Revolutionary Subjectivity in the Thought of Karl Marx

Revolutionary Subjectivity in the Thought of Karl Marx presents a rigorous interdisciplinary analysis of Marx’s social philosophy. Paul Elias critically examines a terminal inconsistency within Marx’s idea of revolutionary subjectivity. In doing so, major areas of Marx’s thinking which have been misrepresented in scholarly discourse are coherently interpreted and rearticulated, providing a basis for exploring the incipient psychology and theory of mind in his work. This project reveals a novel theoretical waypoint whereby Husserl’s phenomenology and Freud’s psychoanalysis (particularly as developed by Melanie Klein) can engage in conversation with his social theory. While this critique poses a significant challenge to Marxism, it also offers an innovative prospect to sublate the insights of Marx’s work and reanimate his thinking for our contemporary period.