Abstract

The concept of “losing well” is introduced and defined as radical praxis of the Left that catalyzes social democracy, stimulates critical consciousness, and develops counterformations of solidarity for struggle in the nonrevolutionary situation. Walter Benjamin’s idea of amazement is interpreted as a personal praxis for self-critique and critical awareness. Herbert Marcuse’s conception of the one-dimensional society is interpreted as a society organized for maintaining the nonrevolutionary situation—the “society without opposition.” My own view is that Marcuse was trying to develop a theory of revolution for the nonrevolutionary situation. This is the introductory essay for the second of two special issues of Radical Philosophy Review marking the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of one of the twentieth century’s most provocative, subversive, and widely read works of radical theory—Marcuse’s One-Dimensional Man, which we now reassess to contribute to the liberation theories of our time. A summary of each of the articles featured in this special issue is also provided.