''Counterrevolution and Revolt'' is a 1972 book by the philosopher

Herbert Marcuse Herbert Marcuse (; ; July 19, 1898 – July 29, 1979) was a German-American philosopher, social critic, and political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory. Born in Berlin, Marcuse studied at the Humboldt University ...

Summary

Marcuse writes that the western world has reached a new stage of development, in which "the defense of the capitalist system requires the organization of counterrevolution at home and abroad." He accuses the west of "practicing the horrors of the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

regime", and of helping to launch massacres in

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, the Congo,

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, and the Sudan. He discusses the problems of the

New Left The New Left was a broad political movement mainly in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists in the Western world who campaigned for a broad range of social issues such as civil and political rights, environmentalism, feminism, gay rights, g ...

, as well as other topics such as the political role of

social ecology Social ecology may refer to: * Social ecology (academic field), the study of relationships between people and their environment, often the interdependence of people, collectives and institutions * Social ecology (Bookchin), a theory about the relat ...

. Citing author

Murray Bookchin Murray Bookchin (January 14, 1921 – July 30, 2006) was an American social theorist, author, orator, historian, and political philosopher. A pioneer in the environmental movement, Bookchin formulated and developed the theory of social ec ...

's ''

Post-Scarcity Anarchism ''Post-Scarcity Anarchism'' is a collection of essays by Murray Bookchin, first published in 1971 by Ramparts Press. In it, Bookchin outlines the possible form anarchism might take under conditions of post-scarcity. One of Bookchin's major works ...

'' (1971), Marcuse argues that ecology must be taken "to the point where it is no longer containable within the capitalist framework" by "extending the drive ''within'' the capitalist framework." Marcuse offers a discussion of the role of nature in Marxist philosophy informed by philosopher Alfred Schmidt's ''

The Concept of Nature in Marx ''The Concept of Nature in Marx'' (german: Der Begriff der Natur in der Lehre von Marx) is a 1962 book by the philosopher Alfred Schmidt. First published in English in 1971, it is a classic account of Karl Marx's ideas about nature. Summary T ...

'' (1962). Marcuse also offers a discussion of art, including literature and music, in relation to revolution. He cites

Arthur Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( , ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the prod ...

's observation, in ''

The World as Will and Representation ''The World as Will and Representation'' (''WWR''; german: Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung, ''WWV''), sometimes translated as ''The World as Will and Idea'', is the central work of the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. The first edition ...

'' (1818), that music "gives the innermost kernel preceding all form, or the heart of things".

Publication history

''Counterrevolution and Revolt'' was first published by

Beacon Press Beacon Press is an American left-wing non-profit book publisher. Founded in 1854 by the American Unitarian Association, it is currently a department of the Unitarian Universalist Association. It is known for publishing authors such as James B ...

in 1972.

Reception

''Counterrevolution and Revolt'' was reviewed by the gay rights activist

Jearld Moldenhauer Jearld Frederick Moldenhauer was born in Niagara Falls, New York on August 9, 1946. He has been a gay activist from his college years onward, and was the founder of the Cornell Student Homophile League, the University of Toronto Homophile Associa ...

in ''

The Body Politic ''The Body Politic'' was a Canadian monthly magazine, which was published from 1971 to 1987.

''. Moldenhauer suggested that Marcuse found the gay liberation movement insignificant, and criticized Marcuse for ignoring it even though "many gay activists" had been influenced by his earlier book ''

Eros and Civilization ''Eros and Civilization: A Philosophical Inquiry into Freud'' (1955; second edition, 1966) is a book by the German philosopher and social critic Herbert Marcuse, in which the author proposes a non-repressive society, attempts a synthesis of the t ...

'' (1955). In ''

Theory & Society ''Theory & Society'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering theoretical analyses of social processes and phenomena. It was established by Alvin Gouldner in 1974. It is published by Springer Science+Business Media and the editor-in ...

'', the intellectual historian

Martin Jay Martin Evan Jay (born May 4, 1944) is an American intellectual historian whose research interests connected history with the critical theory of the Frankfurt School, social theory, cultural criticism, and historiography. He is currently the Sid ...

called ''Counterrevolution and Revolt'' one of Marcuse's "major works". He suggested that Marcuse's comments about art reveal his indebtedness to

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

. Brian Easlea described Marcuse's view that "Marx's notion of a human appropriation of nature is not altogether free from the hubris of domination" as courageous. He wrote that Marcuse "explicitly adds to his decades of social analysis a dimension that had always been implicit: the male-female relation", and that Marcuse's "condemnation of the established science and call for a new science would appear to be a condemnation of 'male' science and a call for a new 'female' science." The philosopher Charles Crittenden considered Marcuse's advocacy of "working for change within the system" to be a retreat from his advocacy, in previous works such as ''

An Essay on Liberation ''An Essay on Liberation'' is a 1969 book by the Frankfurt School The Frankfurt School (german: Frankfurter Schule) is a school of social theory and critical philosophy associated with the Institute for Social Research, at Goethe University ...

'' (1969), of revolutionary violence and confrontation as ways of achieving social transformation. Andrew Light compared Marcuse's views to those of Murray Bookchin.

References

Bibliography

;Books * * * * ;Journals * * 1972 non-fiction books American non-fiction books Beacon Press books Books about the New Left English-language books Political books Sociology books Works by Herbert Marcuse {{polisci-book-stub