by Michael Löwy and Olivier Besancenot, translated by David Campbell
PM Press
6/20/2023, paperback
SKU: 9781629639697
A sweeping history of revolutionary struggle and unbreakable alliances, Revolutionary Affinities takes readers from the Paris Commune to the Occupy movement. through the heart of bloody fratricidal struggles to paint a vivid picture of the greatest anarchist and Marxist figures who dared to join forces, from Louise Michel to Subcomandante Marcos, from Emma Goldman to Walter Benjamin. With the urgent need for a unified front against the far right, there has never been a better time for this inspiring story.
Authors Olivier Besancenot and Michael Löwy, two of the foremost voices in the French anti-authoritarian radical left, explore the promises--and challenges--of developing a fully sustainable, libertarian Marxist society by examining questions of political organization, economic policy, radical ecology, and more. Strikingly accessible, brilliantly illuminating, Besancenot and Löwy have given readers more than a history book, they've created a road map for the future.
Reviews:
“Thanks to the painstaking translation work of David Campbell—by hand, while incarcerated on Rikers Island—the anglophone world is lucky enough to now access this concise yet crucial text. More than a history of two interlocking and conflicting revolutionary traditions, Revolutionary Affinities is a welcome invitation to find each other, through our rejection of all forms of oppression, with every tool available to us—a convergent lens of Marxism and anarchism provides invaluable vision." — Natasha Lennard, author of Being Numerous: Essays on Non-Fascist Life
"Revolutionary Affinities is a compelling read. Its timely and convincing arguments lead us to reevaluate the relationship between the anarchist and Marxist tradition: this remarkable book is inviting us, indeed I would say obliging us, to reconsider the elective affinity between them." — Andrej Grubacic, Professor of Anthropology and Social Change (CIIS-San Francisco), editor of the Journal of World-Systems Research, and author of Wobblies and Zapatistas
“David Campbell’s highly accessible translation sheds new light on the deep, complex relationship between the revolutionary labor movement’s two ideological drivers—Marxists and anarchists—during a moment in which understanding that history could not be more essential. It is a timely effort to illuminate our bloody, brilliant, shared history, and to inspire today's revolutionaries to keep pushing forward in the struggle, together.” — Kim Kelly, journalist and author of Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor
About the Contributors:
Michael Löwy was born in Brazil, has lived in Paris since 1969, and is a member of the Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire (French section of the Fourth International). His books and articles, including the Theory of Revolution in Young Marx and Franz Kafka: Subversive Dreamer have been translated into thirty languages. He is emeritus research director of the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research), Paris.
Olivier Besancenotwas born near Paris in 1974, and worked for many years as a postman. In 2002 and 2007 he was the Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire candidate in the French presidential elections, getting some 1.5 million votes. He was also the founding spokesperson for the New Anticapitalist Party. His works include Che Guevara: His Revolutionary Legacy (with Michael Löwy).
David Campbell is a writer, translator, funeral director/embalmer, and former antifascist political prisoner. His writing has appeared in Slate, Huffington Post, CUNY Law Review's Footnote Forum, and Hard Crackers, and his translations have appeared in Bateau, Post-[blank], and Barricade. Originally from Virginia, he lived in New York City for ten years before relocating to Paris to pursue a Master's in translation in fall 2021.