Raya Dunayevskaya and the Philosophy of Marxist-Humanism: Review of Russia and Marx's Philosophy of Revolution in Permanence for Our Day by Raya Dunayevskaya

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe life-work of the Marxist-Humanist revolutionary philosopher Raya Dunayevskaya is examined through a review of two new collections of her writings—Russia: From Proletarian Revolution to State-Capitalist Counter-Revolution, and Marx's Philosophy of Revolution in Permanence for Our Day. The development of her ideas from the theory of state-capitalism to the philosophy of Marxist-Humanism is presented. Her view of Marx’s “philosophic moment”—The 1844 Economic-Philosophic Manuscripts—is discussed together with her translation and analysis of Lenin’s Philosophic Notebooks on Hegel’s Science of Logic (Lenin’s “philosophic preparation for revolution”). Dunayevskaya’s own plunge into Hegel’s Absolutes—Absolute Negativity as New Beginning—is presented. The various dimensions of Dunayevskaya’s Marxist-Humanism are seen in the context of her as a practicing revolutionary in the United States, aligning with multiple subjects of revolution: workers, Afro-Americans, women, and youth, as well as her working out international solidarity with movements and groups in Africa, Asia, and Europe.