Far-left political ideologies and movements Books

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Book SynopsisAn empathetic, moving account of what drives indigenous peasants to support armed struggle despite severe state repression, including lives lost, and homes and communities destroyedOver the past decade, the heavily forested, mineral-rich region of Bastar in central India has emerged as one of the most militarized sites in the country. The government calls the Maoist insurgency the "biggest security threat" to India. In 2005, a state-sponsored vigilante movement, the Salwa Judum, burned hundreds of villages, driving their inhabitants into state-controlled camps, drawing on counterinsurgency techniques developed in Malaysia, Vietnam and elsewhere. Apart from rapes and killings, hundreds of "surrendered" Maoist sympathizers were conscripted as auxiliaries. The conflict continues to this day, taking a toll on the lives of civilians, security forces and Maoist cadres.In 2007, Sundar and others took the Indian government to the Supreme Court over the human rights violations arising out of the conflict. In a landmark judgment in 2011 the court banned state support for vigilantism. The Burning Forest describes this brutal war in the heart of India, and what it tells us about the courts, media and politics of the country. The result is a fascinating critical account of Indian democracy.Trade Review“A very important and interesting book which should be widely read … A deeply disturbing analysis of the sacrifice of tribal lives and communities caught between the camouflaged barbarity of the security forces and the violent arrogance of a deflected rebellion. The appeal for reasoned humanity cannot be any stronger—or more eloquent—than this.”—Amartya Sen “How does democracy affect the prosecution of civil war? Nandini Sundar explores this question with untold courage and fierce determination in her remarkable extended ethnography of counter-insurgency in Chhattisgarh (India)—a desperate struggle to clear the land for mineral exploitation. Starting from poor adivasi villagers, aided and abetted by Naxalites, Sundar lays out in dispassionate detail the history of escalating violence, spurred on by the atrocities of a state-sponsored vigilante group and special police force. Stung by the lack of interest in the Indian media and parliament, she and two collaborators pursued and finally won a Supreme Court case against the state of Chhattisgarh. But, again, with no obvious effect. By multiplying opportunities to contest state violence, democratic institutions may have moderated but also extended the civil war. A rare and brilliant treatment of a topic few social scientists would dare to touch, let alone examine at such close quarters and for over two decades.”—Michael Burawoy “The Burning Forest is vivid, challenging and informative—an exemplar of engaged sociology and anthropology. It is a stellar account of the tension between villagers, insurgents and the multiple levels of state action and inaction, the intricate complications of the legal system and of course, the politics of it all. Nandini Sundar’s empathy for the people of the forest and their struggles for a dignified life and livelihood is heart-warming.”—Ari Sitas“This meticulous and powerful book not only documents a brutal regime of internal colonialism in the world’s largest democracy. It reveals the insidious ways in which consent to state oppression is manufactured and amplified. Everyone interested in the commingled fate of democracy and capitalism in the postcolonial world should read this book.” —Pankaj Mishra “Nandini Sundar, an extraordinary anthropologist-activist, pulls no punches in describing the greed and cynical violence of state agencies, mining companies, politicians and immigrants. Her account of life in the Maoist rebel zones is graphic, full of empathy but by no means uncritical. This is a story that everyone who cares about India must read.” —Partha Chatterjee “Nandini Sundar is one of India’s most distinguished anthropologists, and the leading academic authority on Bastar. But she is also one of Indian democracy’s most passionate voices. This is a searing critique of the state, and one that Indian democracy needs to hear.” —Pratap Bhanu Mehta “Every thinking Indian, every citizen who is concerned about the present and future of the Republic, should read The Burning Forest. It is an impeccably researched and finely written work of scholarship, redolent with insight, and displaying enormous courage as well.” —Ramachandra Guha, Hindustan Times “If many places are like Bastar, few books are like The Burning Forest. It resonates with classics on frontiers and dispossession.”—Christian Lund, Journal of Agrarian Change “Sundar’s book is an exceptional expose of the scandal of rural governance in India, a chronicle of State excesses, an anthropologist’s view about how conflicts perpetuate themselves and an account of how India’s democracy is degraded when few are watching. Policymakers ought to take away one the key lesson from it that there really are no military solutions to social conflicts.”—Sushil Aaron, Hindustan Times “Sundar’s book is a must-read for those interested in the genesis and the nature of conflict in Bastar.”—Hindu “The work needs to be celebrated for its scholarship, for its independence and for its courage.”—Tribune

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Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1974, Kojin Karatani's Marx: Towards the Centre of Possibility has been among his most enduring and pioneering works in critical theory. Written at a time when the political sequences of the New Left had collapsed into crisis and violence, with widespread political exhaustion for the competing sectarian visions of Marxism from 1968, Karatani's Marx laid the groundwork for a new reading, unfamiliar to the existing Marxist discourse in Japan at the time.Karatani's Marx takes on insights from semiotics, deconstruction, and the reading of Marx as a literary thinker, treating Capital as an intervention in philosophy that could be read as itself a theory of signs. Marx is unique in this sense, not only because of its importance in post-'68 Japanese thought, but also because the heterodox reading of Marx that Karatani debuts in this text, centred on his theory of the value-form, will go on to form the basis of his globally influential work.

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Book SynopsisA powerful account of the decline of the Cuban Revolution, told through the lives of five ordinary Cuban citizens. 'Masterful... Dore uses oral history to tell a history of Cuba from the bottom up' Professor Linda Gordon 'A vital addition to Cuba's rich oral tradition' Will Grant, BBC Cuba Correspondent 'Opens wide a window on the last forty years of Cuban history' Professor Gerald Martin 'To have gathered these life stories together with such grace, eloquence and trust is a towering achievement' Professor Ruth Behar Cuba is not the country it used to be. The regime is disintegrating, and unprecedented protest marches are challenging the gerontocratic Communist Party leadership. How Things Fall Apart reveals the decay of this political system through the lives of five ordinary Cuban citizens. Born in the 1970s and 80s, these men and women recount how their lives changed over a tumultuous stretch of thirty-five years: first when Fidel opened the country to tourism following the fall of the Soviet bloc; then when Raúl Castro allowed market forces to operate, thinking it would stop the country's economic slide; and finally when President Trump's tightening of the US embargo combined with the Covid-19 pandemic to cause economic collapse. With warmth and humanity, they describe learning to survive in an environment where a tiny minority has grown rich by local standards, the great majority has been left behind, and inequality has destroyed the very things that used to give meaning to Cubans' lives. Born out of the first oral history project authorized by the Cuban government in forty years, Professor Elizabeth Dore gathers these stories to illuminate the slow and agonizing decline of the Cuban Revolution over the past four decades. For over sixty years the government controlled the historical narrative. In this book, Cubans tell their own stories.Trade ReviewMasterful... Dore uses oral history to tell a history of Cuba from the bottom up, accompanied by her own astute commentary. How Things Fall Apart reads like a set of vivid short stories -- Professor Linda GordonAn elegant account of the evolution of a revolution. Writing on a topic which still has the power to provoke the most visceral responses across the political spectrum, Dore has done a rare thing: she has let the Cuban people speak for themselves. Dore handles their stories of triumph and hardship with honesty, compassion and respect, and in the process has held up a mirror to the state of the Cuban Revolution in the twenty-first century. How Things Fall Apart is a vital addition to Cuba's rich oral tradition -- Will Grant, BBC Mexico, Central America and Cuba CorrespondentThese life stories of Cubans are so raw, so honest, so moving, that you feel as if you know each of them personally. To have gathered them together with such grace, eloquence and trust is a towering achievement... This book serves as a testament to the audacity and sorrow Cubans experienced in seeking to change not only their own history but the history of the world -- Professor Ruth Behar, author of Letters from CubaElizabeth Dore's book opens wide a window on the last forty years of Cuban history and allows us to listen, uniquely, to the always vivid memories and conclusions of ordinary Cubans as they look back on the lives they lived during the most arduous and troubled years of the Revolution -- Professor Gerald MartinCuba through human lenses. Dore's impressive book sadly portrays the unraveling of the revolutionary utopian dream -- Professor Susan EcksteinThe chronicle of a death foretold * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisThe book analyses under what conditions was it possible to develop scientific atheism which was by the contemporaries in the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia understood not only as a branch of propaganda but as a specific scholarly discipline. It maps out not only the state of affairs before the organisational changes allowed the emergence of research but also analyses the motivation which led the historical actors to make such decision in both national contexts. One of the key findings is undoubtedly the fact that scientific atheism developed as a new type of thinking about religious phenomena within the context of Marxist-Leninist epistemological doctrine. Moreover, if the socio-political conditions were favorable, it also contributed to the rethinking of the key aspects of Marxist doctrine. The comparative analysis allows to draw conclusions about the existence of specifically Soviet and Czechoslovakian scientific atheism and questions the level of sovietisation in this context.

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Book SynopsisIn this amply illustrated book, Hellman and Rogachevskii tell the fascinating story behind the screen adaptation of one of the most impactful novels of all times. Despite its huge global success, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn refused all offers to have his One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich turned into a movie for many years for artistic reasons. It took the full resolve and commitment of the Finnish director Caspar Wrede to bring this challenging project to fruition, eight years after the novel had been published. This second, expanded edition offers an all-encompassing account of the movie's production, reception and impact. Filled with little-known facts, it also gives unique and valuable insights into Solzhenitsyn's complex relationship with the art of film-making.Trade Review"This study is a labour of love for Russian literature scholars Ben Hellman and Andrei Rogachevskii. Chock-full of fascinating and often witty footnotes, the main text provides a thorough account of the film`s production." -- Scotland-Russia Forum Review"Wrede`s film is important -- for a long time the only film adaptation of Solzhenitsyn`s work and often moving. Hellman and Rogachevskii`s book is a valuable reminder and hopefully will encourage more interest." -- Society for Co-operation in Russian & Soviet Studies Information Digest

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Book SynopsisThe violent protests that shook Bulgaria in recent years were fueled by a widespread belief that, after 25 years of transition, a new base for the political process is required. In this important new study, Popivanov provides a critical re-assessment of the role of the Bulgarian Socialist Party - arguably, the single most important political entity in Bulgaria's post-communist history. Assessing its internal problems and the challenges it faces from a new and radical grassroots Left, Popivanov asks why and how Bulgaria's Socialist Party was the only one in the Eastern bloc to remain an important political organization, after the end of communism. This timely book skillfully analyzes the current societal and political situation in Bulgaria that threatens the Socialists and argues for a complete reformulation of the concept of the 'Bulgarian Left'.Trade Review"Boris Popivanov`s new book is an insightful and knowledgable analysis of the Bulgarian left; it is mandatory reading for those who seek primary information on the recent history of political transformations in the third wave democracies, especially as it also offers an international comparative perspective. Highly recommended." --Peter Bajomi-Lazar, Budapest Business School

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Book SynopsisNatalya Ryabinska calls into question the commonly held opinion that the problems with media reform and press freedom in former Soviet states merely stem from the cultural heritage of their communist (and pre-communist) past. Focusing on Ukraine, she argues that, in the period after the fall of communism, peculiar new obstacles to media independence have arisen. They include the telltale structure of media ownership, with news reporting being concentrated in the hands of politically engaged business tycoons, the fuzzy and contradictory legislation of the media realm, and the informal institutions of political interference in mass media. The book analyzes interrelationships between politics, the economy, and media in Ukraine, especially their shadowy sides guided by private interests and informal institutions. Being embedded in comparative politics and post-communist media studies, it helps to understand the nature and workings of the Ukrainian media system situated in-between democracy and authoritarianism. It offers insights into the inner logic of Ukraines political system and institutional arrangement in the post-Soviet period. Based on empirical data of 19942013, this study also highlights many of the barriers to democratic reforms that have been persisting in Ukraine since the Revolution of Dignity of 20132014.Trade ReviewThis book serves as a guide for understanding both the current predicament of the Ukrainian media as well as its historical precedents and development over time. Mark Teramae, University of Helsinki, Europe-Asia Studies (70:10) 2018Table of ContentsForeword; Introduction; Media & Politics in the Gray Zone Between Democracy & Authoritarianism: An Interdisciplinary Approach; Media Capture in Post-Communist Ukraine; The Media Market & Ownership, & Economic Dimension of Media Capture in Ukraine; Conclusion: New Obstacles to Media Reform in Postcommunist Ukraine; Bibliography.

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Book SynopsisThis book dissectsfrom both philosophical and empirical viewpointsthe peculiar developmental challenges, geopolitical contexts, and dystopic stalemates that post-Soviet societies face during their transition to new political and cultural orders. The principal geographical focus of the essays is Ukraine, but most of the assembled texts are also relevant and/or refer to other post-Soviet countries. Mikhail Minakov describes how former Soviet nations are trying to re-invent, for their particular circumstances, democracy and capitalism while concurrently dealing with new poverty and inequality, facing unusual degrees of freedom and responsibility for their own future, coming to terms with complicated collective memories and individual pasts. Finally, the book puts forward novel perspectives on how Western and post-communist Europe may be able to create a sustainable pan-European common space. These include a new agenda for pan-European political communication, new East-Central European regional security mechanisms, a solution for the chain of separatist-controlled populations, and anti-patronalist institutions in East European countries.Trade Review"Mykhailo Minakov is a leading observer of contemporary Ukrainian, Russian and European politics and society. His work is a vital source for understanding the deeper phenomena that drive changeand lack of itin these states. With this book, he has tackled a subject worthy of his talents, and offers a multi-layered perspective on some of the central dilemmas of post-Soviet political culture and social development."Matthew Rojansky, Kennan Institute"Accurate and balanced account of the most recent history of Ukraine presented by an involved observer. Good sample of the Ukrainian vision of the phenomenon called 'The Ukrainian crisis'obviously extends Ukraine's borders."Prof. Georgiy Kasianov, Kyiv Mohyla Academy, Ukraine"Development and Dystopia is a philosophers inquiry into the political processes that shaped the post-Soviet world and a political analysts search for the philosophical underpinnings of the changes that those processes brought about. Both of Mikhail Minakovs probes focus on Ukraine, but his ultimate goal is to illuminate the broader scope of the East European transformations. Anyone wishing to delve beyond newspaper headlines and pundits clichés in order to understand what is really going on in that world can do no better than pick up this book."Prof. Dr. Serhii Plokhii, Director, Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University

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Book SynopsisPost-Socialist Memorial Landscapes in Slovenia

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Book SynopsisThis book provides a comprehensive account of the structure, conduct, and performance of the centrally planned economies of Eastern Europe, the USSR, Communist China and the Marxist LDCs, looking at 26 nations in all.The author focuses on reform, perhaps the most important issue facing countries such as the USSR, Poland, Hungary, and China. Bureaucracy, soft budget constraints, markets, and the nature of the socialist state are the central issues that arise in the course of reforming a socialist economy.The first half of the book deals with ''classical socialism'' and provides a theoretical summary of the main features of a now closed period of history. The second half deals with the processes of reform and concludes that the reform of classical socialist systems is doomed to failure as they are unable to renew themselves internally.Trade Review`This is truly a remarkable achievement. Kornai's book can be read with much profit by citizens of both east and west, by economists and by whoever is interested in politics, by specialists in the affairs of communist-run countries and by student beginners. It is well organised, shows a mastery of the material and is a model of clarity of exposition ... What he does do is to describe with consummate skill the essential features of the system as it was, and why attempts to reform it have been so conspicuously unsuccessful. For this he deserves our gratitude and a large readership' Alec Nove, New Statesman & Society`This is the most comprehensive analysis of socialist economics ever written. It is lucid and well-structured, rendering it an ideal textbook for a broad range of students on the socialist economic system. This might be the definitive work on socialist economics. The greatest student of socialist economics has produced his grand oeuvre.' Ander Aslund, Director, Stockholm Institute of Soviet and East European Economics`Janos Kornai has long been the world's most perceptive analyst and critic of communism. The momentous changes of the last few years have generated plenty of heat. This book, destined to become a classic, sheds great light on communism - why it endured, why it eventually failed, and how it should and will evolve.' Lawrence H Summers, World Bank`Janos Kornai's analysis of the political economy of socialism is the right book at the right time by the right author ... a scholarly, realistic, insightful analysis of both the early successes and the gradual breakdown of socialist systems.' Stanley Fischer, Professor of Economics, MIT`Written by a leading scholar on comparative economic systems, the book is a masterly contribution.' Padma Desai, Professor of Economics, Columbia`Hungarian economist Janos Kornai gives a detailed but untechnical overview of socialist economies.' Morning Star'His book deserves to be read ... because of the sheer scholarship which has gone into producing it, and because of the insight into Stalinism and its legacy which it undoubtedly provides.' Ian Kearns, University of Sheffield, International Affairs, April 1993`Janos Kornai's The Socialist System: The Political Economy of Communism is definitely one of the best (if not the best) books ever written by such "synthesizers". It is the first comprehensive and systematic exposition of the political economy of state socialism. The author offers an intricate, nuanced, logical, and highly readable panorama of not just the Communist economy but the whole socioeconomic, political-cultural formation, known as state socialism.' Studies in Comparative International Development`presents a detailed and exhaustive description of the general characteristics of the classical system, defined as the stalinist or maoist phase, and of the reform system that followed it ... any serious students specialising in comparative economic systems surely ought to become acquainted with the book' Europe-Asia Studies`This book will appeal to a wide audience. It combines a coherent political model with a detailed economic critique. It also shows that socialist economics were not as homogenous as traditionally assumed by commentators. The book also provides valuable insights into what new economic forms are likely to replace the erstwhile socialist economies.' Political StudiesGreat merit ... Kornai has been in his career deeply involved in the workings of the system he describes, so is an outstanding expert on it and sheds light on many of its aspects people who have not lived in communist societies cannot easily understand ... The book is a great achievement ... A comprehensive content, references, authors and subject indexes makes the book a very convenient research tool. * Kyklos *

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Book SynopsisThe Cold War has been researched in minute detail and written about at great length but it remains one of the most elusive and enigmatic conflicts of modern times. With the ending of the Cold War, it is now possible to review the entire post-war period, to examine the Cold War as history.Trade ReviewA sensible reprise of history ... a welcome addition to undergraduate reading lists both as an introduction to regional politics and as an overture to the re-evaluation of the Cold War. * International Affairs *...stimulating...here is a collection of highly informative articles by leading experts who adopt an unusual, refreshing though highly controversial approach. - Ahron Bregman. The Times Higher Education Supplement. 15/5/1998Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. The Middle East, the Great Powers, and the Cold War ; 2. Egypt ; 3. Syria ; 4. Lebanon ; 5. Jordan ; 6. The Palestinians ; 7. Israel ; 8. Iraq ; 9. Iran ; 10. Turkey ; Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThis book extends the theme of Raymond Williams''s earlier work in literary and cultural analysis. He analyses previous contributions to a Marxist theory of literature from Marx himself to Lukacs, Althusser, and Goldmann, and develops his own approach by outlining a theory of `cultural materialism'' which integrates Marxist theories of language with Marxist theories of literature. Williams moves from a review of the growth of the concepts of literature and idealogy to a redefinition of `determinism'' and `hegemony''. His incisive discussion of the ''social material process'' of cultural activity culminates in a re-examination of the problems of alignment and commitment and of the creative practice in individual authors and wider social groups.Trade Review`Williams has brought his authority and experience, established by his immense critical achievement, into the Marxist tradition.' Anthony Barnett, New SocietyThe exploration and integrations which this book makes will bring a major pressure to bear on academic literary criticism and its institutions. * John Sutherland, New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisThis second edition of McLellan''s comprehensive selection of Marx''s writings includes carefully selected extracts from the whole range of Marx''s political, philosophical and economic thought. Each section of the book deals with a different period of Marx''s life with the sections arranged in chronological order, thus allowing the reader to trace the development of Marx''s thought, from his early years as a student and political journalist in Germany right through to his final letters of the early 1880s. The inclusion of extracts from some of Marx''s less well-known works alongside selections from classic texts such as The Communist Manifesto and Capital provides the reader with an unparalleled overview of Marx''s thinking, whilst Professor McLellan''s fully updated and revised introduction and bibliographical notes accompanying each extract put Marx''s writings into biographical and historical context. This edition also includes a general bibliography and a full index of names and iTable of ContentsPART ONE: THE EARLY WRITINGS 1837-1844; PART TWO: THE MATERIALIST CONCEPTION OF HISTORY 1844-1847; PART THREE: 1848 AND AFTER; PART FOUR: THE 'ECONOMICS' 1857-1867; PART FIVE: LATER POLITICAL WRITINGS 1864-1882

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Book SynopsisCommunism Unwrapped is a collection of essays that unwraps the complex world of consumption under communism in postwar Eastern Europe, featuring new work by both American and European scholars writing from variety of disciplinary perspectives. The result is a fresh look at everyday life under communism that explores the ways people shopped, ate, drank, smoked, cooked, acquired, exchanged and assessed goods. These phenomena, the editors argue, were central to the way that communism was lived and experienced in its widely varied contexts in the region. Consumption pervaded everyday life far more than most other political and social phenomena. From design, to production, to retail sales and black market exchange, Communism Unwrapped follows communist goods from producer to consumer, tracing their circuitous routes. In the communist world this journey was rife with its own meanings, shaped by the special political and social circumstances of these societies. In examining consumption behindTrade ReviewThe essays are consistently readable and insightful, and the editors' introductions to each section help guide readers along the contours of the book's major themes. Highly recommended. * CHOICE *This rich collection of essays offers a unique look at post-1945 Eastern Europe. Departing from the Cold War narrative of endemic shortages and the gloominess of daily life under communism, the essays highlight the everyday creativity and agency of ordinary people. We follow Eastern Europeans to hard-currency stores and gated communities. We see them cross borders to shop in better-supplied neighboring countries and navigate complex social networks to obtain goods and favors. Situating these stories in the context of transnational modernity rather than a totalizing party state, the book offers a rare combination of new research and a compelling theoretical insight. * Malgorzata Fidelis, University of Illinois at Chicago *Consumerism in Eastern Europe has become a fertile field for exploring the dreams and delusions of state socialist politics, as well as the agency and resourcefulness of its citizens. Bren and Neuburger's pioneering volume brings together a range of rich and surprising case studies from across the whole region, significantly enriching our understanding of Eastern European social history during the Cold War. * Paul Betts, University of Sussex *[Bren and Neuburger] provide a valuable and detailed backdrop to a history of places where sausage stands for abundance and bulldozed parmesan symbolises crushed hopes for freedom. * Contemporary European History *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ; Contributors ; Introduction- Paulina Bren and Mary Neuburger ; I. Living Large: Introduction ; 1 Tuzex and the Hustler: Living It Up in Czechoslovakia- Paulina Bren ; 2 Utopia Gone Terribly Right: Plutonium's "Gated Communities" in the Soviet Union and the United States- Kate Brown ; 3 "Knife in the Water": Competitive Consumption in Urbanizing Poland- Kacper Poblocki ; II. Quality Control: Introduction ; 4 The Taste of Smoke: Bulgartabak and the Manufacturing of Cigarettes and Satisfaction- Mary Neuburger ; 5 Risky Business: What Was Really Being Sold in the Department Stores of Socialist Eastern Europe?- Patrick Hyder Patterson ; 6 Material Harmony: The Quest for Quality in Socialist Bulgaria, 1960s-1980s- Rossitza Guentcheva ; III. Kitchen Talk: Introduction ; 7 Eating Up Yugoslavia: Cookbooks and Consumption in Socialist Yugoslavia- Wendy Bracewell ; 8 Grounds for Discontent? Coffee from the Black Market to the Kaffeeklatsch in the GDR- Katherine Pence ; 9 From Black Caviar to Blackouts: Gender, Consumption, and Lifestyle in Ceausescu's Romania- Jill Massino ; IV. To Market, To Market... : Introduction ; 10 The "Socialist Bourse": Alcohol, Reputation, and Gender in Romania's Second Economy during the 1980s- Narcis Tulbure ; 11 The Extraordinary Career of Feketevago Ur: Wood Theft, Pig-killing, and Entrepreneurship in Communist Hungary, 1948-1956- Karl Brown ; 12 Keeping It Close to Home: Resourcefulness and Scarcity in Late Socialist and Post-Socialist Poland- Malgorzata Mazurek ; V. Constructive Criticism : Introduction ; 13 Kids, Cars, or Cashews?: Debating and Remembering Consumption in Socialist Hungary- Tamas Dombos and Lena Pellandini-Simanyi ; 14 The House that Socialism Built: Reform, Consumption and Inequality in Postwar Yugoslavia- Brigitte Le Normand ; 15 Shop Around the Bloc: Trader Tourism and its Discontents on the East German-Polish Border- Mark Keck-Szajbel ; Index

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Book SynopsisIn the early 20th century, Marxist theory was enriched and rejuvenated by adopting the concept of reification, introduced by the Hungarian theorist Georg Lukács to identify and denounce the transformation of historical processes into ahistorical entities, human actions into things that seemed part of an immutable second nature. For a variety of reasons, both theoretical and practical, the hopes placed in de-reification as a tool of revolutionary emancipation proved vain. In these original and imaginative essays, delivered as the Tanner Lectures at the University of California, Berkeley in 2005, the distinguished third-generation Frankfurt School philosopher Axel Honneth attempts to rescue the concept of reification by recasting it in terms of the philosophy of recognition he has been developing over the past two decades. Three distinguished political and social theorists: Judith Butler, Raymond Geuss, and Jonathan Lear, respond with hard questions about the central anthropological premTrade ReviewThese lectures are continually engaging, thought provoking, and - rare blessing - a pleasure to read. Without doubt they will stimulate lively discussion of these important issues * Sean Sayers, Mind *Table of ContentsIntroduction, Martin Jay ; Reification and Recognition: A New Look at an Old Idea, Axel Honneth ; Comments: ; Judith Butler ; Raymond Geuss ; Jonathan Lear ; Rejoinder ; Axel Honneth ; Index

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Book SynopsisA scholarly exploration of Marx's thought without any favorable or critical ideological agendas, this book opposes the compartmentalization of Marx's thought into various competing doctrines, such as historical materialism, dialectical materialism, and different forms of economic determinism.Trade Review'...this is a much needed contribution to the debate about Marx and human nature. Its value lies not only in Tabak's account of human nature, but also in the way he resolves various problems in academic Marxism. Even those readers not interested in Marx's theory of human nature, but in Marx's theory of the state or morality, will find fresh material in Tabak's book.' - Marx & Philosophy Review of BooksTable of ContentsMarx's Conception of Human Nature: 'Is there no human nature just as there is a universal nature of plants and stars?' Historical Materialism: General Theory of History Dialectics and Historical Materialism: Determinants of the Structure Alienation: Marx's Critical Explanation and Evaluation of the Internal Structure of Bourgeois Society The State in Bourgeois Society and the Bourgeois State Justice, Rights and Alienation Marx's Critique of Ideology, Moral Positivism and Moralizing Criticism: Introduction to Critical-Revolutionary Dialectic

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Book SynopsisHua Guofeng succeeded Mao in 1976, emerging almost out of nowhere following an unexceptional career in Shanxi and Hunan. In just over two years, Hua had been eclipsed by Deng Xiaoping, a more politically shrewd, progressive and charismatic figure. If Hua's rise to power was remarkable, then this fall was even more so.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction The Young Revolutionary: Hua in Shanxi (1921-49) Towards Rural Reform: Hua in Hunan (1949-57) The Great Leap Forward and the Post-Leap Recovery Period: Hua in Hunan (1958-65) The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution: Hua in Hunan (1966-70) Entering the Centre: Hua in Beijing (1971-76) The Return of Deng Xiaoping: Hua in Decline (1977-1980) Conclusion Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe Maoist movement was the most important dissident force within International Communism in the period following World War II. Based on first-hand observation as well as the scattered research on the Maoist movements, Alexander examines the circumstances that attracted people to the movement in each country and the evolution of the movement.Table of ContentsPreface The Origins and Development of International Maoism Latin America Albania Africa and Asia Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisExamining Stalin's reign of terror, this text argues that the Soviet people were not simply victims but also actors in the violence, criticisms and local decisions of the 1930s. It suggests that more believed in Stalin's quest to eliminate internal enemies than were frightened by it.

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Book SynopsisTells the story of the young avant-gardists of the early 1920s who became the radical Marxists of the late 1920s. This book explores what it meant to live Marxism as a European, an East European, and a Jewish intellectual in the twentieth century.Trade ReviewThe 2004 Fraenkel Prize in Contemporary History -- Fraenkel Prize * Fraenkel Prize *2006 Association for Women in Slavic Studies Heldt Prize -- Heldt Prize * Association for Women's Studies *2006 National Jewish Book Award -- National Jewish Book Awards * Jewish Book Council *2007 Oskar Halecki Polish/East Central European History Award -- Oskar Halecki Polish * East Central European History Award *2008 Samuel and Ronnie Heyman Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Publication -- Samuel and Ronnie Heyman Prize for Outstanding Scholarship Publication * Heyman Prize *2009 Nagroda Historyczna "Polityki" (Polityka Best Historical Book Award) -- Nagroda Historyczna "Polityki" * Nagroda Historyczna *Finalist, 2009 Nagroda im. Moczarskiego -- Nagroda im. Moczarskiego * Nagroda im. Moczarskiego *Short List, 2007 Wayne S. Vucinich Book Prize -- Wayne S. Vucinich book prize * AEEESS *Finalist, 2006 Koret International Jewish Book Awards -- Koret International Jewish Book Award * Koret *Finalist, 2006 Lukas Prize Project Award -- Lukas Prize Project Award * Lukas Prize *

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Book SynopsisAcknowledgements - Abbreviations - Introduction - The Early KPD: Responses to Weakness - The National Question 1918-1922 - The 1923 Crisis - The Stabilisation Era, 1924-28: General Developments - The Stabilisation Era, 1924-28: The KPD and Right-Radicals in the Factories - Communist-Nazi Relations 1928-32: The Ideological Dimension - The Sociology of Communist-Nazi Relations - The Battle for the Unemployed and for Territory - The Struggle in the Workplace - Conclusion - Notes - Sources - Glossary of German words and terms used in the text - IndexTable of ContentsAcknowledgements - Abbreviations - Introduction - The Early KPD: Responses to Weakness - The National Question 1918-1922 - The 1923 Crisis - The Stabilisation Era, 1924-28: General Developments - The Stabilisation Era, 1924-28: The KPD and Right-Radicals in the Factories - Communist-Nazi Relations 1928-32: The Ideological Dimension - The Sociology of Communist-Nazi Relations - The Battle for the Unemployed and for Territory - The Struggle in the Workplace - Conclusion - Notes - Sources - Glossary of German words and terms used in the text - Index

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Book SynopsisChris Ward is a Lecturer in Slavonic Studies at the University of Cambridge, UKTrade Review'Strongly recommended... [students] will undoubtedly profit from reading Ward's views on this controversial subject and the purpose of academic history.' Journal of European Studies '...a fresh and unhackneyed approach to a broadly familiar period.' Slavonica 'Students will find it particularly useful... I particularly liked the way in which short-term circumstances and much larger impersonal forces are brought together in a convincing synthesis.' SlavonicaTable of ContentsRecovering Stalin's Russia / The rise of Stalin / Collectivization / Industrialization / Purges and politics / Foreign policy / War and late Stalinism / Culture and society / Conclusion: history and Stalin's Russia.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisA brilliant book, by a superb author, about a necessary man.-Christopher Hitchens

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisIdeal for students looking for a radical approach to film studies.Trade ReviewA well thought out and timely proposal .. a book I would [be] ready to order and teach from as soon as it is available. -- Robert Ferguson, Institute of EducationTable of ContentsIntroduction: Marxism, Film and Film Studies Mike Wayne 1. Benjamin/Adorno/Brecht and Film b yEsther Leslie 2. Gramsci, Sembène, and the Politics of Culture by Marcia Landy 3. The Althusserian moment revisited (again). by Deborah Philips 4. Jameson, Postmodernism and the hermeneutics of paranoia by Mike Wayne 5. ‘Making It’: Reading Boogie Nights and Blow as Symbolic Economies of Surplus and Sentiment by Anna Kornbluh 6. The Critics Who Knew Too Little: Hitchcock and the Absent Class Paradigm by Colin McArthur 7. Economic and Institutional Analysis: Hollywood as Monopoly Capitalism by Douglas Gomery 8. Hollywood, Cultural Policy Citadel by Toby Miller 9. State Cinema and Passive Revolution in North Korea by Hyangjin Lee 10. Narrative, Culture, and Legitimacy: Repetition and Singularity in Zhang Yimou’s The Story of Qiu Ju by Xudong Zhang 11. Cinemas in Revolution: 1920s Russia, 1960s Cuba by Michael Chanan Notes on Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisClear and comprehensive guide to one of Marx's greatest works, Capital, written in a highly accessible style.Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements Part One: Commodities and Money 1. The Commodity 2. The Process of Exchange 3. Money, or the Circulation of Commodities Part Two: The Transformation of Money into Capital 4. The General Formula for Capital 5. Contradictions in the General Formula 6. The Sale and Purchase of Labour-power Part Three: The Production of Absolute Surplus-Value 7. The Labour Process and the Valorisation Process 8. Constant Capital and Variable Capital 9. The Rate of Surplus-Value 10. The Working Day 11. The Rate and Mass of Surplus-Value Part Four: The Production of Relative Surplus-Value 12. The Concept of Relative Surplus-Value 13. Co-operation 14. The Division of Labour and Manufacture 15. Machinery and Large-Scale Industry Part Five: The Production of Absolute and Relative Surplus-Value 16. Absolute and Relative Surplus-Value 17. Changes of Magnitude in the Price of Labour-power and in Surplus-value 18: Different Formulae for the Rate of Surplus-Value Part Six: Wages 19. The Transformation of the Value (and Respectively the Price) of Labour-power into Wages 20. Time-Wages 21. Piece Wages 22. National Differences in Wages Part Seven: The Process of Accumulation of Capital 23. Simple Reproduction 24. The Transformation of Surplus-Value into Capital 25. The General Law of Capitalist Accumulation Part Eight: So-Called Primitive ["Originating"] Accumulation 26. The Secret of Primitive Accumulation 27. The Expropriation of the Agricultural Population from the Land 28. Bloody Legislation Against the Expropriated Since the End of the Fifteenth Century. The Forcing Down of Wages by Act of Parliament 29. The Genesis of the Capitalist Farmer 30. Impact of the Agricultural Revolution on Industry. The Creation of a Home Market for Industrial Capital 31. The Genesis of the Industrial Capitalist 32. The Historical Tendency of Capitalist Accumulation 33. The Modern Theory of Colonisation Suggestions for Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisMagisterial analysis of human history, from the first hominid to the Great Recession of 2008. Written from the perspective of ordinary men and women.Trade Review'Enlightening and apocalyptic in equal measure' -- Guardian'This book will make you stop and think and give you a taste of what it must have felt like to be a firebrand buoyed up by righteous revolutionary zeal in October 1917. If you like your blood boiled, this is the history for you' -- Guy de la Bédoyère, historian and author of Roman Britain: A New History (2006).Table of ContentsIntroduction: Why History Matters 1. Hunters and Farmers c. 2.5 million-3000 BC The Hominid Revolution The Hunting Revolution The Agricultural Revolution The Origins of War and Religion The Rise of the Specialists 2. The First Class Societies c. 3000-1000 BC The First Ruling Class The Spread of Civilisation Crisis in the Bronze Age How History Works Men of Iron 3. Ancient Empires c. 1000-30 BC Persia: the Achaemenid Empire India: the Mauryan Empire China: the Qin Empire The Greek Democratic Revolution The Macedonian Empire Roman Military Imperialism The Roman Revolution 4. The End of Antiquity c. 30 BC-AD 650 The Crisis of Late Antiquity Huns, Goths, Germans, and Romans Mother-Goddesses and Power-Deities Judaism, Christianity, and Islam Arabs, Persians, and Byzantines 5. The Medieval World c. AD 650-1500 The Abbasid Revolution Hindus, Buddhists, and the Gupta Empire Chinese History’s Revolving Door Africa: Cattle-Herders, Ironmasters, and Trading States New World Empires: Maya, Aztec, and Inca 6. European Feudalism c. AD 650-1500 The Cycles and Arrows of Time The Peculiarity of Europe The Rise of Western Feudalism Crusade and Jihad Lord, Burgher, and Peasant in Medieval Europe The Class Struggle in Medieval Europe The New Monarchies The New Colonialism 7. The First Wave of Bourgeois Revolutions 1517-1775 The Reformation The Counter-Reformation The Dutch Revolution The Thirty Years War The Causes of the English Revolution Revolution and Civil War The Army, the Levellers, and the Commonwealth Colonies, Slavery, and Racism Wars of Empire 8. The Second Wave of Bourgeois Revolutions 1775-1815 The Enlightenment The American Revolution The Storming of the Bastille The Jacobin Dictatorship From Thermidor to Napoleon 9. The Rise of Industrial Capitalism c. 1750-1850 The Industrial Revolution The Chartists and the Origins of the Labour Movement The 1848 Revolutions What is Marxism? What is Capitalism The Making of the Working Class 10. The Age of Blood and Iron 1848-1896 The Indian Mutiny The Italian Risorgimento The American Civil War Japan’s Meiji Restoration The Unification of Germany The Paris Commune The Long Depression 11. Imperialism and War 1873-1918 The Scramble for Africa The Rape of China What is Imperialism? The 1905 Revolution: Russia’s Great Dress Rehearsal The Ottoman Empire and the 1908 ‘Young Turk’ Revolution 1914: Descent into Barbarism Reform or Revolution? The First World War 12. The Revolutionary Wave 1917-1928 1917: The February Revolution Dual Power: The Mechanics of Revolution February to October: The Rhythms of Revolution 1917: The October Insurrection 1918: How the War Ended The German Revolution Italy’s ‘Two Red Years’ World Revolution The First Chinese Revolution Revolts Against Colonialism Stalinism: The Bitter Fruit of Revolutionary Defeat 13. The Great Depression and the Rise of Fascism 1929-1939 The Roaring Twenties The Hungry Thirties 1933: The Nazi Seizure of Power State Capitalism in Russia 1936: The French General Strike and Factory Occupations The Spanish Civil War The Causes of the Second World War 14. World War and Cold War 1939-1967 The Second World War: Imperialism The Second World War: Barbarism The Second World War: Resistance The Cold War The Great Boom Maoist China End of Empire? Oil, Zionism, and Western Imperialism 1956: Hungary and Suez Che Guevara and the Cuban Revolution 15. The New World Disorder 1968-present The Vietnam War 1968 1968-75: The Workers’ Revolt The Long Recession, 1973-92 What is Neoliberalism? 1989: The Fall of Stalinism 9/11, the War on Terror, and the New Imperialism The 2008 Crash: From Bubble to Black Hole The Second Great Depression Conclusion: Making the Future

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Book SynopsisChristian Axboe Nielsen is Associate Professor of History and Human Security at Aarhus University, Denmark. He has worked as an analyst at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and has appeared as an expert witness in international and domestic criminal and civil cases.Trade ReviewA masterful depiction of arguably some of the darkest episodes in SFRY history. The book skilfully combines the objectivity of an evidence-based academic analysis with the thrill of spy novels. It will be a genuine treat for anyone interested in Yugoslav history, espionage and national security affairs. * Journal of Regional Security *A much-needed analysis ... It is with pleasure that I recommend Nielsen’s book to all those interested in learning more about this understudied aspect of Tito’s Yugoslavia. * Cold War History *A comprehensive insight into the structures and knowledge of a socialist state security service. * H-Soz-Kult *After years of prodigious research among the yellowing papers of several Yugoslav secret police archives, the historian Christian Nielsen has emerged to reveal the little-known story of the protracted, low-level war between violently anti-communist Croatian émigrés and clandestine Yugoslav police organizations in the decades after the Second World War. In a masterful, richly-documented account leavened by several appearances as an expert witness in international criminal trials, Nielsen creates an indelible portrait of an insecure communist Yugoslav state constantly struggling to subdue mortal enemies who for decades had assassinated its diplomats and citizens on the streets and alleyways of cities around the globe. * Robert Donia, University of Michigan, USA *Yugoslavia and Political Assassinations by Christian Axboe Nielsen provides deep and new insights into the history of the targeted assassination program of the Yugoslav State Security Service. This is a topic hitherto hardly dealt with in academic historiography although emotionally and controversially discussed for decades already. Based on thorough archival work with variant sources produced by the Yugoslav Security institutions and the critical evaluation of earlier dubious émigré and existing journalistic writings, the author is setting new standards in dealing with this topic. He makes obvious how the leadership of socialist Yugoslavia systematically used targeted assassination as a means of protecting the party-state against political émigrés (first and foremost, but not only, of Croatian Ustasha and right-wing background who saw themselves in and pursued a war against “Yugoslavia”) in Western Europe and beyond. This is a highly professional, brilliant reconstruction of a complex history that should certainly be considered when reflecting upon the history of socialist rule in what was once Yugoslavia. * Hannes Grandits, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany *Table of ContentsPreface/Introduction Chapter 1. The Establishment of the Yugoslav State Security Service Chapter 2. Defining the Enemy: The Struggle against the “Enemy Émigrés” Chapter 3. Agents, Infiltration and Surveillance: The Methods of the Yugoslav State Security Service in Émigré (Diaspora) Communities Chapter 4. Taking the Fight to Them: The 1972 Bugojno Uprising and the Shift to an Offensive Stance Chapter 5. Murder in Munich: The Assassination of Stjepan Ðurekovic Conclusion: The Revenge of the Émigrés in the Collapse of Yugoslavia Index

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Book SynopsisChiara Bonfiglioli is Lecturer in Gender & Women's Studies at University College Cork, Ireland. She has published and researched on gender history in Yugoslavia and post-Yugoslav states, as well as on transnational women's and feminist movements during the Cold War. More details can be found at www.chiarabonfiglioli.net Trade ReviewIt is thanks to books like this that such examples of resistance and resilience are kept alive ... socially engaged and empathic, yet critical and academically sound, works of this kind are sorely needed. * European Journal of Women’s Studies *An engaging and complex read that allows us to enter the world of individual experiences entangled in political, economic and social processes. * Wagadu *[A]n engaging text ... Bonfiglioli’s book will be a mandatory reference for those interested not only in intersections of industrial labour, gender and class in socialism and post-socialism, but also in questions that shape current debates in the field of global labour history. * Social History *From here, exciting scholarly debate can proceed. ... Chiara Bonfiglioli’s book provides a valuable discussion of gendered work during socialist and especially, postsocialist deindustrialization and exploitative reindustrialization in Yugoslavia and its successor states. * Aspasia: The International Yearbook of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern European Women's and Gender History *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1.Industrializing Yugoslavia: Market Socialism and Textile Workers’ Structure of Feeling 2.Being a Seamstress in Yugoslav Times: The ‘Working Mother’ Gender Contract 3.Labour After Yugoslavia: Post-socialism and Deindustrialization in the Textile Sector 4. Workers’ Structure of Feeling After Deindustrialisation: Loss, Nostalgia and Belonging 5. Beyond Nostalgia: Workers’ Struggles for Social Justice and Everyday Resilience Conclusion Index

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