Why did the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) not follow the failure of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union? This book examines this question by studying two crucial strategies that the CCP feels it needs to implement in order to remain in power: ideological reform and the institutionalization of leadership succession.

A philosophical analysis informed by history, this work examines the reasons for the highly destructive behavior of the Red Guards in the early part of China's Cultural Revolution. By probing the political, educational, and psychological factors influencing the Red Guards, Jing Lin sheds light on how teenagers and young adults were able to justify violence in the name of class struggle and human rights. She concludes that non-critical, categorical thought--buttressed by the political and educational systems--was pivotal.

Jing Lin introduces the work with a discussion of democratic and non-democratic thought, and of the Red Guards' views about class struggle, authority and justice. She then examines the theory behind Mao's totalitarian rule. Chapter Three is devoted to schools, and their decisive role in developing the Red Guards. The psychology of the Red Guards follows: Lin details how concepts of the proletariat, class enemies, and intellectuals nurtured habits of aggression and obedience. In concluding, Lin suggests how to foster critical and democratic thinking in Chinese education. This book is a valuable resource for students of Chinese history, revolution, political psychology, and education.

By looking at state-sponsored memory projects, such as memorials, commemorations, and historical museums, this book reveals that the East German communist regime obsessively monitored and attempted to control public representations of the past to legitimize its rule. It demonstrates that the regime's approach to memory politics was not stagnant, but rather evolved over time to meet different demands and potential threats to its legitimacy. Ultimately the party found it increasingly difficult to control the public portrayal of the past, and some dissidents were able to turn the party's memory politics against the state to challenge its claims of moral authority.

A poignant collection of letters written by the Latvian poet, novelist, and newspaper editor Arsenii Formakov while interned in Soviet labor camps Emily Johnson has translated and edited a fascinating collection of letters written by Arsenii Formakov, a Latvian Russian poet, novelist, and journalist, during two terms in Soviet labor camps, 1940 to 1947 in Kraslag and 1949 to 1955 in Kamyshlag and Ozerlag. This correspondence, which Formakov mailed home to his family in Riga, provides readers with a firsthand account of the workings of the Soviet penal system and testifies to the hardships of daily life for Latvian prisoners in the Gulag.

This study focuses upon governance and social organisation within the Chinese village and explores the extent to which farmers have autonomy vis-a-vis their economic and political activities in an attempt to understand the relationship between farmers and the state in a rapidly changing China.

Despite an anti-religious reputation and the anti-religious worldview of many members, the American Socialist movement held a primarily religious and moral attraction for a small but highly articulate group of American Christians of diverse religious tradition. This study explores the dramatic and at times dangerous lives of individuals who found in the vibrant, growing socialist movement before World War I the grounds for hope that the biblical ideals of human worth and economic justice would at last be fulfilled. Its subjects are male and female, black and white, native- and foreign-born, clergy and lay people, and products of Christian traditions ranging from African-American Baptist to Episcopalian. Readers will find not Milquetoasts standing hesitantly on the sidelines, but Christians with an unequivocal commitment to the complete socialist program who made major contributions to socialist work as authors, political candidates, and party leaders. Biographical chapters examine the interaction between their subjects' experiences amidst the suffering of an urban-industrial society and their religious commitments, the perspectives on the meaning of socialism they brought to their work for the Socialist Party of America, and their careers after war and the rise of communism shattered the socialist movement. These biographies and an introductory chapter on the wider relationships between religion and socialism in Progressive-era America demonstrate that Christians made quite substantial contributions to the party, and that, far from being a monolithic group, they spread out across the spectrum of socialist ideology and tactics. Other issues include attempts to spread socialism within the churches, the Socialist Party's debates over religion, Roman Catholic efforts to prevent Catholic workers' acceptance of socialism, and the ethical qualities that made socialism appealing to Christians.

Based on original Stasi and Communist Party archival sources, this text uncovers why East Germany was for two decades running one of the most successful nations in the Summer and Winter Olympics, and explores how the central elite sports system was beset by internal tensions and disputes.

Designed for student research, this one-stop resource contains a wealth of information, reference material, and analysis of the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union. Combining narrative description, analytical essays, lengthy biographical profiles, and the text of key primary documents, Watson examines the reasons for the decline and fall of the Soviet Union and its ruling Communist party in 1991. Five essays provide a historical overview of the rise and fall of the Soviet brand of communism; the evolution of GorbacheV's perestroika reform policies; the costly Soviet imperial legacy and the ten-year Afghan war; nationalism and the dissolution of Soviet unity; and post-Soviet Russia under the leadership of Boris Yeltsin. Ready-reference features include: a timeline of key events; biographical profiles of 15 leaders involved in the decline and fall of Soviet communism; the text of 22 documents including writings by Gorbachev, Yeltsin and other key figures; a glossary of terms; and an annotated bibliography of print and video materials. Photos and maps complement the text.

Five essays examine how costly internal and external imperial policies, a poorly functioning economy, and rising nationalism among subject populations contributed to the demise of the Soviet empire. Watson shows that GorbacheV's perestroika reforms, intended to reform the party and the nation, ironically hastened the end, and that the August 1991 coup attempt sealed the fate of Soviet communism. The documents illustrate the reform attempt by Gorbachev and his trail-blazing economic advisors; party opposition to his reforms; the August 1991 coup attempt; the subsequent collapse of the party and the Soviet Union; and the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The biographies explain the careers of individuals involved in the decline and fall of Soviet communism, including the last four Soviet leaders, whose policies inadvertently led to the demise of the system; the principal opponents of the reform; the leaders of the August 1991 coup attempt; the first post-Soviet leader of Russia, Boris Yeltsin; and the first post-Soviet Communist party leader in Russia, Gennady Zyuganov. This comprehensive resource is ideal for student research.

Part of a definitive English-language edition, prepared in collaboration with the Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Moscow, which contains all the works of Marx and Engels, whether published in their lifetimes or since. The series includes their complete correspondence and newly discovered works.

Examines the evolution of Lenin's thinking on the place of the Russian peasant in theory and in the potential reality of Marxist revolution.

This book analyses existing work on Marxism and criminological theory, then discusses the main concepts available for further work in this area.It shows how Marxism is still relevant after the fall of the Soviet Union. It puts Marx back into criminological thinking. It shows how an understanding of Marx is invaluable in the study of crime and criminal justice.This volume looks at Marxist thought in criminology, the work of Willem Bonger, Georg Rusche and Otto Kircheimer, and assesses the role of Marxist analysis in areas such as Critical Criminology and Left Realism. Arguing that Marxism is relevant in the post-Soviet era, it offers a 'toolkit' of Marxist theories and how to use them.

Wladyslaw Gomulka was a key player within Polish politics for over four decades and one of the most influential of the East European Communist Party leaders. As the architect of the 'Polish road to socialism', he claimed for Poland the right to define its own model of economic and political development, yet he was nevertheless committed to Poland's membership of the Soviet bloc. Anita Prazmowska here traces Gomulka's progression from a poorly educated worker in the Krosno district of Poland, to his election as First Party Secretary in 1956 and finally to his forced resignation in 1970. She considers Gomulka's pivotal role in building a communist-led resistance in occupied Poland during World War II as well as the critical part he played in post-war Polish politics and the 'de-Stalinization' process. Incorporating recently released and previously unpublished sources, this book provides a vivid picture of how Communism functioned in Poland and an original analysis of Poland's international role in the Cold War era.

This book introduces the background of China's issue of nationality from the very beginning. Throughout the country's history, all the nationalities that lived and prospered on Chinese land created a pattern of cultural diversity within national unity through their interaction and integration. The formation of this pattern is due not only to the geographical fact that China covers a broad expanse on the Asian continent but also to the historical fact that it is home to disparate and ancient human heritages, and to culturally diverse historical sources.The book's five chapters explain the evolution of the CPC's policy towards nationalities. At the time of the PRC's founding, the Common Program (in essence an interim Constitution) passed by the Chinese People's Political Consultative Congress (which was composed of people from all sectors of society and all of China's nationalities) not only declared that people of all China's nationalities had equal rights, but also stipulated that: regional national autonomy would be practiced in all areas where minority nationalities were concentrated; that all nationalities had the right to develop their native languages and culture and to maintain or reform their customs and religious beliefs; and also mandated that people's governments support the development of minority nationalities in the areas of politics, the economy, culture and education.In the final section, the book demonstrates that the subject of how the CPC addresses nationality-related issues is a dynamic one that encompasses the past, present and future, and is simultaneously an answer, a process and a question.

This book analyzes key aspects of Marx's Capital with an eye towards its relevance for an understanding of issues confronting us in the 21st Century. The contributions to this volume suggest that while aspects of Marx's original analysis must be adjusted to take into account changes that have occurred since its initial publication in 1867, his overall perspective remains necessary for understanding the nature of crises in 21st century. Part I emphasizes the central concepts Marx employed in Capital, including exploitation, capital accumulation, commodity fetishism, and his use of dialectics as a method for baring the underlying relations that define capitalism. Parts II and III extend that focus by addressing the concept of value, fictitious capital, credit and financialization. Parts IV and V offer analyses of several concrete manifestations of contemporary crises from national contexts (Europe, Latin America, China, and the United States). The volume argues that we have to combat the imperatives of capitalism to move towards a more humane and egalitarian future.

This title offers a Marxist take on a selection of artistic and cultural achievements from the rap music of Tupac Shakur to the painting of Van Gogh, from HBO's Breaking Bad to Balzac's Cousin Bette , from the magical realm of Harry Potter to the apocalyptic landscape of The Walking Dead , from The Hunger Games to Game of Thrones .

Using Marxist theory, Rikowski and Green examine the dialectic between race and power in education. This book launches their forthcoming series on Marxism and Education which is designed to attract educationists, whether teachers, researchers, policy makers and administrators, as well as activists of various kinds who consider the Marxist tradition still to be a valuable resource and important point of reference.

China's Rise to Power: Conceptions of State Governance examines how a twenty-first century contradiction-the country's combination of authoritarian rule and a market-oriented economy in state-led capitalism-has proven simultaneously appealing and a source of domestic dissatisfaction. Balancing policy analysis with detailed investigation of escalating popular unrest, this essay collection explores the discontent that stems from the Communist leadership's obsession with growth and control, and anticipates new space for alternative governance. As the sixth-generation leaders come of age at this critical juncture, the way out of internal crises will not necessarily be the way of the Chinese Communist Party..

Marx expected the working class to create 'a movement of immense majority, in the interests of immense majority'. However, there is not and never has been such a movement. At least a part of the reason is that the traditional Marxist picture of a two-class polarisation bears little resemblance to the diverse and complex society of today's Western world. In this book, Michal Polak attempts to move beyond the austerity of the two-class model to come closer to the empirical realities. In the process, the author re-examines the very foundations of the Marxist theory, demonstrating how an important critique of the theory can in fact be fruitfully interpreted as a generalisation of it. While remaining true to the Marxian spirit, he comes up with original and innovative extensions of the traditional concepts, which finally allow for the explanation of the diverse class map of the advance capitalist societies.

"A classic on post-Cold War Cuba. . . . Azicri evidences Cuba's expanding external relations with the papacy, the Economic Union, and Latin America and argues that Cuba has begun internal changes that could later create an all-national rather than a solely communist party. . . . This work is essential reading for D.C., Havana, and Miami--and is likely to anger all three."--"Choice"

"A masterful and provocative summary, analysis, and evaluation of political, economic, and cultural developments in Cuba, as well as the international relations of Cuba, in the tumultuous decade following the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the process, Azicri gives a unique insight into how and why Cuban socialism, though greatly modified in the 1990s, continues to survive."--Sinan Koont, Dickinson College

Unlikely to gratify those with strong views on either side of the political divide, Azicri's study provides an intelligent, scholarly response to the current questions posed by the Cuban Revolution.

Covering the turbulent period of the 1990s, the book examines such issues as the impact on Cuba of the Soviet Union's collapse, the country's social malaise under economic scarcity, the reorganization of its economy, changes in its political system, problems in its relations with the United States, and the renaissance of Cuban religious life in the aftermath of the pope's visit.

Azicri offers an objectively researched study that addresses many of the assumptions made by partisan participants. Demonstrating how Cuba's ongoing reform process has allowed it to avoid the fate of other Soviet bloc regimes, he maintains that Havana has continually reinvented the nature of Cuban socialism. Drawing on original sources and scholarly studies from Cuba, the United States, and elsewhere, he argues that a more restrained and limited socialism is suitable to today's Cuba and explains why such a system probably will prevail beyond Castro.

Max Azicri, professor of political science at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, is the author of "Cuba: Politics, Economics and Society" and of numerous articles on Cuban politics, society, culture, and international relations.