Norman Geras (25 August 1943 – 18 October 2013) was a political theorist and Professor Emeritus of Politics at the University of Manchester. He contributed to an analysis of the works of Karl Marx in his book Marx and Human Nature and the article "The Controversy About Marx and Justice". His 'Seven Types of Obloquy: Travesties of Marxism', appeared in the Socialist Register in 1990.
Geras was born in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia, to a Jewish family. Arriving in the UK in 1962, he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Pembroke College, Oxford and graduated in 1965. He was a research student from 1965 to 1967 at Nuffield College, Oxford before joining the University of Manchester as a Lecturer in 1967, retiring as a Professor in 2003.
Geras was on the editorial board of New Left Review from 1976 to 1992, and then on the editorial board of Socialist Register from 1995 to 2003. From 2003 onwards he wrote a blog, which focused on political issues, such as the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which he supported, his academic interests, and a range of other topics, including popular music, cricket and films. In 2006 he was one of the principal authors of the Euston Manifesto.
- 1976: The Legacy of Rosa Luxemburg ISBN 0-902308-28-9 (1983 paperback: ISBN 0-86091-780-0)
- 1983: Marx and Human Nature: Refutation of a Legend ISBN 0-86091-767-3
- 1986: Literature of Revolution: Essays on Marxism ISBN 0-86091-859-9
- 1990: Discourses of Extremity ISBN 0-86091-980-3
- 1995: Solidarity in the Conversation of Humankind: Ungroundable Liberalism of Richard Rorty ISBN 0-86091-453-4
- 1997: The Ashes '97: The View from the Boundary (with Ian Holliday and Tom Jenkins, Illustrator) ISBN 1-897626-11-8
- 1998: The Contract of Mutual Indifference: Political Philosophy After the Holocaust ISBN 1-85984-868-0 (1999 paperback: ISBN 1-85984-229-1)
- 2000: Enlightenment and Modernity (edited by Geras and Robert Wokler) ISBN 0-312-22385-4
- 2002: Men of Waugh: Ashes 2001 ISBN 0-9541985-0-6
- 2005: "On the London Bombings". TELOS 132 (Fall 2005). New York: Telos Press
- 2011: Crimes against humanity: Birth of a concept ISBN 978-0-7190-8241-2
- http://normblog.typepad.com/normblog/2013/10/norman-geras-1943-2013.html Norman Geras: 1943-2013, normblog
- Kovel, Joel (1991). History and Spirit: An Inquiry into the Philosophy of Liberation. Boston: Beacon Press. p. 255. ISBN 0-8070-2916-5.
- McLellan, David (1995). The Thought of Karl Marx: An Introduction. London: Papermac. p. 267. ISBN 0-333-63948-0.
- Eagleton, Terry (2012). Why Marx Was Right. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-300-18153-1.
- Ben Cohen "Norman Geras: 1943-2013", The Tablet, 18 October 2013
- Haroon Siddique "Pioneering blogger Norman Geras dies of prostate cancer aged 70", theguardian.com, 18 October 2013
- Geras' Twitter page
- Alibi Antisemitism, Fathom: For a deeper understanding of Israel and the region, 29 January 2013
- Obituary in Socialist Review by Paul Blackledge