Michael Löwy

This illuminating study of Benjamin's final essay helps unlock the mystery of this great philosopher.

Reading Walter Benjamin's On the Concept of History

Fire Alarm

Robert Sayre

DIVA translation from the French of Michael Lowy and Robert Sayre’s attempt to unify discussion of the diverse manifestations of of Romanicism./div

Romanticism Against the Tide of Modernity

An expanded edition of revered theorist Michael Löwy's Morning Star: Marxism and Surrealism (previously published in French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Greek), this masterwork collects the author's essays on the ways in which surrealism intersected with a variety of revolutionary political approaches, ranging from utopian ideals to Marxism and situationism. Taking its title from André Breton's essay "Arcane 17," which casts the star as the searing firebrand of rebellion, Löwy's provocative work spans many perspectives. These include surrealist artists who were deeply interested in Marxism and anarchism (Breton among them), as well as Marxists who were deeply interested in surrealism (Walter Benjamin in particular). Probing the dialectics of innovation, diversity, continuity, and unity throughout surrealism's international presence, Morning Star also incorporates analyses of Claude Cahun, Guy Debord, Pierre Naville, José Carlos Mariátegui and others, accompanied by numerous reproductions of surrealist art. An extraordinarily rich collection, Morning Star promises to ignite new dialogues regarding the very nature of dissent.

Surrealism, Marxism, Anarchism, Situationism, Utopia

Morning Star

philosophy, economics, revolutionary warfare

The Marxism of Che Guevara

In the 1960s liberation theology addressed itself to the problems of a continent racked by poverty and oppression. Comprising a network of localized communities and pastoral organizations, it soon became something much more than a doctrinal current. Liberationist Christianity defined itself in a multitude of social struggles, particularly in Brazil and Central America.

Religion and Politics in Latin America

The War of Gods

Michael Löwy highlights the cultural, ?spiritual,” and ethical dimensions of Marxist thought largely neglected by most of the existing literature.

Essays in Political Philosophy, from Karl Marx to Walter Benjamin

On Changing the World

Capitalism is killing the planet, and the preservation of a natural environment favorable to human life requires a radical alternative. In this new collection of essays, long time revolutionary and environmental activist Michael Löwy offers a vision of ecosocialist transformation. This vision combines an understanding of the destructive logic of the capitalist system with an appreciation for ongoing struggles, particularly in Latin America.

A Radical Alternative to Capitalist Catastrophe

Ecosocialism

Olivier Besancenot

Daivd Campbell

Toward a Marxist Anarchist Solidarity

Revolutionary Affinities

Renowned Marxist scholar Michael Löwy offers an indispensable assessment of an enduringly fascinating revolutionary. Vibrant, insightful, and wide-ranging, Löwy’s essays illuminate the heroic, tough-minded idealist and martyr, Rosa Luxemburg. Active in the labor and socialist movements of Germany, Poland, and Russia, Luxemburg had international standing as an original and sharp-minded theorist during her life and remains one of the most admired and studied revolutionaries in the Marxist tradition. Löwy follows Luxemburg in blending diverse intellectual disciplines—philosophy, history, political science, sociology, anthropology, and economics—to make sense of global realities in her time and our own. Luxemburg’s creative intellectual endeavors were shaped by her genuine devotion to the free development of all people, and her fierce opposition to all forms of tyranny and authoritarianism. These commitments guided her analyses of exploitation and mass struggle, the dynamics of trade unions and of bureaucracy, the origins and impacts of economic crisis, the nature of war and imperialism, and the interconnections of reform and revolution. In accessible and stimulating prose, Löwy explores Luxemburg’s many political and theoretical contributions, as well as her links to revolutionaries including Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Antonio Gramsci, Georg Lukács, José Carlos Mariátegui, and Leon Trotsky. Through Löwy’s expansive engagement with Luxemburg‘s political trajectory and influence, we are able to see her wrestle with political problems that remain relevant today.

Essays

Rosa Luxemburg: The Incendiary Spark

O que é ecossocialismo?

Gérard Duménil

Emmanuel Renault

Sağlığında terimi reddetmiş olsa da, Marksizm öncelikle Karl Marx’ın (1818-1883) düşüncesidir. Bu, gerçek anlamıyla olağanüstü zenginlikte ve sürekli evrimleşen bir düşüncedir. Ancak Marx’ın Marksizme kattıkları, Komünist Manifesto’nun da dahil olduğu birçok eserin diğer yazarı ve Marx’ın ölümü sonrasında Kapital’in II. ve III. ciltlerini yayına hazırlayan Engels’in kattıklarından ayrılamaz. Ölümlerinden sonra fikirleri, kendilerini onların takipçisi olarak gören düşünürler ve siyasal akımlar tarafından çok farklı doğrultularda geliştirilmiştir. Bugün hâlâ kapitalist düzene karşı radikal mücadelelerin büyük bölümüne ilham vermektedir. Üç yetkin Fransız Marksisti tarafından hazırlanan bu kitap, 100 maddeyle Marksizmin başlıca kavramlarını aydınlatmakta ve her birinin merkezinde yer alan siyasal, iktisadi ve felsefi konuların ve tartışmaların iç içeliğine dikkat çekmektedir.

Marksizmin 100 Kavramı

"As teses "Sobre o conceito de história" (1940) de Walter Benjamin constituem um dos textos filosóficos e políticos mais importantes do século XX. No pensamento revolucionário talvez seja o documento mais significativo desde as "Teses sobre Feuerbach" de Marx. Texto enigmático, alusivo, até mesmo sibilino, seu hermetismo é constelado de imagens, de alegorias, de iluminações, semeado de estranhos paradoxos, atravessado por fulgurantes intuições." Michael Löwy Um dos principais estudiosos da obra de Walter Benjamin, Michael Löwy analisa em Aviso de incêndio um dos textos mais enigmáticos e rico de significados desse autor: as suas teses sobre o conceito de história. Para Löwy, Benjamin é mais do que um historiador da cultura, um filósofo - pela forma com que articulou na sua visão arte, política e teologia, criando uma nova visão da história. Analisando tese a tese, Löwy destrincha, de forma clara e erudita, as idéias, polêmicas, confrontos e ideais por detrás das proposições de Benjamin. Com uma preocupação inclusive de ilustrá-las por meio de exemplos da realidade latino-americana, como a Teologia da Libertação e o Zapatismo de Chiapas. Escritas em 1940, no auge do fascismo na Europa, as teses vieram a público somente após a morte de seu autor, em setembro do mesmo ano. Ao tentar fugir da França ocupada pelos nazistas, Benjamin foi preso na fronteira da Espanha do general Franco. Suicidou-se antes de ser deportado para a Alemanha. Articulando influências tão contraditórias e ricas como o romantismo alemão, o messianismo judaico e o marxismo, Benjamin constrói, nas suas dezoito teses e dois anexos, uma síntese própria e extremamente original das relações da humanidade com o tempo, das lutas sociais e do historiador com o passado e o presente.

Uma leitura das teses "Sobre o conceito de história"

Walter Benjamin: aviso de incêndio

The ideas of Marx's early writings come alive in this important examination of their lasting relevance.

The Theory of Revolution in the Young Marx

Revolta e melancolia, dos sociólogos Michael Löwy e Robert Sayre, traz uma análise da visão social de mundo romântica. Para eles, mais do que uma corrente artística europeia do começo do século XIX, o romantismo expressa uma visão de mundo complexa que persiste até nossos dias, em toda parte, como resposta ao modo de vida da sociedade capitalista. Caracterizado pela convicção dolorosa e melancólica de que o presente perdeu certos valores humanos essenciais, esse movimento representa uma modalidade particular de (auto)crítica do mundo moderno, a partir de seu âmago. Com grande repercussão internacional, em especial na França, onde foi originalmente publicado, Revolta e melancolia se tornou o principal ponto de partida para debates sobre a importância do "espírito" do romantismo em nosso tempo. Considerado um movimento abrangente e atemporal, o romantismo transpôs a literatura e as artes plásticas e se manifestou em diversas áreas da sociedade, como a filosofia e a política. Em sua abordagem, Löwy e Sayre mostram como essa forma de ver o mundo influencia a produção social contemporânea e constitui um questionamento profundo da economia de mercado e da sociedade dominada por ela. A obra perscruta a relação ambígua entre romantismo e Revolução Francesa e entre romantismo e Revolução Industrial e identifica dimensões românticas no Maio de 1968; na crítica à cultura de massa; nos movimentos sociais atuais; em correntes políticas e intelectuais; e também nas obras de autores os mais diversos, de diferentes momentos e lugares, de Schelling a Tönnies, de Burke a Weber, de Dickens a Thomas Mann, de Balzac a Tolstói, de Victor Hugo a José Martí, de Bakunin a Rosa Luxemburgo, Marx e Engels.

O romantismo na contracorrente da modernidade

Revolta e melancolia

In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Paris Commune, leftist writers Olivier Besancenot and Michael Löwy offer a deeply informed, and eminently enjoyable, imagined history of what might have been if Karl Marx and his eldest daughter, Jenny, had travelled to Paris during the heady weeks of April 1871. In disguise, employing imperfect but serviceable French, Karl and Jenny encounter and debate many important figures of the movement, including Leo Frankel, Eugène Varlin, Charles Longuet, Elisabeth Dmitrieff, and Louise Michel, eventually returning to England with a profoundly changed sense of political possibility.

Jenny's ”Blue Notebook”

Marx in Paris, 1871

Löwy's book is the first attempt to analyze, in a systematic way, how the theories of uneven and combined development, and of the permanent revolution &mdash inseparably linked &mdash emerged in the writings of thinkers such as Karl Marx and Leon Trotsky. Such radical reflections permit us to understand modern economic development across continents as a process of ferocious change, in which "advanced" and "backward" elements fuse, come into tension, and collide &mdash and how the resulting ruptures make it possible for the oppressed and exploited to change the world.

The Theory of Permanent Revolution

The Politics of Combined and Uneven Development

O reino da liberdade começa com a redução da jornada de trabalho. Esse pensamento de Karl Marx é o mote do presente livro. Neste volume, acompanhamos a história da luta operária pela jornada de oito horas, que teve como resultado uma progressiva redução do tempo de trabalho ao longo de todo o século XX, e entendemos por que essa conquista se encontra ameaçada. Com o alvorecer do século XXI, é o reino da não liberdade que se expande com incrível furor, o que torna premente o retorno dessa pauta para a luta dos trabalhadores de todo o mundo.

A jornada de trabalho e o "reino da liberdade"

The acclaimed author of On Changing the World examines the ways in which surrealism intersects with a variety of revolutionary political approaches. In this expanded edition, the luminary critical theorist dismisses the limited notion of surrealism as a purely artistic movement, repositioning surrealism as a force in radical political ideologies, ranging from utopian ideals to Marxism and situationism. Taking its title from André Breton’s essay “Arcane 17,” which casts the star as the searing firebrand of rebellion, Michael Löwy’s provocative work spans many perspectives. These include surrealist artists who were deeply interested in Marxism and anarchism (Breton among them), as well as Marxists who were deeply interested in surrealism (Walter Benjamin in particular). Probing the dialectics of innovation, diversity, continuity, and unity throughout surrealism’s international presence, Morning Star also incorporates analyses of Claude Cahun, Guy Debord, Pierre Naville, José Carlos Mariátegui and others, accompanied by numerous reproductions of surrealist art. An extraordinarily rich collection, Morning Star promises to ignite new dialogues regarding the very nature of dissent. Praise for On Changing the World “His collection of essays, combining scholarship with passion, impresses by its sweep and scope.” —Daniel Singer, author of Prelude to Revolution “Michael Löwy is unquestionably a tremendous figure in the decades-long attempt to recover an authentic revolutionary tradition from the wreckage of Stalinism, and these essays are very often powerful examples of this process.” —Dominic Alexander, Counterfire

The philosophical and political development that converted Georg Lukács from a distinguished representative of Central European aesthetic vitalism into a major Marxist theorist and Communist militant has long remained an enigma. In this absorbing scholarly study, Michael Löwy for the first time traces and explains the extraordinary mutation that occurred in Lukács's thought between 1909 and 1929. Utilizing many as yet unpublished sources, Löwy meticulously reconstructs the complex itinerary of Lukács's thinking as he gradually moved towards his decisive encounter with Bolshevism. The religious convictions of the early Lukács, the peculiar spell exercised on him and on Max Weber by Dostoyevskyan images of pre-revolutionary Russia, the nature of his friendships with Ernst Bloch and Thomas Mann, are amongst the discoveries of the book. Then, in a fascinating case-study in the sociology of ideas, Löwy shows how the same philosophical problematic of Lebensphilosophie dominated the intelligentsias of both Germany and Hungary in the pre-war period, yet how the different configurations of social forces in each country bent its political destiny into opposite directions. The famous works produced by Lukács during and after the Hungarian Commune—Tactics and Ethics, History and Class Consciousness and Lenin—are analysed and assessed. A concluding chapter discusses Lukács's eventual ambiguous settlement with Stalinism in the thirties, and its coda of renewed radicalism in the final years of his life.

From Romanticism to Bolshevism

Georg Lukacs

Oliver Besancenot

"In this masterful new study, Besancenot and Lowy explore and situate Guevara's ethical, revolutionary, and humanist legacy. They explicate Guevara's emphasis on the import of the individual coming to understand and accept socialism at a personal level. For Guevara, Besancenot and Lowy show, the revolutionary project demands more than a transformation of the mode of production; it demands a profound transformation of the individual, the birth of what Guevara termed the "new man." Besancenot and Lowy also explore Guevara's pragmatic approach to the question of state power and unique theoretical contributions to the question of the transition to socialism" -- from Amazon editorial review.

Michael Löwy

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