마르크스주의적 ‘보편 서사’의 재천명: 서발턴 연구그룹의 이론적 토대에 대한 도전

Abstract

This article reviews Vivek Chibber’s book Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital. This book is a Marxist response to postcolonial theory, focusing on the Subaltern Study Group’s misunderstanding of the dynamics of universalization in capitalism. Chibber exposes the fetishism in claims of cultural incommensurability and particularities that Postcolonial theory is immersed in. For the Subaltern Study Group, the universalization of capital means erasing historical differences. But such a process cannot be completed. This is because the heterogeneities(subaltern’s domain) disturb the reproduction of capital. In response, Chiver argues that the universalization of capital is compatible with historical differences, and the genuine source of opposition to capital’s universalizing drive is the universal struggle by subalterns. Therefore, he argues that Marx’s universalism must be reclaimed.