Why Marx Was Right
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3.8 • 6 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
One of the foremost Marxist critics of his generation forcefully argues against Marx's irrelevancy
"Reading a book by Terry Eagleton is like watching fireworks."—Dennis O'Brien, Christian Century
"[Eagleton is] a witty, insightful thinker with a penchant for glib asides and wry dashes of humor. It’s probably the only book that makes references to Tiger Woods and Mel Gibson along with Charles Fourier and Michel Foucault."—Michael Patrick Brady, PopMatters
In this combative, controversial book, Terry Eagleton takes issue with the prejudice that Marxism is dead and done with. Taking ten of the most common objections to Marxism—that it leads to political tyranny, that it reduces everything to the economic, that it is a form of historical determinism, and so on—he demonstrates in each case what a woeful travesty of Marx's own thought these assumptions are. In a world in which capitalism has been shaken to its roots by some major crises, Why Marx Was Right is as urgent and timely as it is brave and candid. Written with Eagleton's familiar wit, humor, and clarity, it will attract an audience far beyond the confines of academia.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A lively defense of Karl Marx's ideas attempts to reassert their relevancy for a world in the throes of global financial instability. Taking issue with what he sees as the 10 most common criticisms of Marxism, literary and cultural theorist Eagleton (The Illusions of Postmodernism) offers a richer, more complex and nuanced picture of the father of modern socialism. Examining such charges as socialism's na ve utopianism or that its view of history is too rigidly deterministic, he offers a view of Marxism that does not so much oppose it to capitalism as seek to complicate and enrich their relationship, so the former might come to be seen as the most logical and reasonable response to the failings of the latter. Throughout, the author is witty, entertaining, and incisive, cutting through the thickets of Marx's work to expose a body of thought devoted to emancipation, welfare, and human flourishing. Though he perhaps tries too hard toward the end to provide a foundational connection between Marxism and contemporary environmental concerns, Eagleton fluidly demonstrates the value of reappraising Marx in the current climate, offering a timely reminder that, despite the dominance of the free market, history is an ongoing process and that people still have the power to bend it toward justice.
