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The Power of Negativity: Selected Writings on the Dialectic in Hegel and Marx by Raya Dunayevskaya

Edited by Peter Hudis and Kevin B. Anderson

Published by Lexington Books

Raya Dunayevskaya is hailed as the founder of Marxist-Humanism in the United States. In this new collection of her essays co-editors Peter Hudis and Kevin B. Anderson have crafted a work in which the true power and originality of Dunayevskaya's ideas are displayed. This extensive collection of writings on Hegel, Marx, and dialectics captures Dunayevskaya's central dictum that, contrary to the established views of Hegelians and Marxists, Hegel was of signal importance to the theory and practice of Marxism. The Power of Negativity sheds light not only on Marxist-Humanism and the rooting of Dunayevskaya's Marxist-Humanist theories in Hegel, but also on the life of one of America's most penetrating and provocative critical thinkers.

Contents...

Introduction: "Raya Dunayevskaya's Concept of Dialectics" by Peter Hudis and Kevin B. Anderson

Part 1: The Philosophic Moment of Marxist-Humanism

Part 2: Studies in Hegelian 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

Reviews for The Power of Negativity

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 Dunayevskay'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, University of California, Los Angeles

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

[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

With the writings of Raya Dunaveyskaya, 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. Dunaveyskaya 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, University of California, Los Angeles

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. —Adrienne Rich, on the introduction