Den spaltede affortryllelse

Et forstudie til analysen af det reaktionæres genkomst i kapitalismens traditionelle arnesteder

Resumé

Linking Alfred Sohn-Rethel’s analysis of fascism with his critique of epistemology, ‘Fractured Disenchantment’ makes the case for a preliminary theoretical study for the analysis of the return of reaction, primarily, in the case of this article, within Europe and the US. In the 1930s, Sohn-Rethel was in the privileged position of having access to the inner-workings of the German capitalist class at the same time as being part of communist resistance to the rise fascism. In Manual and Intellectual Labour, parts of which were derived from his attempt to come to terms with his experience of fascism, Sohn-Rethel published the results of decades of work on a materialist critique of epistemology in 1970. By tracing some of the links between Sohn-Rethel’s theory and critical responses to it in the new readings of Marx taking place at the same period, this article tries to link the critique of value with a critique of anti-fascism, arguing for a non-identificatory critique of capital as the basis for an analysis of reactionary politics today.