Marcuse and the tip of the iceberg

Abstract

1968 is considered a remarkable year, mainly because of the struggles of students and workers and the counter-revolutionary movement that followed them. Marcuse is largely remembered for his role in 1960s and 1970s. Although he was considered the Guru of the New Left, his role was misunderstood, being criticized both by the conservative right and the "orthodox" left. However, since the end of 1990s, with the publication of his Collected Papers, Marcuse’s theory has been updated, being subject of many studies. The aim of this communication is to show that the theory of Marcuse is still valid, arguing that he had seen the "tip of the Iceberg" we are facing today. Despite the conjunctural differences, it is possible to say that the trends prevalent today were already present or in gestation in that period. Indeed, in his 33 Theses on the situation post Second World War, published posthumously, Marcuse shows his astuteness realizing the future division of the world in the Cold War. He was not wrong arguing the one-dimensional character of contemporary society, judging the competition between Capitalism and Socialism would lead to equivalence between them, in favor of the first. The predominant strain in 1968 is the same that remains concealed today: the tension between freedom and social containment. The desire for a new way of life, a new culture and morality, face the increasingly growing counter-revolutionary contention that looks for maintaining live the values of exploitation by the capital. The process of counter-revolution opened in the end of the 1960s, which culminated in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall and in 1991 with the end of the Soviet Union, it was not over, only increased in 2001 with the terrorist attacks on World Trade Center and the beginning of terrorist war of G. W. Bush.