Daniel Bensaïd was one of the most creative, elegant, and daring militants postwar Marxism has had at its side. He combined a literary style rich in imagery with an acute grasp of political struggle. Bensaïd was a prolific writer, yet his contribution remains relatively unknown or underappreciated in the English-speaking world.

In the interval between the release of his autobiography and death, he published some sixteen works. Of the many works he left behind, only a few have been translated into English. Some of his key works like Walter Benjamin, sentinelle messianique (1990), La discordance des temps (1995), and Le pari mélancolique (1997) are yet to appear in English.

Bensaïd often referred to Ernst Bloch’s claim that there were “cold” and “warm” currents of Marxism. These were “not simply different readings or interpretations, but, rather, theoretical constructions that sometimes underpin antagonistic politics.” The contents of Marxism are not owned by any single authority or tradition; dogmatic relations to Marx and Marxism need to be overturned.