Lenin, Hegel, and Western Marxism: A Critical Study

(Paperback)

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Still the only full-length study of the achievements and limitations of Lenin's extensive writings on Hegel, Hegel, Lenin, and Western Marxism has become a minor classic. In a full critical account, Anderson's book connects Lenin's 'dialectics' to his renowned writings on imperialism, anti-colonial movements, and the state. From there Anderson takes up the extensive debates over Lenin's engagement with Hegel among Marxists as wide ranging as Georg Lukacs, Henri Lefebvre, C.L.R. James, Raya Dunayevskaya, Lucio Colletti, and Louis Althusser.

This updated and expanded edition also includes a comprehensive new introduction by the author, assessing Lenin's relevance for today's world.

Reviews

"Anderson shows that Lenin, despite his critical attitude toward nationalism, had been the first major political theorist to grasp the significance of national liberation movements." Terry Eagleton, author of Criticism and Ideology "This book brings to life a new and unexpected Lenin, poles apart from both wooden 'Marxist-Leninism' and dismissive Western scholarship" Michael Lwy, author of Ecosocialism "With impressive argumentation and wide-ranging scholarship, Anderson presents us with a Lenin that no one seriously interested in current debates over the relevance of Marxist theory to socialist practice can afford to miss." Bertell Ollman, author of Dialectical Investigations "An important contribution to grasping the conceptual roots of Marxist theory and practice." Tom Rockmore, author of Hegel's Circular Epistomology "Today Lenin looks like he did little more than prepare the way for Stalin. You will find the opposite view in this novel study ... I recommend the book to anyone seriously interested in Russia and revolution." George Uri Fischer, author of The Soviet System and Modern Society

Author Bio

Kevin B. Anderson is Distinguished Professor of Sociology, with affiliations to Political Science and Feminist Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author or editor of eleven books, including Marx at the Margins.