Marxism in a Lost Century

Gary Roth is a Lecturer at Rutgers University-Newark and co-author (with Anne Lopes) of Men’s Feminism: August Bebel and the German Socialist Movement (Humanity Books, 2000).

"Just as all good biographies transcend their immediate subject matter and illuminate more enduring truths, so too does Roth's recounting of Mattick's life disclose much about the biases and prejudices within intellectual and political circles on the left, both then and now. [...] Marxism in a Lost Century illuminates as much about ourselves and the world within which left intellectuals circulate today as it does about the world of this remarkable Marxist thinker."- Thom Workman (University of New Brunswick), in Marx and Philosophy Review of Books, 23 July 2016"Gary Roths biographische Studie über Paul Mattick basiert wesentlich auf dem umfangreichen, im Amsterdamer Institut für Sozialgeschichte (IISG) aufbewahrten Nachlass, insbesondere auf der überlieferten Korrespondenz, die nahezu 2000 Briefe umfasst; außerdem nutzte Roth die Gelegenheit zur Befragung von Zeitzeugen, insbesondere Matticks zweiter Frau Ilse Mattick und den Sohn Paul Mattick Jr. , der auch die letzte Schrift seines Vaters „Marxism. Last Refuge of the Bourgoisie?“ 1983, zwei Jahre nach dem Tod des Autors 1981 posthum herausbrachte (während eine deutsche Ausgabe leider nach wie vor aussteht). Roth erzählt das Leben Matticks faktisch aus Sicht und politischer Perspektive von Mattick selbst; damit gelingt ihm eine mit vielen Einzelheiten und zuweilen auch überflüssigen Informationen gefüllte lebendige Darstellung, die es zu lesen durchaus lohnt."- Michael Buckmiller (Leibniz Universität Hannover), The International Newsletter of Communist Studies, Vol. 22-23 (2016/17), Nos. 29-30, pp. 108 - 110"In his new biography of Paul Mattick, a German-born worker who immigrated to the United States in 1926 and later emerged as one of the most important radical critics of his time, Gary Roth tells the story of a largely forgotten current in the 20th century that early on made a rupture with the statist caricatures of communism to which today’s media-savvy leftist intellectuals are still holding fast.1 Noting that this story is about “bygone eras in which a radicalized working class still constituted a hope for the future,” Roth steers clear of melancholy and nostalgia, instead seeking a justification for his work in the more recent reconfiguration "of the world’s population into a vast working class that extends into the middle classes in the industrialized countries and the pools of underemployed agricultural workers everywhere else"."- Felix Baum, The Brooklyn Rail, December 9th, 2015 "Besides its political and theoretical content, Roth’s biography of Mattick is of great human interest. It tells us a lot about what life was like at various times for working people in both Germany and the United States. The book is worth reading for that alone."- In: Socialist Standard, February 2016"Gary Roth’s Marxism in a Lost Century provides a vivid and fascinating account of the life of Paul Mattick, and in so doing presents a history of the twentieth-century left from the perspective of one of its underappreciated protagonists. [...] By shining light on an extraordinary and neglected Marxist, Roth’s book is an important contribution to Marxist scholarship and deserves to be widely read."- Robin Hurlstone, International Socialist Review, Issue 101

• List of PhotosAcknowledgementsList of AbbreviationsAbout the Notes1. Introduction2. Children at Work and War2.1 At Home2.2 Protest and Revolution 2.3 Revolution in Retreat3. Young Radicals3.1 March 19203.2 KAPD4. Between Berlin and Cologne4.1 Bouts of Unemployment4.2 Movement in Decline4.3 Older Friends5. New Worlds 5.1 Voyages5.2 Work and Writing5.3 Amalgamation6. Chicago in the Depression 6.1 Opening Years6.2 Opposition and Accusations6.3 Across the Country6.4 Crisis Theory7. The Unemployed Movement7.1 The Workers League7.2 Federation and Party7.3 Fascism’s Initial Impact7.4 The German Émigré Community8. The Independent Left8.1 German to English8.2 Editors’ Reluctance9. International Council Correspondence9.1 Pamphlets and Authors9.2 The Inevitability of Communism9.3 Mid-Decade10. Towards War10.1 International Developments10.2 Opportunities10.3 Living Marxism11. End of an Era11.1 Self-Reflections11.2 Anti-Fascism12. The War Years12.1 Relationships12.2 New Essays12.3 Leaving Chicago13. New York City13.1 Isolation13.2 Travelling to Berlin14. Quiet Times14.1 Writers’ Bloc14.2 Back to Nature14.3 Boston15. Rekindling15.1 Recent Admirers15.2 A New Left16. Reception16.1 Discovery in Germany16.2 From Marx and Keynes to Roskilde17. Winding Down17.1 Last Years17.2 IllnessArchivesWorks CitedIndex