Revolution Is the Emergency Break - Essays on Walter Benjamin

The Revolution is the Emergency Break is a rich compilation of Walter Benjamin's lesser-known writings by renowned social scientist Michael Löwy. Translated into several languages but available in English for the very first time, Löwy brings together the philosophical, literary, theological, and cultural aspects of Benjamin's writings.

List of contents

Part 1: Magnetic Fields. 1. Capitalism as religion: Walter Benjamin and Max Weber 2. A historical materialism with Romantic splinters: Walter Benjamin and Karl Marx 3. Elective affinities: Walter Benjamin and Gerschom Scholem 4. Messianism against "progress": Walter Benjamin and Franz Rosenzweig 5. The romantic dimension: Marcuse and Benjamin 6. Two Marxist dissidents against the ideology of "progress": Walter Benjamin and José Carlos Mariátegui. Part 2: On Revolution. 7. The ringing clock: Walter Benjamin's Anarchism 8. Benjamin and surrealism: The story of a revolutionary spell 9. The revolution is the emergency brake: Walter Benjamin's political-ecological currency 10. Seven theses on Walter Benjamin and critical theory 11. "Slaughters with chlorazenophenol": Walter Benjamin's belated reflections on World War I 12. Theology and anti-fascism in the writings of Walter Benjamin 13. The viewpoint of the vanquished in the history of Latin America: Methodological reflections on the work of Walter Benjamin 14. The city as a strategic place of class confrontation: Uprisings, barricades and the Haussmannization of Paris in the Arcades Project

About the author

Michael Löwy completed two PhDs at the Sorbonne, in 1964 and 1974. He is the recipient of the CNRS Silver Medal as the best French social scientist (1994) and the European Walter Benjamin Prize (2020). His writings have been translated into 30 languages. He co-authored, with Joel Kovel and Ian Angus, the ecosocialist Declaration of Belem (2009) at the Belem Social World Forum (Brazil). He is a member of the steering committee of the Global Ecosocialist Network.

Product details

• Authors: Michael Lowy, Michael Löwy
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 27.10.2025
• EAN: 9781032773810
• ISBN: 978-1-0-3277381-0
• No. of pages: 128
• Series: Marx and Marxisms
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: antiquity to present day; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; POLITICAL SCIENCE / General, Germany, Social & political philosophy, Political science & theory, social and political philosophy, Philosophy: aesthetics, Western philosophy from c 1800, Far-left political ideologies and movements, Literary theory, Philosophy of religion, Political science and theory, Marxism & Communism, Western Philosophy, From C 1900 -