Volume 12, Number 2 · January 30, 1969
A New Twist in the Dialectic
By George Lichtheim
Pour Marx
by Louis Althusser
Maspero, 258 pp., 18.80 F
Lire Le Capital Tome I
by Louis Althusser, by Jacques Rancière, by Pierre Macherey
Maspero, 256 pp., 18.80 F
Lire Le Capital Tome II
by Louis Althusser, by Etienne Balibar, by Roger Establet
Maspero, 401 pp., 21.60 F
Pouvoir Politique et Classes Sociales de l'Etat Capitaliste
by Nicos Poulantzas
Maspero, 398 pp., 24 F
Stratégie et Révolution en France en 1968
by André Glucksmann
Christian Bourgeois, 128 pp., 10 F
Peut-on être communiste aujourd'hui?
by Roger Garaudy
Bernard Grasset, 394 pp., 19 F
Some two years ago a sympathetic observer of the Parisian intellectual scene, writing in the London Times Literary Supplement, drew attention to the recent rise to prominence of the group of theorists associated with Louis Althusser, a professional philosopher and the holder of a teaching post at the prestigious Ecole Normale Supérieure in the rue d'Ulm, but also a major controversial figure within the French Communist Party. Shortly thereafter further news of him reached the general public from two different directions. First there was a well-publicized clash between Althusser and the Party's official philosopher, Roger Garaudy, at a meeting of the Central Committee, of which both men are members (Garaudy, being also in the Politburo, carries more political weight, but is less highly regarded in the academic world). Next, the trial of Régis Debray in Bolivia brought out the improbable connection linking this rebellious offspring of the Parisian haute bourgeoisie with two figures as remote from each other as Louis Althusser (Debray's old teacher) and the late Ernesto Guevara. Lastly, the French upheaval of May-June 1968 introduced a further complication, inasmuch as Althusser reacted to it with a deafening silence. It has since been explained that he was ill; also that he was privately critical of the illusions entertained by the students.
Review, 6094 words
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