Revolution and (Criticism of) Progress: The Contemporary Eco-Socialism of Walter Benjamin

Abstract

Beginning in the mid-1970s the emergence of the ecological crisis imposed new challenges on Marxism. Since then, the construction of a socialist and ecological perspective has been connected to the necessity of a reinvigoration of the Marxist criticism of “progress” and the modern capitalist civilizing model. Taking that basic premise as a point of departure, the objective of this article is to underscore the importance of Walter Benjamin – especially his radical criticism of progress and modernity and his conception of social revolution as an interruption of historical continuity – for the contemporary constitution of an ecological Marxist or, better yet, an eco-socialist perspective.