Tag: culture
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The Young Lukacs and the Origins of Western Marxism
The distinctive contribution of Andrew Arato and Paul Breines’s The Young Lukács and the Origins of Western Marxism lies in its rigorous reconstruction of a problem: how a singular, crisis-formed synthesis of German idealism and revolutionary Marxism emerged, condensed, and fractured in and around History and Class Consciousness, and how that synthesis founded an intellectual…
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Dialectic of Defeat: Contours of Western Marxism
In Dialectic of Defeat: Contours of Western Marxism, Russell Jacoby undertakes a rigorous critique of mainstream, “conformist” Marxism, a tradition he views as deeply compromised by its adherence to the “cult of success” and the fetishization of scientific methodology. Jacoby’s work engages with an essential but sidelined trajectory within Marxist thought, a Western alternative that,…
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Leo Kofler’s Philosophy of Praxis: Western Marxism and Socialist Humanism
Leo Kofler’s Philosophy of Praxis, translated by Nathaniel Thomas, offers a monumental account of the life, philosophy, and critical thought of Leo Kofler (1907–1995), a figure dubbed an “unmutilated, living Marxist” by Oskar Negt. This book, rich in its philosophical excavation, explores the deep layers of Kofler’s work as it intersected with Western Marxist currents,…
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Richard Wagner: A Life in Music
Richard Wagner: A Life in Music by Martin Geck, masterfully translated by Stewart Spencer, presents the analysis of one of music history’s most enigmatic and influential figures. This comprehensive biography transcends the conventional narrative, engaging the multifaceted persona of Richard Wagner—composer, conductor, librettist, theater director, and essayist. Geck’s work doesn’t just recount Wagner’s life events…