appe nd ix 7: sartre 's c o n c e pt of the f u s e d g ro u p (analytical applications to revol utionary groups of the 1960s)
Jean-Paul Sartre 's Critique of Dialectical Reason , origi nally published in French in 1 960 and subsequently in English in 1 976, is a landmark book of great theoretical potential. Its impact has yet to be fully felt due to Sartre's political independence ( which was often viewed as political unreli ability ) , as well as the philosophical opacity of the text. Critique is an existentialist re-evaluation of Karl Marx's Marxism - as opposed to the Marxism professed by the various Communist parties of Sar tre 's day. It is an exercise that attempts to re-contextualize Marx ism, simultaneously setting it in philosophical opposition to Kantian analytical thinking , emphasizing anew Marx's close relationship to Hegel, while disavowing what was then labeled " vulgar Marxism " and the polemical ( ideological ) stances of late party Communism. Sartre 's approach re-situated Marxism in the mainstream of West ern intellectual thought, removing it from the shallow determinis tic 1 9th-century " scientific " mode adopted by various Communist ideologues . Significantly, his reexamination proves both prescient and insightful when viewed in relation to the political dissidence that emerged during the late-1 960s on an international scale , the success of which is perhaps best exemplified by the Provo move ment and the May 1 968 revolt in France . Many of the political movements and groupings of the 1 960s vindicate Sartre's methodological approach. Many of them con sciously applied the term " anarchist " to themselves and the po litical practices they advocated. Critique offers an intelligible model explaining what did and did not happen within the various move ments of the 1 960s. It also provides an analytical tool that may help future revolutionaries modify their courses of action.
the provos and the trench revolt of may 1968 Despite predictable differences stemming from their varied cul-
136 • ric hard ke mpton •••••••
