Libertarian Marxism is a school of Marxism that takes a far less authoritarian, or in many cases anti-authoritarian view of Marxist theory than conventional currents of Marxism-Leninism such as Stalinism, Maoism, and Trotskyism. The current also has a generally less reformist view than do social democrats. It is often based upon a reading of Marx's work, such as the Grundrisse and The Civil War in France, that emphasizes the ability of the working class to forge its own destiny without the need for a revolutionary party or state to mediate or aid its liberation.
Libertarian Marxism includes such currents as Luxemburgism, council communism, left communism, Socialisme ou Barbarie, the Johnson-Forest Tendency, World Socialism, Lettrism/Situationism and operaismo/autonomism, and New Left. Libertarian Marxism has often had a strong influence on both post-left and social anarchists. Notable theorists of libertarian Marxism have included Anton Pannekoek, Raya Dunayevskaya, CLR James, Antonio Negri, Cornelius Castoriadis, Maurice Brinton, Guy Debord, Daniel Guérin and Raoul Vaneigem.
Along with left anarchism, libertarian Marxism is one of the main currents of libertarian socialism.
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