Structural Marxism combines classical Marxism and French structuralism and is primarily linked with the work of Louis Althusser and his students. Algerian-French anthropologist, sociologist, and philosopher Louis Althusser became one of the most famous critical interpreters of Marx and the most influential structural Marxists in the world. In 1965 Althusser published two books on Marx: For Marx (trans. 1969) and Reading Capital (trans. 1970) (the former book was written in cooperation with his students Balibar and Roger Establet and others). These books established him as the most important structural Marxist.

In the book For Marx, Althusser presents the periodization of Marx's works and divides them into: 1) the works of the young Marx (1840-1844); 2) works of the break (1845); 3) works of maturation (1845-1857); 4) works of maturity (1857-1883). According to Althusser, Marx was never a Hegelian (Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel), but his philosophy was most influenced by Kant (Immanuel Kant) and Fichte (Johann Gottlieb Fichte), and then Feuerbach (Ludwig Feuerbach). That’s why Althusser concluded that the thesis of Hegelianism of young Marx is just a myth. Althusser believed that Marx's acquaintance with developed capitalism in England conditioned his intellectual evolution. Althusser introduces several new concepts, the key to understanding Marx. By practice, he means the whole process of transforming matter into one product, and that transformation is done by human labor with the help of tools; by theory, it implies a specific form of practice that itself belongs to the complex unity of social practice of a particular society.

Althusser believes that Marx came to his scientific theory at the cost of accepting a radical critique of human philosophy and that starting in 1845, Marx radically stopped using historical and political theories that were based on the human essence. Althusser believes that we should talk about Marx's theoretical antihumanism. Although in his later works, especially in the work Essays in Self-Criticism (1976, in French 1974), he admits some of his misconceptions or so-called deviations, he does not deviate significantly from his basic position from the past.

Althusser, also, developed a theory of ideology, in which ideology functions “without history”, by providing people the framework to establish lived relationships within the social reality in which they are located. Ideology locates subjects in the system of relationships that is necessary for the maintenance of unequal class relations. Ideology molds individual identities that are functional to the propagation of the capitalist system of exploitation. Hence, ideology is not a philosophical illusion but a lived practice of everyday life. “Ideological state apparatuses” (legal system, family, school, church, communications, political parties) are predominantly responsible for those practices because they are supported by, and give support to those practices, so to ensure the undisturbed functioning of the capitalist system.

Greek-French sociologist Nikos Poulantzas was a supporter of existentialism and an associate of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simon de Beauvoir, but later joined Louis Althusser's current of structural Marxism, In his book Political Power and Social Classes (1978, in French 1968), Poulantzas develops the idea of ​​the relative autonomy of the state. Unlike the earlier Marxists, he believes that the (liberal-democratic) state has a broader role than just expressing the class interests of the capitalist class. The state possesses relative autonomy from the individual interests of individual capitalists. As capitalists fight among themselves, the state must secure their general class interests, not side with individual capitalists. Precisely because the state acts as a mediator and arbiter between the various factions of the capitalist class, which gives it autonomous power.

Capitalists and other influential classes are creating long-term strategies and alliances that Poulantzas calls "power bloc." The state mediates in all class relations and all aspects of those relations - economic, political, and ideological. The state in capitalism does not rule through repression, but by creating an ideological consensus between the capitalist and other subordinate classes. The state controls workers by isolating them into separate individuals (citizens) and thus producing what he calls the " effect of isolation". This concept refers to the phenomenon that individuals from subordinate classes enter into competitive relationships with other individuals from subordinate classes, or are part of a political faction, and thus remain isolated from the rest of their own class. By mediating and reducing class conflicts, both between and within classes, the state creates long-term stability and the illusion of pluralism. In a debate he led with Ralph Miliband, Poulantzas further developed his arguments about the autonomous role of the state. Poulantzas emphasized that civil servants, regardless of their class, accept a structurally determined role that is related to the professional position they hold within the state apparatus.

In his book Fascism and Dictatorship (1974, in French 1970), Poulantzas explores the class foundations of European fascism and concludes that the fascist state is a very specific form of the capitalist state. He believes that fascism was not an inevitable and natural outcome of the development of capitalism, but that it represents a specific response to the political and economic crisis that arose after the First World War. In the book The Crisis of Dictatorships: Portugal, Greece, Spain (1976, in French 1975), Poulantzas explores the opposite process, the transition of these countries from fascism to democracy. He believes that the transition to democracy was a consequence of the political conflict between the two factions of the capitalist class - the domestic and the comprador.

Poulantzas develops his class analysis in the book Classes in Contemporary Capitalism (1975, in French 1974). His analysis is based on three premises: 1) classes cannot be defined outside the class struggle, 2) classes denote objective positions in the social division of labor, 3) classes are structurally determined, not only at the economic level but also at the political level and ideological level. At the economic level, Poulantzas considers productive work only one that leads to the relation of exploitation, and in capitalism, it is that work that directly creates surplus value. This is the reason why he includes in the proletariat only workers who directly produce surplus value.

At the political level, he separates from the working class all personnel who exercise supervision or management. At the ideological level, he distinguishes between manual and mental work, and on that basis excludes all engineers and technicians from the working class. In his opinion, all employees who perform non-manual work belong to the class of the new petty bourgeoisie. This class has the potential to form an alliance with the capitalist class. Poulantzas believed that the working class was not united, and therefore could not represent the interests of the masses. In the same book, Poulantzas explores the consequences of the rise of transnational capitalism.

In his last book, State, Power, Socialism (1978), Poulantzas presents a slightly modified theory of state autonomy. He now believes that the relative autonomy of the state always depends on class struggles, and since those struggles are in a constant state of change, no class has complete control over the state. The relative autonomy of the state changes over time and depends on the intensity and specific areas in which the class struggle takes place, at some particular moment.

Authors: Althusser Louis, Balibar Etienne, Poulantzas Nicos. Godelier Maurice.

Books: 

Althusser, Louis. For Marx / Pour Marx (2006, in French 1965a);

     -     On the Reproduction of Capitalism. Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (2014, in French 1995);

     -     Reading Capital (2016, in French 1965b);

     -     On Ideology (2020);

Poulantzas, Nicos. Political Power and Social Classes (1978, in French 1968); 

     -     Fascism and Dictatorship: The Third International and the Problem of Fascism (2019, in French 1970);

     -     Classes in Contemporary Capitalism (1975, in French 1974);

     -     The Crisis of the Dictatorships: Portugal, Greece, Spain (1976, in French 1975); 

     -     State, Power, Socialism (2014, in French 1978);

     -     The Poulantzas Reader: Marxism, Law and the State (2008).