Herbert Marcuse and America's Cultural Revolution
Craig Calhoun
Book chapter · 2024
Abstract
Herbert Marcuse is often judged by the imagined political consequences of his work rather than its real intellectual contributions. In this context, perhaps the most surprising and interesting recent account of the significance of Marcuse comes from Christopher F. Rufo. His best-selling book America’s Cultural Revolution presents Marcuse as a spectacularly successful agent of cultural and social transformation. In this essay, I explore both what Rufo sees as the American cultural revolution and why he places Marcuse at its center. I explore what makes sense and what does not in his reading of Marcuse and his diagnosis of the recent trends in American society that make him call for counter-revolution.