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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political ideologies > Marxism & Communism
..".this is a worthy analysis of the dangerous and ambiguous political liaisons of an important twentieth-century thinker. The argument is persuasive in showing that the subject of this book was separate and apart from what E.P. Thopson stigmatised as the 'shambles' of the 'tenacious posthumous Stalinism of the French Communist intelligentsia'" Labour History ..". an outstanding contribution to Sartre studies. There is nothing quite like it, and Birchall's scholarship is formidable ... The author has an impressive mastery of his topic, the deep intellectual and political background needed for this study, and has gone into the many sources needed to answer his questions." Ron Aronson, Wayne State University "Th e] understanding and separation of different elements of the French left is one of the strengths of Birchall's book ... It] provides a useful and accessible historical analysis of Sartre's writing and politics, and offers a full, convincing and critical account of why Sartre should be reclaimed to an anti-Stalinist position...As a clear outline of Sartre's relation to the French left Sartre Against Stalinism is an interesting and informative read." International Socialism "The question of what kind of politics and what kind of organisation the movement needs is practical and urgent. This] account of Sartre as a fighter for freedom - however flawed a fighter - is timely and invaluable." Socialist Review Most critics of the political evolution of Jean-Paul Sartre have laid emphasis on his allegedly sympathetic and uncritical attitude to Stalinist Communism due, to a large extent, to their equation of Marxism with Stalinism. It is true that Sartre was guilty of many serious misjudgements with regard to the USSR and the French Communist Party. But his relationship with the Marxist Left was much more complex and co tradictory than most accounts admit. This book offers a political defence of Sartre and shows how, from a relatively apolitical stance in the 1930s, Sartre became increasingly involved in the politics of the Left; though he always distrusted Stalinism, he was sometimes driven to ally himself with it because of the force of its argument.
Developments and trends in Communist education are traced in this authoritative survey by specialists. Eight chapters deal with particular aspects: ideology, psychology, the selective process, the roles of teachers and parents, polytechnical education, the universities and professional institutes. Three chapters survey the former East Germany, Poland and China as special case-studies. A concluding chapter examines common ground between Communist and other systems.
First published in English in 1924 this ambitious work, by the famous Marxist theoretician Karl Kautsky, aims to provide nothing less than an "exposition of the methods to introduce socialism" amongst the capitalist economies of Europe in the post-World War One era. Looking back on the experiences of the German socialist movement and looking forwards to the likelihood of a Labour government in Great Britain, he discusses the problems facing a labour revolution in Europe, with particular reference to the role of the middle classes, the transitional period between capitalism and socialism, and the economic impact of a socialist revolution.
This work establishes the uniqueness of the Marxian category of Capital on the basis of the original texts by Marx. The study has been neglected in the existing literature. The wage-labor relationship is shown to be necessary and sufficient for the existence of capital(ism). Individual ownership is shown to be a particular form of capitalist private property which can also take the form of collective ownership. The author argues the capitalist character of the Soviet economy.
Barnett presents the first in-depth analysis in English of the pioneer of long cycle analysis, N.D. Kondratiev (1892-1938), who was a key policy adviser to the Soviet government in the early part of the 1920s. Kondratiev developed a market-led industrialization strategy for the USSR, in direct opposition to Stalin's centrally-planned industrialization programme, and was the director of the Conjuncture Institute, a centre for the study of business cycles and forecasting between 1920 and 1928. It was within the Conjuncture Institute that Kondratiev developed his analysis of long cycles. Barnett covers all aspects of Kondratiev's work.
First published in English in 1921, this work was originally written by renowned Marxist historian Max Beer to commemorate the centenary of Marx 's birth. It is a definitive biography, full of interesting personal details and a clear and comprehensive account of Marx 's economic and historical doctrines A special feature of this unique work is the new light thrown on Marx 's attitude to the "Dictatorship of the Proletariat" and Bolshevist methods generally.
Bringing together contributions from tweleve outstanding scholars, volume 20 of this distinguished annual demonstrates in what extremely varied - and often controversial - ways Communisim and Jewish history interacted during the so-called short twentieth century. Among the key issues examined in this volume are whether, when, and why a disproportionate number of Jews (by origin if not by belief) joined the Communist movement; how significant a role they played in that movement and in the Jewish world; what policies were pursued by the Communist regimes and parties towards the Jewish people as well as Jewish party memebers; and what impact the association - real or imagined - between Jews and Communists had on the rise of antisemitism.
First published in English in 1920, this work is a reissue of Karl Kautsky's seminal work dealing with the origins and history of the forces at work in revolutionary epochs, which offers pathbreaking insights on the development of civilisation. The opening chapters, dealing with eigthteenth century France, are of special interest to the student of the French revolution. The section devoted to the Commune of Paris offers a stimulating and provocative description of this famous govenment of the working class. The reissue of this controversial and extraordinary work will be welcomed by all those interested in the history of Communism in particular and the theory and history of revolution in general.
In Marxism and America, an accomplished group of scholars reconsiders the relationship of the United States to the theoretical tradition derived from Karl Marx. In brand new essays that cover the period from the nineteenth century, when Marx wrote for American newspapers, to the present, when a millennial socialism has emerged inspired by the presidential campaigns of Bernie Sanders, the contributors take up topics ranging from memory of the Civil War to feminist debates over sexuality and pornography. Along the way, they clarify the relationship of race and democracy, the promise and perils of the American political tradition and the prospects for class politics today. Marxism and America sheds new light on old questions, helping to explain why socialism has been so difficult to establish in the United States even as it has exerted a notable influence in American thought. -- .
The American Committee for the Protection of Foreign Born played a major role in legal matters pertaining to deportation, naturalization, and immigration. This study provides the first thorough examination of its work, from the Depression decade of the 1930s, when the committee defended prominent labor activists such as Harry Bridges, through the war years and into the 1950s, when it served as a legal bulwark for the Communist Party. In 1955 the ACPFB itself became a defendant-as the pilot case before the Subversive Activities Control Board. Cautious and rational, the Board reached the correct conclusion that the organization was a Communist Party front. Indeed, in its fidelity to American communism, the ACPFB pursued a political agenda that often violated its stated mandate. It not only failed to protect Japanese-Americans during World War II, but it actually supported their internment. During the closing years of the war, it attempted to influence ethnic communities for the benefit of the Communist Party. False agendas, undemocratic internal controls, and duplicity drove liberal sympathizers away from the ACPFB by the early 1950s, when the pressures of the second Red Scare threatened both it and its host. The story of the ACPFB ultimately sheds new light on the nature of American communism itself-demonstrating anew its nature as a political movement in pursuit of power.
Capital as a Social Kind provides an introduction to social kinds in social theory. Thinking about kinds, the way we sort the things of the world into categories -- water, for example, is a natural kind - has made an important contribution to our understanding of science in the last half century, but these advances have been largely applicable to the natural, rather than the social sciences. Drawing on the rich examples offered by Marx's analysis of capital and exploring a methodology that will be of interest to both Marxist and non-Marxist social theorists alike, Capital as a Social Kind extends this approach to the study of social life. The book argues that, provoked by his study of Aristotle, Marx's attentions foreshadowed contemporary themes in the realist philosophy of science. Importantly, social kind analysis is relevant not only to understanding his critique of political economy but illuminates also a materialist study of law, justice, morality and the transition to socialism. Social kind analysis also opens a path for the development of today's moral realism by suggesting the need for a systematic study of the causal structures of social life. In this respect the importance of normative themes in Marxism is defended against claims that the Marxist tradition lacks the resources to call capitalism unjust or to defend morality and human rights. The origin of capital, Marx suggests, can be found in the rupture of an original unity between the laborer and the means of labor, and the book explores the way a structure of separations best characterizes capital as a social kind. This uncovers a little developed emphasis in Marx's work - his focus on the phenomena of separation that define our lives and also on forms of association required to transcend them. Given that capitalism has made the instruments of labor instruments of social labor, forms of association that would recover worker control over them must be democratic. The transition to socialism, the book concludes, just is winning the battle of democracy. This book will be of interest to students and researchers of economics, philosophy and indeed any social science subject.
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.
As this century nears an end, it has become increasingly clear that Georg Lukacs is one of the most ta.1ented intellectuals of our time, not only in the Marxist tradition, but in general. Lukacs' name is well known, and his views are increasingly attracting attention; but it cannot be said that his thought has so far been widely studied, or that it has been studied to the degree its place in the Marxist tradition warrants or its intrinsic interest demands. In the relatively short period since Lukacs' death, there have been a number of books and many articles devoted to his work. But, despite some efforts in that direction, there is still no adequate treatment of his work as a whole, surely a formidable task. If, as I believe, Lukacs is the most important Marxist philosopher since Marx, and one of the most influential intellectual figures of this century, then surely his ideas are worth scrutinizing frequently and in detail. This is not the place to provide a general description either of Lukacs' life or of his work. Descriptions of his life, especially his early career, are widely available. For present purposes, it will suffice to provide only the barest mention of some biographical facts, together with a brief account of some items in his bibliography."
This book is largely based on What Marx Really Meant which was written by Cole and published in 1934. It is a revaluation of Marx's essential ideas and methods in relation to contemporary social structures and developments and considers the bearing of Marx's theories on the structure of social classes, which altered greatly since he formulated his account of them.
There was only one Karl Marx, but there have been a multitude of Marxisms. This concise, introductory book by internationally renowned scholar Jean Anyon centers on the ideas of Marx that have been used in education studies as a guide to theory, analysis, research, and practice. Marx and Education begins with a brief overview of basic Marxist ideas and terms and then traces some of the main points scholars in education have been articulating since the late 1970s. Following this trajectory, Anyon details how social class analysis has developed in research and theory, how understanding the roles of education in society is influenced by a Marxian lens, how the failures of urban school reform can be understood through the lens of political economy, and how cultural analysis has laid the foundation for critical pedagogy in US classrooms. She assesses ways neo-Marxist thought can contribute to our understanding of issues that have arisen more recently and how a Marxist analysis can be important to an adequate understanding and transformation of the future of education and the economy. By exemplifying what is relevant in Marx, and replacing that which has been outdone by historical events, Marx and Education aims to restore the utility of Marxism as a theoretical and practical tool for educators.
In "Constructing Twenty-First Century Socialism: The Role of Radical Education," Motta and Cole explore the role of the politics of knowledge and pedagogy in the reinvention of socialism for the twenty-first century. Through a critical analysis of Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela they deconstruct the mechanisms of neoliberal control as an epistemological project of monologue, closure, and violence against all 'others'. The authors develop an affirmative engagement with the traditions, practices, and politics which seek to challenge this closure through the policies of the counter-hegemonic government of Venezuela, the struggles of social movements in Brazil and Colombia, and the daily resistance of critical educators working in formal educational settings in all three countries. This mapping and analysis not only contribute to struggles for alternatives to capitalism in Latin America, but are translatable to other contexts. The book theorizes that with the exhaustion of neoliberalism, it is time to pedagogize the political and politicize the pedagogical in order to create worlds beyond capitalism.
There are two popular myths concerning the relationship between communism and nationalism. The first is that nationalism and communism are wholly antagonistic and mutually exclusive. The second is the assertion that in communist Eastern Europe nationalism was oppressed before 1989, to emerge triumphant after the Berlin Wall came down. Reality was different. Certainly from 1945 onwards, communist parties presented themselves as heirs to national traditions and guardians of national interests. The communist states of Central and Eastern Europe constructed "socialist patriotism," a form of loyalty to their own state of workers and peasants. Up to 1989, communists in Eastern Europe sang the national anthem, and waved the national flag next to the red banner. The use of national images was not the exception, but the rule. From Cuba to Korea, all communist parties attempted to gain national legitimacy. This was not incidental or a deviation from Marxist orthodoxy, but ingrained in the theory and practice of the communist movement since its inception. The study of communist national legitimacy is an exciting new field. This book presents examples of communist attempts to co-opt nationalism from both sides of the iron curtain and lays bare the striking similarities between such diverse cases as the socialist patriotism of the Bulgarian Communist Party and the national line of the Portuguese communists, between Romanian communist nation building and the national ideology of the Spanish Communist Party. This book was published as a special issue of Nationalities Papers.
The book discusses the nature of Marxist theory of crisis and applies it to the global financial crisis which began in 2007. Is the contemporary crisis simply the usual periodic upturn and downturn or is there something more fundamental? Is there a structural crisis of capitalism, from which there is no immediate solution? Is capitalism managed and does it have a strategy? Is the financial crisis representative of a failure in capitalism itself to subject banks and other financial institutions to the overall economy? The book discusses Marx's view on crises, as well as ideas on money and finance. It considers the different modern Marxist ideas on the causes of crises -- falling rate of profit, disproportionality and underconsumption. It goes into detail as to the nature of the present crisis, its course and causes in a spirited and independent manner. Apart from the United States, it considers the situation in the two countries, in which protests erupted: Iran and Greece. They are taken as examples of the effect of the crisis on the country, the society and the economy as well as its politics. This book was originally published as a special issue of Critique.
First published in 1920, Paul Miliukov's book concerns the international nature of Bolshevism, both in terms of its ideologically internationalist doctrine of World Revolution and in terms of the attempts to spread Bolshevism in the period immediately preceding and following the First World War and the Russian revolution of October 1917. This reissue is a must for anyone interested in the rise of Bolshevism as an international force.
This book is conceived as a broad comparative study of ten countries whose political structure and dominant ideology justify the application of the label "Marxist State". However, while these countries are ruled by parties strongly influenced by Marxist ideology and vision, their acceptance of and adherence to the Soviet model of Communism is seen to vary considerably, as do their links to the Soviet Union. The levels of centralization and nationalization are also highly varied.;It treats the countries as units of analysis, whereby they are classified to test certain hypothesized relationships. It aims to stimulate a broader theoretical orientation in research and propose hypotheses for future research.; For the purpose of the study four types of second economy activities will be analyzed - first, the legal second economy inside the first economy (for example, legal semi-private contracts, enterprises and subsidiary shops with the state-owned firms); second, the illegal second economy inside the first economy (for example, illegal private production within state enterprises); third, the legal second economy parallel to the first economy (for example, licensed private economy, "barte
This pioneering study shows what brought Yiddish-speaking Jewish intelligentsia to the Communist movement in the interwar years. They believed that Communism is not only a way to solve the Jewish problem but also to save the Yiddish culture. Biography of the central protagonist of the book, a Yiddish writer Dovid (David) Sfard, is just a pretext to show a full range of Jewish Communist activists (such as Hersh Smolar, Bernard Mark, Szymon Zachariasz, etc.) and their life choices. This relatively small milieu influenced and controlled the Jewish life in post-war Poland until the anti-Semitic campaign of 1968. Their lives, reconstructed thanks to sources in several languages, make up a panorama of Jewish Communist experience in 20th-century Eastern Europe.
Christian Democracy, which may briefly be defined as organised political action by Catholic democrats, has been a major political force in Western Europe since the Second World War, not least in France. The aim of this book, first published in 1973, is to trace the Development of Christian Democracy in France from its origins in the 1830s to the present day, discussing its theories and its importance in French history and politics, with particular (but by no means exclusive) reference to the Fourth Republic (1946-58) when the MRP was one of the key centre parties. Dr Irving provides a thorough analysis of MRP, its economic, foreign and colonial policies, and gives reasons for the relative decline of French Christian Democracy in the 1960s. This French movement has been little understood in Britain and a throrough history has been badly needed. This study will be valuable to all those who, in the context of a United Europe, wish to understand the political forces at work at its conception. It will be valuable especially to students of modern history and politics.
In this reissued collection of essays, first published in 1985, Paul Q. Hirst assesses the limits of the Marxist theory of history in its various versions. It begins with an extended critical discussion of Perry Anderson and Edward Thompson, and includes chapters on G.A Cohena (TM)s attempt to re-state the Marxist theory of history in terms compatible with analytic philosophy, on R.G. Collingwooda (TM)s theory of history, on Andersona (TM)s work on Absolutism, on Thompsona (TM)s Poverty of Theory, and on the contemporary politics of democratic socialism.
The Real is Radical is centrally concerned with the explication and development of Francois Laruelle's theory of "non-standard Marxism." Fardy assembles a constellation of concepts designed to put Laruelle's work into dialogue with diverse theoretical perspectives, including Althusser, Tronti, Adorno, Baudrillard, Kolozova and others while demonstrating the novelty and theoretical saliency of Laruelle's work. The Real is Radical provides a much-needed introduction to non-standard Marxism and a useful starting point for the development of its theoretical potential. |
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