“Changing circumstances, changing ourselves”: the Marxism of Michael Lebowitz

Abstract

Michael Lebowitz (November 27, 1937–April 19, 2023) was an eminent representative of the New Left. He sought to reclaim Marx from the mechanistic readings—of both the Left and Right—that formed during the Cold War. Following Marx, he wrote on the creative potentials in every worker and the possibilities that might emerge for socialism once the fetters of capitalism were broken. This essay traces Lebowitz’s theoretical journey across his many books.