Far-left political ideologies and movements Books

Book SynopsisFeaturing an extensive, provocative introduction by historian Martin Malia, this authorized English translation of The Communist Manifesto, edited and annotated by Engels, with prefaces to editions published between 1872 and 1888, provides a new opportunity to examine the document that shook the world.In 1848, two young men published what would become one of the defining documents of modern history, The Communist Manifesto. It rapidly realigned political faultlines all over the world and its aftershock resonates to this day. In the many years since its publication, no other social program has inspired such divisive and violent debate. Ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the world’s first regime to adopt the Manifesto’s tenets, historians have debated its intent and its impact. In the current era of market democracy in Russia and Eastern Europe, nationalism on every continent, and an ever tightening global economy, does the specter of Communism still haunt the world? Were the seeds of Communism’s ultimate destruction already planted in 1848? Is there anything to be learned from Marx’s envisioned utopia?  With an Introduction by Martin Maliaand an Afterword by Stephen Kotkin 

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Book SynopsisThis book gives a clear and readable overview of the philosophical work of Jürgen Habermas, the most influential German philosopher alive today, who has commented widely on subjects such as Marxism, the importance and effectiveness of communication, the reunification of Germany, and the European Union. Gordon Finlayson provides readers with a clear and readable overview of Habermas''s forbiddingly complex philosophy using concrete examples and accessible language. He then goes on to analyse both the theoretical underpinnings of Habermas''s social theory, and its more concrete applications in the fields of ethics, politics, and law; and concludes with an examination how Habermas''s social and political theory informs his writing on contemporary, political, and social problems.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Table of ContentsPreface: Who is Jurgen Habermas ; 1. Habermas and Frankfurt School Critical Theory ; 2. Habermas's New Approach to Social Theory ; 3. The Pragmatic Meaning Programme ; 4. The Programme of Social Theory ; 5. Habermas's Theory of Modernity ; 6. Discourse Ethics I: The Discourse Theory of Morality ; 7. Discourse Ethics II: Ethical Discourse and the Political Turn ; 8. Politics, Democracy, and Law ; 9. Politics Beyond The Bounds Of The Nation Alone

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Book SynopsisWith an introduction by Dr. Laurence Marlow. A spectre is haunting Europe (and the world). Not, in the twenty-first century, the spectre of communism, but the spectre of capitalism. Marx's prediction that the state would wither away of its own accord has proved inaccurate, and he did not foresee the tyrannies which have ruled large parts of the globe in his name. Indeed, he would have been appalled if he had witnessed them. But his analysis of the evils and dangers of raw capitalism is as correct now as when it was written, and some of his suggestions (progressive income tax, abolition of child labour, free education for all children) are now accepted with little question. In a world where capitalism is no longer held in check by fear of a communist alternative, The Communist Manifesto (with Socialism Utopian and Scientific, Engels's brief and clear exposition of Marxist thought) is essential reading. The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 is Engels's first, and probably best-known, book. With Henry Mayhew's London Labour and the London Poor, it was and is the outstanding study of the working class in Victorian England.

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Book SynopsisThe Communist Manifesto is one of the most influential pieces of political propaganda ever written. It is a summary of the whole Marxist vision of history and is the foundation document of the Marxist movement.Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels were aged 29 and 27 respectively when The Communist Manifesto was published on the eve of the 1848 revolutions. The authors had been close collaborators since 1844, and the Manifesto is a condensed and incisive account of the world-view they had evolved during their hectic intellectual and political involvement of the previous few years.This new edition is critically and textually up to date, and includes the Prefaces written by Marx and Engels subsequent to the 1848 edition. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Trade ReviewAn excellent and scholarly edition with a very useful introduction and notes - very accessible and informative for students with little to no background knowledge. / Rebecca Braun, Lancaster University

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Book SynopsisA look at the struggle to find alternatives to the failed radical projects of the 20th century.

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Book SynopsisWritten during the winter of 1857-8, the Grundrisse was considered by Marx to be the first scientific elaboration of communist theory. A collection of seven notebooks on capital and money, it both develops the arguments outlined in the Communist Manifesto (1848) and explores the themes and theses that were to dominate his great later work Capital. Here, for the first time, Marx set out his own version of Hegel''s dialectics and developed his mature views on labour, surplus value and profit, offering many fresh insights into alienation, automation and the dangers of capitalist society. Yet while the theories in Grundrisse make it a vital precursor to Capital, it also provides invaluable descriptions of Marx''s wider-ranging philosophy, making it a unique insight into his beliefs and hopes for the foundation of a communist state.Table of ContentsIntroduction (Notebook M)1. Production in general2. General relation between production, distribution, exchange and consumption3. The method of political economy4. Means (forces) of production and relations of production, relations of production and relations of circulationThe Chapter on Money (Notebooks I and II, pp. 1-7)Darimon's theory of crisesGold export and crisesConvertibility and note circulationValue and priceTransformation of the commodity into exchange value; moneyContradictions in the money relation:(1) Contradiction between commodity as product and commodity as exchange value(2) Contradiction between purchase and sale(3) Contradiction between exchange for the sake of exchange and exchange for the sake of commodities(4) Contradiction between money as particular commodity and money as general commodity (The Economist and the Morning Star on money)Attempts to overcome the contradictions by the issue of time-chitsExchange value as mediation of private interestsExchange value (money) as social bondSocial relations which create an undeveloped system of exchangeThe product becomes a commodity; the commodity becomes exchange value; the exchange value of the commodity becomes moneyMoney as measureMoney as objectification of general labour time (Incidental remark on gold and silver)Distinction between particular labor time and general labour timeDistinction between planned distribution of labour time and measurement of exchange values by labour time (Strabo on money among the Albanians)The precious metals as subjects of the money relation:(a) Gold and silver in relation to the other metals(b) Fluctuations in the value-relations between the different metals(c) and (d) (headings only): Sources of gold and silver; money as coinCirculation of money and opposite circulation of commoditiesGeneral concept of circulation:(a) Circulation circulates exchange values in the form of prices (Distinction between real money and accounting money)(b) Money as the medium of exchange (What determines the quantity of money required for circulation) (Comment on (a))Commodity circulation requires appropriation through alienationCirculation as an endlessly repeated processThe price as external to and independent of the commodity: Creation of general medium of exchange; exchange as a special businessDouble motion of circulation: C-M; M-C, and M-C; C-MThree contradictory functions of money:(1) Money as general material of contracts, as measuring unit of exchange values(2) Money as medium of exchange and realizer of prices(Money, as representative of price, allows commodities to be exchanged at equivalent prices)(An example of confusion between the contradictory functions of money)(Money as particular commodity and money as general commodity)(3) Money as money: as material representative of wealth (accumulation of money)(Dissolution of ancient communities through money)(Money, unlike coin, has a universal character)(Money in its third function is the negation #negative unity# of its character as medium of circulation and measure)(Money in its metallic being; accumulation of gold and silver)(Headings on money, to be elaborated later)The Chapter on Capital (Notebooks II pp. 8-28, III, IV, V, VI and VII)The Chapter on Money as Capital:Difficulty in grasping money in its fully developed character as moneySimple exchange: relations between the exchangers (Critique of socialists and harmonizers: Bastiat, Proudhon)Section One: The Production Process of CapitalNothing is expressed when capital is characterized merely as a sum of valuesLanded property and capitalCapital comes from circulation; its content is exchange value; merchant capital, money capital, and money interestCirculation presupposes another process; motion between presupposed extremesTransition from circulation to capitalist production "Capital is accumulated labour (etc.)""Capital is a sum of values used for the production of values"Circulation, and exchange value deriving from circulation, the presupposition of capitalExchange value emerging from circulation, a presupposition of ciruclation, preserving and multiplying itself in it by means of labourProduct and capital. Value and capital. ProudhonCapital and labour. Exchange value and use value for exchange valueMoney and its use value (labour) in this relation capital: Self-multiplication of value is its only movementCapital, as regards substance, objectified labour. Its antithesis, living, productive labourProductive labour and labour as performance of a serviceProductive and unproductive labour. A. Smith etc.The two different processes in the exchange of capital with labourCapital and modern landed propertyThe marketExchange between capital and labour. Piecework wagesValue of labour powerShare of the wage labourer in general wealth determined only quantitativelyMoney is the worker's equivalent; he thus confronts capital as an equalBut the aim of his exchange is satisfaction of his need. Money for him is only medium of circulationSavings, self-denial as means of the worker's enrichmentValuelessness and devaluation of the worker a condition of capital(Labour power as capital!)Wages not productiveThe exchange between capital and labour belongs within simple circulation, does not enrich the workerSeparation of labour and property the precondition of this exchangeLabour as object absolute poverty, labour as subject general possibility of wealthLabour without particular specificity confronts capitalLabour process absorbed into capital(Capital and capitalist)Production process as content of capitalThe worker relates to his labour as exchange value, the capitalist as use valueThe worker divests himself of labour as the wealth-producing power; capital appropriates it as suchTranformation of labour into capitalRealization process(Costs of production)Mere self-preservation, non-multiplication of value contradicts the essence of capitalCapital enters the cost of production as capital. Interest bearing capital (Parentheses on: original accumulation of capital, historic presuppositions of capital, production in general)Surplus value. Surplus labour timeValue of labour. How it is determinedConditions for the self-realization of capitalCapital is productive as creator of surplus labourBut this is only a historical and transitory phenomenonTheories of surplus value (Ricardo; the Physiocrats; Adam Smith; Ricardo again)Surplus value and productive force. Relation when these increaseResult: in proportion as necessary labour is already diminished, the realization of capital becomes more difficultConcerning increases in the value of capitalLabour does not reproduce the value of material and instrument, but rather preserves it by relating to them in the labour process as to their objective conditionsAbsolute surplus labour time. RelativeIt is not the quantity of living labour, but rather its quality as labour which preserves the labour time already contained in the materialThe change of form and substance in the direct production processIt is inherent in the simple production process that the previous stage of production is preserved through the subsequent onePreservation of the old use value by new labourThe quantity of objectified labour is preserved because contact with living labour preserves its quality as use value for new labourIn the real production process, the separation of labour from its objective moments of existence is suspended. But in this process labour is already incorporated in capitalThe capitalist obtains surplus labour free of charge together with the maintenance of the value of material and instrumentThrough the appropriation of present labour, capital already possesses a claim to the appropriation of future labourConfusion of profit and surplus value. Carey's erroneous calculationThe capitalist, who does not pay the worker for the preservation of the old value, then demands remuneration for giving the worker permission to preserve the old capitalSurplus Value and ProfitDifference between consumption of the instrument and of wages. The former consumed in the production process, the latter outside itIncrease of surplus value and decrease in rate of profitMultiplication of simultaneous working daysMachineryGrowth of the constant part of capital in relation to the variable part spent on wages=growth of the productivity of labourProportion in which capital has to increase in order to employ the same number of workers if productivity risesPercentage of total capital can express very different relationsCapital (like property in general) rests on the productivity of labourIncrease of surplus labour time. Increase of simultaneous working days. (Population)(Population can increase in proportion as necessary labour time becomes smaller)Transition from the process of the production of capital into the process of circulationSection Two: The Circulation Process of CapitalDevaluation of capital itself owing to increase of productive forces(Competition)Capital as unity and contradiction of the production process and the realization processCapital as limit to production. OverproductionDemand by the workers themselvesBarriers to capitalist productionOVerproduction; ProudhonPrice of the commodity and labour timeThe capitalist does not sell too dear; but still above what the thing costs himPrice can fall below value without damage to capitalNumber and unit (measure) important in the multiplication of pricesSpecific accumulation of capital. (Transformation of surplus labour into capital)The determination of value and of pricesThe general rate of profitIf the capitalist merely sells at his own cost of production, then it is a transfer to another capitalist. The worker gains almost nothing therebyBarrier of capitalist production. Relation of surplus labour to necessary labour. Proportion of the surplus consumed by capital to that transformed into capitalDevaluation during crisesCapital coming out of the production process becomes money again(Parenthesis on capital in general)Surplus Labour or Surplus Value Becomes Surplus CapitalAll the determinants of capitalist production now appear as the result of (wage) labour itselfThe realization process of labour at the same time its de-realization processFormation of surplus capital ISurplus capital IIInversion of the law of appropriationChief result of the production and realization processOriginal accumulation of capitalOnce developed historically, capital itself creates the conditions of its existence(Performance of personal services, as opposed to wage labour)(Parenthesis on inversion of the law of property, real alien relation of the worker to his product, division of labour, machinery)Forms which precede capitalist production. (Concerning the process which precedes the formation of the capital relation or of original accumulation)Exchange of labour for labour rests on the worker's propertylessnessCirculation of capital and circulation of moneyProduction process and circulation process moments of production. The productivity of the different capitals (branches of industry) determines that of the individual capitalCirculation period. Velocity of circulation substitutes for volume of capital. Mutual dependence of capitals in the velocity of their circulationThe four moments in the turnover of capitalMoment II to be considered here: transformation of the product into money; duration of this operation. Transport costs. Circulation costs. Means of communication and transportDivision of the branches of labourConcentration of many workers; productive force of this concentrationGeneral as distinct from particular conditions of productionTransport to market (spatial condition of circulation) belongs in the production processCredit, the temporal moment of circulationCapital is circulating capitalInfluence of circulation on the determination of value; circulation time=time of devaluationDifference between the capitalist mode of production and all earlier ones (universality, propagandistic nature)(Capital itself is the contradiction)Circulation and creation of valueCapital not a source of value-creationContinuity of production presupposes suspension of circulation timeTheories of Surplus ValueRamsay's view that capital is its own source of profitNo surplus value according to Ricardo's lawRicardo's theory of value. Wages and profitQuinceyRicardoWakefield. Conditions of capitalist production in coloniesSurplus value and profit. Example (Malthus)Difference between labour and labour capacityCarey's theory of the cheapening of capital for the workerCarey's theory of the decline of the rate of profitWakefield on the contradiction between Ricardo's theories of wage labour and of valueBailey on dormant capital and increase of production without previous increase of capitalWade's explanation of capital. Capital, collective force. Capital, civilization.Rossi. What is capital? Is raw material capital? Are wages necessary for it?Malthus. Theory of value and of wagesAim of capitalist production value (money), not commodity, use value etc. ChalmersDifference in return. Interruption of the production process. Total duration of the production process. Unequal periods of productionThe concept of the free labourer contains the pauper. Population and overpopulationNecessary labour. Surplus labour. Surplus population. Surplus capitalAdam Smith: work as sacrificeAdam Smith: the origin of profitSurplus labour. Profit. WagesImmovable capital. Return of capital. Fixed capital. John Stuart MillTurnover of capital. Circulation process. Production process. Circulation costs. Circulation timeCapital's change of form and of substance; different forms of capital; circulation capital as general character of capitalFixed (tied down) capital and circulating capitalConstant and variable capitalCompetitionSurplus value. Production time. Circulation time. Turnover timeCompetition (continued)Part of capital in production time, part in circulation timeSurplus value and production phase. Number of reproductions of capital = number of turnoversChange of form and of matter in the circulation of capital. C-M-C. M-C-MDifference between production time and labour timeFormation of a mercantile estate; creditSmall-scale circulation. The process of exchange between capital and labour capacity generallyThreefold character, or mode, of circulationFixed capital and circulating capitalInfluence of fixed capital on the total turnover time of capitalFixed capital. Means of labour. MachineTransposition of powers of labour into powers of capital both in fixed and in circulatin capitalTo what extent fixed capital (machine) creates valueFixed capital and continuity of the production process. Machinery and living labour.Contradiction between the foundation of bourgeois production (value as measure) and its developmentSignificance of the development of fixed capital (for the development of capital generally)The chief role of capital is to create disposable time; contradictory form of this in capitalDurability of fixed capitalReal saving (economy)=saving of labour time=development of productive forceTrue conception of the process of social productionOwen's historical conception of industrial (capitalist) productionCapital and value of natural agenciesScope of fixed capital indicates the level of capitalist productionIs money fixed capital or circulating capital?Turnover time of capital consisting of fixed capital and circulating capital. Reproduction time of fixed capitalThe same commodity sometimes circulating capital, sometimes fixed capitalEvery moment which is a presupposition of production is at the same time its result, in that it reproductes its own conditionsThe counter-value of circulating capital must be produced within the year. Not so for fixed capital. It engages the production of subsequent yearsMaintanence costs of fixed capitalRevenue of fixed capital and circulating capitalFree labour=latent pauperism. EdenThe smaller the value of fixed capital in relation to its product, the more usefulMovable and immovable, fixed and circulatingConnection of circulation and reproductionSection Three: Capital as Fructiferous. Tranformation of Surplus Value into ProfitRate of profit. Fall of the rate of profitSurplus value as profit always expresses a lesser proportionWakefield, Carey and Bastiat on the rate of profitCapital and revenue (profit). Production and distribution. SismondiTransformation of surplus value into profitLaws of this and transformationSurplus value=relation of surplus labour to necessary labourValue of fixed capital and its productive powerMachinery and surplus labour. Recapitulation of the doctrine of surplus value generallyRelation between the objective conditions of production. Change in the proportion of the component parts of capitalMiscellaneousMoney and fixed capital: presupposes a certain amount of wealth. Relation of fixed capital and circulating capital (Economist)Slavery and wage labour; profit upon alienation (Steuart)Steuart, Montanari and Gouge on moneyThe wool industry in England since Elizabeth; silk-manufacture; iron; cottonOrigin of free wage labour. Vagabondage. (Tuckett)Blake on accumulation and rate of profit; dormant capitalDomestic agriculture at the beginning of the sixteenth century. (Tuckett)Profit. Interest. Influence of machinery on the wage fund. (Westminster Review)Money as measure of values and yardstick of prices. Critique of theories of the standard measure of moneyTransformation of the medium of circulation into money. Formation of treasures. Means of payment. Prices of commodities and quantity of circulating money. Value of moneyCapital, not labour, determines the value of money (Torrens)The minimum of wagesCotton machinery and working men in 1826. (Hodgskin)How the machine creates raw material. (Economist)Machinery and surplus labourCapital and profit. Relation of the worker to the conditions of labour in capitalist production. All parts of capital bring a profitTendency of the machine to prolong labourCotton factories in England. Example for machinery and surplus labourExamples from Glasgow for the rate of profitAlienation of the conditions of labour with the development of capital. InversionMerivale. Natural dependence of the worker in colonies to be replaced by artificial restrictionsHow the machine saves material. Bread. Dureau de la MalleDevelopment of money and interestProductive consumpion. Newman. Transformations of capital. Economic cycleDr. Price. Innate power of capitalProudhon. Capital and simple exchange. SurplusNecessity of the worker's propertylessnessGalianiTheory of savings. StorchMacCulloch. Surplus. ProfitArnd. Natural interestInterest and profit. CareyHow merchant takes the place of masterMerchant wealthCommerce with equivalents impossible. OpdykePrincipal and interestDouble standardOn moneyJames Mill's false theory of pricesRicardo on currencyOn moneyTheory of foreign trade. Two nations may exchange according to the law of profit in such a way that both gain, but one is always defraudedMoney in its third role, as money(I) Value (This section to be brought forward)Bastiat and CareyBastiat's economic harmoniesBastiat on wages

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Book SynopsisThe life of the complex, ruthless adversary of General Franco, whose life spanned much of Spain’s turbulence in the 20th century.Trade Review‘Enormously engaging … authoritative … fascinating … ‘The Last Stalinist’ is yet another reminder that Paul Preston remains the most reliable historian in the English speaking world for anyone wishing to understand the complicated power struggles between left and right in Spanish politics over the course of the 20th century’ Spectator Praise for ‘The Spanish Holocaust’: ‘A book of extraordinary moral and emotional power, a classic of historical scholarship and a deeply affecting record of man’s inhumanity to man.’ Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times 'A harrowing and moving account of the immense terror and enormous atrocities, especially perpetrated by General Franco's followers, during and after the Spanish Civil War, meticulously researched and superbly written by an outstanding historian.' Ian Kershaw ‘Essential reading for anyone wishing to understand Spain and its recent history…. Preston’s excellent, spine-chilling narrative explains just how deep Franco’s early investment in terror was….this is an invaluable book that does not shrink from even the harshest of truths’ Guardian ‘Preston’s staggeringly detailed powerful and affecting chronicle of the savagery unleashed during the Spanish civil war….is a history of rare moral and emotional power, which alters forever our view of one of the most symbolic conflicts of the last century’ Sunday Times, History Book of the Year

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Book SynopsisAssembles some of the top secret Soviet documents, from the era of Stalin's purges. This title includes the dossiers, police reports, private letters, secret transcripts, and other documents that expose the hidden inner workings of the Communist Party and the dark inhumanity of the purge process.Trade Review"'This book will be of great value to students of the Terror and... the material, such as Bukharin's last letter, is astounding.' Michael J. Ybarra, Wall Street Journal 'It will be indispensable for all historians and researchers of communism, the USSR, and Stalinism for many decades to come.' Roy A. Medvedev, author of Let History Judge"

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Book SynopsisThe first volume of The Idea of Communism followed the 2009 London conference called in response to Alain Badiou's 'communist hypothesis', where an all-star cast of radical intellectuals put the idea of communism back on the map.This volume brings together papers from the subsequent 2011 New York conference organized by Verso and continues this critical discussion, highlighting the philosophical and political importance of the communist idea, in a world of financial and social turmoil.Contributors include Alain Badiou, Etienne Balibar, Bruno Bosteels, Susan Buck-Morss, Jodi Dean, Adrian Johnston, François Nicolas, Frank Ruda, Emmanuel Terray and Slavoj Zizek.Trade ReviewDo not be afraid, join us, come back! You've had your anti-communist fun, and you are pardoned for it-time to get serious once again! -- Slavoj Zizek

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"[A] fine and undoubtedly enduring study. This affinity of Leninism with Nazism is the argument of Tismaneanu’s book. It is a claim that since 1945, and particularly the Cold War, has generated much controversy. A distinguished book." -- William Pfaff, * New York Review of Books *“This volume achieves the rare distinction of being at once nuanced and impassioned. It is likely to remain a durable contribution to a deeper understanding of the great historical outrages of the past century which were closely linked to the concept and reality of totalitarianism.” -- Paul Hollander, * New Criterion *“An ambitious and challenging rereading of twentieth-century history.” * Times Literary Supplement *“The parallels between communism and fascism have often been noted, fueling endless debates over whether the movements were fundamentally similar or different. The Devil in History . . . presents a genuinely fresh perspective on this topic.” * Foreign Affairs *"A fascinating, brilliant and captivating book. It is a stupendous achievement." * FrontPage Magazine *"The book offers a fascinating read with an incredible wealth of bibliographic sources that will benefit all those interested in the topic. The author has succeeded in giving not only a solid account of the spirituality and history of communist and fascist regimes, but also an outstanding testimony of liberal political and normative thinking." * Cambridge Review of International Affairs *"Vladimir Tismaneanu is the perfect political analyst for today, for he is an expert on both the legacies of Nazism and Communism. In spite of optimistic diagnoses and rampant wishful thinking, these two pathologies are not dead. Vladimir Tismaneanu’s illuminating book is an antidote against new experiments in utopian radicalism and social engineering." * WND *"Many books have been written about the similarities and differences between communism and fascism, both in theory and practice. None, however, matches the insight, analysis, and deep thought found in The Devil in History." * Weekly Standard *"The account provided is particularly strong on separating the critical paradigms of Marxism that emerged in East and West. . . . Getting the record straight here is important and challenges any simplistic notion of Eastern Europe’s conversion to liberalism." * American Historical Review *"Tismaneanu seeks to fulfill the ancient Jewish commandment of remembering and reminding, zachor, lest we forget and it may return. . . . [the book] argues convincingly that a reckoning with the past can be both exorcism and therapy, and insists that there should be no silence or thick line separating the present from the embarrassing past." * Perspectives on Politics *"A fine book" * National Review *“At a time when liberal values are showing their frailty and salvationist mythologies are returning to favour in different places, an absorbing comparative essay is provided on the origins, ravages and ultimate failure of the radical totalitarian movements of the last century: communism and fascism. Vladimir Tismaneanu is an appropriate guide, a polymath steeped in the philosophical, literary and social science texts spawned by defenders, apostates and analysts of this phenomenon.” * International Affairs *“Tismaneanu's real concern is to examine what he calls the ‘maximalist utopian aspirations’ expressed by communist and fascist regimes in Europe to try to understand how it is that systems that set out with a utopian agenda—world revolution or national rebirth—end up constructing murderous dystopias. . . . The core of this perceptive and intelligent analysis is addressed to the more troubling question of how they were possible at all.” * Times Higher Education *“Tismaneanu’s lucid narrative walks us through an intellectual landscape that traces the trajectory of totalitarian thinking back to its origins. . . . a chilling analysis of a century where mankind aimed to reach the promised land through the power of ideas. It shows that thinking of politics as a simple scientific formula that could be solved, once it was followed to its logical conclusion, seriously underestimates the complexities of the human condition.” * Daily Beast *“Mr. Tismaneanu has produced a definitive account of the origins, the appeal, the doctrinal foundations and the political technology of history's two bloodiest political faiths, which, unlike other tyrannies, sought not only to control politics and the economy but to establish permanent state ownership of truth and morality. . . . A powerful indictment of the twin 'utopias in power,' as well as a paean to those who resisted them, this profound and rich book is also a cautionary tale.” * Wall Street Journal *Table of ContentsForeword Prologue: Totalitarian Dictators and Ideological Hubris 1. Utopian Radicalism and Dehumanization 2. Diabolical Pedagogy and the (Il)logic of Stalinism 3. Lenin's Century: Bolshevism, Marxism, and the Russian Tradition 4. Dialectics of Disenchantment: Marxism and Ideological Decay in Leninist Regimes 5. Ideology, Utopia, and Truth: Lessons from Eastern Europe 6. Malaise and Resentment: Threats to Democracy in Post-Communist Societies Conclusions Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThe first decade of the twenty-first century marked the demise of the current world order. Despite widespread acknowledgement of these disruptive crises, the proposed response from the mainstream remains the same. Against the confines of this increasingly limited politics, a new paradigm has emerged. Fully Automated Luxury Communism claims that new technologies will liberate us from work, providing the opportunity to build a society beyond both capitalism and scarcity. Automation, rather than undermining an economy built on full employment, is instead the path to a world of liberty, luxury and happiness. For everyone.In his first book, radical political commentator Aaron Bastani conjures a new politics: a vision of a world of unimaginable hope, highlighting how we move to energy abundance, feed a world of nine billion, overcome work, transcend the limits of biology and build meaningful freedom for everyone. Rather than a final destination, such a society heralds the beginning of history.Fully Automated Luxury Communism promises a radically new left future for everyone.Trade ReviewIn 100 years' time many of the ideas in this book will be mainstream, while kindergarten students laugh at our mainstream economic textbooks. Bastani's genius is to see the future with crisp clarity, unafraid of the consequences of being right. -- Paul Mason, author of PostcapitalismOne of the most important books to come out of the British left in recent years. Incredibly ambitious and wide-ranging, but also well-written and readable, it provides a fascinating glimpse into a future beyond scarcity and beyond capitalism. Not simply a set of predictions about an unknowable future, it is a call to action to those seeking to bring an entirely new world into being. -- Grace Blakeley, New StatesmanThe debate is no longer about tinkering with our current broken social order, but replacing it: this fascinating book is an absolutely critical contribution, and a must-read for all those who aspire to build a new society. -- Owen Johns, author of The EstablishmentAt a time when our horizons have shrunk, when instead of striving for a better world we look backward to old comforts, Aaron Bastani calls us to dream and struggle for the type of society finally fit for humanity to live as humans should.' -- Bhaskar Sunkara, author of The Socialist ManifestoA startlingly sunny and audacious manifesto that reads the extremity of current political, economic, and environmental crises as a sign of the scale of opportunity for radical change...[Bastani] gamely reclaims the stuff of dystopia for a more buoyant vision . . . Bastani's arguments rest on the conviction that the major problems that face citizens are political in nature-and thus that their only possible solutions will be political, too -- Lidija Haas * Harpers *Angry and lyrical, uncompromising and vivid, Imperial Intimacies is a daughter's reckoning with the bitter legacies of slavery and colonialism as they come to shape the lives of families and individuals, their dreams and desires. A deeply searching and often moving book, it made me think again about the writing of family history and about what it means to be British. -- Alison Light, author of Common PeopleBastani writes with pace, economy and infectious enthusiasm ... There are more ideas crammed in here than in a whole shelf of standard politics books. And in today's fraught world, the time to read whole shelves of politics books may have passed. -- Andy Beckett * Guardian *Fully Automated Luxury Communism offers a hopeful vision of a possible future, one that, with its blend of utopian energy and careful argumentation, is worth taking seriously. * Vector *Attempts to take the word back to Marx's post-work, post-scarcity future. -- Sarah Jaffe * Bookforum *A startlingly sunny and audacious manifesto that reads the extremity of current political, economic, and environmental crises as a sign of the scale of opportunity for radical change...[Bastani] gamely reclaims the stuff of dystopia for a more buoyant vision. -- Lidja Haas * Harpers *A rising young leftwing provocateur . . .There are more ideas crammed in here than in a whole shelf of standard politics books -- Andy Beckett * Guardian *[Fully Automated Luxury Communism] is a provocative ... reckoning with the end of market capitalism, and what might follow ... in outlining the benefits of decarbonised economies, worker-owned businesses, people's banks, planet taxes and universal basic services, Bastani is starting to put flesh on the spectre that might one day haunt Europe again. -- Gavin Jacobson * New Statesman *In outlining the benefits of decarbonised economies, worker-owned businesses, people's banks, planet taxes and universal basic services, Bastani is starting to put flesh on the spectre that might one day haunt Europe again -- Gavin Williamson * New Statesman *Jeremy Corbyn's new left ... do not wish only to manage capitalism. They want something more. They are something more. And this book is an attempt to explain what that more is. * Times *[Bastani's] limpid prose, fuelled by an infectious revolutionary elan, adroitly synthesises ... big ideas for lay readers and deftly elucidates the continued relevance of Marx's writings... [Fully Automated Luxury Communism] serves as a vital broadening of our political horizons * Morning Star *A feisty manifesto . . . proposes a blueprint for a new society; one in which advanced technology will free humanity from the necessity to work * New Internationalist *An entertaining ... romp through some of the most profound innovations and developments that could, if managed under the aegis of socialism, transform the way in which we live our lives. * Quietus *A stimulating intervention ... fascinating on the dazzling possibilities of the present * New Humanist *A knowingly provocative ... utopian manifesto ... a refreshing departure from the the usual forecasts of machine-led jobpocalypse. * Times Literary Supplement *It's a manifesto that imagines life in a post-capitalist world where automation has replaced manual labour, and it applies the theories of Marx to show how this could save us from dystopia. Its a pretty audacious book.' -- Gruff Rhys * Observer *

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Book SynopsisCadres (senior party or government officials) have played a significant role throughout Chinese history and particularly over the past century. They were instrumental in helping the Communist Party of China (CPC) come to power in 1949 and in implementing the reform and opening-up process that began in 1978. This elite group in Chinese society has been pivotal in enabling the CPC to bring about social and economic development.The imperial examination system in the Sui and Tang dynasties was the world’s earliest recognized cadre selection system, and it has deeply influenced the formation of a civil service in the UK and other western countries. Since the establishment of the New China, the selection and appointment of cadres have undergone many changes designed to make the process more democratic, open and competitive.This book provides a fascinating insight into how China’s leaders are chosen. It explains the basic standards, guiding principles and procedures that are used in the process, and details the examination and evaluation systems, along with the supervisory and disciplinary measures that are deployed. It gives readers a comprehensive and systematic understanding of how China’s leaders are selected and appointed.

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Book SynopsisJohn Burdon Sanderson Haldane F.R.S. (18921964) was one of the leading scientists of the twentieth century, renowned for helping, through statistical wizardry, to reconcile Darwin's theory of natural selection with Mendel's discovery of genes. The product of a distinguished family of scientists and public figures, JBS trained and influenced a swathe of students and colleagues at Oxford, Cambridge, and University College London, many of whom, such as the evolutionary theorist John Maynard Smith, went on to distinction in their own right. As a widely known left-wing public intellectual, Haldane gained fame as a popularizer of science and commentator on public affairs, broadcasting often on the BBC and publishing extensively in newspapers and magazines. His collections of popular scientific essays influenced a generation of upcoming scientists and remain in print today. On his death in 1964, he was accorded the rare tribute of a televised self-obituary on the BBC. Celebrated for his ability to connect seemingly disparate subjects, during the Second World War Haldane was extensively involved in scientific research to aid the British war effort. Using evidence gathered from VENONA Signals Intelligence intercepts, MI5 files, and the Haldane papers, this book reveals that Haldane was also a Soviet spya member of the X Group, an espionage ring that was run out of the Soviet Embassy in London. His interlocking associations with other spies, such as Ivor Montagu and Hans Kahle; his role as a hardline Stalinist propagandist through the onset of the Cold War; his betrayal of his colleague and friend, the Soviet geneticist Nikolai Vavilov; his long-standing support for the charlatan Soviet scientist Trofim D. Lysenko; and his concealed stalemate with the Communist Party of Great Britain once his ability to finesse Lysenko was extinguished, are unraveled here for the first time.

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Book SynopsisFeaturing the works from Marx's enormous corpus, this title covers Marx's development from the Hegelian idealism of his youth to the mature socialism of his later works. It includes writings from Marx's early philosophical works, and the central writings on historical materialism.Trade ReviewThe Introductions are solid, accurate, readable, authoritative. The editor is well informed, and the selections provide a balanced introduction to Marx's central thoughts. --Daniel Little, Colgate University

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Book SynopsisA reissue of E. E. Cummings's long-unavailable, yet pointed and moving story of a journey through Soviet Russia.

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Book SynopsisLonglisted for South Africa's 2022 Sunday Times Non-fiction Award Definitive and gripping narrative history of the Communist Party of South Africa. Renowned historian Tom Lodge has written an immensely readable and compelling sweep of history, spanning continents and the last hundred years, producing the first comprehensive account of the South African Communist Party in all its intricacies. Taking the story back to the party's pre-history in the early 20th century reveals that it was shaped by a range of socialist traditions and that their influence persisted and were decisive. The party's engagement in popular front politics after 1935 has been largely uncharted: this book supplies fresh detail. In the 1940s the author shows how the party became a key actor in the formation of black working-class politics, and hitherto unused archival materials as well as the insights from an increasingly candid genre of autobiographies make possible a much fuller picture of the secret party of 1952 to 1965. Despite its concealment and tiny numbers, its intellectual impact on black South African mainstream politics was considerable. On the exile period, the author examines the activities of the party's recruits and more informal following inside South Africa, as well as the scope and nature of its broader influence. In 1990, a year in which global politics would change fundamentally, South African communists would return to South Africa to begin the work of reconstructing their party as a legal organisation. Throughout its history, the party had been inspired and supported by the reality of existing socialism, state systems embracing half of Europe and Asia, in which the ruling group was at least notionally committed to the building of communist societies. With the fall of Eastern European regimes and the fragmentation of the Soviet Union, one key set of material foundations for the party's programmatic beliefs crumbled and its most important international alliances in the global socialist community in Eastern Europe and Russia would end. Finally, Lodge brings the story up to date, assessing the degree to which communists both inside and outside government have shaped and influenced policy in successive ANC-led administrations, particularly during the popular resistance to apartheid during the 1950s, which was underpinned by the party's systematic organisation in the localities that supplied the ANC with its strongest bases. Jacana: Africa, IndiaTrade ReviewTom Lodge's in-depth, scholarly work is a landmark achievement. -- Jeremy Cronin * Journal of Asian and African Studies *Lodge provides a richly detailed history of the party's vicissitudes and victories; individuals - their ideas, attitudes and activities - are sensitively located within their context ... Without doubt, this book will become a central text for students of communism in South Africa, of the party's links with Russia and the socialist bloc, and of the Communist Party's changing relations with African nationalism - before, during and after three decades of exile. * BBrief *Probably no-one else other than Tom Lodge, who is so thoroughly versed in the details as well as the grand trajectory of the popular struggles against colonialism and apartheid in South Africa could have written what will become the gold standard of histories of the South African Communist Party (SACP). ... Apart from anything else, it is quite simply a gripping read. ... Lodge's ability to combine survey of grand direction, debate with other historians, and intimate detail of the party's ups-and-downs, shifts and survival against odds is truly exemplary. -- Roger Southall * Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa *'A master of the historical yarn, Tom Lodge tells the amazing story of the enigmatic, resilient and chameleonic South African Communist Party. Detailed, meticulously researched and a page turner, the book effortlessly navigates the twists and turns of the red road travelled by idealists and realists who found themselves members of a party that sought to build a society run by workers. Why was the party leadership unable or unwilling, over a century of political activity, to fly the red flag consistently high and instead chose to tie the fate of the vanguard of the working class to that of a nationalist movement, the African National Congress? What are the chances of the party realising its supreme goal of a socialist society given the current situation? These are the questions that Lodge deftly and incisively addresses through a close and critical study of all the scholarly sources and his own independent research. This book is arguably the definitive history of the SACP to date. A must-read for all militants, historians and those interested in understanding the continued influence of the party in South African politics.' * Dr Trevor Ngwane, University of Johannesburg *'Red Road is a fascinating and dispassionate history of "the party" and its role in the South African liberation struggle. Lodge tackles the big questions without flinching, while also capturing the nuances of a complex context. He presents a detailed and integrated narrative of a century of struggle, which does not shy away from the many controversies involved.' * Professor Janet Cherry, Nelson Mandela University *A magisterial account, not just of the South African Communist Party, but of a current of thinking and acting that did so much to shape political struggles in South Africa for a century.' * Jonny Steinberg, Yale University *'Lodge provides a richly detailed history of the party's vicissitudes and victories; individuals - their ideas, attitudes and activities - are sensitively located within their context; the text provides a fascinating sociology of the South African left over time. Lodge is adept at making explicit what the key questions and issues are for different periods; and he answers these with analyses and conclusions that are judicious, clearly stated and meticulously argued. Without doubt, this book will become a central text for students of communism in South Africa, of the party's links with Russia and the socialist bloc, and of the Communist Party's changing relations with African nationalism - before, during and after three decades of exile.' * Professor Colin Bundy, Green Templeton College, University of Oxford *Table of ContentsPreface 1. Just like Russia: Revolutionary Socialists in the Cape and the Transvaal, 1890-1921 2. CPSA: Early History, 1921-1926 3. Native Republic, 1927-1932 4. Factions and Fronts, 1932-1939 5. Patriotic Unity: The Communist Party of South Africa during the 1940s 6. Secret Party: South African Communists between 1950 and 1965 7. Out of Africa, 1965-1977 8. Mayibuye iAfrika, 1977-1990 9. Post-Communism and the South African Communist Party

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Book SynopsisJodi Dean unshackles the communist ideal from the failures of the Soviet Union. In the new capitalism of networked information technologies, our very ability to communicate is exploited, but revolution is still possible if we organise on the basis of our common and collective desires. Examining the experience of the Occupy movement, Dean argues that such spontaneity can't develop into a revolution and it needs to constitute itself as a party. An innovative work of pressing relevance, The Communist Horizon offers nothing less than a manifesto for a new collective politics.Trade ReviewThis is what everyone engaged in today's struggles for emancipation needs: a unique combination of theoretical stringency and a realistic assessment of our predicament. To anyone who continues to dwell in illusions about liberal democracy, one should simply say: read Jodi Dean's new book! -- Slavoj ZizekJodi's sharp analysis of the impasses of the left is also a kind of requiem for much of the 2.0 bluster of the last decade. -- Mark Fisher, author of Capitalist RealismOne of the most significant books in recent critical theory to theorize a powerful leftist politics. Its spirit and argument are energizing,and Dean's analysis is likely to intensify desires for transnational solidarity toward ending exploitation. The book's message is especially important in the present moment, when so many people despair over their political and economic powerlessness. * Political Theory *

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Book SynopsisOld Gods, New Enigmas is the highly-anticipated book by the best-selling author of City of Quartz and Planet of Slums. Mike Davis spent years working factory jobs and sitting behind the wheel of an eighteen wheeler before his profile as one of the world's leading urbanists emerged with the publication of his sober, if dystopian survey of Los Angeles. Since then, he's developed a reputation not only for his caustic analysis of ecological catastrophe and colonial history, but as a stylist without peer.Old Gods, New Enigmas is Davis's book-length engagement with Karl Marx, marking the 200th anniversary of Marx's birth and exploring Davis's thinking on history, labor, capitalism, and revolution - themes ever present the early work from this leading radical thinker. This will be his first book on Marxism itself.In a time of ubiquitous disgust with political and economic elites, explores the question of revolutionary agency-what social forces and conditions do we need to transform the current order?-and the situation of the world's working classes from the US to Europe to China. Even the most preliminary tasks are daunting. A new theory of revolution needs to return to the big issues in classical socialist thought, such as clarifying "proletarian agency", before turning to the urgent questions of our time: global warming, the social and economic gutting of the rustbelt, and the city's demographic eclipse of the countryside. What does revolution look like after the end of history?Trade ReviewIn this collection of essays, Davis searches Karl Marx's ouvre for a revolutionary paradigm capable of addressing present-day economic inequality and climate change...While the esoteric case studies and historical summaries will appeal primarily to readers already familiar with Marx, the book also offers the simple pleasure of watching Davis's nimble mind at work. * New Yorker *Davis resuscitates myriad overlooked works of political and environmental history and theory in this insightful collection. * Publishers Weekly *The heterogeneity of Davis's latest book Old Gods, New Enigmas reflects his decades of accumulated interests...a formidable intellectual, and this collection contains many gems. -- Troy Vettese * Boston Review *

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Book SynopsisWhat does the development of a truly robust contemporary theory of domination require? Ashley J. Bohrer argues that it is only by considering all of the dimensions of race, gender, sexuality, and class within the structures of capitalism and imperialism that we can understand power relations as we find them nowadays. Bohrer explains how many of the purported incompatibilities between Marxism and intersectionality arise more from miscommunication rather than a fundamental conceptual antagonism. As the first monograph entirely devoted to this issue, "Marxism and Intersectionality" serves as a tool to activists and academics working against multiple systems of domination, exploitation, and oppression.Trade Review"The contributions of Bohrer [offer] the starting point for productive debate: serious about the matter, solidary in dealing with it." Vincent Streichhahn, Femina Politica, 1 (2020), translated from German "Ashley Bohrers "Marxism and Intersectionality" is indispensable reading for socialists trying to understand how class, race and gender mesh." -- Peter Drucker, Rampant, 24.03.2020

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Book SynopsisMahdi Amel (1936–87) was a prominent Arab Marxist thinker and Lebanese Communist Party member. For the first time in English, this collection makes available lengthy excerpts from six major works by Mahdi Amel. These include the two founding texts on colonialism and underdevelopment in which Amel began to grapple with the question of dependency, his treatise on sectarianism and the state, his critique of Edward Said’s analysis of Marx, his exposure of emerging Islamised bourgeois trends of thought as part of a broader critique of everyday thought, and his reflection on cultural heritage as perceived by Arab bourgeoisie. Amel’s writings serve as a reminder of the need to renew Marxist thought based on concrete and particular social realities, like colonialism.

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisThe publication of For Marx and Reading Capital established Louis Althusser as one of the most influential figures in the Western Marxist tradition. On Ideology charts Althusser's critique of the theoretical system unveiled in his own major works, and his developing practice of philosophy as a "revolutionary weapon."Trade ReviewOne reads him with excitement. There is no mystery about his capacity to inspire the intelligent young. -- Eric HobsbawmAlthusser traversed so many lives-so many personal, historical, philosophical and political adventures; marked, inflected, influenced so many discourses, actions and existences by the radiant and provocative force of his thought-that the most diverse and contradictory accounts could never exhaust their source. -- Jacques Derrida

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Book SynopsisFully Automated Luxury Communism promises a radically new left future for everyone. New technologies will liberate us from work, providing the opportunity to build a society beyond both capitalism and scarcity. Automation, rather than undermining an economy built on full employment, is instead the path to a world of liberty, luxury and happiness. Solar power will deliver the energy that we need, while asteroid mining will deliver the necessary resources, allowing us to end the devastation of our environment. Innovations in AI, gene editing, food technology will leads us to new ways of living better lives. In his first book, radical political commentator Aaron Bastani conjures a new politics: a vision of a world of unimaginable hope, highlighting how we move to energy abundance, feed a world of nine billion, overcome work, transcend the limits of biology and build meaningful freedom for everyone. Rather than a final destination, such a society heralds the beginning of history.Trade ReviewIn 100 years' time many of the ideas in this book will be mainstream, while kindergarten students laugh at our mainstream economic textbooks. Bastani's genius is to see the future with crisp clarity, unafraid of the consequences of being right -- Paul Mason, author of PostcapitalismOne of the most important books to come out of the British left in recent years. Incredibly ambitious and wide-ranging, but also well-written and readable, it provides a fascinating glimpse into a future beyond scarcity and beyond capitalism. Not simply a set of predictions about an unknowable future, it is a call to action to those seeking to bring an entirely new world into being. -- Grace Blakeley, New StatesmanThe debate is no longer about tinkering with our current broken social order, but replacing it: this fascinating book is an absolutely critical contribution, and a must-read for all those who aspire to build a new society. -- Owen Johns, author of The EstablishmentAt a time when our horizons have shrunk, when instead of striving for a better world we look backward to old comforts, Aaron Bastani calls us to dream and struggle for the type of society finally fit for humanity to live as humans should. -- Bhaskar Sunkara, author of The Socialist ManifestoRousing * Red Pepper *In a world where we are constantly told we have no choice but to accept the status quo his confidence in the possibility of change is refreshing. * Socialism Today *

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