Gerald A. Cohen, 1941-2009
I have heard that Professor Cohen, renowned Marxist theorist, has died this morning of a stroke. Virtual Stoa has some touching sentiments. Though I never studied directly under the great man, his books on the Marxist theory of history and contrasting John Rawls with Karl Marx were seminal works that helped me to clarify what I thought (even if mostly in opposition). There are few greater gifts. May he be long remembered.
I am travelling home to Canterbury this afternoon, but when normal blogging resumes, I shall find time to write up a more fitting review of some of Professor Cohen’s work, especially as part of the September Group (which was colloquially titled “Non Bullshit Marxism”).
Beyond that, I’ve already planned out a series of other ‘big’ articles: Lenin on education, about whether or not embryonic totalitarianism is inherent to the revolutionary project; Zizek and understanding racism, about the relevance of cultural studies to political practice; a review of Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” and a review of “Ragged Trousered Philanthropists”. I’ve also been slacking on the forays into Gramsci that I promised, so expect some of that.
They will all be interspersed between articles on news, general hypocrisy, the irritations of celebrity culture and hopefully Jeff will continue what looks to be an expanding series on the politics surrounding the US Supreme Court.
Surprised and saddened to hear this, I was privileged to hear him speak in Oxford earlier this year.
A long time friend, who had genuine wit, and a light theoretical touch. And though I’m not a theorist, I’ll miss our talks about subjects ranging from dreams,sex, and family, to contemporary Israel. He wasnever dogmatic!