Ellen Meiksins Wood - Remembering An Inspirational Marxist Intellectual

Very sorry to hear about the recent passing on January 14th 2016 of inspirational Marxist intellectual Ellen Meiksins Wood. Her work constitutes a major and valuable contribution to the anti-Stalinist Marxist tradition. I only met her once and on that occasion she joked about being an 'orthodox Marxist'. It was an orthodoxy that was centrally committed to the rigorous critique of capitalism and the highly limited form of democracy that emerged in conjunction with capitalism, to working class self-emancipation, and to the collective creation of a democratic socialist world beyond capitalism. She was also by all accounts a lovely human. She will be missed but will not be forgotten. Her work will remain relevant throughout the course of this volatile century.

• For a sympathetic obituary see the following. It notes, among other things, that "Throughout her life, Ellen remained deeply engaged in careful historical work emphasizing the very specific historical emergence of capitalism in England, and promoted the idea that democracy always has to be fought for and secured from below; that it is never benevolently conferred from above. 
http://www.broadbentinstitute.ca/remembering_ellen_meiksins_wood 

• See also:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Meiksins_Wood 

• Verso Books published much of her work. See:
http://www.versobooks.com/authors/263-ellen-meiksins-wood 

• Links to other obituaries that comment on the importance of her work are listed below:
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/01/ellen-wood-obituary-chibber-retreat-from-class-origins-of-capitalism-marxist/ 
http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-01-25-in-lieu-of-an-obituary-ellen-meiksins-wood-1942-2016/
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2016/foster180116.html
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2016/huws150116.html

• A comprehensive bibliography of her work is at:
https://politicalmarxism.wordpress.com/library/ellen-meiksins-wood/