Why Is Benjamin the Right Thinker for Our Political Moment?

In this chapter, I will try to explain why Benjamin seems to be so in vogue today. I will explain that Benjamin offers us a form of anarchism that suits our own time. This is not a rejection of Marxism but rather a focus on what I’d call a non-archist form of Marxism, one that correlates well with contemporary anarchist theory as well. I will look at how Benjamin’s notion of mythic violence accords with the notion of archism (the hierarchical system we all live under today) and how he offers ways to combat this through his studies of theology, literature and other areas of focus.