Frankfurt School philosopher and the pre-eminent theorist of the 1960s New Left
'In its advanced positions, it is the Great Refusal — the protest against that which is' — One-Dimensional Man (1964)
Herbert Marcuse was a central philosopher of the Frankfurt School who fused Marxism with Freudian psychoanalysis to develop a critical theory of modern capitalist society. In Eros and Civilization (1955) he analyzed the repressive structures of capitalist society and explored the utopian potential of liberated Eros, while in One-Dimensional Man (1964) he diagnosed advanced industrial society as a 'one-dimensional' order where technological abundance erodes critical consciousness, introducing the concept of repressive desublimation. A German-Jewish émigré who fled Nazism for the United States, he served in the OSS during the war and later taught at Brandeis and UC San Diego, becoming the intellectual pillar of the 1960s student movements and the New Left. His radical thought, crystallized in the 'Great Refusal,' has had a lasting impact on critical theory and emancipatory politics.
Career timeline
- 1932Joined Institute for Social Research (Frankfurt School) in exile, Geneva
- 1934–1942Researcher, Institute for Social Research, Columbia University, New York
- 1942–1951Analyst, OSS and State Department; head of Central European Section
- 1954–1965Professor of political theory, Brandeis University
- 1965–1970Professor of philosophy, UC San Diego
From Trotsky's secretary to founder of Marxist Humanism
“My real development only began after my break with Trotsky.” — from a 1980s interview
Born to a Jewish family in the Russian Empire, she emigrated to the US as a child. Starting as Trotsky's secretary, she broke with him over the nature of the USSR and co-developed the theory of state capitalism with C.L.R. James. She went on to found Marxist Humanism, fusing Hegelian dialectics with Marx's early writings, and led the News and Letters Committees.
Career timeline
- 1922Emigrates with family to Chicago, USA
- 1928Expelled from CPUSA youth organization for defending Trotskyism
- 1929Joins independent Trotskyist group in Boston led by Antoinette Konikow
- 1937–1938Serves as Trotsky's Russian-language secretary and stenographer in Mexico
- 1939Breaks with Trotsky over the character of the Soviet Union
- 1940Participates in SWP split → formation of the Workers Party
- 1941–1943Forms Johnson–Forest Tendency with C.L.R. James; state-capitalist analysis of USSR
- 1947Returns to the SWP
- 1951Leaves SWP over Korean War; forms Correspondence Publishing Committee
- 1953Studies Hegel's Phenomenology; advances interpretation of absolutes as 'philosophic moment'
- 1955Splits with C.L.R. James; founds News and Letters Committees
- 1958Publishes Marxism and Freedom (preface by Herbert Marcuse)
- 1973Publishes Philosophy and Revolution
- 1982Publishes Rosa Luxemburg, Women's Liberation, and Marx's Philosophy of Revolution
- 1987Dies in Chicago aged 77
Marxist feminist philosopher who theorised the prison-industrial complex, co-founder of Critical Resistance
"I now declare publicly before the court, before the people of this country that I am innocent of all charges which have been leveled against me by the state of California." — courtroom declaration, 5 January 1971
American Marxist-feminist philosopher and foundational theorist of prison abolition. Joining CPUSA in 1968, she ran for Vice President in 1980 and 1984. Her 1970 arrest and sixteen-month imprisonment, ending in full acquittal, sparked a global solidarity campaign. Her landmark Women, Race & Class (1981) established intersectional analysis of race, gender and class; she went on to theorise the prison-industrial complex. In 1997 she co-founded Critical Resistance to advance abolition democracy. Distinguished Professor Emerita at UC Santa Cruz, she has stood at the crossroads of radical thought and practice for over five decades.
Career timeline
- 1944Born in Birmingham, Alabama; raised in the 'Dynamite Hill' Black middle-class neighbourhood
- 1965Graduates Brandeis magna cum laude; studies under Herbert Marcuse
- 1968Joins CPUSA; directs political education for Black Panther Party's LA chapter
- 1969Appointed assistant professor of philosophy at UCLA; fired for CPUSA membership, reinstated by court order
- 1970–1972Arrested, placed on FBI Ten Most Wanted list; acquitted of all charges after 16 months' imprisonment
- 1979Awarded the Lenin Peace Prize by the Soviet Union
- 1980CPUSA vice-presidential candidate, running mate of Gus Hall
- 1984CPUSA vice-presidential candidate, running mate of Gus Hall
- 1981Publishes Women, Race & Class, a classic of intersectional analysis
- 1991Leaves CPUSA; co-founds Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism
- 1991–2008Professor of History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies at UC Santa Cruz; retires as Distinguished Professor Emerita in 2008
- 1997Co-founds Critical Resistance, institutional anchor of the prison abolition movement
- 2003Publishes Are Prisons Obsolete?, a popular manifesto for abolition democracy
