A word on justification

One might reasonably ask why the world needs a blog devoted to issues in academic Marxism.  Isn’t the eleventh thesis on Feuerbach rather clear on this issue?  Aren’t armchair Marxists among the saddest specimens on the left, wheeled out every year at the Left Forum to grouse about when the ‘young people’ will get active?  To these charges I can only plead no contest.  However, there are a number of people writing, often with greater skill than I could muster, on the burning questions of our movement.  As such, it’s difficult to feel that my own efforts could be anything but redundant in this area.  At the same time, I am currently just beginning the process of preparing for my field exams, a process which will take me deep into the territory of academic Marxism.  A place to collect my thoughts in a somewhat more coherent fashion than my notes seemed as if it would be useful during this ordeal.  Additionally, if I allow myself no small measure of narcissism, I could even imagine receiving some useful feedback on my jottings.