A Defence of History and Class Consciousness: Tailism and the Dialectic

A Defence of History and Class Consciousness: Tailism and the Dialectic

by Georg Lukacs (Author)

Synopsis

Lukacs's masterpiece History and Class Consciousness (1923) is commonly held to be the foundational text for the tradition known as Western Marxism. As Stalinism took over, Lukacs was subjected to attacks for deviations from the party line. In the mid 1920's Lukacs wrote a passionate response to this onslaught.

$28.15

Quantity

20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 192
Edition: New
Publisher: Verso
Published: 17 Aug 2002

ISBN 10: 1859843700
ISBN 13: 9781859843703

Media Reviews
Luk cs's polemic tells of a dogmatic, corrupt, ultimately murderous period in the transition from Stalinism ... it tells also of the passion, so vividly Judaic and Central European, for the life and clash of ideas. --George Steiner, Times Literary Supplement

We almost hear Lenin himself murmuring, it happens that for eighty years no Marxist has ever properly understood History and Class Consciousness! Splendidly translated here by Esther Leslie and contextualized by an introduction by John Rees and a conclusion by Slavoj i ek (both of them stimulating and suggestive). --Fredric Jameson, Radical Philosophy

Author Bio
Georg Luk cs (1885-1971) was a Hungarian Marxist philosopher and literary critic. Most scholars consider him to be the founder of the tradition of Western Marxism. He contributed the ideas of reification and class consciousness to Marxist philosophy and theory, and his literary criticism was influential in thinking about realism and about the novel as a literary genre. He served briefly as Hungary's Minister of Culture following the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.

Esther Leslie is a lecturer in English and Humanities at Birkbeck College, London. She is the author of Walter Benjamin: Overpowering Conformism and sits on the editorial boards of Historical Materialism, Radical Philosophy and Revolutionary History.

Slavoj i ek is a Slovenian philosopher and cultural critic. He is a professor at the European Graduate School, International Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, Birkbeck College, University of London, and a senior researcher at the Institute of Sociology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. His books include Living in the End Times, First as Tragedy, Then as Farce, In Defense of Lost Causes, four volumes of the Essential i ek, and many more.

John Rees is a writer, broadcaster and activist. His books include The Algebra of Revolution and Imperialism and Resistance. He is the writer and presenter of the Timeline TV series, a member of the editorial board of the online magazine Counterfire, and co-founder of the Stop the War Coalition.