Alienation, reification and the antinomies of production: On the theoretical development of Gyorgy Markus

In recent years, the works of Gyorgy Markus - a member of what has been dubbed the 'Budapest School' - have begun to generate an increasingly sophisticated and vibrant discussion. The present essay seeks to contribute to this burgeoning body of critical literature by offering a summary account and evaluation of the evolution of Markus's thought from the critique of alienation developed during the 1960s through to his post-Marxist philosophy of culture in the latter decades of the 20th century. It does so with the intention of answering what is arguably the question confronting the contemporary reception of Markus's body of work: in what relation do Markus's later works stand to the aspirations and ideals of his early, more explicitly Marxist writings?