Marx and the Politics of Need

Reviews / Votes

'This astonishing book resituates the politics of human needs because it resituates philosophical enquiry. It does so by recontextualising Marx as a theorising, change-making activist. Boss's bold approach to a philosophical problem resituates it as a political problem. How are needs produced, and why is there no satisfaction?'

Terrell Carver, Professor of Political Theory at the University of Bristol, author of 'The Postmodern Marx' and 'Marx'.

'There have been a few good books on needs. There are libraries of books of a wide range of quality on Karl Marx. This book is excellent on both counts, providing a novel take on both needs and Marx's firmly contextual, practical political thinking. It is a creative and carefully crafted account of the irreducibly political character of needs, taking needs as performative achievements in context riddled with struggle, oppression and suffering rather than natural givens. The author even ends off with how this approach can be marshalled to confront the political challenges of the present. A must read!'

Lawrence Hamilton, SA UK Bilateral Research Professor in Political Theory at the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Cambridge, author of 'The Political Philosophy of Needs'.

'Boss's innovative reading highlights the deeply political character of Marx's perspective on need, recovering from his writings insights and interventions that could radically transform the theory and practice of politics today.'

Maeve Cooke, Professor of Philosophy at University College Dublin, author of 'Re-Presenting the Good Society'.