1st Edition
The Revolution is the Emergency Break Essays on Walter Benjamin
Winner of the 2020 European Walter Benjamin Prize, The Revolution is the Emergency Break is a rich discussion of Walter Benjamin’s lesser-known writings by renowned social scientist Michael Löwy. Translated into several languages but available in English for the very first time, Löwy’s book brings together the philosophical, literary, theological and cultural aspects of Benjamin’s writings, including his relation to figures such as Gershom Scholem and Franz Rosenzweig, his interpretation of historical materialism, surrealism, anti-fascism and anarchism, his contribution to understanding capitalism as a religion, and his relevance for Latin America and ecology today. The concept of revolution in his writings – not only the political ones but also those that deal with art, literature or theology, run through the work, connecting the various chapters. The Revolution is the Emergency Break also features four new chapters in this collection. Written in a clear-eyed, accessible language, The Revolution is the Emergency Break is a must-read for researchers, teachers and students interested in the works of this influential German intellectual.
Part 1: Magnetic Fields. 1. Capitalism as religion: Walter Benjamin and Max Weber 2. A historical materialism with Romantic splinters: Walter Benjamin and Karl Marx 3. Elective affinities: Walter Benjamin and Gerschom Scholem 4. Messianism against "progress": Walter Benjamin and Franz Rosenzweig 5. The romantic dimension: Marcuse and Benjamin 6. Two Marxist dissidents against the ideology of “progress”: Walter Benjamin and José Carlos Mariátegui. Part 2: On Revolution. 7. The ringing clock: Walter Benjamin's Anarchism 8. Benjamin and surrealism: The story of a revolutionary spell 9. The revolution is the emergency brake: Walter Benjamin's political-ecological currency 10. Seven theses on Walter Benjamin and critical theory 11. “Slaughters with chlorazenophenol”: Walter Benjamin's belated reflections on World War I 12. Theology and anti-fascism in the writings of Walter Benjamin 13. The viewpoint of the vanquished in the history of Latin America: Methodological reflections on the work of Walter Benjamin 14. The city as a strategic place of class confrontation: Uprisings, barricades and the Haussmannization of Paris in the Arcades Project
Biography
Michael Löwy completed two PhDs at the Sorbonne, in 1964 and 1974. He is the recipient of the CNRS Silver Medal as the best French social scientist (1994) and the European Walter Benjamin Prize (2020). His writings have been translated into 30 languages. He co-authored, with Joel Kovel and Ian Angus, the ecosocialist Declaration of Belem (2009) at the Belem Social World Forum (Brazil). He is a member of the steering committee of the Global Ecosocialist Network.
