‘It’s a hard life if you don’t weaken.’ Arthur, Albert and André: Rebellion and its radical potential

This paper considers the ambiguities of Arthur Seaton’s political position and questions how the enduring rebellion of this iconoclastic character might offer pathways to a progressive future. Drawing from the ideas of Albert Camus, André Gorz, and Frederich Engels and Karl Marx I suggest that ‘Marxism’ has been incorporated within neo-liberal hegemonies, explore the temporal parameters of Marx’s thesis in relation to the burgeoning ecological crisis, and question if the limits imposed by the categories and labels of politics serve to inhibit the potential for meaningful change.

Can change be achieved by constantly striving to position oneself as ‘other’? What are the potential societal gains of insisting that ‘whatever you say I am is what I am not’? Under the conditions imposed by a capitalism that operates by steadily commodifying all aspects of social life must we strive to create and inhabit social space that is constantly liminal? Could persistent and perpetual rebellion lead to a future in which autonomy and collectivism are not mutually exclusive? Can Arthur help to guide the way?

• https://workingclassstudiesjournal.com/