Overview

When capitalism is clearly catastrophically out of control and its excesses cannot be sustained socially or ecologically, the ideas of Herbert Marcuse become as relevant as they were in the 1960s. This is the first English introduction to Marcuse to be published for decades, and deals specifically with his aesthetic theories and their relation to a critical theory of society. Although Marcuse is best known as a critic of consumer society, epitomised in the classic One-Dimensional Man, Malcolm Miles provides an insight into how Marcuse's aesthetic theories evolved within his broader attitudes, from his anxiety at the rise of fascism in the 1930s through heady optimism of the 1960s, to acceptance in the 1970s that radical art becomes an invaluable progressive force when political change has become deadlocked. Marcuse's aesthetics of liberation, in which art assumes a primary role in interrupting the operation of capitalism, made him a key figure for the student movement in the 1960s. As diverse forms of resistance rise once more, a new generation of students, scholars and activists will find Marcuse's radical theory essential to their struggle.

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9780745330389

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Reviews

This is a book that engages perhaps the most important social issue of our times: how has the technologically advanced and affluent society in which most readers of these words live shaped us into beings who tolerate injustice, physical poverty and mental impoverishment, destruction of our environment, murderous warfare, and left us unhappily helpless to see even the possibility of any radical change? Miles goes back to Marcuse's work on aesthetics to link philosophy, art, history, political analysis, and sociological insights in a deeply humane search for the way to a better world. It deserves a very wide readership indeed. -- Peter Marcuse (with obvious bias). Herbert Marcuse: An Aesthetics of Liberation presents a comprehensive critical overview and a comprehensive interrogation of Marcuse's writings on art and aesthetics. Miles reads Marcuse as envisaging art as a way in which societies re-imagine themselves and project visions of a freer, happier, and better way of life. In these troubled times, it is refreshing to re-engage with Marcuse's utopian visions of art and society and Miles proves a highly capable guide to this adventure. -- Douglas Kellner, UCLA, author of Herbert Marcuse and the Crisis of Marxism and Media Spectacle and the Crisis of Democracy Introducing the aesthetic writings of radical philosopher Herbert Marcuse, cultural theorist Malcolm Miles explores the role the imagination plays for Marcuse in political transformation, offering us the hope of a horizon to neo-liberal capitalism's treachery. How we need this book today: intelligently argued -- clever, funny, sometimes wistful -- it is a call to arms (to art), beautifully written from the heart. -- Jane Rendell, Professor and Vice Dean of Research, The Bartlett, UCL, and author of Site-Writing (2010), Art and Architecture (2006) and The Pursuit of Pleasure (2002).

Miles goes back to Marcuse,s work on aesthetics to link philosophy, art, history, political analysis, and sociological insights in a deeply humane search for the way to a better world. It deserves a very wide readership. -- Peter Marcuse (with obvious bias). This book presents a comprehensive critical overview and a comprehensive interrogation of Marcuse's writings on art and aesthetics. Miles reads Marcuse as envisaging art as a way in which societies re-imagine themselves and project visions of a freer, happier, and better way of life. In these troubled times, it is refreshing to re-engage with Marcuse's utopian visions of art and society and Miles proves a highly capable guide to this adventure. -- Douglas Kellner, UCLA, author of Herbert Marcuse and the Crisis of Marxism and Media Spectacle and the Crisis of Democracy Introducing the aesthetic writings of radical philosopher Herbert Marcuse, cultural theorist Malcolm Miles explores the role the imagination plays for Marcuse in political transformation, offering us the hope of a horizon to neo-liberal capitalism,s treachery. How we need this book today: intelligently argued - clever, funny, sometimes wistful - it is a call to arms (to art), beautifully written from the heart. -- Jane Rendell, Professor and Vice Dean of Research, The Bartlett, UCL, and author of Site-Writing (2010), Art and Architecture (2006) and The Pursuit of Pleasure (2002).

Introducing the aesthetic writings of radical philosopher Herbert Marcuse, cultural theorist Malcolm Miles explores the role the imagination plays for Marcuse in political transformation, offering us the hope of a horizon to neo-liberal capitalism's treachery. How we need this book today: intelligently argued - clever, funny, sometimes wistful - it is a call to arms (to art), beautifully written from the heart. -- Jane Rendell, Professor and Vice Dean of Research, The Bartlett, UCL, and author of Site-Writing (2010), Art and Architecture (2006) and The Pursuit of Pleasure (2002). This book presents a comprehensive critical overview and a comprehensive interrogation of Marcuse's writings on art and aesthetics. Miles reads Marcuse as envisaging art as a way in which societies re-imagine themselves and project visions of a freer, happier, and better way of life. In these troubled times, it is refreshing to re-engage with Marcuse's utopian visions of art and society and Miles proves a highly capable guide to this adventure. -- Douglas Kellner, UCLA, author of Herbert Marcuse and the Crisis of Marxism and Media Spectacle and the Crisis of Democracy Miles goes back to Marcuse's work on aesthetics to link philosophy, art, history, political analysis, and sociological insights in a deeply humane search for the way to a better world. It deserves a very wide readership. -- Peter Marcuse (with obvious bias).

Author Information

Malcolm Miles is Professor of Cultural Theory at the University of Plymouth. He is the author of Herbert Marcuse: an Aesthetics of Liberation (Pluto, 2011) and Limits to Culture (Pluto, 2015).

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