Garaudy, Roger

(1913– )

   A French Marxist, born in Marseille, Garaudy was a leading figure and theorist in the French Communist Party (PCF) from the 1950s until his expulsion from the party in 1970. His chief contribution to Marxism lies in his increasingly liberal, humanistic and pluralistic interpretation of Marxism and his critique of Soviet Marxism.

   Garaudy’s humanistic interpretation of Marxism was apparent in his Perspectives de l’homme: existentialisme, pensée catholique, marxisme (1959) in which he also made positive comments regarding existentialism, phenomenology and Christianity. He continued these themes, moving away from all dogmatism and criticizing the Soviet system in further works such as From Anathema to Dialogue: A Marxist Challenge To The Christian Church (1966), Initiative in History: A Christian–Marxist Dialogue (1967), Crisis In Communism (1970) and Marxism in the Twentieth Century (1970). Garaudy rejected Marxist or- thodoxy and advocated the de-Stalinization and opening up of Marxism to nonorthodox and even non-Marxist points of view. For him Marxism was not an absolute truth but rather an intellectual truth aiding us in making the world intelligible rather than dictating our actions. Marxism helped to explain other theories and perspectives, but Garaudy rejected claims for it providing absolute knowledge.

   Garaudy’s academic career began at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Paris where he gained his doctorate in philosophy, and it continued with academic posts at the University of Albi (Algiers), the Lycée Buffon in Paris (1958–1959), the University of Clermont- Ferrand (1962–1965), and the University of Poitiers (1965, 1969–1973). He was also director of the Centre for Marxist Research and Study from 1960 to 1970. Politically Garaudy was an official in the political bureau of the PCF from 1956 until 1970, and his political posts included deputy to the First National Assembly (1946–1951), communist deputy to and vice president of the National Assembly (1956–1958), and communist member of the National Senate (1959–1962). In addition, he became editorial head of the radical French journal Alternatives socialistes in 1974.