Lukács’s Phenomenology of Capitalism

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

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2. Introduction: The Lukács Debate

   • Richard Westerman

   Pages 1-30

3. The Road to Reification

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 31-31

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   2. Reality and Representation in Art

      • Richard Westerman

      Pages 33-82

   3. The History of History and Class Consciousness

      • Richard Westerman

      Pages 83-111

4. The Phenomenology of Capitalism

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 113-113

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   2. The Forms of Social Reality

      • Richard Westerman

      Pages 115-151

   3. The Interpellation of the Subject

      • Richard Westerman

      Pages 153-199

   4. Self-consciousness and Identity

      • Richard Westerman

      Pages 201-237

5. Beyond the Proletarian Revolution

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 239-239

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   2. The Social and the Natural

      • Richard Westerman

      Pages 241-274

   3. Conclusion: Lukács in Late Capitalism

      • Richard Westerman

      Pages 275-302

6. Back Matter

   Pages 303-308

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This book offers a radical new interpretation of Georg Lukács’s History and Class Consciousness, showing for the first time how the philosophical framework for his analysis of society was laid in the drafts of a philosophy of art that he planned but never completed before he converted to Marxism. Reading Lukács’s work through the so-called “Heidelberg Aesthetics” reveals for the first time a range of unsuspected influences on his thought, such as Edmund Husserl, Emil Lask, and Alois Riegl; it also offers a theory of subjectivity within social relations that avoids many of the problems of earlier readings of his text. At a time when Lukács’s reputation is once more on the rise, this bold new reading helps revitalize his thought in ways that help it speak to contemporary concerns.

• Critical Theory
• Western Marxism
• Phenomenology
• Social Theory
• Radical Philosophy
• History and Class Consciousness
• Edmund Husserl
• Emil Lask
• Alois Riegl
• Philosophy of art
• Heidelberg Aesthetics
• Reification
• alienation
• capitalism
• scientific socialism
• authoritarian populism
• neo-Marxian analysis
• subjectivity
• Max Dvorak

“This monograph is also an invitation to relaunch a phenomenological inquiry into social alienation. It allows us to see phenomenology’s potential for understanding our contemporary situation, alongside, why not, contemporary Critical Theory.” (Clémence Saintemarie, Phenomenological Reviews, November 19, 2019)

“One of the formidable strengths of this book is its fluid style and clear signposting that makes the often-difficult subject material very readable. … Lukács’s Phenomenology of Capitalism is a major contribution to the recent season of Lukács studies, and it succeeds in offering both a new and a convincing perspective on Lukács’s thought.” (Robert Jackson, Symposium, c-scp.org, August 28, 2019)

• Department of Sociology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

  Richard Westerman

Richard Westerman is an Associate Professor at the University of Alberta, Canada. He completed his PhD at Cambridge, before a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago. His work is primarily on Lukács and the Frankfurt School, and he has also published on philosophical aesthetics. 

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