NEEDHAM,JOSEPH, HETERODOX MARXISM AND THE SOCIAL BACKGROUND TO CHINESE SCIENCE

Joseph Needham had a deep and abiding relation to Marxism within his l ong career. Problems and ideas deriving from the historical materialis t tradition shaped his approach to the history of science and technolo gy as well as to pre-modern Chinese society and civilization. Needham' s relation to the Marxist tradition was an innovative and discerning o ne, and it is important to identify aspects of that tradition which he saw as useful and valid. His positions contrasted significantly with orthodox Soviet and Chinese Marxist historiography in a variety of way s, several of which are considered here. This contrast was due partly to his working on questions to which neither the Marxist classics nor orthodox readings of them offered ready answers, and partly to his com mitment to synthesize insights from a wide range of sources, including several repudiated in more orthodox Marxist historiography.