“Brenner Debate” and Its Effect on the History of Marxist Thought

The “Brenner debate”, which occurred in the 1970s and lasted for nearly 20 years, is an important event in the development history of contemporary Marxism. As the initiator Brenner continued the tradition of British historical Marxism that attaches importance to historical experience, and made a unique analysis of an important issue in historical materialism, that is, the transition from feudal society to capitalism, on the basis of the famous “Dobb-Sweezy dispute”. He emphasized that the class struggle among landlords, self-employed peasants and tenant farmers and the social property relationship shaped by the struggle were the key to the occurrence and completion of the “transition”. Thus, Brenner argued not only with the non-Marxist views such as population determinism and trade determinism, but also with the orthodox Marxism advocating productive force determinism. The “Brenner debate” involved many Marxists, directly gave birth to the current influential “political Marxism”, and further highlighted some important issues in the history of Marxist thought and interpretation, such as how to understand whether the “bourgeois revolution” and the initial form of capitalism were agricultural or industrial; At a deeper level, it involved how to treat the theoretical attributes of productive force determinism and historical materialism. Carefully sorting out and digging into it will have inspiring significance and reference value for the construction and development of Chinese Marxism in the 21st century.