With the rise of myriad forms of identity politics which corresponds to a new "Trinity Formula" of leftist analysis of capitalism (class, race, and gender), major currents in the contemporary radical left in the past decades have shifted their aim. This book addresses the ideological, theoretical, and practical dilemmas of the contemporary academic and activist left from a Marxist standpoint. Covering contemporary developments in Left thought and ideology and putting them into social and historical context, the chapters provide a theoretical confrontation with the myriad ways it has tended to accommodate itself to neoliberal ideology, rather than fundamentally opposing it. The contrast between the Marxian emancipatory project and what the progressive left has made of it has never been more glaring than now, a time in which capital no longer seems to confront a political barrier. It is this predicament that The Conformist Rebellion evaluates, for a renewed approach to emancipation from capital.
Elena Louisa Lange is senior research fellow and lecturer at the University of Zurich. She is the co-editor of two books on Asian Philosophy and the author of Value without Fetish: Uno Kozo's Theory of Pure Capitalism. Joshua Pickett-Depaolis is an independent researcher and an editor of the political theory journal Counter Attack. His interests include Marxist strategic thought and the Clausewitzian tradition of political realism
INTRODUCTION: THE CONFORMIST REBELLION OF THE CONTEMPORARY LEFT PART I:FROM CLASS TO COMMUNITY - Race, Gender, and Cross-Class Struggles Chapter 1: Todd Cronan: Antidiscrimination and the End of Marxism. The Roots of Contemporary Politics in Cold War Theory and Culture Chapter 2: Robert Pfaller: The Dubious Wonder of Identity Chapter 3:The Meaning of 'Gender' in Current Debates of the Left. A Discussion Between the Editors and Jane Clare Jones Chapter 4: Anton Jager: Mourning and Melancholia - The Millennial Left between New Left and Old Left Chapter 5: Joshua Pickett-Depaolis: The Poverty of Immediacy - A Critique of the Communization Current PART II: THE CULTURE OF THE CONFORMIST REBELLION - Culture Wars, Identity Politics, and Art Chapter 6: George Hoare: Popular Sovereignty, Left Liberalism, and the Brexit Culture Wars Chapter 7 : Samir Gandesha: Dictatorship Contra Critique Chapter 8: Maren Thom: Cultural Representation - The Backlash Against Woke Aesthetics as Anti-politics Chapter 9: Haseeb Ahmed: On What Art is Not, or:Art as A Left-Wing Hobby PART III ECLIPSE OF EMANCIPATION - Confronting Streams in the Academic and Activist Left Today Chapter 10: Nick Nesbitt: Racial Capitalism and Social Form Chapter 11: Nivedita Majumdar: Is Postcolonial Theory's Ethical Turn a Political Dead-End? Chapter 12: Austin Williams: Growth and the Appropriation of Nature. Left-wing Misanthropy, the Rise of Authoritarianism, and the Pro-Capitalist Character of Environmental Discourse Chapter 13: Raji C. Steineck: Outside(r) fetishisms: Pathologies of Displaced Critique About the Authors Bibliography
