Postcolonial Historical Materialism

Through a reappraisal of the work of four major figures in critical theory â" Ernst Bloch, Georg Luk¡cs, Theodor Adorno, and Walter Benjamin â" Filippo Menozzi rethinks the tradition of critical theory in relation to pressing concerns in postcolonial studies.

Revealing these authorsâ continued relevance to urgent issues in the 21st century, from struggles against racism to social movements and the transmutations of global capitalism, Menozzi reimagines them as central to an alternative genealogy of critical theory that moves beyond their European provenance and the limitations of âWestern Marxismâ. In doing so, this book challenges, more broadly, the view of critical theory as steeped in Eurocentrism, culturally conservative, and politically defeatist. Contesting this in four chapters, Postcolonial Historical Materialism inserts Adorno, Luk¡cs, Bloch, and Benjamin into key contemporary sites of militancy and debate, including the persistence of orientalism, Afro-pessimism, the politics of translation, and the reception of refugees.

Engaging with a wide range of European and non-European sources, Menozzi proposes a new concept of âpostcolonial historical materialismâ, indicating how the heritage of critical theory can reopen global possibilities of utopia and revolution in a non-utopian age of global emergencies, social unrest, and the unfinished history of decolonisation.