Against Orthodoxy - (Political Philosophy and Public Purpose) by S Aronowitz (Paperback)

About the Book

"In Against Orthodoxy, the author engages some of the most provocative thinkers of the 20th century, including Georg Lukacs, Antonio Gramsci, Herbert Marcuse, Karl Marx, Harry Braverman and Paulo Freire. All of these social and political theorists were dedicated to fundamental social change, but many were forced to recognize the difficulty of achieving change in the modern world. This book demonstrates that all of them reject conventional interpretations of how radical change might be possible. What marks their unity is an effort to address capitalism's ability to incorporate widespread popular alienation. Consequently they urge serious attention by radicals to issues of culture, subjectivity, and education"--

Book Synopsis

The book contains groundbreaking and immersive essays on crucial 20th Century scholars on social theory, discussed and analyzed from a radical, critical theory perspective. Aronowitz provides his unique and lauded critical eye toward the leading thinkers of our age, crafting an immersive set of essays on radical thought.

Review Quotes

"Stanley Aronowitz is a national treasure and he proves it once again with Against Orthodoxy. Every page bristles with brilliance as he weaves his way through the work of some of the intellectual giants of social theory. Not only does this book provide a witness to public memory, it also ties together different strands of social theory while providing a historical and relational context for understanding the writers and theories under discussion. This book is invaluable for both academics and the wider public; a gift to theory and why it matters a gift to all of us struggling for a better and more just world." - Henry Giroux, McMaster University, Canada, Author of The Violence of Organized Forgetting

About the Author

Stanley Aronowitz is Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Urban education at the City University of New York Graduate Center, USA. His classic study of the US working class, False Promises is still in print forty-two years after it was first published and he has written over 19 books during his career. He is also a veteran political activist and cultural critic, an advocate for organized labor and a member of the interim consultative committee of the International Organization for a Participatory Society.