ABSTRACT
One-Dimensional Man (ODM) has been often misunderstood as an anti-manifesto of the paralysis of the critical mind, oppositional politics, and a deep philosophical pessimism. Largely on the basis of ten new lectures (1966–1976) from the Frankfurt Marcuse Archive I challenge what many have characterized as Marcuse’s pessimistic analysis of the probabilities of radical social change, stressing his emphasis on the “transvaluation of values,” which he saw as already embodied within the radical opposition forces of the 1960s. ODM contributed vitally to a new way of understanding U.S. culture by bringing de-provincializing insights from Marcuse’s experience with fascism in Germany. Herbert Marcuse’s philosophical vision, political critique, and social activism continue to offer intelligent strategic perspective on such current concerns as repressive democracy, political and racial inequality, education as social control, and the radical meaning of socialism.
