Michael Löwy (born 6 May 1938) is a French-Brazilian
Marxist sociologist and
philosopher. He is
emeritus research director in social sciences at the
CNRS (French National Center of Scientific Research) and lectures at the ''École des hautes études en sciences sociales'' (
EHESS
The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (french: École des hautes études en sciences sociales; EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The ...
;
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
). Author of books on
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
,
,
Liberation Theology
Liberation theology is a Christian theological approach emphasizing the liberation of the oppressed. In certain contexts, it engages socio-economic analyses, with "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples". I ...
,
György Lukács
György Lukács (born György Bernát Löwinger; hu, szegedi Lukács György Bernát; german: Georg Bernard Baron Lukács von Szegedin; 13 April 1885 – 4 June 1971) was a Hungarian Marxist philosopher, literary historian, critic, and aesth ...
,
Walter Benjamin
Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist.
An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish ...
,
Lucien Goldmann
Lucien Goldmann (; 20 July 1913 – 8 October 1970) was a French philosopher and sociologist of Jewish-Romanian origin. A professor at the EHESS in Paris, he was a Marxist theorist. His wife was sociologist Annie Goldmann.
Biography
Goldmann w ...
and
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...
, he received the
CNRS Silver Medal
The CNRS Silver Medal is a scientific award given every year to about fifteen researchers by the French National Centre for Scientific Research
The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherch ...
in 1994.
Academic career
A descendant of
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
immigrants from
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, Löwy grew up in São Paulo, Brazil, becoming a committed
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
at 16 (1954), when he discovered the writings of
Rosa Luxemburg. He studied at the
University of São Paulo
The University of São Paulo ( pt, Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution, the bes ...
, where he studied under
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Fernando Henrique Cardoso (; born 18 June 1931), also known by his initials FHC (), is a Brazilian sociologist, professor and politician who served as the 34th president of Brazil from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 2002. He was the first Brazi ...
,
Florestan Fernandes
Florestan Fernandes (22 July 1920 – 10 August 1995) was a Brazilian sociologist and politician. He was also elected federal deputy twice.
Life and career
Fernandes came from a poor family with his mother being a "washerwoman". In youth he to ...
and
Antônio Cândido); he got his license in
Social Sciences
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...
in 1960 and lectured in
sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...
for a year at the University of
São José do Rio Preto
São José do Rio Preto () is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The city is located at the northwest portion of the state, 440 km (273 mi) from the city of São Paulo and 700 km (435 mi) from Brasília. As o ...
(
State of São Paulo
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
).
In 1961 he received a
scholarship
A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need.
Scholars ...
for a doctorate in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, which he did under the guidance of the well-known
Marxist philosopher and sociologist of culture
Lucien Goldmann
Lucien Goldmann (; 20 July 1913 – 8 October 1970) was a French philosopher and sociologist of Jewish-Romanian origin. A professor at the EHESS in Paris, he was a Marxist theorist. His wife was sociologist Annie Goldmann.
Biography
Goldmann w ...
, who had a lasting influence on his views. He received his
PhD in 1964, with a thesis on "The Young Marx’s Theory of Revolution", at the
Sorbonne
Sorbonne may refer to:
* Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities.
*the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970)
*one of its components or linked institution, ...
.
Soon afterwards Löwy went to
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
where his family had migrated. He learned
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
and became a lecturer in political philosophy at the
University of Tel Aviv, but his political views led to problems, and the University refused to renew his contract in 1968. He was invited - in an act of solidarity - to lecture at the
University of Manchester
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...
, where he became assistant to the sociologist and founder of the
New Left,
Peter Worsley (1968–1969).
In 1969 Löwy returned to Paris to work with
Nicos Poulantzas
Nicos Poulantzas ( el, Νίκος Πουλαντζάς ; 21 September 1936 – 3 October 1979) was a Greek-French Marxist political sociologist and philosopher. In the 1970s, Poulantzas was known, along with Louis Althusser, as a leading structur ...
at the
University of Paris VIII
Paris 8 University Vincennes-Saint-Denis (french: Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis) is a public university in Paris, France. Once part of the historic University of Paris, it is now an autonomous public institution.
It is one of the th ...
(Vincennes), and from that moment on established himself definitively in France. In the 1970s he worked, under the direction of
Louis-Vincent Thomas, on his
Habilitation (doctorat d’état) on György Lukács, presented in 1975 at the
University of Paris V (Descartes), and graduated with honours. Löwy lectured in sociology at the University of Paris VIII till 1978 when he was admitted as a researcher at the CNRS.
In 1981 Löwy began also to lecture at the prestigious ''École des hautes études en sciences sociales'' (EHESS) in París; he has also been invited to lecture at
Stanford University,
UC Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...
,
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
,
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
and
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, as well as other US Universities. In 1994 he received the
CNRS Silver Medal
The CNRS Silver Medal is a scientific award given every year to about fifteen researchers by the French National Centre for Scientific Research
The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherch ...
.
He is emeritus
research director in social sciences at the CNRS and teaches at the EHESS. He is member of the editorial board of the journals Archives de sciences sociales des religions,
Actuel Marx,
ContreTemps and
Écologie et politique, as well as a fellow and regular lecturer at the
International Institute for Research and Education
The International Institute for Research and Education (IIRE) is a research and educational centre based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It conducts training and publishes research for and by progressive activists around the world.
The institute was ...
in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
.
Scientific interests
Until 1985 most of Löwy's works concerned the sociological and historical study of
Marxist thought
Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...
. This applies not only to his doctorate on the
young Marx
The correct place of Karl Marx's early writings within his system as a whole has been a matter of great controversy. Some believe there is a ''break'' in Marx's development that divides his thought into two periods: the "Young Marx" is said to be ...
and his Habilitation on György Lukács, but to most of the essays which he published, some of which were collected in books, as well as for two anthologies, on the
National Question (with
Georges Haupt and
Claudie Weill) and on
Marxism
Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...
in
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
.
Marxist epistemology
Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics.
Epis ...
also takes a central place in his work on
sociology of knowledge
The sociology of knowledge is the study of the relationship between human thought and the social context within which it arises, and the effects that prevailing ideas have on societies. It is not a specialized area of sociology. Instead, it deal ...
from 1985.
The methodological orientation of his research was inspired by Lucien Goldmann's writings -particularly
The Hidden God, 1955)- whose approach, associating sociology and history,
heterodox Marxism and
German sociology, the internal study of cultural works and their connexion to the
social structure
In the social sciences, social structure is the aggregate of patterned social arrangements in society that are both emergent from and determinant of the actions of individuals. Likewise, society is believed to be grouped into structurally rel ...
, served him as starting point.
From the mid 1980s Löwy became interested in the
Central European Jewish Culture, in
Romantic anticapitalism and on the complex interrelations between
religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
and
politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...
, particularly in Latin America. The concept of
elective affinity, borrowed from
Max Weber, but re-interpreted, became one of the key methodological tools of his research. His latest books concern
Walter Benjamin
Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist.
An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish ...
’s
Theses on the Philosophy of History (1940), which Löwy considers as one of the most important documents of
revolutionary thinking since Marx’s
Theses on Feuerbach
The "Theses on Feuerbach" are eleven short philosophical notes written by Karl Marx as a basic outline for the first chapter of the book ''The German Ideology'' in 1845. Like the book for which they were written, the theses were never published i ...
; and Franz Kafka as an anti-authoritarian author, with
Anarchist sympathies, whose novels are inspired by a sort of "religion of liberty".
In spite of the diversity of its thematic contents, most of Michael Löwy writings, since his PhD on
Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
till now, belong to a
sociology of culture
The sociology of culture, and the related cultural sociology, concerns the systematic analysis of culture, usually understood as the ensemble of symbolic codes used by a member of a society, as it is manifested in the society. For Georg Simmel, ...
, of Marxist/historicist orientation. Inspired by Lukács and Lucien Goldmann, they also refer to the great tradition of German sociology, from Weber to
Karl Mannheim
Karl Mannheim (born Károly Manheim, 27 March 1893 – 9 January 1947) was an influential Hungarian sociologist during the first half of the 20th century. He is a key figure in classical sociology, as well as one of the founders of the sociolo ...
. Their aim is to analyse, interpret and explain the relations between
cultural phenomena -particularly religious and political– by situating them in precise social and historical contexts.
Commitments
Löwy is linked to the Revolutionary Marxist current in France, and one of his last books, on Che Guevara, was written in collaboration with
Olivier Besancenot
Olivier Christophe Besancenot (; born 18 April 1974) is a French left-wing political figure and trade unionist, and the founding main spokesperson of the New Anticapitalist Party (''Nouveau parti anticapitaliste'', NPA) from 2009 to 2011.
He w ...
,
presidential candidate
A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example:
* to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs.
* t ...
of the LCR (French
Revolutionary Communist League), a
Trotskyist
Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...
party linked to the
Fourth International
The Fourth International (FI) is a revolutionary socialist international organization consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky, also known as Trotskyists, whose declared goal is the overthrowing of global capitalism and the establishment of ...
. He is a member of the association
ATTAC, of the
Copernicus Foundation and of
Espaces Marx. He has kept intense political contacts in Brazil.
He cooperated with left currents of the Brazilian
Workers' Party (PT) for several years but during recent years his main contact has been with the Brazilian
Landless Workers Movement (MST), to whom he gave the money of the Prize Sergio Buarque de Hollanda which he received in 2000 for his book
The war of Gods. Nowadays Löwy supports
Socialism and Liberty Party
The Socialism and Liberty Party ( pt-BR, Partido Socialismo e Liberdade , PSOL ) is a left-wing political party in Brazil. The party describes itself as socialist and democratic.
The party leader is Juliano Medeiros and the federal deputies I ...
(PSOL), a left dissidence of PT.
Löwy has taken part in the
World Social Forum
The World Social Forum (WSF, pt, Fórum Social Mundial ) is an annual meeting of civil society organizations, first held in Brazil, which offers a self-conscious effort to develop an alternative future through the championing of counter-hegemoni ...
since the beginning, where he has presented several papers, one of which was in collaboration with the Brazilian liberation theologian
Frei Betto. More recently, Löwy joined the struggle for
ecosocialism
Eco-socialism (also known as green socialism or socialist ecology) is an ideology merging aspects of socialism with that of green politics, ecology and alter-globalization or anti-globalization. Eco-socialists generally believe that the expansi ...
; co-author, with
Joel Kovel, of the
International Ecosocialist Manifesto, he was also one of the organizers of the
First Ecosocialist International Meeting in Paris (2007).
Interested since his youth by
Surrealism—he met the poet
Benjamin Péret during a visit in Paris in 1958—Löwy joined the
Paris Surrealist Group, by invitation of
Vincent Bounoure, its main organizer since 1969. Two of his books are devoted to Surrealism, in its utopian and revolutionary dimension.
Publications
* ''The Marxism of Che Guevara'', New York, Monthly Review Press, 1973. (Second Edition : Rowman and Littlefield, 2007.
* "Marxism and Revolutionary Romanticism". ''
Telos
Telos (; ) is a term used by philosopher Aristotle to refer to the final cause of a natural organ or entity, or of a work of human art. Intentional actualization of potential or inherent purpose,"Telos.''Philosophy Terms'' Retrieved 3 May 2020. ...
'' 49 (Fall 1981). New York: Telos Press.
* ''Georg Lukács: from Romanticism to Bolchevism'', London, Verso, 1981.
* ''The politics of combined and uneven development. The theory of permanent revolution'', London, Verso Books, 1981.
* ''Redemption and Utopia. Libertarian Judaism in Central Europe'', Stanford University Press, 1992.
* ''Marxism in Latin America from 1909 to the Present'', New Jersey, Humanities Press, 1992.
* ''On Changing the World. Essays in political philosophy: from Karl Marx to Walter Benjamin'', New Jersey, Humanities Press, 1993. (Also in Japanese and Persian).
* ''The war of gods. Religion and Politics in Latin America'', London, Verso, 1996.
* ''Fatherland or Mother Earth? Essays on the national question'', London, Pluto Press, 1998.
* ''Morning Star. Surrealism, Marxism, Anarchism, Situationism, Utopia'', Austin, University of Texas Press, 2000.
* ''Romanticism against the Tide of Modernity'' (with Robert Sayre), Durham, Duke University Press, 2001.
* Joel Kovel and Michael Löwy (2002), "Manifeste écosocialiste international".
* ''Franz Kafka, rêveur insoumis'', Paris, Editions Stock, 2004.
* ''Fire Alarm. Reading Walter Benjamin’s ‘On the Concept of History' '', London, Verso, 2005.
* ''The Theory of Revolution in the Young Marx'', Leiden/Boston, Brill, 2003.
* ''Che Guevara, une braise qui brûle encore'', with
Olivier Besancenot
Olivier Christophe Besancenot (; born 18 April 1974) is a French left-wing political figure and trade unionist, and the founding main spokesperson of the New Anticapitalist Party (''Nouveau parti anticapitaliste'', NPA) from 2009 to 2011.
He w ...
, Paris, Mille et une nuits, 2007.
* Michael Löwy
"Why Ecosocialism: For a Red-Green Future" ''Great Transition Initiative'' (December 2018).
References
*
Richard Wolin
Richard Wolin (born 1952) is an American intellectual historian who writes on 20th Century European philosophy, particularly German philosopher Martin Heidegger and the group of thinkers known collectively as the Frankfurt School.
Life
Wolin gr ...
"A Metaphysical Materialist" ''The Nation'', October 16, 2006, p. 30-35.
External links
*
ttp://lahaine.org/index.php?blog=3&p=12099 Interview with Néstor KohanEurope Solidaire Includes many of his articles in French and English.
Michael Löwy a collection of his writings in ''
International Viewpoint''
Franz Kafka and Libertarian Socialismby Michael Löwy
provides a biographical sketch and a selective bibliography on Michael Löwy.
*
ttp://www.internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article1144 Che Guevara: The Spark that does not Dieby Michael Löwy, July 1997
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowy, Michael
1938 births
20th-century social scientists
20th-century French scientists
20th-century French writers
21st-century social scientists
21st-century French writers
Anti-consumerists
20th-century Brazilian Jews
Brazilian anti-capitalists
Brazilian emigrants to France
Brazilian people of Austrian-Jewish descent
Brazilian Marxists
French National Centre for Scientific Research scientists
Ecosocialists
French male writers
French sociologists
French Trotskyists
Jewish philosophers
Jewish socialists
Living people
New Anticapitalist Party politicians
University of Paris alumni
University of Paris faculty
Paris 8 University Vincennes-Saint-Denis faculty
Marxist theorists
People from São Paulo
Research directors of the French National Centre for Scientific Research