Sorel: Reflections on Violence

A CTPT rendition of a controversial and important text.

Georges Sorel (Author), Jeremy Jennings (Edited by)

9780521559102, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 4 November 1999

348 pages
21.3 x 13.7 x 2.3 cm, 0.41 kg

Georges Sorel's Reflections on Violence is one of the most controversial books of the twentieth century: J. B. Priestley argued that if one could grasp why a retired civil servant had written such a book then the modern age could be understood. It heralded the political turmoil of the decades that were to follow its publication and provided inspiration for Marxists and Fascists alike. Developing the ideas of violence, myth and the general strike, Sorel celebrates the heroic action of the proletariat as a means of saving the modern world from decadence and of re-invigorating the capitalist spirit of a timid bourgeoisie. This edition of Sorel's classic text is accompanied by an editor's introduction by Jeremy Jennings, a leading scholar of political thought, both setting the work in its context and explaining its major themes. A chronology of Sorel's life and a list of further reading are included.

Introduction
Reflections on Violence: Introduction
Part I. Class Struggle and Violence
Part II. The Decadence of the Bourgeoisie and Violence
Part III. Prejudices against Violence
Part IV. The Proletarian Strike
Part V. The Political General Strike
Part VI. The Ethics of Violence
Part VII. The Ethics of the Producers
Appendix I. Unity and multiplicity
Appendix II. Apology for violence
Appendix III. In defence of Lenin.

Subject Areas: History of ideas [JFCX]