Title: What if there was a Marxist General Systems Theory or Cybernetics preceding these

sciences and upgrading Marxism for the 20th century?: Rethinking Modern Marxian Critique
of Global Political Economy from an Organizational Point of View

Name: Örsan Şenalp

Affiliation: NetworkedLabour.net
Contact: orsan@networkedlabour.net

Abstract: The paper reflects on a key Marxist paradigm lost, which was lost in the midst of
the Russian Revolution. It is the legacy of Russian Critical Marxism, as it was represented by
leading Bolshevik Alexander Alexandrovich Malinovski, known as A. Bogdanov. As a
polymath follower of Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels he was a physician, biologist,
philosopher, teacher, and novelist, who confronted the modern challenges set for Marxism by
Darwinian, Freudian, Weberian, and the Marginalist revolutions occurred in sciences, as well
as the new philosophical school of thoughts like logical structuralism and scientific
phenomenology emerged during the prolonged systemic crisis of capitalism. Bogdanov
developed a ‘universal science of organisation’, he called Tektology, which is today seen as
the forerunner of General Systems Theory, Cybernetics, Complexity analysis and flourishing
strands of ‘Systems Thinking’. Unlike ahistorical varieties of Systems Thinking, Tektology
was built as a science of praxis; to re-build and re-organise the world. It is based on
epistemology and ontology which is historical, and constructed from a ‘class point of view’.
Tragically it was not possible for later generation Marxists to benefit from this heritage. The
paper argues that such a paradigm lost did play a major role in the temporary failure of Soviet
Revolution, the idea of world revolution, and the communist hypothesis. Hundred years later
however, the legacy of Russian Critical Marxism is discovered and become relevant for
rethinking and reconstructing of modern Marxian critic as a whole, in the midst of a yet
another systemic crisis of capitalism.

Keywords: Tektology, global political economy, cultural hegemony, new class, intellectuals,
organisation, crisis, revolution, capitalism, imperialism, transnational, informational, world
system, regulation

Bio: I coordinate Social Network Unionism and Networked Labour websites. I think,
research, write, and act in the fields of networked politics, transnational and informational
political economy of labour and social movements, collaborative online collective action,
organizing and campaigning. Previously, I studied mechanical engineering, economy and
global political economy. I worked with trade unions and advocacy groups like DISK, FNV,
TNI, and TIE. I was active in organisation of People’s Water Forum, Labour and
Globalisation Network, Joint Social Conference and Alter Summit processes. I did join 15M,
Take the Square, Occupy, and Gezi movements and contributed organisation of mass
mobilisations.