, Lynn Hunt, Writing History in the Global Era, →ISBN:
   • Nothing illustrates Orwell's ambivalence towards cultural Marxism more powerfully than his writings on literature. 2009, Philip Bounds, Orwell and Marxism: The Political and Cultural Thinking of George Orwell, →ISBN:
   • These people have certainly done their homework when it comes to cultural Marxism—how the left has learned to dominate culture and how the right now needs to copy their techniques. If I’d had to drink a shot every time some speaker cited Herbert Marcuse or Antonio Gramsci, I’d be dead of alcohol poisoning. 2021 November 18, David Brooks, “The Terrifying Future of the American Right”, in The Atlantic:
   • Both cultural Marxism and symbolic anthropology can, in retrospect, be seen to be part of a general movement towards the 'linguistic turn' within the humanities, with its focus upon the semiotic dimensions of human culture (the subject of the next chapter). 2007, Anna Green, Cultural History, →ISBN, page 45:
2. (Marxism, uncountable) A form of Marxism perceived as subsumed by capitalism and thus as unauthentic by its critics (usually other Marxists).
3. (qualifier:chiefly right-wing US politics, uncountable) Umbrella term for the idea, in right-wing conspiracy theories, of a Marxism that controls modern progressive politics, mass media, and academia, typically with the purported goal of deconstructing Western civilization.
   • A Conservative MP has claimed the UK’s low birthrate is the most pressing policy issue of the generation and is caused in part by “cultural Marxism” stripping young people of any hope, at the start of a populist-tinged conference in London. 2023 May 15, Peter Walker, Pippa Crerar, quoting Miriam Cates, “Low birthrate is UK’s top priority, Tory MP tells rightwing conference”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • She said: “We are engaging in many battles right now. As Conservatives we are engaged in a battle against cultural Marxism, where banning things is becoming de rigueur, where freedom of speech is becoming a taboo, where our universities – quintessential institutions of liberalism – are being shrouded in censorship and a culture of no-platforming.” 2019 March 27, Benjamin Kentish, quoting Suella Braverman, “Conservative MP condemned for repeating far-right, antisemitic conspiracy theory about ‘cultural Marxism’”, in The Independent:

Coordinates

woke · DEI · political correctness · wokeism · race communism · woke mind virus

Relateds

cultural Marxist · Marxist cultural analysis · Judeo-Bolshevism · racial Marxism · cultural Bolshevism · neo-Marxism · Jewish Bolshevism · multicultural Marxism

Translations (30)

nl cultuurmarxisme (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · fa مارکسیسم فرهنگی (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · vi chủ nghĩa Marx văn hóa (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · sh ку̀лтӯрнӣ марксѝзам (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · pt marxismo cultural (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · pl marksizm kulturowy (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · cmn 文化馬克思主義 /文化马克思主义 (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · el πολιτιστικός μαρξισμός (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · fi kulttuurimarxilaisuus (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · ro marxism cultural (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · sh kùltūrnī marksìzam (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · ka კულტურული მარქსიზმი (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · cs kulturní marxismus (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · fi kulttuurimarxismi (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · de Kulturmarxismus (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · ne सांस्कृतिक मार्क्सवादी (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · hu kulturális marxizmus (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · ru культу́рный маркси́зм (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · de Kulturbolschewismus (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · fr marxisme culturel (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · bg културен марксизъм (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · he הַמַרְקְסִיזְם הַתַּרְבּוּתִי (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · hu kultúrmarxiszmus (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · es marxismo cultural (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · cmn 文馬 /文马 (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · ja 文化的マルクス主義 (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · sv kulturmarxism (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · id marxisme budaya (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · nb kulturmarxisme (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School) · ar اَلْمَارْكْسِيَّة ثَقَافِيَّة (conspiracy theory that cultural elements that were perceived to be propagating undesirable Marxist ideas by the Frankfurt School)