Articles tagged “Dunayevskaya; Raya”

It is not enough to follow the negative rejections of vanguardism made by Pannekoek, CLR James and Castoriadis, which are defined by what they critique in such a way as to never figure out how to present organizational responsibility for philosophy as the critical mediation.

Die Schriften Raya Dunayevskayas, einer Schlüsselfigur des marxistischen Humanismus in den USA, skizzieren eine Philosophie der Befreiung, die dem modischen Abgesang auf die Dialektik ebenso entgegensteht wie einem Verharren in reiner Negativität. Gemäß Lenins Diktum, dass ein kluger Idealismus dem klugen Materialismus näher stehe als ein dummer Materialismus, unternimmt Dunayevskaya eine Hegel-Lektüre, die Subjekt, Praxis und Freiheit ins Zentrum rückt. Ebenso entschieden richtet sie Marx’ Philosophie der Revolution nicht nur gegen den östlichen Staatskapitalismus, sondern auch gegen Theoretiker des “Westlichen Marxismus” wie Georg Lukács, Karl Korsch oder Theodor W. Adorno – gestützt auf die Überzeugung, dass keine Philosophie ihren Namen verdient, die nicht die “Stimmen von unten” in sich aufnimmt. Was Dunayevskayas Denken von akademischer Selbstgenügsamkeit abhebt, ist nicht zuletzt diese Orientierung an den Kämpfen ihrer Zeit – von den wilden Streiks in den USA über den ungarischen Aufstand 1956 bis zur neuen Frauenbewegung in den siebziger Jahren.

An exploration of Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit 200 years after its publication, with particular attention to Dunayevskaya’s interpretation of Hegel’s absolute knowing as a new beginning rather than a closed totality — Editors

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Erich Fromm’s work is unfortunately neglected in academia today, in no small part because his expansive humanism is out of joint with many forms of radical thought popular in those quarters. In addition, university psychology and psychiatry departments have almost completely excluded Freudians or psychoanalysts of any kind, which leaves no room for Fromm there either. Among the larger educated public in the U.S. and Germany, however, Fromm continues to be read widely, as can be seen in sales of his work. Many assign his writings in college and even high school courses. I have used his Escape from Freedom (1941) for years as a main text in an introduction to sociology course. Students, whose response has been very favorable, encounter therein a clear and engaging introduction to social theory (Marx, Weber, and Freud), to the transition from feudalism to capitalism in Europe, to the anatomy of fascism and authoritarianism, and to a critique of the atomization of modern capitalist civilization and its culture industry.

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An examination of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution fifty years later, focusing on the creativity of its workers councils, the differing responses to the revolution at the time by C.L.R. James and Raya Dunayevskaya, and the relationship of these to what can be done to overcome today’s crisis in developing an alternative to capitalism. — Editors

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Back-and-forth over Arthur’s review, which challenged Dunayevskaya’s reading of Hegel, especially her discussion the concept of absolute negativity as ground for revolutionary dialectics today.

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A review of John McClendon, C.L.R. James’s Notes on Dialectics: Left Hegelianism or Marxism-Leninism? Originally appeared in Socialism and Democracy, July 2005 – Editors

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The future of an ecological critique of existing society, if not the existence of society itself, depends upon halting capital’s relentless drive for self-expansion. A Marxist-Humanist approach to the ecological crisis rejects the view that capital can be controlled by the state AND the view that civilization and/or economic development must be jettisoned in the name of ecological diversity — Editors

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An examination of the work that contains Marx’s most detailed discussion of a non-capitalist society, his 1875 Critique of the Gotha Program, this presentation focuses on the differences between the lower and the higher phases of communism in that work.  Issues such as directly vs. indirectly social labor, and the factors that must exist before it is possible to reach “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need” are discussed.  Originally presented as part of a Marxist-Humanist class series entitled “Beyond Capitalism,” Chicago – Editors

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Capital’s drive for self-expansion is the foundation of the ecological crisis, this vs. those, even on left, who believe that capital can be controlled.  Even revolutionary Marxist thinkers like Istvan Meszaros believe that capital can be controlled, holding to the notion that the post-capitalist society would not end the wages system.  Nor do neo-primitivist ecologists offer a viable solution, since they evade the question of achieving industrial and economic development in a non-capitalist manner. Originally read (in the author’s absence) at Workshop on “Ecology and the Future Society,”  Nagpur, India, January 15-16, 2005      — Editors

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