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Available for the first time in English, this book examines and reinterprets class struggle within Marx and Engels' thought. As Losurdo argues, class struggle is often misunderstood as exclusively the struggle of the poor against the rich, of the humble against the powerful. It is an interpretation that is dear to populism, one that supposes a binary logic that closes its eyes to complexity and inclines towards the celebration of poverty as a place of moral excellence. This book, however, shows the theory of class struggle is a general theory of social conflict. Each time, the most adverse social conflicts are intertwined in different ways. A historical situation always emerges with specific and unique characteristics that necessitate serious examination, free of schematic and biased analysis. Only if it breaks away from populism can Marxism develop the ability to interpret and change the world.
List of contents
Introduction: The Return of Class Struggle? .- 1. The Different Forms of Class Struggle .- 2. A Protracted, Positive-Sum Struggle .- 3. Class Struggles and Struggles for Recognition .- 4. Overcoming Binary Logic: A Difficult, Unfinished Process .- 5. The Multiplicity of Struggles for Recognition and the Conflict of Liberties .- 6. The Switch to the South-East: The National Question and Class Struggle .- 7. Lenin in 1919: 'The Class Struggle is Continuing: It has Merely Changed its Forms' .- 8. After the Revolution: The Ambiguities of Class Struggle .- 9. After the Revolution: Discovering the Limits of Class Struggle .- 10. Class Struggle at the 'End of History' .- 11. Class Struggle between Exorcism and Fragmentation .- 12. Class Struggle Poised between Marxism and Populism.
About the author
Domenico Losurdo is Emeritus Professor in the University of Urbino, Italy. He is an Italian philosopher and political theorist, focusing specifically on Marxist thought. He publishes in a variety of languages, including English, French, Italian, and German. His work been discussed by publications such as Financial Times, Guardian, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Die Zeit, Le Monde, Le Monde Diplomatique, Libération, and Corriere della Sera.
Summary
Available for the first time in English, this book examines and reinterprets class struggle within Marx and Engels’ thought. As Losurdo argues, class struggle is often misunderstood as exclusively the struggle of the poor against the rich, of the humble against the powerful. It is an interpretation that is dear to populism, one that supposes a binary logic that closes its eyes to complexity and inclines towards the celebration of poverty as a place of moral excellence. This book, however, shows the theory of class struggle is a general theory of social conflict. Each time, the most adverse social conflicts are intertwined in different ways. A historical situation always emerges with specific and unique characteristics that necessitate serious examination, free of schematic and biased analysis. Only if it breaks away from populism can Marxism develop the ability to interpret and change the world.
Additional text
“Losurdo has comprehensively demonstrated that we can, and indeed should, question the context of the appearance or reappearance of many of the bourgeoisie’s crypto-philosophical works. His book shows that class discourse, despite the best efforts of the corporate media, is not dead yet! … .” (Thomas Klikauer, Labor History, Vol. 60 (3), 2019)
“In a learned, readable, historically rich, textually focused analysis, Losurdo, in a revisionary mode, aims to liberate Marx's and Engel's concept of class struggle from its entrenchment in a narrow, strictly economic frame. … Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.” (G.D. Miller, Choice, Vol. 54 (11), July, 2017)
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"Losurdo has comprehensively demonstrated that we can, and indeed should, question the context of the appearance or reappearance of many of the bourgeoisie's crypto-philosophical works. His book shows that class discourse, despite the best efforts of the corporate media, is not dead yet! ... ." (Thomas Klikauer, Labor History, Vol. 60 (3), 2019)
"In a learned, readable, historically rich, textually focused analysis, Losurdo, in a revisionary mode, aims to liberate Marx's and Engel's concept of class struggle from its entrenchment in a narrow, strictly economic frame. ... Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty." (G.D. Miller, Choice, Vol. 54 (11), July, 2017)
