Søren Mau

Mute Compulsion is available in Danish from Klim, in German from Karl Dietz Verlag, and will be available in English from Verso Books in January 2023, as well as in French and Arabic in 2024.

With a preface by Michael Heinrich, author of The Science of Value (1991) and Karl Marx and the Birth of Modern Society (2018).

Read a summary of the book in the journal Historical Materialism (in English), or in the journal PROKLA (in German).

See the list of contents, Michael Heinrich’s preface and the introduction here: Danish/German. Read the conclusion in Danish here, and in Swedish here.

“Written with verve and clarity, analytically sharp and dialectically shrewd in equal measure, Mute Compulsion reinvigorates historical materialism for the mid-twenty-first century. Through close readings of Marx and critical dialogues with contemporary theory, it throws up fresh insights for a new generation of Marxists, as well as for long-time connoisseurs. A big red book to cherish.” – Andreas Malm

“An instant classic. The best introduction to Marx’s thought in any language.” – Aaron Benanav

“Mute Compulsion manages to do something quite extraordinary: it puts a definitive end to accusations of economic reductionism levelled against Marx through an argument which is both complex, and yet very simple. By proposing that capital’s domination operates through a form of economic power that subordinates our everyday life, Mau underscores the need to throw our gaze not only at what happens in the workplace, but particularly outside of it. A tour de force through some of the key Marxist concepts and debates.” – Sara R. Farris

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