Olivier Besancenot

A sweeping history of revolutionary struggle and unbreakable alliances, Revolutionary Affinities takes readers from the Paris Commune to the Occupy movement, and through the heart of bloody fratricidal struggles to paint a vivid picture of the greatest anarchist and Marxist figures who dared to join forces, from Louise Michel to Subcomandante Marcos, from Emma Goldman to Walter Benjamin. With the urgent need for a unified front against the far right, there has never been a better time for this inspiring story.Authors Olivier Besancenot and Michael L wy, two of the foremost voices in the French anti-authoritarian radical left, explore the promises--and challenges--of developing a fully sustainable, libertarian Marxist society by examining questions of political organization, economic policy, radical ecology, and more. Strikingly accessible, brilliantly illuminating, Besancenot and L wy have given readers more than a history book, they've created a road map for the future.

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 Leó Frankel, Eugène Varlin, Charles Longuet, Elisabeth Dmitrieff, and Louise Michel, eventually returning to England with a profoundly changed sense of political possibility.

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.

"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.