Harold Laski, the Reluctant Marxist

Beschreibung

“Peter Lamb provides a superbly contextualised account of how Laski came to envisage the ‘great transformation’ that capitalism in crisis made necessary and makes a convincing case for Laski’s continuing relevance.”

 --Kevin Morgan, Emeritus Professor of Politics and Contemporary History, University of Manchester UK

“Harold Laski, the Reluctant Marxist provides a refreshingly new take on Laski’s political thought, that enriches standard readings of Laski’s transition to Marxism and highlights Laski’s flexibility and innovation as a thinker. Essential reading for critics of liberalism and those interested in accounts of sovereignty and the capitalist state.”

--Jeanne Morefield, Associate Professor of Political Theory, Department of Politics and International Relations, Oxford

This book examines Harold Laski’s relationship to Marxism. Laski was a reluctant Marxist; he had been a pluralist, democratic socialist who wanted to reach a better society by means of parliamentary, constitutional and associational channels. In fact, he never abandoned these early aspirations. In the 1930s and 1940s he wove them into a distinctive Marxist position as he gradually came to believe that there was no answer to Marxist philosophy on history, social change and the prospects for socialism. It is the incorporation of his earlier political thought into his later work that makes his Marxism so fascinating and his work raises important questions.

Harold Laski’s Marxism aims to bring a relatively forgotten political theorist back into the spotlight. Peter Lamb provides an overview to Laski’s political thought in the 20th century and explores his connections to essential foundations of Marxist thought. He ends with a discussion of ways in which Laski’s Marxism is of lasting significance and can contribute to more recent Marxist and neo-Marxist debates.

Peter Lamb now retired, was Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations at Staffordshire University, UK. He is the author of many books, including Socialism (2019), The First Marx: A Philosophical Introduction, with co-author Douglas Burnham (2018), and Harold Laski: Problems of Democracy, the Sovereign State, and International Society (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004).

This book examines Harold Laski’s relationship to Marxism. Laski was a reluctant Marxist; he had been a pluralist, democratic socialist who wanted to reach a better society by means of parliamentary, constitutional and associational channels. In fact, he never abandoned these early aspirations. In the 1930s and 1940s he wove them into a distinctive Marxist position as he gradually came to believe that there was no answer to Marxist philosophy on history, social change and the prospects for socialism. It is the incorporation of his earlier political thought into his later work that makes his Marxism so fascinating and his work raises important questions.

Harold Laski’s Marxism aims to bring a relatively forgotten political theorist back into the spotlight. Peter Lamb provides an overview to Laski’s political thought in the 20th century and explores his connections to essential foundations of Marxist thought. He ends with a discussion of ways in which Laski’s Marxism is of lasting significance and can contribute to more recent Marxist and neo-Marxist debates.

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Peter Lamb

Themen in »Harold Laski, the Reluctant Marxist«

Harold Laski Marxism Political theory Capitalist democracy Contingent anarchy Emancipation Revolution by consent class Intellectual history

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“Indeed, one is struck reading Peter Lamb’s interesting and enlightening new book Harold Laski, the Reluctant Marxist: Socialist Democracy for a World in Turmoil by the sheer breadth and scope of Laski’s work and how, during the 1930s and 40s, he moved in a Marxist direction … . his book demonstrates how a scholar can be led to an ideological position by events, rather than temperament or desire. … Here Lamb provides a new way of seeing Laski historically.” (Matt Dawson, History of European Ideas, November 25, 2024)

“Harold Laski matters to anybody interested in socialist ideas in Britain. Peter Lamb not only provides a superbly contextualised account of how Laski wrestled with ideas of freedom, democracy and the state and came to envisage the ‘great transformation’ that capitalism in crisis made necessary. He also makes a convincing case for Laski’s continuing relevance to the debates rekindled among Marxists and neo-Marxists with each further crisis that has followed and continues to follow.” (Kevin Morgan, Emeritus Professor of Politics and Contemporary History, University of Manchester UK)

“Harold Laski, the Reluctant Marxist provides a refreshingly new take on Laski’s political thought by closely engaging his ideas as they developed over time, through his activism, and in response to some of the most pressing political and economic crises of the early twentieth century. Lamb’s sympathetic account not only enriches standard readings of Laski’s transition to Marxism, it also highlights Laski’s flexibility and innovation as a thinker who wrestled honestly with the tensions between individualism and collectivism and who never let go of his commitment to pluralism and human emancipation. This book should be essential reading for critics of liberalism and anyone seeking to broaden contemporary accounts of sovereignty and the capitalist state.” (Jeanne Morefield, Associate Professor of Political Theory, Department of Politics and International Relations, Oxford)

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