Abstract

The author analyses and comments on István Mészáros' last book, the monumental "Beyond Capital. Towards a Theory of Transition". At present, this book offers the only coeherent and sistematic approach to a rethinking of the actuality and possibility of marxian theory in the age of globalization. According to the author, Mészáros has come to represent the third generation of "tragic marxism", embodied in its first version by Georgy Lukács, Mészáros' teacher: Mészáros is in fact aware of the historical limits of "tragic marxism", but these same historical reasons prevent him from superseding such limits.