Herbert Marcuse: a critical reader

"The Legacy of Herbert Marcuse: A Critical Reader" is a collection of papers by 17 Marcuse scholars, which provides a comprehensive reassessment of the relevance of Marcuse's critical theory at the beginning of the 21st century. Although best known for his reputation in critical theory, Herbert Marcuse's work has had impact on areas as diverse as politics, technology, aesthetics, psychoanalysis and ecology. This collection addresses the contemporary relevance of Marcuse's work in this broad variety of fields and from an international perspective. In part one, veteran scholars of Marcuse and the Frankfurt School examine the legacy of various specific areas of Marcuse's thought, including the quest for radical subjectivity, the maternal ethic and the negative dialectics of imagination. Part two focuses on a very new trend in Marcuse scholarship: the link between Marcuse's ideas and environmental thought. The third part of this collection is dedicated to the work of younger Marcuse scholars, with the aim of documenting Marcuse's reception among the next generation of critical theorists.

The final section of the book contains recollections on Marcuse's person rather than his critical theory, including an informative look back over his life by his son, Peter. Contributors to this volume are: Angela Davis, Detlev Claussen, Andrew Feenberg, Douglas Kellner, John O'Neill, Gerard Rautlet, Richard Wolin, Andrew Light, Tim Luke, Steven Vogel, John Abromeit, Stephan Bundschuh, Mark Cobb, Samir Gandesha, Michal Werz, Peter Marcuse and Carl Shorske.

Marcuse's legacies / Angela Davis -- The American experience of the critical theorists / Detlev Claussen -- Heidegger and Marcuse : the catastrophe and redemption of technology / Andrew Feenberg -- Marcuse and the quest for radical subjectivity / Douglas Kellner -- Marcuse's maternal ethic / John O'Neill -- Marcuse's negative dialectics of imagination / Gérard Raulet -- Herbert Marcuse's critical encounter with Martin Heidegger, 1927- / John Abromeit -- The theoretical place of Utopia : some remarks on Marcuse's dual anthropology / Stephan Bundschuh -- Diatribes and distortions : Marcuse's academic reception / W. Mark Cobb -- Marcuse, Habermas, and the critique of technology / Samir Gandesha -- The fate of emancipated subjectivity / Michael Werz -- Marcuse's deep-social ecology and the future of utopian environmentalism / Andrew Light -- Marcuse's ecological critique and the American environmental movement / Tim Luke -- Marcuse and the "new science" / Steven Vogel -- Herbert Marcuse's identity / Peter Marcuse -- Encountering Marcuse / Carl Schorske.