This book responds to recent events by proposing a radical reshaping of Marxist theory. Taking the core problem as that of the historical subject, it conceptualises human life in terms of four interrelated practices. It explores these in turn in the context of a capitalism divided into 'centre' and 'periphery', primarily through nine 'theoretical reconstructions', which attempt to meet such problems as the labour theory of value, the nature and role of the state, and consciousness.

The Twilight of World Trotskyism analyzes the reasons behind the historic failure of the Trotskyist movement around the world. The book begins this assessment by briefly recapitulating the origins of Trotskyism, as a political current within the communist movement, and elaborating its major elements, before describing the historical development of Trotskyism in the four countries where it has sunk the deepest roots and which house the clear majority of the world's Fourth Internationals: Argentina, Britain, France and the USA. It then proceeds to map the current state of the global Trotskyist movement. Whatever their current size and status, Trotskyist organizations aspire to become mass political parties and lead revolutionary seizures of power. It is therefore appropriate to examine them through the metrics applied to mainstream parties, namely organization, membership and political influence. The author looks at the dynamics of the Trotskyist movement, focusing in particular on the supposedly harmful effects of the communist movement before then turning to examine the role of Trotskyist organizations in the many revolutionary situations that have appeared since the 1920s and in the various 'cycles of protest' that have occurred in the latter half of the 20th century and the early years of the 21st century. The final section examines the two success stories frequently cited in Trotskyist literature, namely the cases of Bolivia and Sri Lanka. The book concludes by setting out and examining a wide variety of explanations for the chronic and sustained weaknesses of the Trotskyist movement, including its flawed appraisals of contemporary politics and economics, ultra-radical programmes and policies, failures in understanding the dynamics of protest and the baleful legacy of Soviet communism. It is argued that these weaknesses are rooted in Trotskyist doctrine and are therefore integral, not peripheral, features of world Trotskyism. This volume will be essential reading for activists and scholars interested in the transnational history and politics of the radical left.

This text offers a concise and accessible coverage of the historical background, the organization and policies of the 15 social democratic parties in the European Union with a focus on the 1945-1990s period. It combines an updated study of the evolution of each party's ideology, sociology and policies, with attention also to the impact of European integration on the fortunes of social democratic forces. The book can be used as a reference text by academics, students and political practitioners and contains contact details and reference information for each party.;The book is aimed at departments of politics (European politics, politics of European Union, comparative politics and government, political ideology), sociology, history, European studies; trade unions, Left political parties in EU; political commentators, journalists, and party research centres.

Exploring relationships between politics, the people and social change, this book assesses the fortunes mainly of Labor, but also of the Communist Party and the New Left in postwar Britain. Using concepts like political culture, it looks at the left's articulation of "affluence": consumerism, youth culture, America, TV, advertising and its disappointment at the people under the impact of such changes. It also examines party organization, socialist thinking and the use of new communication techniques like TV, advertising and opinion polling.

Prominent experts on Marxist ideology from the Soviet Union, East Germany, Poland, India, Japan, Mexico, Canada, and the United States exchange views on Soviet policies and attitudes toward the use of nuclear weapons.

First published in 1979. Sociology flourished in China during the 1930s and 1940s but with the establishment of the People's Republic of China, controversies arose over the place of sociology in the process of socialist construction. Siu-lun Wong analyses the reasons for this change in the fortune of sociological studies in China and examines it in relation to the country's contemporary political system.

In this study, distinguished international contributors project an 'open' Marxism - a rejection of the determinism and positivism which characterise so much of contemporary left-wing thought. Topics covered in the two volumes include Marxism and political economy, historical materialism, dialectics, state theory, class, fetishism and the periodisation of capitalist development.

A cross-country comparison of recent Labour Party governments in New Zealand, Britain, and Australia, and an exploration of how those countries' labour movements responded to their parties' neoliberal policies in power.

'A major contribution to the rethinking of the socialist project. The analysis is clear and profound and identifies the dilemmas but also the potential of contemporary socialism.' - Andrew Gamble, Professor of Politics, University of Sheffield;This comparative and theoretical account of the heritage and prospects of socialism in Western Europe characterises socialist political theory as transformative. Socialists counterpose objective social appraisal, such as the theory of capitalism, to implausibly ambitious agents of change - the proletariat or the interventionist state. This framework of analysis generates a comparative account of European socialist parties and their attitudes to international institutions - especially the European Union - and suggests a favourable prognosis for the future of socialism.

Through a series of interconnected articles, this book makes available a range of international authors for an English readership. Topics covered include: Marzism and political economy, historical materialism, dialectics, state theory, class crisis, fetishism and the periodization of capitalist development. Picking up where the debates of the 1970s left off, these collections assess current debates in Marxist theory and project an "open" Marxism by way of critical response to the determinism and positivism which characterize much of contemporary left-wing thought.

This book tells the fascinating story of the reemergence of the American political left over the last quarter century in the form of the new Progressive Movement. Born out of Liberalism's crushing defeats at the hands of conservative strategists of the Reagan/Bush era, this new movement has cleverly reverse engineered the conservative's institutional networking strategy to plan and finance its resurgence. Progressive strategists have constructed an elaborate network of foundations, advocacy groups, and other institutions to advance their agenda. But where the conservatives relied on affirmative corporate support to help power their movement, the Progressive Left has used an anti-corporate strategy whose purpose is three-fold: 1. To reclaim the moral high ground of politics by challenging corporate power and influence. 2. To gain effective control over "other people's money" (e.g., pension funds, mutual funds) and use it to press for changes in corporate social policies. 3. To leverage this influence over corporate decision-making to change the direction of American politics and public policy. Biz War extends the argument of Manheim's 2001 book, The Death of A Thousand Cuts, by showing how anti-corporate campaigns have evolved from economically-oriented labor actions to ideological and programmatic political struggles. It details how the strategies and tactics crafted by organized labor are being employed with increasing effect by the political left. The book will be of interest to students of contemporary American politics, strategic communication, political movements, and business management. Likewise it will help corporate executives and financial analysts understand more fully the proxy wars and other attacks against their companies.

Since the 1920s, scholars have promoted a set of manuscripts, long abandoned by Marx and Engels, to canonical status in book form as The German Ideology, and in particular its 'first chapter,' known as 'I. Feuerbach.' Part one of this revolutionary study relates in detail the political history through which these manuscripts were editorially fabricated into editions and translations, so that they could represent an important exposition of Marx's 'theory of history.' Part two presents a wholly-original view of the so-called 'Feuerbach' manuscripts in a page-by-page English-language rendition of these discontinuous fragments. By including the hitherto devalued corrections that each author made in draft, the new text invites the reader into a unique laboratory for their collaborative work. An 'Analytical Introduction' shows how Marx's and Engels's thinking developed in duologue as they altered individual words and phrases on these 'left-over' polemical pages.

This four-volume collection combines the historical with the conceptual, providing a guide to the main themes that have structured socialist thought and practice over the last two hundred years. The set also examines contemporary socialism.
A detailed index and new introduction makes this set an invaluable reference tool for students and researchers of politics.

This volume focuses on the socio-political aspects of economic transformations in Eastern European socialist countries. Particular emphasis is laid on the problem of interrelations between the plan and the market and between economic incentives and social consumption. The book also examines economic and political factors in the wider political context, particularly looking at the question of democratization within industry and politics.

This highly topical study reflects on the current problems faced by social democratic parties in government when espousing policies of severe pragmatism and fiscal prudence, and provides an historical medium-term perspective to both parties' substantial changes in labour market policies. There is now a good deal of interest in the Third Way and the Neue Mitte, and this book provides much needed empirical detail, and solid analysis of the substance of these ideas. It will be of great interest to students and researchers in comparative politics, social democracy and economic policy.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203417542

Volume One analyses the intellectual sources and evolution of Marx's critique of political economy leading up the writing of the main Capital manuscripts (1844-1860). The volume: * Provides a clear illustration of the contents of the texts in a way that enables readers to understand the intellectual influences on Marx * Clarifies Marx's own view of what he was trying to achieve through his critique of political economy * The themes of value, income distribution and the law of motion of capitalism are traced to their origins.

Volume Two covers the years 1861-1863, when Marx consolidated and refined the arguments of his critique of political economy in his relatively neglected manuscripts Theories of Surplus Value. * Special attention is paid to the nature, scope and limitations of Marx's critique and to the critique of Ricardo's Principles.

This study of economic reforms throughout Eastern Europe covers the history of attempts at decentralization. The book: describes the centralized model and compares its requirements with the realities of socialist countries; discusses the economic policies of the post-Stalinist period; and examines the origin of the reforms which began in 1956, culminating in the Soviet economic reform of 1965 and the rehabilitation of profit. The countries it covers include the former USSR, the former East Germany and Hungary.

Leading experts examine, for the first time, the impact of New Labour policies on the labor market over the past five years. Looking behind the "good news" implied by the lowest headline unemployment rates since the 1970s and by a low and stable rate of inflation, it examines the impact of policies such as the minimum wage, the New Deal, Working Family Tax Credit scheme, policies on lone parents, and changes in the education system.

In Communes and Workers' Control in Venezuela: Building 21st Century Socialism from Below, Dario Azzellini offers an account of the Bolivarian Revolution from below. While authors on Venezuela commonly concentrate on former president Hugo Chavez and government politics, this book shows how workers, peasants and the poor in urban communities engage in building 21st century socialism through popular movements, communal councils, communes and fighting for workers' control. In a relationship of cooperation and conflict with the state, social transformation is approached on 'two tracks', from below and from above. Azzellini's fascinating account stands out because of the extensive empirical examples and original voices from movements, communal councils, communes and workers.

The late Alec Nove explores the relationship between Marxist ideas and the Soviet reality and presents a methodology for understanding Soviet type societies.

This book is the first complete commentary on Marx's manuscripts of 1861-63, works that guide our understanding of fundamental concepts such as 'surplus-value' and 'production price'.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203461754

This important collection of writings is about, and by, women connected with social and political movements between 1799-1870. It also records the attitudes of the great radical reformers to the role of women in society and documents the vast cultural changes brought about by industrialisation.
The collection draws together the following key material:
Volume I contains an extensive collection of writings from 19th century periodicals, reflecting the high point of working class women's involvement in radical movements.
Volume II focuses on the writings of Frances Wright, an important figure in radical circles in both Britain and the US.
Volume III illustrates the debates of the period surrounding marriage, sexuality and family. Included are writings by Frances Morrison, Robert Dale Owen, William Cobbett and William Lovett.
Volume IV reprints J. D. Milne's 'Industrial Employment of Women'. This important but neglected text argues for the direct engagement of women in all areas of industrial life.
This collection will appeal to anyone with an interest in women's history and Victorian studies.