The name of Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979) was closely associated to the anti-establishment movements of the Sixties and Seventies. Less attention has been paid to the strong relationship between his political activism and the philosophical underpinnings of his research activity. A detailed analysis reveals that his connection to the Sixties' and Seventies' social movements is largely implicit in his philosophical thought that, from the start, always attempted to conceive politics as "movement" and as an effort to upset the capitalist goal of imposing order on the inherent indiscipline of rebellious subjectivity and its desire for emancipation. This volume describes the evolution of this idea of politics through a methodical analysis of Marcuse's many scientific writings, including "Reason and Revolution" (1941), "Eros and Culture" (1955), "One Dimensional Man" (1964), his more political texts of the Sixties and Seventies, and numerous works that were published only after his death. For the first time this German's thinker's oeuvre is illustrated in its entirety, including its links with changes during the "short century" and some of its chief intellectuals: Heidegger, Adorno, Arendt, Sartre.

Raffaele Laudani has earned Ph.D.s in History of Political Thought and Political Institutions at the University in Turin and in Philosophy and History of Ideas at the Sophie Antipolis University in Nice. He is currently adjunct professor at the Department of Political Science of Columbia University.