Critical theories try to shed light on the world, to give frameworks to understand it better. However, critical theories also believe that any theory is politically committed. And that includes critical theories themselves. Ex : Gramsci is in favour of the proletariat. He takes a stand. 

For critical scholars, adopting a critical approach is a political act - and so is adopting a non-critical approach. In other terms, the very distinction between scientific and political is irrelevant.

2 main issues of the marxist research.

It’s both a critical and traditional approach. It’s an issue because there is a risk of confusion. Concepts of Marxism are very popular. Social classes for example is a common term but for Marx It means the relation with the tools of production fundamentally. It’s a question of power more than the common idea of (social classes = poor, riches).

All these scholars are going to make the concepts evolve when they are going to face empiric challenges. Marxism needs to be updated.

= Wallerstein and his world-systems analysis, he is creating a new research agenda on Marxism and at the same time refusing some crucial elements of Marxism. Wallerstein, who firstly worked on Africa, wants to explain striking inequality between states.

->  Karl Marx predicted in the Communist Manifesto that capitalism would lead to imperialism so Wallerstein interprets Marxism in this way (debated) :  that inequality between countries is due to different stages of development. In short, the poorest countries are not capitalist enough yet. To explain inequality, Wallerstein affirms on the contrary that we should not look at individual states but at world-systems defined as an area in which, despite cultural differences, there is a complete division of labour.

He distinguishes 3 groups of states :

• The core which produces high profit goods.(The western world, Europe, US, Australia).
• The periphery which provides the core with cheap labour and raw materials (unequal relationship between the periphery and the core).
• The semi-periphery, which acts like the core to the periphery and the periphery to the core.

These positions are stable due to coercion (military strength in the hands of dominant forces) + Ideology and the role played by semi-periphery states (both exploited and exploiter).

In other words : the poorest countries are already fully integrated in the capitalist market as capitalism is precisely what creates these world-systems. Capitalism is a structure of international domination. Differences between Europe and Africa is due to the fact that they are characterized by a structure of domination that is maintaining these differences. 

The use of Marx by Wallerstein :

Refuses the linear process of Marx (debated comprehension) + shifts from social classes at national level to world-systems + maintains the stress on the means of production to understand international structures of domination. ?

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