The education of desire: Marxists and the writing of history

Abstract

In The Education of Desire, Harvey J. Kaye returns to the study of Marxist history and social thought. Examining the works of such intellectuals, writers, and scholars as Antonio Gramsci, Christopher Hill, George Rude, V.G. Kiernan, E.P. Thompson, Leo Huberman, and John Berger, Kaye reveals the contributions which these figures have made to historical study and political theory, and which they might yet make to the reformation and reinvigoration of radical-democratic and socialist history and politics. Kaye addresses the much-debated question of the role of intellectuals in the making of history and social change, and insists upon the necessity of continuing to ask classical and fundamental Marxist questions about exploitation, oppression, and struggle.