Michael Löwy

Revolutionary critic of the philosophy of progress, nostalgic of the past yet dreaming of the future, romantic partisan of materialism - Walter Benjamin is in every sense of the word an "unclassifiable" philosopher. His essay "On the Concept of History" was written in a state of urgency, as he attempted to escape the Gestapo in 1940, before finally committing suicide. In this scrupulous, clear and fascinating examination of this essay, Michael Löwy argues that it remains one of the most important philosophical and political writings of the twentieth century. Looking in detail at Benjamin's celebrated but often mysterious text, and restoring the philosophical, theological and political context, Löwy highlights the complex relationship between redemption and revolution in Benjamin's philosophy of history.

Franz Kafka: Subversive Dreamer is an attempt to identify and properly contextualize the social critique in Kafka’s biography and work that links father-son antagonisms, heterodox Jewish religious thinking, and anti-authoritarian or anarchist protest against the rising power of bureaucratic modernity. The book proceeds chronologically, starting with biographical facts often neglected or denied relating to Kafka’s relations with the Anarchist circles in Prague, followed by an analysis of the three great unfinished novels—Amerika, The Trial, The Castle—as well as some of his most important short stories. Fragments, parables, correspondence, and his diaries are also used in order to better understand the major literary works. Löwy’s book grapples with the critical and subversive dimension of Kafka’s writings, which is often hidden or masked by the fabulistic character of the work. Löwy’s reading has already generated controversy because of its distance from the usual canon of literary criticism about the Prague writer, but the book has been well received in its original French edition and has been translated into Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, and Turkish.

Ecosocialists believe that the prevention of an unprecedented ecological catastrophe and the preservation of a natural environment favourable to human life are incompatible with the expansive and destructive logic of the capitalist system. In Ecosocialism, Michael Lowy, Research Director at Paris' National Centre for Scientific Research, explores some of the main ecosocialist proposals and concrete experiences of struggle, particularly in Latin America.

This collection of essays - including several translated to english for the first time - cover a wide range of topics and figures too often neglected by the dominant trends in Marxist literature. With a particular focus on the important role played by Romanticism in Marxist thought, topics include religion, Utopia, Rosa Luxemburg and Walter Benjamin.

Drawing on the prescient insights of Leon Trotsky, Michael Lêwy shows how modern economic development across continents can only be understood as a process of ferocious change, in which social formations fuse, come into tension and collide. The resulting ruptures make it possible for the oppressed and exploited to change the world. Author Michael Lêwy is the author of many books, including The Theory of Revolution in the Young Marx (Haymarket).

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.

"Deep inside that T-shirt where we have tried to trap him," notes the celebrated Chilean novelist Ariel Dorfman, "the eyes of Che Guevara are still burning with impatience." Olivier Besancenot and Michael Loewy deftly capture this burning impatience, revealing Guevara as a powerful political and ethical thinker still capable of speaking directly to the challenges of our time.In this masterful new study, Besancenot and Loewy 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 Loewy 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 Loewy also explore Guevara's pragmatic approach to the question of state power and unique theoretical contributions to the question of the transition to socialism.In Guevara, Besancenot and Loewy find a life that was lived as an example of revolutionary potential. Guevara's ethical and political sensibilities, unwavering anti-imperialism, and firm commitment to revolutionary social transformation still ignite hope in all who struggle for a better world.

"Deep inside that T-shirt where we have tried to trap him," notes the celebrated Chilean novelist Ariel Dorfman, "the eyes of Che Guevara are still burning with impatience." Olivier Besancenot and Michael Loewy deftly capture this burning impatience, revealing Guevara as a powerful political and ethical thinker still capable of speaking directly to the challenges of our time.In this masterful new study, Besancenot and Loewy 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 Loewy 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 Loewy also explore Guevara's pragmatic approach to the question of state power and unique theoretical contributions to the question of the transition to socialism.In Guevara, Besancenot and Loewy find a life that was lived as an example of revolutionary potential. Guevara's ethical and political sensibilities, unwavering anti-imperialism, and firm commitment to revolutionary social transformation still ignite hope in all who struggle for a better world.

In this seminal exploration of Che Guevara's contributions to Marxist thinking, Michael Löwy traces Che's ideas about Marxism both as they related to Latin America and to more general philosophical, political, and economic issues. Now revised and updated, this edition includes a chapter on Guevara's search for a new paradigm of socialism and a substantive essay by Peter McLaren on Che's continued relevance today. Löwy portrays Guevara as a revolutionary humanist who considered all political questions from an internationalist viewpoint. For him, revolutionary movements in Latin America were part of a world process of emancipation. Löwy considers especially Che's views on the contradiction between socialist planning and the law of value in the Cuban economy and his search for an alternative road to the "actually existing socialism" of the Stalinist and post-Stalinist Soviet bloc. Che's varied occupations—doctor and economist, revolutionary and banker, agitator and ambassador, industrial organizer and guerrilla fighter—were expressions of a deep commitment to social change. This book eloquently captures his views on humanity, his contributions to the theory of revolutionary warfare, and his ideas about society's transition to socialism, offering a cohesive, nuanced introduction to the range of Guevara's thought.

In this seminal exploration of Che Guevara's contributions to Marxist thinking, Michael Löwy traces Che's ideas about Marxism both as they related to Latin America and to more general philosophical, political, and economic issues. Now revised and updated, this edition includes a chapter on Guevara's search for a new paradigm of socialism and a substantive essay by Peter McLaren on Che's continued relevance today. Löwy portrays Guevara as a revolutionary humanist who considered all political questions from an internationalist viewpoint. For him, revolutionary movements in Latin America were part of a world process of emancipation. Löwy considers especially Che's views on the contradiction between socialist planning and the law of value in the Cuban economy and his search for an alternative road to the "actually existing socialism" of the Stalinist and post-Stalinist Soviet bloc. Che's varied occupations—doctor and economist, revolutionary and banker, agitator and ambassador, industrial organizer and guerrilla fighter—were expressions of a deep commitment to social change. This book eloquently captures his views on humanity, his contributions to the theory of revolutionary warfare, and his ideas about society's transition to socialism, offering a cohesive, nuanced introduction to the range of Guevara's thought.

In the 1840s, the young journalist Karl Marx developed ideas about modern society that remain as relevant today as when they were first developed. Here, Lowy shows the lasting force of Marx's early writings on alienation and emancipation. This book is brilliant, incisive, honest and deserves to be read with attention. It is an important event in Marxist theoretical production.' - Politique Hebdo'

Romanticism is a worldview that finds expression over a whole range of cultural fields-not only in literature and art but in philosophy, theology, political theory, and social movements. In Romanticism Against the Tide of Modernity Michael LÖwy and Robert Sayre formulate a theory that defines romanticism as a cultural protest against modern bourgeois industrial civilization and work to reveal the unity that underlies the extraordinary diversity of romanticism from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century. After critiquing previous conceptions of romanticism and discussing its first European manifestations, LÖwy and Sayre propose a typology of the sociopolitical positions held by romantic writers-from “restitutionist” to various revolutionary/utopian forms. In subsequent chapters, they give extended treatment to writers as diverse as Coleridge and Ruskin, Charles Peguy, Ernst Bloch and Christa Wolf. Among other topics, they discuss the complex relationship between Marxism and romanticism before closing with a reflection on more contemporary manifestations of romanticism (for example, surrealism, the events of May 1968, and the ecological movement) as well as its future.Students and scholars of literature, humanities, social sciences, and cultural studies will be interested in this elegant and thoroughly original book.

Romanticism is a worldview that finds expression over a whole range of cultural fields-not only in literature and art but in philosophy, theology, political theory, and social movements. In Romanticism Against the Tide of Modernity Michael LÖwy and Robert Sayre formulate a theory that defines romanticism as a cultural protest against modern bourgeois industrial civilization and work to reveal the unity that underlies the extraordinary diversity of romanticism from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century. After critiquing previous conceptions of romanticism and discussing its first European manifestations, LÖwy and Sayre propose a typology of the sociopolitical positions held by romantic writers-from “restitutionist” to various revolutionary/utopian forms. In subsequent chapters, they give extended treatment to writers as diverse as Coleridge and Ruskin, Charles Peguy, Ernst Bloch and Christa Wolf. Among other topics, they discuss the complex relationship between Marxism and romanticism before closing with a reflection on more contemporary manifestations of romanticism (for example, surrealism, the events of May 1968, and the ecological movement) as well as its future.Students and scholars of literature, humanities, social sciences, and cultural studies will be interested in this elegant and thoroughly original book.

The War of Gods traces the intimate relationship between religion, politics and social issues in Latin America over the last three decades, as liberation theology has reinterpreted the vocation of the Catholic Church and as Protestantism has made inroads on traditional Catholic strongholds.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. Many of the most momentous events in the continent's recent history-the Nicaraguan revolution, the development of the PT (Workers' Party) in Brazil, the tortuous ascent of President Aristide in Haiti and the uprising in Chiapas-have borne witness to the influence of a distinctive liberationist Christianity. Michael Löwy proposes here a new interpretation-inspired by the sociology of culture-both of liberation theology and of the rival religious projects in Latin America.

Den franske historikern Löwy ger här ett fascinerande politiskt och psykologiskt porträtt av Lukács. Titeln står för tre skilda faser i Lukács' utveckling: 1910-talets pessimistiska kulturkritik; revolutionsårens förhoppningsfulla optimism; samt slutligen det realpolitiska accepterandet av den stalinistiska verkligheten.