LEGAL DEFINITIONS ARE INADEQUATE BECAUSE THEY ARE MERE TAUTOLOGIES, IMPOSING ARTIFICIAL AND EXTERNAL CONSTRAINTS UPON CONCEPTUAL CRIMINOLOGICAL INQUIRY. MOREOVER, BECAUSE LEGAL DEFINITIONS ARE ESSENTIALLY RULING CLASS DEFINITIONS, TRADITIONAL CRIMINOLOGY MUST REMAIN A CONSERVATIVE DISCIPLINE. TO CONFRONT THE PROBLEM OF DEVELOPING AN ALTERNATIVE CONCEPT OF CRIME, THE FOLLOWING THEORIES ARE EXAMINED: LABELLING, SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM, CONFLICT, INSTRUMENTALIST-MARXISM, HEGELIAN-MARXISM, AND STRUCTURALIST-MARXISM. FORMER ATTEMPTS AT DEVELOPING AN ALTERNATIVE CONCEPT OF CRIME, BOTH MARXIST AND BOURGEOIS, FOUNDER UPON THE A PRIORI REASONING OF THE RELATIVIST-ABSOLUTIST DILEMMA OF SOCIAL SCIENCE THOUGHT. THE METHODOLOGY AND EPISTEMOLOGY OF MARX'S INTRODUCTION TO THE 'GRUNDRISSE' IS USED TO PROVIDE A THEORETICAL VEHICLE FOR RESOLVING THE RELATIVIST-ABSOLUTIST DILEMMA. MARX'S DIALECTIC REPRESENTS THE ONLY SUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT AT RESOLVING THE HISTORICAL CONTINGENCY OF SOCIAL CONCEPTS WITH THE NEED FOR THE OBJECTIVITY AND SCIENTIFICITY OF SUCH CONCEPTS. FINALLY, A RIGOROUS EXEGESIS OF THE TEXTS OF MARX AND ENGELS ARGUE AGAINST INTERPRETATIONS OF THEIR WORK AS EPISTEMOLOGICALLY OR MORALLY RELATIVIST OR ABSOLUTIST. INSTEAD, THEY PROVIDE A DIALECTICAL RESOLUTION OF THE RELATIVIST-ABSOLUTIST DILEMMA IN THE FORM OF A NOTION OF MORAL PROGRESS. THIS CAN BE USED FOR DEVELOPING A MARXIST CRIME CONCEPT AND ITS ATTENDANT CRIMINAL LAW BY REVOLUTIONARIES WAGING A CLASS STRUGGLE AS THEY SEEK TO TRANSFORM SOCIETIES. FOOTNOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE PROVIDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED --MRK)