A panel discussion organized by the Platypus Affiliated Society, held on March 19, 2011, at Left Forum, Pace University.
Audio Recording
A version of Jeremy Cohan’s remarks are transcripted in the Platypus Review #38
A transcript of Timothy Hall’s remarks appears in Platypus Review #37
Panelists
Chris Cutrone - School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Jeremy Cohan - New York University
M. A. Torres - University of Chicago
Neil Larsen - University of California at Davis
Timothy Bewes - Brown University
Timothy Hall - University of East London, U.K.
Description
It may seem untimely to reconsider György Lukács, after the demise of the “Bolshevik experiment” with which he was associated. Who was Lukács? Critic of reification, founder of Hegelian Marxism, Critical Theory, Western Marxism? Or: philosopher of Bolshevism, apologist for Leninism, romantic socialist, voluntarist idealist, terrorist revolutionary? Lukács is usually read as an interpreter rather than a dedicated follower of Marxism, leaving Lukács’s particular contribution obscure. Lukács was most original – and influential – when he accepted the presuppositions of Marxism, the political practice and theory of revolution, in earnest, from 1919-25, in History and Class Consciousness and associated works – however Lukács himself may have disavowed them subsequently. What can we make of Lukács’s legacy today, his investigation and elaboration of the problematic of Marxism, and what are the essential issues potentially raised for our time?