Here are two recently published books in our Marx, Engels, Marxisms series:
Siegfried Kracauer, or, The Allegories of Improvisations: Critical Studies, by Miguel Vedda –
This book analyses multiple facets of Kracauer’s work, comprehending the essayistic, narrative, philosophical, theoretical and critical writings, and putting special emphasis on some aspects: the phenomenology of metropolis, the theory of historiographic method, the reflections on the crisis of the subject and the emergence of a new subjectivity, the new forms of perception and aesthetic behaviour in late capitalism, the function of critic-intellectuals, the sociology of the middle classes, the theory of fascism, the aesthetical and sociological reflections on literary genres, the politicization of melancholy. An original feature of this book is the attention it pays to the links between Kracauer’s theoretical and critical writings and the traditions of heterodox Marxism, against a habitual tendency to obliterate the political (and emancipatory) dimension in the German author. For more, see the webpage of the book here.
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar and the Question of Socialism in India, by V. Geetha –
This book offers a reading of Bhimrao Ambedkar’s engagement with the idea and practice of socialism in India by linking it to his lifelong political and philosophical concerns: the annihilation of the caste system, untouchability and the moral and philosophical systems that justify either. Rather than view his ideas through a socialist lens, the author suggests that it is important to measure the validity of socialist thought and practice in the Indian context, through his critique of the social totality. The book argues its case by presenting a broad and connected overview of his thought world and the global and local influences that shaped it. The themes that are taken up for discussion include: his understanding of the colonial rule and the colonial state; history and progress; nationalism and the questions he posed the socialists; his radical critique of the caste system and Brahmancal philosophies, and his unusual interpretation of Buddhism. For more, see the webpage of the book here.
Selected Writings of Jean Jaurès: On Socialism, Pacifism and Marxism, edited by Jean-Numa Ducange and Elisa Marcobelli –
This book is an anthology of the writings of Jean Jaurès, a central figure of French socialism in the period leading up to World War I. Born in 1859, and killed in 1914 just a few days before the outbreak of the conflict, Jaurès remains one of the most celebrated politicians in France. His writings in this anthology touch on the subjects most dear to him, which were also some of the great political themes of his time. In this book are writings on war and pacifism, on colonialism and anti-colonialism, and on the central themes of socialism of this era, such as reformism and revolution. Despite Jaurès’s notoriety in France, he is not well known abroad. This book, a corpus of his emblematic writings, aims to make Jaurès known to readers outside France unfamiliar with his work. For more, see the webpage of the book here.
Frontier Socialism Self-Organisation and Anti-Capitalism, by Monica Quirico and Gianfranco Ragona –
Considering the history of workers’ and socialist movements in Europe, Frontier Socialism focuses on unconventional forms of anti-capitalist thought, particularly by examining several militant-intellectuals whose legacy is of particular interest for those aiming for a radical critique of capitalism. Following on the work of Michael Löwy, Quirico & Ragona identify relationships of “elective affinity” between figures who might appear different and dissimilar, at least at first glance: the German Anarchist Gustav Landauer, the Bolshevik Alexandra Kollontai, the German communist Paul Mattick, the Italian Socialist Raniero Panzieri, the Greek-born French euro-communist Nikos Poulantzas, the German-born Swedish Social Democrat Rudolf Meidner, and the French social scientist Alain Bihr as well as two historical struggle experiences, the Spanish Republic and the Italian revolutionary group “Lotta continua”. Frontier Socialism then analyzes these thinkers’ and experiences’ respective paths to socialism based on and achieved through self-organization and self-government, not to build a new tradition but to suggest a path forward for both research and political activism. For more, see the webpage of the book here.