Raya Dunayevskaya is one of the twentieth century's great but underappreciated Marxist and feminist thinkers. Her unique philosophy and practice of Marxist-Humanism-as well as her grasp of Hegelian dialectics and the deep humanism that informs Marx's thought-has much to teach us today. From her account of state capitalism (part of her socio-economic critique of Stalinism, fascism, and the welfare state), to her writings on Rosa Luxemburg, Black and women's liberation, and labor, we are offered indispensable resources for navigating the perils of sexism, racism, capitalism, and authoritarianism. This collection of essays, from a diverse group of writers, brings to life Dunayevskaya's important contributions. Revisiting her rich legacy, the contributors to this volume engage with her resolute Marxist-Humanist focus and her penetrating dialectics of liberation that is connected to Black, labor, and women's liberation and to struggles over alienation and exploitation the world over. Dunayevskaya's Marxist-Humanism is recovered for the twenty-first century and turned, as it was with Dunayevskaya herself, to face the multiple alienations and de-humanizations of social life.
Raya Dunayevskaya is one of the twentieth century's great but underappreciated Marxist and feminist thinkers. She developed a unique philosophy and practice of Marxist-Humanism, as well as an original reading of Hegelian dialectics and the deep humanism that informs Marx's thought. From these contributions, along with her writings on Rosa Luxemburg, and on Black and women's liberation, we are offered an indispensable resource for navigating the struggles of today. In this first-ever collection of essays on Dunayevskaya, a diverse group of writers revisits her rich legacy and brings to life her most important ideas.
Kevin B. Anderson is Professor of Sociology, Political Science and Feminist Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.
Kieran Durkin is Marie Sklodowska-Curie Global Fellow at University of York, UK.
Heather A. Brown is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Westfield State University, USA.