Abstract

Students of Marxism in the United States who have come of age in the late 60s will be quite familiar with virtually all the social and political theorists highlighted in this volume. On the whole, the architecture of this book exhibits a well-conceived coherence, as well as a conscientiousness of effort to balance thematic unity with pluralistic outlook. The introduction offers a broad, general survey of the basic themes springing from the “unknown dimension” (i.e., the tradition of Western Marxism). Aware of the obvious deficiencies of the New Left in this country (including its relative theoretical sterility, parochialism, ahistorical tendencies, and penchant for action uninformed by reflection), Klare tries to introduce a subterranean Marxian heritage which speaks to many of these problems — although he neglects to underscore the link between this underground tradition and its roots in the Left-Hegelian debates of the early 1840s.