Marx's Theory of Alienation

As we face a globalised world of imperialist chaos this book reminds us that Marx's theory of alienation is the only one which can help people make sense of what is going on. Marx understood completely and dialectically that humanity is both a part of nature and also the historically unfolding self creativity of nature. But Marx was able to brilliantly distinguish between what is a characteristic of humanity as a productive species and what is specific to capitalism as a particular form of production. All those who seek to reduce capitalism to a generalised "production" and capital to "tools" etc. are apologists for capitalism who want to convince us that capitalism is only "human nature". Meszaros illuminates the difference between these "primary" and "second order" mediations of human history. Marx had no time for vapid psychobabble, of course, but he had a vision of non-alienated humanity drawn from classical notions of "homo universale" - the many sided, socially integrated and freely self determining individual free from bondage to alienating entities like state, class and race and their associated legacies of war and destruction. Marx, of course, recognised before anyone else the globalising attributes of capitalism - "the prices of its commodities are the heavy artillery with which it batters down all Chinese walls" - and it can truly be stated that only now, with the disappearance of Stalinism and the global dominance of capitalism, does Marx's critique of capitalism attain its true validity and truth.

A remarkable book and an absolute must for anyone wanting to understand Marx rather than marxism. The downside is that it is not a digital presentation i.e. no meaningful index.