One consequence of the triumph of the political left is the proliferation of fanciful psychiatric diagnoses for all manner of conservatives.

Now Kerry Bolton has written a factually based account of the pathology of the left - the vanity of Rousseau, the narcissistic personality of Karl Marx, the megalomania of Trotsky, the father-hating hedonist Mao Zedong, through to the paedophile promoting Allen Ginsberg, and the Oedipus complex of Louis Althusser who on release from a mental hospital strangled his wife.

Kerry Bolton's The Psychotic Left not only makes fascinating reading, but it provides an insight into the hypocrisy of many of the leading figures on the political left, who despite their rhetoric were totally devoid of compassion or empathy for their fellow man.

A common thread of many of the personalities discussed in this book is an overwhelming narcissism - the arrogance of people who are absolutely confident in their prescriptions for redesigning society and absolutely ruthless in putting their ideas into action - whatever the cost in human lives and suffering.

This book reasserts the need for a bold and revolutionary social imagination, one aimed at saner ways of living and more rational ways of organising society.

Unless the socialist societies of the East adapt their system to the scientific-technological revolution, as the West has done, they will remain caught in the twentieth century. This is the theme of Silviu Brucan's book on the crisis of world socialism. He contends that these countries are at the crossroads and must make some changes in their political ideology or they will perish. This insightful book written by a veteran communist living in the East, will interest anyone concerned with Soviet studies, Slavic studies, political economy, Marxism, Communism, political sociology, and East-West relations.

This book poses a major revisionist challenge to 20th century British labour history, aiming to look beyond the Marxist and Fabian exclusion of working class experience, notably religion and self-help, in order to exaggerate 'labour movement' class cohesion. Instead of a 'forward march' to secular state-socialism, the research presented here is devoted to a rich diversity of social movements and ideas. In this collection of essays, the editors establish the liberal-pluralist tradition, with the following chapters covering three distinct sections. Part One, 'Other Forms of Association' covers subjects such as trade unions, the Co-operative Party, women's community activism and Protestant Nonconformity. Part Two, 'Other Leaders', covers employer Edward Cadbury; Trades Union Congress leader Walter Citrine; and the electricians' leader, Frank Chapple. Part Three, 'Other Intellectuals', considers G.D.H. Cole, Michael Young and left libertarianism by Stuart White. Readers interested in the British Labour movement will find this an invaluable resource.

This comparative study explores the impact of populist majoritarianism on Greek and Turkish democratic transition. Using case studies from Greece and Turkey, the author argues that while majoritarianism is often celebrated as a manifestation of popular sovereignty, it can undermine institutional performance and even stifle the process of democratic consolidation, contributing to a confrontational and inefficient democratic regime in cases of transition states where levels of social capital are low and social polarization is high. It is shown that building up a "mild democracy" requires maturity of institutions and an efficient system of checks and balances and implementation control mechanisms, while building consensus and trust in societies torn by ethnic, religious and ideological divides is not a luxury but a permissive condition for democratic consolidation and economic prosperity. This book will be of use to students and scholars interested in the fields of Greek and Turkish politics, comparative politics and democracy.

The entire world was taken by suprise when 1990 brought an end to Soviet communism in Europe and thus a genuine end to World War II. The fact that these developments surprised not only the leaders and the people of the countries concerned, but also scholars is an extraordinary challenge to the students of Soviet-type economics. In the academic world, where predictive force is one of the key indicators of a successful theory, this weak performance calls into question the validity of earlier findings and interpretations. Something was wrong in the general framework. "Socialist Investment Cycles" offers an explanation of this failure. "Socialist Investment Cycles" is the first monograph in English on investment fluctuations in planned economies, a chapter in history. While providing a broad overview of the literature on socialist investment cycles, as well as a quantitative description of the actual processes, the author puts forth a new framework for understanding investment fluctuations. In this framework socialist planners were able to adjust the volume of investments without risking the fulfillment of politically more sensitive target variable. "Socialist Investment Cycles" encompasses all 35 countries which were ruled by communism and penetrates deeply into the data problem, country by country, and series by series. "Socialist Investment Cycles" has been written after the collapse of Soviet-type communism in Eastern Europe, the USSR, and the countries of Asia and Africa. It thus offers a retrospective view on both the theory and practice of socialist economies.

European social democracy is in crisis. In the last decade it has ceased to be about either society or democracy. The authors explore its values, how it can be revived and what kind of political economy it requires to thrive. This book includes a foreword by the two leaders of the 'Building the Good Society' project, Andrea Nahles and Jon Cruddas.

This book examines the work and thought of Richard T. Ely in light of his rejection of capitalism and view toward individualism. It concludes that there are real problems with Ely's theories and the principles of Progressivism, and addresses the implications of this for current American political thought.

Can electoral and parliamentary arenas be used toward revolutionary ends? This is precisely the question that held Lenin's attention from 1905 to 1917, leading him to conclude that they could-and would. This book explores the time in which Lenin initiated his use of the electorate, beginning with the Marxist roots of Lenin's politics, and then details his efforts to lead the deputies of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party in the First and Second State Dumas, concluding with Russia's first experiment in representative democracy from 1906 to 1907. During this time, Lenin had to address issues such as whether to boycott or participate in undemocratic elections, how to conduct election campaigns, whether to enter into electoral blocs and the related lesser of two evils dilemma, how to keep deputies accountable to the party, and how to balance electoral politics with armed struggle. Lenin later said that the lessons of that work were 'indispensable' for Bolshevik success in 1917, which means that this detailed analysis of that period is crucial to any thorough understanding of Leninism.

The character of social democracy in the constituent countries of the European Union is more significant and much better understood than the available literature would appear to suggest. This thought-provoking and edifying handbook aims to redress this disparity by bringing together a range of top political scientists from across Europe to provide a definitive collection on social democracy in the EU, one that offers students and scholars both an informative and easy-to-use guide to social democracy as a system of governance in Europe.
Through establishing a common framework for analysis and by exploring all 27 countries in the European Union according to this structure, The Palgrave Handbook of Social Democracy in Europe constitutes a compendium that is truly comparative in nature. This comparative and comprehensive framework coupled with the unprecedented overview of European social democracy over the past decade makes this handbook the go-to guide for those interested in all aspects of social democracy in the European Union.

The best-selling radical diary and weekly planner is back for the new year! The 2022 Verso Radical Diary and Weekly Planner is a beautifully designed week-to-view planner where you can keep track of your coming year. Alongside illustrations, it features significant dates in radical history, drawn from events such as the English Civil War and Black Panther movement, through to the protests of 1968 and feminist emancipation, touching on the lives of revolutionaries such as Angela Davis, Rosa Luxemburg and Martin Luther King Jr., and includes movements such as Black Lives Matter and the Suffragettes.

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.

Bringing together a collaboration of leading specialists in Labour Party history, this edited collection provides a detailed and accessible analysis of what has led to the demise of respective Labour governments from Ramsay MacDonald to Gordon Brown. In doing so this volume provides engaging comparisons between Labour governments considering both external and internal factors which includes the importance of themes such as economic performance; political leadership; party unity; policy direction and the condition of the Conservatives in opposition. The result is a powerful and thought-provoking volume that provides a context in which the reader can place the fall of the Labour government under Gordon Brown in 2010. The book is required reading for students and scholars of British Political History and Labour Party History.

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.

The book examines the 'Pink Tide' of leftist governments in Latin America struggling against neoliberal hegemony from a critical International Political Economy perspective. Focusing particularly on Venezuela and Brazil, it evaluates the transformative and emancipatory potentials of their political projects domestically, regionally and globally.

"This book is basic for any attempt to understand interwar Polish Jewry as well as the holocaust period and offers many new points of view."
--"Religious Studies Review"

The Bund was the first modern Jewish political party in Eastern Europe and, arguably, the strongest Jewish party in Poland on the eve of the Second World War. Though 100 years have passed since its inception, the Bund and its legacy continue to be of abiding interest.

Founded illegally and operated under the most adverse conditions, the Bund grew dramatically in the years immediately after its 1897 creation in Czarist Russia. It helped to organize the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party, it organized armed self-defense groups to fight against pogroms, and it played a significant role in the Russian Revolution of 1905. The Bundist became for many the symbol of the new Jew--enlightened, willing to fight for Jewish rights and needs, and unwilling to accept the status quo of Jewish communities dominated by the orthodox and the wealthy, and of a Russia oppressed by the Czar. Later, Bundist members were among those who contributed substantially to armed resistance in Nazi occupied Poland.

"Jewish Politics in Eastern Europe" makes use of previously unexamined source materials to offer a range of new perspectives on the significance of the Bund and its ideas. Its fresh and insightful approaches will be of interest to all those concerned with Eastern European Jewry, Russian, Polish, and Ukranian history, and the history of socialist and labor movements.

In the early 1930s Soviet authorities launched a campaign to create "socialist" retailing and also endorsed Soviet consumerism. How did the Stalinist regime reconcile retailing and consumption with socialism? This book examines the discourses that the Stalinist regime's new approach to retailing and consumption engendered.

Hudson explores the development of communists and other left forces, charting their survival and renewal after 1989. She shows how an open and democratic form of socialism has emerged which embraces environmental, gender and anti-war politics.

Using a variety of methodological approaches, this timely book offers a thorough examination of the impact and implications of religious fundamentalism in developing nations. The authors explore why and how adherence to fundamentalist principles affects the social, political, and religious development of such countries as Israel, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, and the Philippines. One of the most significant contributions of this volume is that it challenges the assumption that fundamentalism in developing countries is based solely on religious motivations.

The authors maintain that fundamentalism of this sort is motivated by both religious and political convictions. This combination of religious and political motivations allows fundamentalism to exert a tremendous influence on the public policies of these developing nations. As the social fabric of such countries continues to be developed, it is clear that fundamentalism will continue to play a significant and potentially dangerous role.

The history of the left is usually told as one of factionalism and division. This collection of essays casts new light to show how the boundaries between Marxism and anarchism have been more porous and fruitful than is conventionally recognised. The volume includes ground-breaking pieces on the history of socialism in the twentieth-century.

As global economic and population growth continues to skyrocket, increasingly strained resources have made one thing clear: the desperate need for an alternative to capitalism. In Democratic Eco-Socialism as a Real Utopia, Hans Baer outlines the urgent need to reevaluate historical definitions of socialism, commit to social equality and justice, and prioritize environmental sustainability. Democatic eco-socialism, as he terms it, is a system capable of mobilizing people around the world, albeit in different ways, to prevent on-going human socio-economic and environmental degradation, and anthropogenic climate change.