The end of the Soviet period, the vast expansion in the power and influence of capital, and recent developments in social and aesthetic theory, have made the work of Hungarian Marxist philosopher and social critic Georg Lukacs more vital than ever.

The very innovations in literary method that, during the 80s and 90s, marginalized him in the West have now made possible new readings of Lukacs, less in thrall to the positions taken by Lukacs himself on political and aesthetic matters. What these developments amount to, this book argues, is an opportunity to liberate Lukacs's thought...