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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political ideologies > Marxism & Communism
Fugitive Politics explores the intersection between politics and
ecology, between the requirements for radical change and the
unprecedented challenges posed by the global crisis, a dialectic
has rarely been addressed in academia. Across eight chapters, Carl
Boggs explores how systemic change may be achieved within the
current system, while detailing attempts at achieving change within
nation-states. Boggs states that any notion of revolution seems
fanciful in the current climate, contending that controlling elites
have concentrated their hold on corporate power along three
self-serving fronts: technology (Big Tech) and the surveillance
order, militarism and the warfare state, and intensification of
globalized power. Combined with this Boggs cites the fundamental
absence of revolutionary counter-forces, arguing that after decades
of subservice relevant, allied to the rise of identity politics and
social movements, the Marxist theoretical legacy is now exhausted
and will not provide an exit from the crisis. Boggs concludes that
the only possibility for fundamental change will come from an open
style of politics, in the Jacobin tradition, operating within the
overall structures of the current democratic state. Written for
both an academic and a general readership, in the U.S. and beyond,
Fugitive Politics will be of vital importance to those studying
political theory, political philosophy, political history, Marxism
and Marxist theory, authoritarian politics, ecology, environmental
politics, and climate politics.
Fugitive Politics explores the intersection between politics and
ecology, between the requirements for radical change and the
unprecedented challenges posed by the global crisis, a dialectic
has rarely been addressed in academia. Across eight chapters, Carl
Boggs explores how systemic change may be achieved within the
current system, while detailing attempts at achieving change within
nation-states. Boggs states that any notion of revolution seems
fanciful in the current climate, contending that controlling elites
have concentrated their hold on corporate power along three
self-serving fronts: technology (Big Tech) and the surveillance
order, militarism and the warfare state, and intensification of
globalized power. Combined with this Boggs cites the fundamental
absence of revolutionary counter-forces, arguing that after decades
of subservice relevant, allied to the rise of identity politics and
social movements, the Marxist theoretical legacy is now exhausted
and will not provide an exit from the crisis. Boggs concludes that
the only possibility for fundamental change will come from an open
style of politics, in the Jacobin tradition, operating within the
overall structures of the current democratic state. Written for
both an academic and a general readership, in the U.S. and beyond,
Fugitive Politics will be of vital importance to those studying
political theory, political philosophy, political history, Marxism
and Marxist theory, authoritarian politics, ecology, environmental
politics, and climate politics.
First published in 1977. Ethics is the most practical branch of
philosophy: its immediate concern is with people's actions. Yet
most philosophers do little to relate ethics intelligibly to the
human situation. In this inquiry into the nature of ethics, William
Ash draws on the relevant works of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin
to present the theory and practice of Marxist ethics. He offers an
explanation of the moral aspect of Marx's dictum: 'The philosophers
have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point,
however, is to change it.' The book includes, perhaps for the first
time in so considered a form, an assessment of Mao Tsetung's
contribution to Marxist moral philosophy, together with the ethical
implications of such developments in social practice as the
Proletarian Cultural Revolution. The author deals with the question
of value by analysing the concept of 'good'; with the question of
claims on people and things by analysing the concept of 'right';
with the question of the limits and scope of freedom of choice and
action by analysing the concept of 'ought'.' Clearly written in
order to 'de-mystify' the subject, the book challenges readers to
test the author's enlightened, Marxist approach in terms of the
ethical ordering of their own society.
The book offers an interdisciplinary qualitative study of the
history of policing in Brazil and its colonial underpinnings,
providing theoretical accounts of the relationship between
biopolitics, space, and race, and post-colonial/decolonial work on
the state, violence, and the production of disposable political
subjects. Focused empirically on contemporary (1985-2015) police
killings and disappearances in favelas, particularly in Rio de
Janeiro, the books argues that the invisibility of this phenomenon
is the product of a colonial mindset - one that has persisted
throughout Brazil's experience of both dictatorship and
re-democratisation and is traceable to the legacies of the
Portuguese empire and the plantation system implemented. Analysing
the development of the police as a colonial mechanism of social
control, Villenave shows how the "war on drugs" reproduces this
same colonial logic and renders some, overwhelmingly black, lives
disposable and thus vulnerable to unchecked police brutality and
death. It will be of interest to students and scholars of
international politics and also contributes to critical security
studies, postcolonial and de-colonial thought, global politics, the
politics of Latin America and political geography.
This book explores Marxism and related political-economic theory,
and its implications for education around the world, as seen in the
history of the journal Educational Philosophy and Theory. As such,
it illustrates the evolution of political-economic changes across
societies, as they have been brought to bear within the academic
field and in the journal, through the exploration of typical and
noteworthy articles examining political-economic themes over time.
In the early decades of Educational Philosophy and Theory, only a
few works can be found focused on Marx's work, Marxism, and related
themes. However, since the mid-1990s, Educational Philosophy and
Theory has published many articles focused on neoliberalism and
educational responses to theories and policies based on
political-economic perspectives. This collection serves to showcase
this work, exploring the way Marxist, neoliberal and other related
political-economic theories have been applied to educational
discussions among philosophers and theorists of education in the
history of Educational Philosophy and Theory. As a collection, this
book provides a glimpse of a dramatically changing world, and
changing scholarly responses to it, during the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries. This collection can therefore be useful
to scholars interested in better understanding how changes to the
political economy have intersected with those in education over
time, as well as the diverse ways scholars have approached and
reacted to a shifting landscape, considering views ranging from
Marxist to Post-Marxist, to neoliberal, and beyond.
This book, first published in 1989, examines the creation and
implementation of Communist policy in Vietnam during the crucial
period between the 1954 Geneva Conference and the establishment of
the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam in December
1960. This study challenges long-held views about the origins and
nature of the Viet Cong. It carefully examines the various stages
in the struggle for 'national liberation' during this period,
reviews the consequences of the failure of purely political means
to achieve reunification and then focuses on the struggle between
the Diem regime and the Communists.
From a Marxist philosophical perspective, this collection of essays
investigates the maturing self-consciousness and self-assertion of
Chinese academia, especially within the humanities and social
sciences, permitting more penetrating insights and critical
engagement with the social reality of China. The author elaborates
on the relationship between Hegel and Marx's philosophy and their
concepts of reality, thereby accounting for the historic and
philosophical conditions for the autonomy of Chinese academia.
Drawing on intellectual resources from both Eastern and Western
archives, including phenomenology, philosophical hermeneutics,
Western Marxism, and China's pacifist tradition, the book refutes
Huntington's speculation about Chinese imperialism and delineates
how China's development can contribute to a fundamental critique of
capitalist civilisation and a new paradigm of global governance. In
addition, the book challenges the thinking of Chinese neo-liberals
and nationalist-conservatives and their understandings of the
history and social reality of China. Hence, the author advocates a
reconstruction of the spiritual and intellectual realm within
society based on Marxism, in order to counter Sinophobia,
neo-liberalism, and nationalism at the same time. The book will
appeal to readers interested in social and political philosophy,
philosophy of history, Marxism, and China studies.
This volume examines the place of Marxist theory in the history of
the journal Educational Philosophy and Theory, primarily through
the selection and exploration of typical and significant articles
exploring Marxist-related themes in the journal over time. The
title, From Radical Marxism to Knowledge Socialism, reflects this
historical approach. In the 1960s and 1970s, Marxism was considered
to be a radical, extreme 'political' theory, while western
liberalism and a free-market economy were largely taken for granted
as natural phenomena, in western philosophy of education and in the
journal. More recently, educational theorists have begun to explore
trends related to the neoliberal age. Paradoxically, such trends
include the move toward knowledge socialism, which decenters the
normative presuppositions of knowledge capitalism as the latest
iteration of western liberalism. The volume begins with an
introductory chapter that examines the history of Marxism in
western philosophy and philosophy of education. The rest of the
book features works selected from the journal that further
illustrate the evolution of Marxist theoretical perspectives in the
field over time. This collection thus gives a sense of the range
and extent of Marxist-inspired thinking in educational philosophy
and theory. This book will be of interest to students and scholars
of educational philosophy and theory and others who are interested
in exploring in depth the evolution of key themes in this field
over time, including liberalism, ideology, Marxism, neoliberalism,
knowledge construction, capitalist and socialist schooling, and
other aspects of economic analysis in education.
The People’s Republic of China has experienced numerous
challenges and undergone tremendous structural changes over the
past four decades. The party-state now faces a fundamental tension
in its pursuit of social stability and regime durability.
Repressive state strategies enable the Chinese Communist Party to
maintain its monopoly on political power, yet the quality of
governance and regime legitimacy are enhanced when the state adopts
more inclusive modes of engagement with society. Based on a dynamic
typology of state–society relations, this volume adopts an
evolutionary framework to examine how the Chinese state relates
with non-state actors across several fields of governance. Drawing
on original fieldwork, the authors identify areas in which
state–society interactions have shifted over time, ranging from
more constructive engagement to protracted conflict. This
evolutionary approach provides nuanced insight into the
circumstances wherein the party-state exerts its coercive power
versus engaging in more flexible responses or policy adaptations.
Decades of neoliberal authoritarianism have propelled Turkey into
crisis. Regime change, economic disaster and Erdogan's ambition to
impose 'one-man rule' have shaken the foundations of Turkish
political life, but what does this mean for workers? Moving beyond
the headlines and personalities, this book uncovers the real
condition of the working class in modern Turkey. Combining field
research and in-depth interviews, it offers cutting-edge analyses
of workplace struggles, trade unionism, the AKP's relationship with
neoliberalism, migration, gender, agrarian change and precarity, as
well as the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on workers. Bringing
together Turkish activists and scholars, this book is an inside
look at the dynamics and contradictions of working-class resistance
against Turkey's neoliberal authoritarian regime; from worker
self-management to organised labour and rural struggles.
How successful are social movements and left parties at achieving
social and political change? How, if at all, can movements and
parties work together to challenge existing hierarchies? Is the
political left witnessing a revival in contemporary politics? This
book highlights some of the key achievements of left parties and
protest movements in their goal of challenging different types of
inequality - and considers the ways in which their challenge to
authority and power could be intensified. It combines new
theoretical ideas with rich empirical detail on the debates and
concrete activities undertaken by left parties and protest
movements over a broad historical period, from the early European
labour movement to the recent anti-austerity global protests. The
book will offer unique insight into the broad history and theory of
emancipatory politics; as well as making an important contribution
to ongoing debates between left-leaning academics, researchers and
activists.
In order to truly understand the emergence, endurance, and legacy
of autocracy, this volume of engaging essays explores how
autocratic power is acquired, exercised, and transferred or
abruptly ended through the careers and politics of influential
figures in more than 20 countries and six regions. The book looks
at both traditional "hard" dictators, such as Hitler, Stalin, and
Mao, and more modern "soft" or populist autocrats, who are in the
process of transforming once fully democratic countries into
autocratic states, including Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey,
Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro, Rodrigo Duterte in the
Philippines, Narendra Modi in India, and Viktor Orban in Hungary.
The authors touch on a wide range of autocratic and dictatorial
figures in the past and present, including present-day autocrats,
such as Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, military leaders, and
democratic leaders with authoritarian aspirations. They analyze the
transition of selected autocrats from democratic or benign
semi-democratic systems to harsher forms of autocracy, with either
quite disastrous or more successful outcomes. An ideal reader for
students and scholars, as well as the general public, interested in
international affairs, leadership studies, contemporary history and
politics, global studies, security studies, economics, psychology,
and behavioral studies.
This book considers tourism to memorial sites from a visitor's
point of view, challenging established theories in tourism and
memory studies by critically appraising Germany's often celebrated
memory culture. Based on visitor observations and exit interviews,
this book examines how domestic and international visitors
negotiate their visits to the concentration camp memorials
Ravensbruck and Flossenburg, the House of the Wannsee Conference
and the former Stasi prison Bautzen II. It argues that memorial
sites are melting pots where family, national and global narratives
meet. For German visitors, the visit to memorial sites is a
confrontation with Germany's responsibility for the two
dictatorships while for international visitors it can be a form of
'seeing is believing'. Ultimately, it is the immediacy of the space
that is the most important part of the visit. Rooted in an
interdisciplinary approach, this book will be of interest to
academics and students in German Studies, Tourism and Heritage
Studies, Museum Studies, Public History, and Memory Studies.
Essays on Marxism and Asia begins with the largely forgotten
prophet of ancient Iran Zarathushtra, remembered and immortalised
by Friedrich Nietzsche's Also Sprach Zarathustra. In contrast to
the infamous clash of civilisation thesis, this book argues for a
humanist theory of civilisations and studies the Parsis or Persians
who left Iran to settle in India and make it their home. It claims
that Parsis, despite being a migrant community, took strength from
their Persian heritage and civilisation and rose to become the
architects of industrial modernity in India. This book locates this
humanist theory in the larger genre of the Asiatic mode of
production with caste as its sub- text. It then takes a
phenomenological reading of caste in India and says that India is
afflicted by a very strange illness called 'silent blindness' where
humanity is silenced and blinded in front of the caste apparatus.
It then analyzes how capitalism and modernity fashioned caste in
the image of capitalism and how the Indian right- wing imagined its
fascistic politics of race and racial superiority based on the
image of caste hierarchy. The problem in India has been that the
liberals could not take caste seriously so as to confront it and
then annihilate this violent apartheid structure. This, the book
argues, has led to the rise of fascism in India. The book concludes
with positing two different strands of secularism, namely liberal
or bourgeois secularism which merely separates religion and the
state (but mixes these when required) and revolutionary secularism
which humanises religion and politics first in order to find the
human and class content in both. The chapters in this book were
originally published in Critique: Journal of Socialist Theory.
How successful are social movements and left parties at achieving
social and political change? How, if at all, can movements and
parties work together to challenge existing hierarchies? Is the
political left witnessing a revival in contemporary politics? This
book highlights some of the key achievements of left parties and
protest movements in their goal of challenging different types of
inequality - and considers the ways in which their challenge to
authority and power could be intensified. It combines new
theoretical ideas with rich empirical detail on the debates and
concrete activities undertaken by left parties and protest
movements over a broad historical period, from the early European
labour movement to the recent anti-austerity global protests. The
book will offer unique insight into the broad history and theory of
emancipatory politics; as well as making an important contribution
to ongoing debates between left-leaning academics, researchers and
activists.
In this third decade of the 21st century, deep problems plague our
world. Many people lack adequate nutrition, health care, and
education, because-while there is enough wealth for everyone to
meet these basic needs-most of it is tightly controlled by precious
few. Global warming causes droughts, floods, rising sea levels, and
soon the forced migrations of millions of people. In this book,
philosopher Graham Priest explains why we find ourselves in this
situation, defines the nature of the problems we face, and explains
how we might solve and move beyond our current state. The first
part of this book draws on Buddhist philosophy, Marx's analysis of
capitalism, and their complementary role in explaining our present
crisis and the events that led us here. In the second part of the
book, Priest turns to the much harder question of how one might go
about creating a more rational and humane world. Here, he draws
again on Buddhist and Marxist ideas as well as some key aspects of
anarchist thought. His discussion of the need for bottom-up control
of production, power, ideology, and an emerging awareness of our
interdependence is a must-read for anyone who cares about the
future of the planet and our latent capacity to care for each
other. Key Features Explains the necessary elements of Marxist,
Buddhist, and anarchist thought-no background knowledge of
political theory or Buddhism is necessary Shows how Buddhist and
Marxist notions of persons are complementary Convincingly shows
capitalism's role in creating current socio-economic problems
Provides an analysis of the corrosiveness of top-down power
structures and why they should be eliminated in a post-capitalist
state Discusses capitalism's role in war, environmental
degradation, and race and gender-based oppression
During China's Cultural Revolution, Chairman Mao Zedong's
"rustication program" resettled 17 million urban youths, known as
"sent downs," to the countryside for manual labor and socialist
reeducation. This book, the most comprehensive study of the program
to be published in either English or Chinese to date, examines the
mechanisms and dynamics of state craft in China, from the
rustication program's inception in 1968 to its official termination
in 1980 and actual completion in the 1990s. Rustication, in the
ideology of Mao's peasant-based revolution, formed a critical
component of the Cultural Revolution's larger attack on
bureaucrats, capitalists, the intelligentsia, and "degenerative"
urban life. This book assesses the program's origins, development,
organization, implementation, performance, and public
administrative consequences. It was the defining experience for
many Chinese born between 1949 and 1962, and many of China's
contemporary leaders went through the rustication program. The
author explains the lasting impact of the rustication program on
China's contemporary administrative culture, for example, showing
how and why bureaucracy persisted and even grew stronger during the
wrenching chaos of the Cultural Revolution. She also focuses on the
special difficulties female sent-downs faced in terms of work,
pressures to marry local peasants, and sexual harassment,
predation, and violence. The author's parents were both sent downs,
and she was able to interview over fifty former sent downs from
around the country, something never previously accomplished.
China's Sent-Down Generation demonstrates the rustication program's
profound long-term consequences for China's bureaucracy, for the
spread of corruption, and for the families traumatized by this
authoritarian social experiment. The book will appeal to academics,
graduate and undergraduate students in public administration and
China studies programs, and individuals who are interested in
China's Cultural Revolution era.
This is one of the most respected books on Marx's philosophical
thought. Wood explains Marx's views from a philosophical standpoint
and defends Marx against common misunderstandings and criticisms of
his views. All the major philosophical topics in Marx's work are
considered: the central concept of alienation; historical
materialism and Marx's account of social classes; the nature and
social function of morality; philosophical materialism and Marx's
atheism; and Marx's use of the Hegelian dialectical method and the
Marxian theory of value.
The second edition has been revised to include a new chapter on
capitalist exploitation and new suggestions for further reading.
Wood has also added a substantial new preface which looks at Marx's
thought in light of the fall of the Soviet Union and our continued
ambivalence towards capitalism, exploring Marx's continuing
relevance in the twenty-first century.
This book puts forward a new perspective on the planned economies
of communist Eastern Europe, demonstrating in detail how economic
practice in such countries was shaped by the interplay among
planners, managers and Party apparatchiks. Based on extensive
original research, including interviews with former employees of
industrial enterprises, the book argues that shortages, chronic
over-capacities and erroneous planning decisions were present from
the very beginning, rather than the consequences of later plan
mistakes. They were the natural outcome of a profound conflict
between leaders' attempt to adapt the basic laws of economics to
their ideology and interests, and the requirements for rational
bureaucracy of an increasingly sophisticated economy. The book
discusses the evolution of and debates about the planned economy,
considers the practice of plan development and implementation, and
provides very detailed examples of how the planned economy actually
worked at the level of the factory, at the point where plans and
managers interacted with workers and production.
Using Marxist critique, this book explores manifestations of
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Higher Education and demonstrates
how it contributes to the functioning and existence of the
capitalist university. Challenging the idea that AI is a break from
previous capitalist technologies, the book offers nuanced
examination of the impacts of AI on the control and regulation of
academic work and labour, on digital learning and remote teaching,
and on the value of learning and knowledge. Applying a Marxist
perspective, Preston argues that commodity fetishism, surveillance,
and increasing productivity ushered in by the growth of AI, further
alienates and exploits academic labour and commodifies learning and
research. The text puts forward a solid theoretical framework and
methodology for thinking about AI to inform critical and
revolutionary pedagogies. Offering an impactful and timely
analysis, this book provides a critical engagement and application
of key Marxist concepts in the study of AI's role in Higher
Education. It will be of interest to those working or researching
in Higher Education.
Looks at the major Western European communist parties since the
collapse of communist power in Eastern Europe. Discusses how they
now see their futures, what their potentials are and how they have
coped both ideologically and materially with the changes. It looks
specifically at the parties in Italy, Scandinavia, France,
Portugal, Greece, Spain, Great Britain, Germany and the
Netherlands.
We in the West are living in the midst of a deadly culture war. Our
rival worldviews clash with increasing violence in the public
arena, culminating in deadly riots and mass shootings. A fragmented
left now confronts a resurgent and reactionary right, which
threatens to reverse decades of social progress. Commentators have
declared that we live in a "post-truth world," one dominated by
online trolls and conspiracy theorists. How did we arrive at this
cultural crisis? How do we respond? This book speaks to this
critical moment through a new reading of the thought of Alasdair
MacIntyre. Over thirty years ago, MacIntyre predicted the coming of
a new Dark Ages. The premise of this book is that MacIntyre was
right all along. It presents his diagnosis of our cultural crisis.
It further presents his answer to the challenge of public reasoning
without foundations. Pitting him against John Rawls, Jurgen
Habermas, and Chantal Mouffe, Ethics Under Capital argues that
MacIntyre offers hope for a critical democratic politics in the
face of the culture wars.
This groundbreaking collection explores the profound power of
Social Reproduction Theory to deepen our understanding of everyday
life under capitalism. While many Marxists tend to focus on the
productive economy, this book focuses on issues such as child care,
health care, education, family life and the roles of gender, race
and sexuality, all of which are central to understanding the
relationship between economic exploitation and social oppression.
In this book, leading writers such as Lise Vogel, Nancy Fraser,
David McNally and Susan Ferguson reveal the ways in which daily and
generational reproductive labour, found in households, schools,
hospitals and prisons, also sustains the drive for accumulation.
Presenting a more sophisticated alternative to intersectionality,
these essays provide ideas which have important strategic
implications for anti-capitalists, anti-racists and feminists
attempting to find a path through the seemingly ever more complex
world we live in.
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