the author criticizes tlie theoretical endeavours of the british historian e. p. thompson in order to give analytical consistency to the marxist notion of "class consciousness" through ideas like "commom experiences" and "shared moral values". he maintains that the only way to demonstrate the analytical vitality of marxism is by accepting the "vulgar marxist" thesis of the determination of the superstructure by the economic structure; and by concentrating on the empirical problems that arise from the instrumental action of the actors on the "infrastructural" level
