Communism and Strategy

Praise

“Overall, Isabelle Garo’s Communisme et stratégie is a book that gives hope for the possibility of radical change. Rejecting the pessimism of the Frankfurt School and denouncing theory’s fetishism for doomsday narratives, her work stands out in capturing a crucial moment that is demanding a better future. Grounding her positive outlook in a thorough analysis of Marx’s political thought, she does not seek to affirm that we simply need to take his word as law, but that his political vision is valuable exactly because it takes into account the historical conjuncture it is inscribed in.”
—Solange Manche, Marx and Philosophy Review of Books

“Isabelle Garo’s book deserves to be read for its polemical originality and the force of its proposals.”
—Michael Löwy, Le Monde Diplomatique

“Garo’s theoretical work combines philological rigour with a reflection on the challenges facing Marxism and an emphasis on the need to re-fuse Marxism with the activity of the working class, social movements and the people.”
—Juan Dal Maso, Révolution Permanente

“Isabelle Garo’s book does not propose ready-made solutions, but it does open up a major project that should be tackled by all those who intend to make the convergence of different struggles into something more than simply an abstract watchword.”
—Jean Quétier, Cause Commune

“In this brilliant essay, Isabelle Garo restores critical and political power to the communist proposal. Rereading Marx, she understands communism as being, above all, a strategy, a vigorous counter-offensive against capitalism, thanks to the emancipatory convergence of the struggles led by the oppressed. This book is an outstanding contribution to critical and political radicalism in our times.”
—Michael Löwy

“This book offers a new perspective in the debate on communism relaunched in the 2000s. Garo turns the problem upside down and revisits key contemporary interventions in the light of a scrupulous and contextualized study of Marx’s theory. Communism appears thus not as an abstract idea but as the strategic question that can open up new perspectives for the revolutionary struggles of our time.”
—Stathis Kouvelakis, author of Philosophy and Revolution. From Kant to Marx

“Working to reanimate strategy and dialectical approaches for the twenty-first-century left, Garo makes a convincing case for the abandonment of the socialist compromise and the pursuit of a future that is unequivocally communist.”
—James Rushing Daniel, Jacobin