Heterodox Marxist and His Century: Lelio Basso
Lelio Basso was a major thinker and political leader of Italian socialism. In this volume, his writings are presented for the first time in English translation. They document his anti-fascist work from the 1920s to the 1940s, his short-lived leadership of the Socialist Party, his internationalist work in the 1970s, his rediscovery of Rosa Luxemburg and more. The texts collected in this book provide an original contribution to the renewal of Marxism in Europe and an example of political practice rooted in mass mobilisation and international solidarity, with major lessons for the contemporary left.
Lelio Basso (1903-1978) was a major figure of the Italian left. Engaged early on in clandestine work against Fascism, he later became a secretary of Italy's Socialist Party, a leader of radical politics, the organiser of the International Russell Tribunal, and an important Marxist scholar of Rosa Luxemburg.
Chiara Giorgi is a researcher in Contemporary History at ‘Sapienza’ University of Rome in the Department of Philosophy and works with the Fondazione Basso. She has authored a biography of Lelio Basso and books on Fascism, Italian Colonialism, the Welfare State, and Socialism.