New releases from The Jim Mullen Quartet, Caroline Kraabel/John Edwards, and Matthew Muneses/Riza Printup
The fallacy of work worship
ALAN McGUIRE recommends a book that tries to shift our understanding of work and our relationship to it
JAN WOOLF wallows in the historical mulch of post WW2 West Germany, and the resistant, challenging sense made of it by Anselm Kiefer
ANA ISABEL NUNES points to the empowering legacy of Augusto Boal’s Theatre Of The Oppressed
CARLOS MARTINEZ welcomes the publication of the writings of the great Palestinian author, political theorist and spokesman for the PFLP
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE review Cottontail, Memoir of a Snail, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, and Captain America: Brave New World
PAUL DONOVAN is fascinated by an account of the long history of Catholic Church’s involvement in espionage
ROGER McKENZIE welcomes an important contribution to the history of Africa, telling the story in its own right rather than in relation to Europeans
The Double Shift: Spinoza and Marx on the Politics of Work
by Jason Read
Verso, £16.99
THERE are trends in book genres, and trends in political theory are not exempt from this. The reading of Spinoza is an exception to the rule of cringey political theory. Marx himself read Spinosa, as did Louis Althusser, Mark Fisher and Antonio Negri.
His standing as one of the original materialists, his critique of liberals such as Hobbes and Locke and his charge against the dominant thought of religion of the day all make him a satisfactory companion to read alongside Marx.
More from this author
MICHAL BONCZA recommends a compact volume that charts the art of propagating ideas across the 20th century
MICHAL BONCZA reviews Cairokee gig at the London Barbican
MICHAL BONCZA rounds up a series of images designed to inspire women
Similar stories
ALISTAIR FINDLAY recommends a prime example of a Marxist history of popular music that entertains and inspires
ANDY HEDGECOCK recommends the application of ‘Gothic Marxism’ for its memorable portrayal of the physical violence done to working people
GORDON PARSONS recommends a fine introduction to a philosopher who, like Marx, worked to help society to reject illusion and understand the realities of the human condition
An exploration of Baldwin’s writing and travels that overlooks his political radicalism does no service to him or the movement says JENNY FARRELL