Confronting Reification

Georg Lukcs (1885-1971) was one of the most original Marxist philosophers and literary critics of the twentieth century. His work was a major influence on what we now know as critical theory. Almost fifty years after his death, Lukcs's legacy has come under attack by right-wing extremists in his native Hungary. Despite efforts to erase his memory, Lukcs remains a philosophical gadfly. In Confronting Reification, an international team of fourteen scholars explicate, reassess, and apply one of Lukcs's most significant philosophical contributions, his theory of reification. Based on papers presented at the 2017 Legacy of Georg Lukcs conference held in Budapest, the essays in this volume demonstrate the vitality of Lukcs's thought and its relevance. Contributors include: Rdiger Dannemann, Frank Engster, Andrew Feenberg, Joseph Grim Feinberg, Andra Je, Christian Lotz, Csaba Olay, Tom Rockmore, Gregory R. Smulewicz-Zucker, Mariana Teixeira, Michael J. Thompson, Tivadar Vervoort, Richard Westerman, and Sean Winkler.