Martin Jay
Marxism and Totality
The Adventures of a Concept from Lukács to Habermas
$29.95, £17.95 paperback
978-0-520-05742-5
Available Now
576 pages,
February 1986, Only available in Not available in the British Commonwealth, except Canada
Categories: History; European History; Political Theory
February 1986, Only available in Not available in the British Commonwealth, except Canada
Categories: History; European History; Political Theory
"A tour de force. It is "must" reading for anyone—scholar, sympathizer, critic, or concerned bystander—interested in the past, present, and possible futures of Western Marxism."—Ethics
"Jay's approach, by virtue of its length, clarity, and comprehensiveness, considerably raises the previous level of discussion and finally makes available to English-speaking readers the full profundity of a tradition that has frequently appeared to outsiders hermetic and obscure."—Radical History Review
"He establishes a fundamental link between thinkers of extraordinary complexity and variety who were notoriously reluctant to engage one another explicitly, while demonstrating a command of the relevant literature that will earn him the praise and the gratitude of all readers."—History and Theory
"Learned, up-to-date, thoughtful, and clearly written, the book provides a comprehensive history of Western Marxism from Georg Lukács to the present...reliable and insightful accounts of all the major figures who contributed to the remarkable reshaping of Marxist thinking."—American Historical Review
"Especially effective in bringing out the excitement of totalization as it operated in the early works of Luckács and his contemporaries."—New German Critique
"Jay's approach, by virtue of its length, clarity, and comprehensiveness, considerably raises the previous level of discussion and finally makes available to English-speaking readers the full profundity of a tradition that has frequently appeared to outsiders hermetic and obscure."—Radical History Review
"He establishes a fundamental link between thinkers of extraordinary complexity and variety who were notoriously reluctant to engage one another explicitly, while demonstrating a command of the relevant literature that will earn him the praise and the gratitude of all readers."—History and Theory
"Learned, up-to-date, thoughtful, and clearly written, the book provides a comprehensive history of Western Marxism from Georg Lukács to the present...reliable and insightful accounts of all the major figures who contributed to the remarkable reshaping of Marxist thinking."—American Historical Review
"Especially effective in bringing out the excitement of totalization as it operated in the early works of Luckács and his contemporaries."—New German Critique
Totality has been an abiding concern from the first generation of Western Marxists, most notably Lukács, Korsch, Gramsci, and Bloch, through the second, exemplified by the Frankfurt School, Lefebvre, Goldmann, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, and Della Volpe, up to the most recent, typified by Althusser, Colletti, and Habermas. Yet no consensus has been reached concerning the term's multiple meanings—expressive, decentered, longitudinal, latitudinal, normative—or its implications for other theoretical and practical matters. By closely following the adventures of this troublesome but central concept, Marxism & Totality offers an unconventional account of the history of Western Marxism.