Part 1 The Philosophic Moment of Marxist-Humanism Part 2 Studies in Hegalian and Marxian Dialectics, 1956-63 Part 3 Theory and Practice at a Turning Point, 1964-71 Part 4 After Philosophy and Revolution: Hegel's Absolutes and Marx's Humanism, 1972-81 Part 5 The Changed World and the Need for Philosophic New Beginnings, 1982-87
Peter Hudis is a Chicago-based independent scholar. He is the author of Harry McShane and the Scottish Roots of Marxist-Humanism (1995). Kevin B. Anderson is Professor of Sociology at Northern Illinois University. He is author of Lenin, Hegel, and Western Marxim: A Critical Study (1995).
Dunayevskaya's brusque, unpretentious, and exclamatory epistolary
style is exhilarating.
*Radical Philosophy*
Dunayevskaya writes, particularly in the letters and talks, like a
person "drunk" on Hegel. But rather than causing her to lose
control, this drunkeness is a measure of her intellectual
excitement, an infectious one that gets transferred to her readers.
She is especially good in linking Hegel, Marx, and Lenin. Her
varied attempts to explain the importance of Hegel's absolute idea
and theory of negation for the traditions that followed, but also
for the hoped-for revolution, are as clear and convincing as any I
've seen from her pen. It's a truly impressive display, and one
that will delight as well as instruct most readers.
*Bertell Ollman, New York University*
With the writings of Raya Dunayevskaya, the continent of
revolutionary thought underwent a seismic shift, the
world-historical reverberations of which we are still feeling today
and which continue to grow stronger in this new millennium as the
crisis of world capitalism intensifies. Dunayevskaya is one of the
great revolutionary thinkers of the last century and her work on
the dialectics of philosophy is unsurpassed in the development of
Marxist humanism. Expertly edited by Peter Hudis and Kevin B.
Anderson, this volume is destined to become a classic. History
bequeathes us few gifts, and it is up to the present generation of
revolutionaries to take advantage of this opportunity to engage
with Dunaveyskaya's most important ideas, condensed in this
exceptional edited edition.
*Peter McLaren, Honorary Chair Professor and Director of the Center
for Critical Studies, Northeast Normal University, China*
Brilliant theorist, committed activist, and passionate scholar,
Raya Dunayevskaya was a role-model for my generation. We are
fortunate to have her back in this wonderfully edited work that
conveys the excitement of a time when, for Raya and her
interlocutors (C.L.R James and Herbert Marcuse among others),
philosophy and the struggle against social injustice were two sides
of the same urgent endeavor. Her understanding of dialectics as a
method whereby each generation has to discover its own
revolutionary task, her insistence that Marxism means humanism in
the most inclusive sense and that socialism means the social
actualization of individual freedom — these are ideas that appear
young and fresh against the weary and sophistic pessimism that
dominates much theory in the academy today. And more: in contrast
to the boring pap of commodified culture and political sound bites,
Raya's interpretation makes the logic of Hegel's absolute idea a
fascinating and compelling read.
*Susan Buck-Morss, Cornell University*
As we enter a new millennium, critical and dialectical thinking is
more important than ever in charting the vicissitudes of capital
and political struggle. Raya Dunayevskaya's writings on Hegelian
and Marxian dialectics are highly insightful and relevant to the
theory and politics of the contemporary moment. Thus Peter Hudis
and Kevin B. Anderson's collection of some of her most important
writings provide access to a valuable theoretical and political
legacy.
*Douglas Kellner, UCLA; author of Media Culture and Media Spectacle
and the Crisis of Democracy*
The Power of Negativity provides material for a unique exegetical
experience.
Overall, this collection offers a very unusual and stimulating
reading of Hegel's philosophy that while on the one hand may appear
out of date, on the other should encourage us to approach the
problems of our contemporary world in a new light, namely, with a
fresher look at Hegel.
*Hegel-Studien, September 2009*
[This book] is the portrait of an exceptional mind at work, and a
treasure trove of insights and provocative ideas. The matters
Dunayevskaya brought forward remain of supreme historical
importance. The editors have made this a labor of love, with
fastidious footnoting, intertextual referencing, and a superb
introduction. Dunayevskaya's courage and vitality shine through and
through.
*Joel Kovel, Bard College*
The introduction by Peter Hudis and Kevin Anderson is a fine
essay—so lucid and explicit yet sacrificing no complexity. It
should be accessible to a range of people—students, or people
recently stimulated to think about the nature of capitalism and the
requirements of a different society, as well as longtime socialists
who need the "placing" of Raya's thought as it's provided here.
*On The Introduction*
Dunayevskaya is a unique thinker for the twentieth century. She
combines an involvement in freedom struggles with a very dep
commitment to philosophical ideas and exploration. . . For those
who have never read Dunayevskaya, this volume provides an excellent
introduction. For those who have read her work, this is a volume
that presents her total thought as a process.
*Review of Metaphysics*
A thorough, clear, and accessible introduction, written by Peter
Hudis and Kevin B. Anderson, explores the relationship of the
dialectic to the nature of the present moment and the reationship
of Dunayevskaya's work to contemporary issues in dialectical
philosophy. . . This book makes a contribution to the clarification
of theoretical issues that are central to the problem of
transforming reality.
*Capital & Class*
Dunayevshaya..adds that the historic movement's reach for that
solidarity in the human community needs to be met with a projection
of Hegel's dialectic in relations to our own time's spirit.
*Clio: A Journal of Literature, History, and the Philosophy of
History*
For those already acquainted with Raya Dunayevskaya through one or
more of her works, it provides fascinating background on the
development of her thought.
*Studies In Marxism*
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