Presentation - Raymond Williams Centenary: The legacy of cultural materialism

Abstract

Raymond Williams is, indisputably, one of the most important intellectual figures of the New Left, a movement that emerged in Great Britain at the turn of the 1960s. Williams operates a critical revolution in relation to Marxism as a theoretical form, in general, and in its relationship with the tradition of Culture and society, in particular. In “The Future of Marxism” – unpublished text in Brazil,
and specially translated for the dossier –, deals with strategic issues for a living Marxism that wants to be influential and relevant not only for interpretation, but, above all, for the transformation of the world (hegemonic imperialism, really existing socialism, human emancipation etc.).