The question of organisation

Examining Lukács’s conceptual road map for social change

Abstract

One hundred years after its publication, History and Class Consciousness remains an indispensable guide to social change. Contributing to the broader discussion about Lukács and critical theory today, this article explores aspects of Lukács’s contribution to a philosophy of the party, his distinctive approach to political practice and his defence of the alternative. Drawing from contemporary re-readings of his work, the concepts of reification, totality, and mediation are explored highlighting the importance of the book’s often-overlooked final essay towards a methodology of the problem of organisation. Further, it draws attention to Tailism and the Dialectic and the concept of Augenblick (“moment”), shedding light on Lukács’s understanding of the complex relation between objective and subjective factors in the course of historic development. The above discussion is situated within the atmosphere of the early 1920s and the dilemmas and new challenges posed by the 1917 October revolution. At the same time, throughout his vast and often contradictory work Lukács offers concepts, methodologies, and tools to address the crucial theoretical and political challenges of the 21^st century. Until the end of his life Lukács devoted all his efforts to the renaissance of Marxism and remained committed to the cause even in the most unfavourable conditions. Thus, this article concludes with some reflections on Lukács’s potential revival and its significance for emancipatory perspectives arguing that in an era of political defeat and seemingly insurmountable strategic dead-ends, there is a lot to learn from his legacy.