The phrase "solidarity of the shaken" was introduced into the today's political vocabulary by Jan Patocka, one of the last students of the philosopher Edmund Husserl and undoubtedly the most important Czech philosopher of the twentieth century. In January 1977, Patocka became - together with Vaclav Havel and Jiri Hajek -- one of the first three spokespersons of Charter 77, Czechoslovakia's anti-communist resistance movement. He died less than three months later, as a result of total exhaustion caused by days-long police interrogations. Patocka's Socratic death is an unavoidable component of his philosophical legacy. Is his main message still relevant today, after the "short" twentieth century ended with the collapse of communism in Europe in 1989? Is it still in circulation and perceived as an important Central European contribution to the new "dialogue of mankind" taking place today, as we approach the end of the second decade of new millennium? Six years ago, the Vaclav Havel Library organized a seminar in Prague where a group of scholars sought to answer these questions. This book offers any readers concerned with human rights the results of these incisive discussions. Patocka's life and work are decidedly not diminishing with time. On the contrary, they have been actualized by our current spiritual crisis.

This edited collection evaluates the relationship between Marxism and religion in two ways: Marxism's treatment of religion and the religious aspects of Marxism. Its aim is to complicate the superficial understanding of Marxism as a simple rejection of religion both in theory and practice. Divided into two parts (Theory and Praxis), this book brings together the three different themes of Marxism, religion, and emancipation for the first time. The first part explores the more theoretical discussions regarding the relationship between Marxism and various themes (or currents) within religious thought, to highlight points of compatibility as well as incompatibilities/conflicts. The studies in the second part of the collection refer to how Marxist ideas are received in different parts of the world. They show that as soon as Marxism arrives in a new place, the theory interacts and bonds with a pre-existing stock of ideas, each changing the other reciprocally.

This book explores Soviet prosecution records to tell the hidden story of ordinary citizens who were arrested for expressing discontent during the Khrushchev and Brezhnev years.

What kind of role can the middle class play in potential democratization in such an undemocratic, late developing country as China? To answer this profound political as well as theoretical question, Jie Chen explores attitudinal and behavioral orientation of China's new middle class to democracy and democratization. Chen's work is based on a unique set of data collected from a probability-sample survey and in-depth interviews of residents in three major Chinese cities, Beijing, Chengdu and Xi'an-each of which represents a distinct level of economic development in urban China-in 2007 and 2008. The empirical findings derived from this data set confirm that (1) compared to other social classes, particularly lower classes, the new Chinese middle class-especially those employed in the state apparatus-tends to be more supportive of the current Party-state but less supportive of democratic values and institutions; (2) the new middle class's attitudes toward democracy may be accounted for by this class's close ideational and institutional ties with the state, and its perceived socioeconomic wellbeing, among other factors; (3) the lack of support for democracy among the middle class tends to cause this social class to act in favor of the current state but in opposition to democratic changes. The most important political implication is that while China's middle class is not likely to serve as the harbinger of democracy now, its current attitudes toward democracy may change in the future. Such a crucial shift in the middle class's orientation toward democracy can take place, especially when its dependence on the Party-state decreases and perception of its own social and economic statuses turns pessimistic. The key theoretical implication from the findings suggests that the attitudinal and behavioral orientations of the middle class-as a whole and as a part-toward democratic change in late developing countries are contingent upon its relationship with the incumbent state and its perceived social/economic wellbeing, and the middle class's support for democracy in these countries is far from inevitable.

Alongside the 'critical theory' of the Frankfurt School, West Germany was also home to another influential Marxist current known as the Marburg School. In this volume, Marburg disciple Lothar Peter traces the school's history and situates it in the political discourse and developments of its time. The renowned political scientist Wolfgang Abendroth plays a large role, but unlike most histories of the Marburg School Peter also takes the sociologists Werner Hofmann and Heinz Maus into account as well as their many students and successors. They were united by the conviction that teaching and scholarship must necessarily be tied to the practical goal of transforming society - an approach that met with considerable opposition in the harshly anti-Communist atmosphere of the period. This book was first published in 2014 as Marx an die Uni. Die "Marburger Schule" - Geschichte, Probleme, Akteure by PapyRossa Verlag, Cologne, ISBN 978-38-94-38546-0. With a new Introduction by Ingar Solty.

The classic "The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844" is a detailed description and analysis of the appalling conditions of the working class in Britain during Engels' stay in Manchester and Salford. The work also contains seminal thoughts on the state of socialism and its development.

Professor Junhao Hong provides the first systematic study of China's television, the largest and one of the most complicated television systems in the world. China's television represents a highly complicated communication system, a powerful ideological machine, and a unique social manifestation. As Professor Hong illustrates, during the past 20 years, since the country's reform, television has experienced tremendous changes. While many studies of media globalization attribute the phenomenon mainly to external factors--new technologies, global capital flows, and quality production of Western programming--Hong argues that in many countries internal factors, such as government policy and the evolution of society, play decisive roles for change. Based on firsthand data and interviews with China's high-ranking officials and policymakers this study will be of considerable value to scholars and researchers dealing with mass media/television issues in the developing world and with contemporary China.

The Cold War has been researched in minute detail and written about at great length but it remains one of the most elusive and enigmatic conflicts of modern times. With the ending of the Cold War, it is now possible to review the entire post-war period, to examine the Cold War as history. The Middle East occupies a special place in the history of the Cold War. It was critical to its birth, its life and its demise. In the aftermath of the Second World War, it became one of the major theatres of the Cold War on account of its strategic importance and its oil resources. The key to the international politics of the Middle East during the Cold War era is the relationship between external powers and local powers. Most of the existing literature on the subject focuses on the policies of the Great Powers towards the local region. The Cold War and the Middle East redresses the balance by concentrating on the policies of the local actors. It looks at the politics of the region not just from the outside in but from the inside out. The contributors to this volume are leading scholars in the field whose interests combine International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies.

The historical studies presented here examine four ideologies- Leninism, Trotskyism, anarchism, and anti-imperialism- still with us, however different and diffuse in form. They are a contribution to the worldwide Marx renaissance of recent decades which has helped clear away the legacies of the Second, Third and Fourth Internationals, not to mention of the 'real existing socialism' of the Soviet Union and its bastard progeny. These revolutionary predecessors did not fail because 'they had the wrong ideas'; in contrast to today, they were merely embedded in an earlier dynamic where capitalism, globally, was not yet fully dominant. The cases of Russia, Turkey, Spain and Bolivia allow us to measure the distance between their epoch and our own, and to clear away their problematic legacies.

My intention here is simply to attempt to sway anyone and everyone not to vote for Barach Obama in the 2012 election. This entire endeavor goes to that end. I ask all of the educated women of this country to take another look at yourselves and just why you did vote for such a person in the 2008 election. Is it because you think you are such a liberal thinkers? Why not become an independent thinker this time around and vote for someone that has the best interest of this nation at heart, instead of someone that wants to systematically destroy this country piece by piece. Why not vote for someone that does not want to make this country a socialist country. This has been a good country. Let's continue with it the way our forefathers meant it to be.

For Marxists, imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism. Critical analysis of imperialism has been a feature of Marxist throughout the twentieth century. The conceptualising and theorising of imperialism by Marxists has evolved over time in response to developments in the global capitalist economy and in international politics. Murray Noonan here provides the first complete analysis of Marxist theories of imperialism in over two decades. Presenting three phases of imperialist theories, he analyses and compares 'Classical', 'Neo' and 'Globalisation-era' Marxist theories of imperialism. The book moves chronologically, tracking the origins of imperialism theorised by J.A. Hobson at the beginning of the twentieth century up to the present day. He critically identifies and engages with a new 'Globalisation-era' phase of Marxist imperialism theory. Through a detailed scholarly analysis of the history and evolution of these theories, Noonan offers vital new perspectives on imperialist theory and its relevance and application in the twenty-first century.

This Fist Called My Heart: The Peter McLaren Reader, Volume I is "at the same time an homage, a gathering, an intellectual activist's...toolkit, a teacher's bullshit detector, a parent's demand list and an academic's orienting topography. This collection of essays...represents some of the most central and important work of Peter McLaren; work he has done on behalf of people's liberation and humanization over more than three decades. [It provides] readers with an opportunity to develop a deep understanding of McLaren's intellectual history and academic development, and the thinking processes that lead to his current framework and intellectual/philosophical/political situatedness in humanist Marxism. Through these gathered and sequentially presented essays, readers will be able to `see' McLaren in the process of his theory construction, over time, without missing his essence of struggling for a just society that promotes the full humanity and liberation of all people. [Here,] we have curated some of the most exemplary essays along the trajectory of Peter McLaren's long and impactful career. These pieces track and document Peter's intellectual grow as one of North America's most important intellectuals and advocates for critical pedagogy; his theorizing of the discursive and the everyday through post-modernist and post-structural lenses; his contributions to the literature and practice of critical multiculturalism; his stirring work on capitalist empire, and valiant struggles to resist it; through to his foundational, long held connection and cutting edge contribution to the field of humanist Marxism."

This compelling book describes how everyday people courageously survived under repressive Communist regimes until the voices and actions of rebellious individuals resulted in the fall of the Iron Curtain in Europe. Part of Greenwood's Daily Life through History series, Daily Life behind the Iron Curtain enables today's generations to understand what it was like for those living in Eastern Europe during the Cold War, particularly the period from 1961 to 1989, the era during which these people-East Germans in particular-lived in the imposing shadow of the Berlin Wall. An introductory chapter discusses the Russian Revolution, the end of World War II, and the establishment of the Socialist state, clarifying the reasons for the construction of the Berlin Wall. Many historical anecdotes bring these past experiences to life, covering all aspects of life behind the Iron Curtain, including separation of families and the effects on family life, diet, rationing, media, clothing and trends, strict travel restrictions, defection attempts, and the evolving political climate. The final chapter describes Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin wall and the slow assimilation of East into West, and examines Europe after Communism.

Reading Gramsci is a collection of essays by Francisco Fernandez Buey with a unifying theme: the enduring relevance of Gramsci's political, philosophical and personal reflections for those who wish to understand and transform 'the vast and terrible world' of capital. Reading Gramsci is of considerable biographical and philosophical interest for scholars and partisans of communism alike. Fernandez Buey distils Gramsci's intimate thinking on the relation between love and revolutionary engagement from Gramsci's personal correspondence; he reveals how Gramsci draws on both Marxism and Machiavellianism in order to formulate his conception of politics as a collective ethics; he retraces the trajectory of Gramsci's thinking in the Prison Notebooks, and elucidates Gramsci's reflections on the relation between language and politics. English translation of Leyendo a Gramsci, published by El Viejo Topo in 2001.

Labor Conflict and Capitalist Hegemony in Argentina delves into the dynamics of labor conflict during a decisive moment in the history of Neoliberalism and its crisis. How did workers react to labor flexibilization, market reforms and massive layoffs? In what way were employers able to keep hold of industrial hegemony during the crisis of Neoliberalism? This book explores these questions from a Marxian approach on peripheral capitalist countries with the aim of contributing to a new conceptualization of labor relations, labor history and collective class action. The analysis focuses on the automotive industry in Argentina between 1990 and 2007 although framed in broader temporal dynamics. Labor conflict and capitalist hegemony in Argentina relata la dinamica del conflicto laboral en el periodo crucial de la historia del neoliberalismo y su crisis. ?Como reaccionaron los trabajadores frente a la flexibilizacion laboral, las reformas de mercado y los despidos masivos? ?De que modo los empresarios mantuvieron la hegemonia industrial en la crisis del neoliberalismo? El libro formula las preguntas a partir de una aplicacion del analisis marxiano para los paises perifericos capitalistas. Sobre esta base se propone una conceptualizacion novedosa de las relaciones laborales, la historia sindical y la accion colectiva de clase. El analisis esta enfocado en la industria automotriz argentina entre 1990 y 2007 aunque enmarcado en dinamicas temporales mas amplias.

THE CONTRADICTORY NATURE OF COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT Written during a tense period of the Cold War, this study observed that Bolshevism was a system that embraces anarchism in theory and totalitarianism in practice. In order to survive the Bolshevist state must obliterate the potentially destabilizing forces inherent in democracy through a party dictatorship that is presented as the political self-determination of a free people. "A deep-cutting analysis of some of the fundamental contradictions in Communist theory and practice, particularly in regard to democracy and the dictatorial function of the state." --Foreign Affairs 27 (1948-49) 679 Possibly the most influential jurisprudent of the twentieth century, Hans Kelsen 1881-1973] was legal adviser to Austria's last emperor and its first republican government, the founder and permanent advisor of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Austria and the author of Austria's Constitution, which was enacted in 1920, abolished during the Anschluss and restored in 1945. He was the author of more than forty books on law and legal philosophy. Active as a teacher in Europe and the United States, he was Dean of the Law Faculty of the University of Vienna and taught at the Universities of Cologne and Prague, the Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Harvard, Wellesley, the University of California at Berkeley and the Naval War College.

This book is a meticulous argument for the contemporary value of Marx's democratic theory as an interpretive key for the postmodernism debates. Landry uses the works of Derrida, Foucault, and Lyotard to represent the poststructuralist camp and the writings of Habermas to represent the rationalist camp. Viable social critique, argues Landry, mediates between pure social constructivist and pure realist metaphysics. Postmodernism, although critical of Marx, aided the broader project of critical social theory, particularly Marx's critique of social-material contexts of oppression. Indeed, significant positive affiliations among Marx, Habermas, and the poststructuralists are found in their commitment to criticizing ideological aspects of bourgeois Enlightenment rationality and modernity.

Landry employs a fruitful tension strategy as seeking rapprochement among the modern and postmodern positions on hotly debated contemporary issues such as subjectivity, criticism, and the nature of reason. Marxism continues to provide critical tools for articulating productive conflict within the postmodernism debates, advancing of strategies of critique beyond identity politics toward a more self-reflective ideological discussion of the multiple axes of power and oppression in political struggles over democracy. In this unique study, complex philosophical issues are described lucidly and their relevance for today is established compellingly.

In Digitalized Finance, Edemilson Parana investigates the relationship between the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the process of financialization of economies on a global scale, particularly in Brazil. The book explains the influence of ICT in the emergence and consolidation, especially from the 1980s, of new forms of operation and management of the globalized financial system, highly connected, operated in "real time" with intensive use of technological features, and how these advances are related with the economic and social changes in question. It also describes how contemporary capital markets work, where the search for earnings is leveraged by sophisticated mathematical models, robots and automated trading software that seek financial gains in the milliseconds scale.

China's Economic Development, 1950-2014: Fundamental Changes and Long-Term Prospects is a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of Chinese economic development from 1950-2014 focusing on current world-wide attention to the economic reform. Chu-yuan Cheng covers a wide range of topics, including the cultural effects and ideological influences on China's economic development; the process of China's transition from a planned to a market economy, leadership changes and the root of the Cultural Revolution; the machine-building industry and scientific and engineering manpower in China; China's new development plans in the twenty-first century and the process and consequence of the "Quiet Revolution"; the international economic relations including the U.S.-China, Sino-Japanese economic relations and access to WTO; economic relations across the Taiwan Strait and the formation of the Greater China Economic Sphere; and the long-term development prospect of the Chinese economy in the twenty-first century and beyond.