Far-left political ideologies and movements Books

Book SynopsisChina''s Economic Development, 1950-2014: Fundamental Changes and Long-Term Prospects is a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of Chinese economic development from 1950-2014 focusing on current world-wide attention to the economic reform. Chu-yuan Cheng covers a wide range of topics, including the cultural effects and ideological influences on China''s economic development; the process of China''s transition from a planned to a market economy, leadership changes and the root of the Cultural Revolution; the machine-building industry and scientific and engineering manpower in China; China''s new development plans in the twenty-first century and the process and consequence of the Quiet Revolution; the international economic relations including the U.S.-China, Sino-Japanese economic relations and access to WTO; economic relations across the Taiwan Strait and the formation of the Greater China Economic Sphere; and the long-term development prospect of the Chinese economy in the twenty-firTrade ReviewFor novices of the Chinese economy, China's Economic Development, 1950-2104 by Professor Chu-yuan Cheng is an excellent introduction that provides sound direction for further studies. For experienced readers, this is a systematic overview of Chinese economic development based on meticulous analyses and insightful interpretations. In a sense, Professor Cheng's latest book is a comprehensive summary of his own works in Chinese economics during his long academic career. It may serve as a model for senior authors who wish to present their scholarship in a similarly reflective and responsible manner. -- Cho-Yee To, University of MichiganTable of ContentsI. Ideological Background (1) Culture Factors in the Modern Economic Growth of Four East Asian Countries (2) The Originality and Creativity of Sun Yat-sen’s Doctrine and Its Relevance to the Contemporary World (3) The Economic Thought of Mao Zedong II. Process of Development: (1) China’s Transition from a Planned to a Market Economy: New Breakthroughs and Hurdles (2) Economic Development in China since the CCP 12th Party Congress (3) China’s Economy after the CCP 14th Party Congress (4) China's Economic Policies after the CCP 16th National Congress: Agenda and Challenges (5) Chinese Society in Transition (6) Leadership Changes and Economics in China III. Basic Industry and Scientific Manpower (1) Machine-building Industry in Mainland China (2) Energy Resources (3) Scientific and Engineering Manpower in China IV. The New Development Plans: (1) China’s New Development Plans Strategy, Agenda and Prospects (2) China’s Quiet Revolution. Process and Consequences (3) China’s New Deal in the 21st Century: Building a Harmonious Society. Significance and Prospect V. International Economic Relations (1) The Future Prospect of US-China Economic Relations (2) Sino - Japanese Economic Relations: Interdependence and Conflict (3) Economic Implications of China’s Access to WTO: Opportunities and Challenges VI. Economic Relations across the Taiwan Straits: (1) Economic Relations across the Taiwan Strait: Progress, Effects and Prospects (2) Economic Development on both Sides of the Taiwan Straits -- New Trends for Convergence (3) Concept and Practice of a “Greater Chinese Common Market” VII. China's Economic Comprehensive Reforms and Long-term Prospects (1) China's Economic Development Toward the 21st Century and beyond (2) China’s New Comprehensive Reform: Programs, Progress, and Prospects

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisAs one of a handful of American scholars allowed to review documents in newly opened Soviet archives, John Haynes has used fresh evidence to shed new light on the United States' confrontation with communism at home. In a succinct survey, Haynes traces the buildup of the American Communist party (CPUSA) in the twenties and thirties, focuses on the heyday of popular anticommunism from 1945 to 1960, and follows the relative decline of anticommunism as a political issue in the sixties and seventies. Along the way he describes the chief episodes, figures, and institutions of cold war anticommunism, showing how earlier campaigns against domestic fascists and right-wingers provided most all of anti-communism's tactics and weapons. And he dissects the various anticommunist constituencies, analyzing their origins, motives, and activities. Haynes draws on new and incontestable evidence that the Soviet Union heavily subsidized the CPUSA from its earliest days; maintained an underground organization in Washington in the 1930s that reported to the CPUSA and in turn to Moscow on U.S. government activities; and placed CPUSA members in the wartime OSS and OWI, the government's major intelligence and propaganda agencies. He also confirms much of Elizabeth Bentley's 1940s accusations of Communist infiltrations. American Ways Series.Trade ReviewA solid academic analysis of the American communist movement that draws on recently declassified Soviet documents. * Kirkus *An antidote to the melioristic revisionism about the Communist Party, so prevalent in mainstream circles of American historiography. -- Arnold Beichman * The Washington Times *Table of ContentsPart 1 Preface vii Part 2 COMMUNISM AND ANTICOMMUNISM 3 Chapter 3 The Soviet experience. Origins of American communism. Red Scare. Heyday of the movement. Part 4 FASCISM AND WORLD WAR II 17 Chapter 5 Threat of fascism and fifth columns. Antifascist response in the United States. Roosevelt's foreign policy. The Nazi-Soviet pact. Part 6 THE ROAD TO THE COLD WAR 37 Chapter 7 Disillusion of the peace. Wartime promises—the case of Poland and domestic repercussions. Communist espionage: Amerasia, Gouzenko, the Rosenbergs. Part 8 THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES 64 Chapter 9 Early focus on fascism. Dies Committee. Postwar Hollywood hearings. Bentley revelations. Chambers and Hiss. Part 10 VARIETIES OF ANTICOMMUNISM 89 Chapter 11 Evangelical Christians. Catholics and ACTU. The Socialist attack. Trotskyism. Lovestone and labor. Part 12 THE STRUGGLE FOR THE SOUL OF AMERICAN LIBERALISM 113 Chapter 13 Popular Front liberals. Niebuhr and Americans for Democratic Action. State politics. Murray and CIO drive against Communists. Part 14 PARTISANSHIP AND ANTICOMMUNISM 137 Chapter 15 Party politics in the anti-Communist era. Rise and fall of McCarthy. Part 16 ANTICOMMUNISM AT HIGH TIDE 163 Chapter 17 Federal offensive against American Communists. Personnel security programs. FBI activites. The literature of exposure. The uses of anticommunism. Part 18 THE END OF THE ANTI-COMMUNIST ERA 190 Chapter 19 Death of Stalin. Decline of the CPUSA. Influence of the Vietnam War. Part 20 Selected Readings 201 Part 21 Index 205

Read more less

Book SynopsisJose Carlos Mariategui is widely considered one of Latin America's greatest Marxist theoreticians and activists and remains nearly unknown in the English-speaking world. This collection of essays is an attempt to introduce the breadth and depth of Mariategui's thought to a new generation of English-speaking students of history, philosophy, literature, radical theory and practice.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn his new extensively revised and expanded edition of this book, Samir Amin suggests new approaches to Marxian analysis of the crisis of the late capitalist system of generalized, financialized, and globalized oligopolies following on the financial collapse of 2008. Considering that Marx's Capital, written before the emergence of imperialism as a decisive factor in capitalist accumulation, could provide no explanation for the persistent "underdevelopment" of the countries of the "global South," Amin advances several important theoretical concepts extending traditional Marxian views of capitalist evolution. Most strikingly, he proposes adding to the model of reproduction in Volume II of Capital a Third Department of Production devoted to surplus absorption, necessitated by the capitalist tendency constantly to produce an economic surplus too large to be realized by the consumption and investment purchases generated within Marx's original two-department model. Equally interesting is his theoretical concept of "imperialist rent," derived from the scaling of radically different wages paid for the same labor in countries of the North and the South, whose effect has been to provide Northern capital with sufficient profits to permit it to pacify for a long period its conflict with the Northern proletariat. To account for this new type of rent he extends the Marxian "law of value" in the form of a "law of globalized value" whose operations determine such changes in the polarized world system as the industrial growth of many Third-World nations within the global imperialist context. Amin sees the present crisis as a moment in the second long crisis of the capitalist system, dating from the early 1970's (the first long crisis, he maintains, lasted from 1873 until 1945). He sees no exit from repeated crises under capitalism except the descent into barbarism. The challenge is not to escape from the crisis of capitalism-a hopeless project-but to escape from capitalism in crisis. And Amin reasserts his historical optimism as to the socialist project. He expects a "second wave" of socialist attempts that will stem from the self-liberating efforts of the nations and peoples of the South which, by eliminating the imperialist rent, will lead to an awakening of the Northern popular classes to join the awakening of the global South. This book has an important place among the theoretical resources for anyone involved in the study of contemporary Marxian economic and political theory.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisWe are in the midst of yet another global crisis in capitalism. In the UK, we have the most right wing and ideologically driven government since Thatcher; a ruthless cabal of millionaires intent on destroying the welfare state. In the US, President Obama, whose initial record did not live up to the expectations of many on the Left, is increasingly driven by right-wing republicanism and other corporate interests. At the same time, there are developments in Latin America, in particular Venezuela, which are heralding the dawn of a new politics, and recovering the voice of Marx, but with a twenty-first century socialist focus, thus giving hope to the lives of millions of working people throughout the world. This is why the world media is intent on discrediting President Hugo Chávez; and insisting that ordinary people have to pay the cost of the crisis in capitalism. The Arab Spring and the Occupy movement also show signs of an anti-capitalist movement in embryo. In Greece, perhaps more than anywhere else in Europe (even France), the austerity-stricken working-classes are pushing for real existing socialism. It is therefore not surprising that the ruling class of Greece is increasingly supporting the neo-Nazi, fascist Golden Dawn party threatening civil war should they lose power as a class. Now is a prescient time to bring twenty-first century socialism to the educational institutions of the world, to teach Marx across the curriculum and across the globe.Through this volume our goal was to contribute to the literature by concretely demonstrating the practical implications of Marx's theory to curriculum. However, while this book provides concrete examples of how Marx can and has informed a revolutionary critical education, it is not intended to be prescriptive. That is, the chapters should not be read as a how to guide, but they should be taken as inspiration for new, creative approaches to Teaching Marx and interpreting and posing The Socialist Challenge.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Soviet Communist Party faced a large-scale problem of regulating membership after the Russian Revolution of 1917. While recruitments were conducted mainly according to the internal Party rules, exclusion campaigns were periodically adopted to ensure ideological purity. In the decades before World War II, these reviews took various forms – from mere administrative re-registration to violent purges that involved millions of arrests. The so-called "Great Purge" of 1937-1939 implicitly recognized the failure of the party's original policy of recruitment and promotion, and of the inability of the Party's political leadership to influence membership.Although the "Great Purge" proved tragic, its implementation revealed great preparation and almost daily membership management. As surprising as it may seem, the statistics on membership movements (accessions, expulsions, etc.) were never as well kept as they were from 1937 to 1939. After the Great Purge, a new and more intellectual membership rose to power. This generation presided over the destiny of the Soviet Union until Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1985. The innovative character of Gaël-Georges Moullec's study lies in the use of unpublished archival sources.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Michael Romanov: Brother of the Last Tsar, translator Helen Azar and Romanov historian Nicholas B. A. Nicholson present for the first time in English the annotated 1916-1918 diaries and letters of Russia’s Grand Duke Michael, from the murder of the Siberian mystic Grigorii Rasputin through the Revolution of 1917, which dethroned the Romanov dynasty after Michael briefly found himself named Emperor when his brother Nicholas II abdicated. Michael’s diaries provide rare insight into the fall of the Empire, the rise and fall of the Provisional Government and brief Russian republic, and the terrifying days of the February and October Revolutions after which Michael found himself a prisoner who would meet his end in the Siberian city of Perm.Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia (1878-1918) was born the youngest son of Tsar Alexander III, but with the death of his brother Grand Duke George in 1899, Michael was thrust into the spotlight and the role of “Heir-Tsesarevich” to Emperor Nicholas II, then the father of three girls. Even after the birth of an heir in 1904, Michael found himself pushed closer to the throne with each of the boy’s bouts of hemophilia. By 1916 during World War I, Nicholas and Alexandra found themselves deeply unpopular not only in political circles but also with other members of the House of Romanov, who felt that the parlous times required drastic change. Michael found himself at the center of these events.Azar’s translation is uniquely faithful to the original text and gives readers the feeling of the immediacy and haste in Michael’s original observations of these tumultuous times. Nicholson’s annotations provide biographical and historical background, while quoting dozens of other rare primary sources.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWashington Bullets is written in the best traditions of Marxist journalism and history-writing. It is a book of fluent and readable stories, full of detail about US imperialism, but never letting the minutiae obscure the larger political point. It is a book that could easily have been a song of despair - a lament of lost causes; it is, after all, a roll call of butchers and assassins; of plots against people''s movements and governments; of the assassinations of socialists, Marxists, communists all over the Third World by the country where liberty is a statue.Despite all this, Washington Bullets is a book about possibilities, about hope, about genuine heroes. One such is Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso - also assassinated - who said: ''You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness. In this case, it comes from nonconformity, the courage to turn your back on the old formulas, the courage to invent the future. It took the madmen of yesterday for us to be able to act with extreme clarity today. I want to be one of those madmen. We must dare to invent the future.''Washington Bullets is a book infused with this madness, the madness that dares to invent the future.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisGlobal events, from economic crisis to social unrest and militarization, disproportionately affect women. Yet around the world it is also women who are leading the struggle against oppression and exploitation. In light of renewed interest in Marxist theory among many women activists and academics, Marxism and Feminism presents a contemporary and accessible Marxist–feminist analysis on a host of issues. It reassesses previous debates and seeks to answer pressing questions of how we should understand the relationship between patriarchy and capitalism, and how we can envision a feminist project which emancipates both women and society. With contributions from both renowned scholars and new voices, Marxism and Feminism is set to become the foundational text for modern Marxist-feminist thought.Trade ReviewAn important addition to the body of radical analysis that left feminists can use to educate ourselves about old and new theoretical, political and methodological debates on the left. It also is a signal that such debates are receiving new energy in the 21st century by new generations of left feminist intellectuals and activists dissatisfied with the academic compromises that institutionalized feminism has made, and the failure to incorporate feminist insights into Marxist-inspired theory and politics.' * Against the Current *Discussions of democracy, finance capitalism, nationalism and imperialism release feminist theory from the confines of the so-called woman question by theorising the global social moment … held together by a commitment to dialectical inquiry and revolutionary feminist praxis.' * Historical Materialism *Marxism and Feminism is an outstanding contribution to the shared project of scholar-activists across diverse disciplines and movements. The collection is both the result of, and a significant contribution to, a (re)emerging conversation - one that attends to, as Shahrzad Mojab succinctly notes, "two major emancipatory projects." The keywords approach is inspired, providing breadth and depth in a single, accessible, and highly engaged volume. * Abigail B. Bakan, University of Toronto *Reading this book made me aware of how much such a book is needed to awaken a dialogue between Marxism and feminism. I didn't agree with all that I read, but that's exactly what a book with this framework should do to awaken us. * Dorothy Smith, University of Victoria *The relationship between Marxists and Feminists has always been problematic. But in these times of an ongoing crises of capitalism, when the whole world is looking for alternatives to the present destructive World System, Shahrzad Mojab's Marxism and Feminism is especially necessary today. I hope that many women and men read it. * Maria Mies, author of Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale *Marxism and Feminism is a serious, nuanced collection that covers a great deal of ground in a clear and concise way. The essays here represent a profoundly warm, human way of thinking through some of the toughest political problems of our age. It will be of great use to anyone thinking seriously about the relationship between Marx and feminism, not to mention gender, race, class, intersectionality, patriarchy, work and many other key topics today. * Nina Power, author of One Dimensional Woman *Marxism and feminism are back! This book marks a refreshing return to basics after years spent in the wilderness of identity politics and the 'cultural turn'. Offering a rich synthesis of the key concepts in both schools of thought, the book provides a valuable resource for rethinking Marxism, feminism, a renewed project for human emancipation and, yes… revolution. * Radha D'Souza, University of Westminster *Reading this book, I was gripped by a feeling that it will mark a politically-necessary moment in the history of Women’s and Gender Studies as well as educational theories encompassing class, race, disability, sexuality and all axes of identity formation … this book is a pedagogy – a form of resistance. * Sona Kazemi, Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies *Table of Contents1. Introduction: Marxism and feminism - Shahrzad Mojab Part I: Class and race in Marxism and feminism 2. Gender relations - Frigga Haug 3. The Marx within feminism - Frigga Haug 4. Building from Marx: reflections on 'race', gender and class - Himani Bannerji Part II: Marxist-feminist keywords 5. Democracy - Sara Carpenter 6. Financialization - Jamie Magnusson 7. Ideology - Himani Bannerji 8. Imperialism and primitive accumulation - Judith Whitehead 9. Intersectionality - Delia D. Aguilar 10. Labour-power - Helen Colley 11. Nation and nationalism - Amir Hassanpour 12. Patriarchy/patriarchies - Kumkum Sangari 13. Reproduction - Michelle Murphy 14. Revolution - Maryam Jazayeri 15. Standpoint theory - Cynthia Cockburn 16. Epilogue: gender after class - Teresa L. Ebert

Read more less