Left-of-centre democratic ideologies and movements Books

Book SynopsisFrom longtime labor organizer Jane McAlevey, a vital call-to-arms in favor of unions, a key force capable of defending our democracyFor decades, racism, corporate greed, and a skewed political system have been eating away at the social and political fabric of the United States.Trade Review“An introduction to the world of unions and their enemies. . . . McAlevey’s writing is an attempt to circulate organizers’ skills, breathing life into the long-quiescent labor movement. . . . A Collective Bargain, like the rest of McAlevey’s work, is indispensable.” —Alex Press, Bookforum — Alex Press, Bookforum “Incisive, brilliant, combined with trenchant strategic analysis. If we had more organizers like Jane McAlevey, we’d be winning.” — Van Jones, CNN host and author of Beyond the Messy Truth “A half century ago, the Koch family targeted workers’ collective power with so-called right-to-work laws. Now they and their allies have expanded their agenda to shackling democracy writ large... McAlevey shows us how workplaces provided a laboratory for this audacious project of domination—and better still, she explains how following the strategies and tactics of savvy union organizers could help save America from an ever more ruthless right...This empowering book could not be more timely.” — Nancy MacLean, author of Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America “Jane McAlevey has devoted her life to reigning the destructive power of concentrated wealth and she is consumed with one over-arching question: How do we win? In this essential book, she draws on decades of organizing experience to make an overwhelming case that the new face of working-class power is female and fiercely feminist. It’s past time to listen up.” — Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything “Jane McAlevey is a brilliant strategist, rousing organizer, and razor-sharp critic inside the labor movement. In this critical moment when labor is resurgent, McAlevey’s small “d” democratic spirit, and her humane, and deeply informed reporting and analysis is needed more than ever.” — Katrina vanden Heuval, Editorial Director & Publisher, The Nation “Read this book! It’s full of effective strategies for overcoming voter suppression against even the stiffest odds. Jane McAlevey is the type of experienced organizer the current White House fears.” — Benjamin Todd Jealous, Former National President and CEO of the NAACP “A battle cry for union rights in a time hostile to labor organizations.” —Kirkus — Kirkus Reviews “Labor activist McAlevey delivers a persuasive argument that the power of ‘strong, democratic’ trade unions can fix many of America’s social problems in this timely cri de coeur. . . . She offers a useful primer on how labor organizing works, and effectively refutes common assumptions about unions. . . . McAlevey’s . . . humor and contagious confidence in the efficacy of organized labor give this succinct volume an outsize impact.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

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Book SynopsisIncludes the complete Communist Manifesto and substantial extracts from On the Jewish Question, the German Ideology, Grundrisse, and Capital, a broad representation of his letters, and lesser-known works, especially his long-unavailable, early works.Table of ContentsIntroductionBibliographical Note and AcknowledgmentsChronology: Marx's LifeChronology: Marx's Chief WorksI. Marx the Man: Documents, Letters, and Reminiscences[Birth Certificate]Certificate of Matriculation of a Pupil at the High School at Trier[Marx's Record of Studies Issued by the University of Bonn][From Marx's Sister Sophie][Heinrich Marx to His Son][Karl Marx to His Father][Heinrich Marx to His Son][Bruno Bruno Bauer to Marx][Marx's Record of Studies in the University of Berlin][Letter of Professor C. F. Bachmann, Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy in the University of Jena, Presenting Marx's Doctoral Thesis to the Faculty for Consideration][Moses Hess on Karl Marx][Marx to Arnold Ruge][Marx to Arnold Ruge][Jenny von Westphalen to Marx][Arnold Ruge to Ludwig Feuerbach on Marx][Bakunin's Reminiscence][P. Annenkov: Karl Marx in 1846][Marx to Engels in Paris][Carl Schurz on Marx in Cologne Summer 1848][Marx to Engels in Brussels][Marx to Engels in Lausanne][Marx to Engels in Lausanne][Jenny Marx to Joseph Weydemeyer][Gustave Techow to a Friend][Marx to Engels][Marx to Engels][A Prussian Police Agent's Report][Marx to Engels][Marx to Engels][Marx to Engels][Karl Marx to His Wife][Marx to Engels][Marx to Engels][Eleanor Marx on Her Father][Marx to Engels in Manchester][Confessions of Marx][Karl Marx to Laura Marx][Karl Marx to François Lafargue][Karl Marx to Paul Lafargue][From R. Landor's Interview with Marx][Report on Karl Marx in Karlsbad][From the Chicago Tribune's Interview with Marx][Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant-Duff to Empress Frederick][Karl Marx to Laura Lafargue][Engels's Speech at the Graveside of Karl Marx]II. Karl Marx's Writings1. The Formation of a Young Radical: Early Writings, 1841-1844From Doctoral Dissertation, The Difference between the Democritean and the Epicurean Philosophy of Nature"The Draft Divorce Law"From the Kreuznach Manuscripts: Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of RightFrom a Correspondence of 1843From "On the Jewish Questions"From "Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right: Introduction"2. Beyond Philosophy to Communism, Political Economy, and the Materialist Conception of History: Transitional Writings, 1844-1847From Economico-Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844From the First Manuscript: "Alienated Labor"From the Third Manuscript: "Private Property and Communism"From "Critical Notes on the Article 'The King of Prussia and Social Reform. By a Prussian"""Theses on Feuerbach"From A Contribution to the Critique of Political EconomyFrom The German Ideology, Volume One:Preface[The Materialist Conception of History][On History][Consciousness and the Division of Labour][Law and the Materialist Conception of History][The Role of Violence in History][Communism as the End of History]3. Revolution and Counter-Revolution: Political Writings, 1848-1852Manifesto of the Communist PartyThe Demands of the Communist Party in GermanyAddress of the Central Committee to the Communist LeagueFrom The Class Struggles in France: 1848 to 1850From The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte4. Journalism and Politics: 1853-1864The British Rule in IndiaFrom "The Future Results of British Rule in India"Revolution in China and in EuropeThe Indian RevoltInaugural Address and Provisional Rules of the International Working Men's Association5. "Wading Through Economic Filth": Economic Writings, 1857-1867From Grundrisse, IntroductionFrom Value, Price and ProfitFrom Capital, Volume I:From the Preface to the First German EditionChapter 1: "Commodities"Chapter 26: "The Secret of Primitive Accumulation"From Chapter 27: "The Expropriation of the Agricultural Population from the Land"Chapter 31: "The Genesis of the Industrial Capitalist"Chapter 32: "The Historical Tendency of Capitalist Accumulation"Chapter 33: "The Modern Theory of Colonisation"6. The Paris Commune and the Future of Socialism: 1870-1882From The Civil War in France:Address of the General Council of the International Working Men's AssociationFrom the First Draft: "The Character of the Commune"Marginal Notes to the Programme of the German Workers' Party [Critique of the Gotha Programme]Preface to the Russian Edition of the Communist ManifestoReader's GuideIndex

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Book SynopsisAndrew Rawnsley is Associate Editor and chief political columnist for the Observer. He has also made a string of critically acclaimed television programmes for Channel 4 and presents Radio 4's Westminster Hour. He lives in London.Trade Review"* 'The most readable contemporary history to be written since New Labour was elected' Roy Hattersley, Observer * 'Riveting... the Government's dirty washing has been well and truly hung out in public' Rachel Sylvester, Daily Telegraph"

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Book SynopsisThis volume illustrates the variety of William Morris's prose, while focusing on one theme: the earthly paradise. The Nowhere of News from Nowhere (1890) is England in 2102, an ideal pastoral society born out of revolution. It is as compelling a dream of the future as the nightmares of Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four. Exhilaratingly, it reminds us that nothing is inevitable about the way we live—now or in 1890.Table of ContentsPart 1 Romance: the story of the unknown Church; a King's lesson; two extracts from "A Dream of John Ball"; "News from Nowhere". Part 2 Lectures: the lesser arts; some hints on pattern-designing; useful work versus useless toil; the hopes of civilization. Part 3 Occasional prose: "Looking Backward" - a review of "Looking Backward" by Edward Bellamy; under an elm-tree, or, thoughts in the countryside; preface in "The Nature of Gothic" by John Ruskin; foreword to "Utopia" by Sir Thomas More; how I became a socialist; a note by William Morris on his aims in founding the Kelmscott Press. Part 4 Letters: [the Eastern question]: letter to the "Daily News"; [anti-scrape]: letter to the "Athenaeum"; [St Mark's, Venice]: letter to the "Daily News".

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Book SynopsisToday the word ''fascist'' is usually an insult aimed at those on the right, from neocons to big business. But what does it really mean? What if the true heirs to fascism were actually those who thought of themselves as being terribly nice and progressive - the liberals?Jonah Goldberg''s excoriating, opinion-driving, US bestseller explains why. Here he destroys long-held myths to reveal why the most insidious attemps to control our lives originate from the left, whether it''s smoking bans or security cameras. Journeying through history and across culture, he uses surprising examples ranging from Woodrow Wilson''s police state to the Clinton personality cult, the military chic of 60s'' student radicals to Hollywood''s totalitarian aesthetics, to show that it is modern progressivism - and not conservatism - that shares the same intellectual roots as fascism.This angry, funny, smart and contentious book looks behind the friendly face of the well-meaning liberal, and tTrade ReviewLove it or loathe it, Liberal Fascism is a book of intellectual history you won't be able to put down - in either sense of the term * Tom Wolfe *Deliciously amusing...witty intelligence that deals in ideas as well as insults * The New York Times *Brilliant, insightful and important * New York Sun *Bold and witty...insightful and honest * New York Post *Deliciously amusing...witty intelligence that deals in ideas as well as insults * The New York Times *

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Book SynopsisAndrew Rawnsley''s bestselling The End of the Party lifts the lid on the second half of New Labour''s spell in office.Through riveting inside accounts of all the key events from 9/11 and the Iraq War to the financial crisis and the parliamentary expenses scandal, Rawnsley takes us through the triumphs and tribulations of New Labour. With entertaining portraits of the main playershe exposes the astonishing feuds and reconciliations between Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson.''Rawnsley has talked to everyone who has counted over the past ten years ... A brilliant account...a sheer delight for the political connoisseur. Almost every page provides a fresh insight or piece of information not previously in the public domain'' Peter Oborne, Daily Mail ''The book''s authority rests on an impressive breadth of research ... This lively Shakespearian account ... the most thorough, the most enjoyable and the most original book yet written about Ne

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE LONGMAN-HISTORY TODAY PRIZE 2018LONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 2018 ''Makes a gripping human story out of the wisest and most progressive policy achievement of any government in the history of the world ... the welfare state deserves books this good'' Stuart Maconie, New Statesman, Books of the Year''A brilliant book, full of little revelations'' Jon Cruddas, Prospect''Carefully argued, deftly balanced and wittily written, with countless lovely details'' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday TimesA landmark book from a remarkable new historian, on a subject that has never been more important - or imperilledToday, everybody seems to agree that something has gone badly wrong with the British welfare state. In the midst of economic crisis, politicians and commentators talk about benefits as a lifestyle choice, and of ''skivers'' living off hard-working ''strivers'' as they debate what a welfaTrade ReviewA brilliant book, full of little revelations -- Jon Cruddas * Prospect *Carefully argued, deftly balanced and wittily written, with countless lovely details -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisA GUARDIAN, NEW STATESMAN AND SPECTATOR BOOK OF THE YEAR ''A whodunnit political page-turner'' Melissa Benn, New Statesman ''The best political book I have read for a long while'' Rod Liddle, The Spectator From the No.1 bestselling author of The Establishment, an urgent analysis of where the Left - and Britain - goes nextWe live in an age of upheaval. The global crisis of Covid-19 has laid bare the deep social and economic inequalities which were the toxic legacy of austerity. These revolutionary times are an opportunity for a radical rethink of Britain as we know it, as the politically impossible suddenly becomes imaginable. And yet, the Left''s last attempt to upend the established order and transform millions of lives came to a crashing halt on 12th December 2019, when Jeremy Corbyn led the Labour party to its worst electoral defeat since 1935. In This Land, Owen Jones provides an insider''s honest and unflinching appraisal of a movement: how it promised to change everything, why it went so badly wrong, where this failure leaves its values and ideas, and where the Left goes next in the new world we find ourselves in.He takes us on a compelling, page-turning journey through a tumultuous decade in British politics, gaining unprecedented access to key figures across the political spectrum. It is a tale of high hopes and hubris, dysfunction and disillusionment. There is, Jones urges, no future for any progressive project that does not face up to and learn from its errors. We have the opportunity to build a fairer country and a more equal world, but if our time is to come, then we must learn from our past.''An absorbing, nuanced account of the making of electoral disaster'' Gaby Hinsliff, Guardian Trade ReviewOwen Jones has managed to produce a whodunnit political page-turner and a surprisingly fair account (given that Jones was a player in the Corbyn project) of both an inspiring and tortuous period of Labour history. -- Melissa Benn * New Statesman *An absorbing, nuanced account of the making of electoral disaster. -- Gaby Hinsliff * Guardian *Very, very powerful ... you will not come away from reading This Land without your understanding of what happened to the Labour Party over the last five years massively enhanced. -- James O'BrienFor Owen Jones, the drama of these years is almost Shakespearean... Where Jones is strongest, and impressively so, is when he turns his analytical gaze on his own side. His dissection of the anti-Semitism issue is heartfelt and intelligent. His account of the infighting and weakness of the leader's team rings true... He correctly observes that Brexit left Labour on a hook. -- Robert Shrimsley * Financial Times *Jones has [a hard] task: to assess the failure of a project he championed, in which he was a significant player, and which depended on the work and was damaged by the flaws of people he is close to. It is a far more honest account of those difficulties than is ever given by journalists of the political centre, or the right ... Jones has made a serious attempt to understand the left's weaknesses as something other than the fault of the party's right ... Jones is making a brutal assessment, of the sort too often lacking in the past few years, of what is possible. -- James Butler * London Review of Books *Owen Jones is a phenomenon of our time * The Times Literary Supplement *The best political book I have read for a long while, all the better for Jones's unashamed participant observation. -- Rod Liddle * The Spectator *

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Book SynopsisWe live in a time of crises - economic turmoil, workplace disempowerment, unresponsive government, environmental degradation, social disintegration, and international rivalry. In The 99 Percent Economy, Paul S. Adler, a leading expert on business management, argues that these crises are destined to deepen unless we radically transform our economy. But despair is not an option, and Adler provides a compelling alternative: democratic socialism. He argues that to overcome these crises we need to assert democratic control over the management of both individual enterprises and the entire national economy. To show how that would work, he draws on a surprising source of inspiration: the strategic management processes of many of our largest corporations. In these companies, the strategy process promises to involve and empower workers and to ensure efficiency and innovation. In practice, this promise is rarely realized, but in principle, that process could be consolidated within enterprises andTrade ReviewThis is an important book on an issue crucial to organizational theorists of every stripe. Adler is dealing with fundamental issues about how best to structure and manage our organizations, and he has done so in a way that will provoke the kinds of conversations that our field and our world desperately need. * Mark S. Mizruchi, University of Michigan, Administrative Science Quarterly *What does "democratisation" mean in concrete terms? Some millennial socialists say everyone should be guaranteed a job; others want a universal basic income, a drastic reduction in the working week, or both. It also means promoting non-traditional forms of business organisation, including co-operatives, which give workers a decisive role in the day-to-day management of their company. Mr. Adler thinks through how such plans would function. Drawing on his expertise in management, he explains in detail how firms could be managed along socialist lines. * The Economist *From Bernie Sanders to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, candidates who call themselves socialists are winning more elections and wielding wider influence. Paul Adler's timely new book helps us imagine what a political economy, based on socialist ideas, might actually look like and how it might operate for the benefit of millions of Americans who are not well-served by our current system. The 99 Percent Economy is not just a compelling indictment of capitalism run amuck. Adler makes a clear and convincing case for economic planning, expanded public investment, and greater social ownership and democratic management of productive enterprises. His book will be an essential educational tool for activists in labor and on the left. * Steve Early, Former International Representative for the Communications Workers of America and author of Refinery Town: Big Oil, Big Money, and the Remaking of an American City *Lucidly written and powerfully argued. Rarely do we get insight into the opportunities a truly democratic socialist economy might offer from an expert who knows how decisions are really made in leading corporations and large institutions. A must read for anyone interested in the creation of a progressive future. * Gar Alperovitz, Author of America Beyond Capitalism and CoFounder of The Democracy Collaborative *Paul Adler asks whether society can be reorganized for the benefit of its majority, that is, help those regularly disempowered? His book, The 99 Percent Economy begins with a radical premise that the economy should serve the vast majority rather than the other way around. Adler asks us to engage in a discussion about a different future that can move humanity away from the abyss and in the direction of a socialism that is democratic, radical, and visionary. * Bill Fletcher, Jr., Former president of TransAfrica Forum; writer and labor activist *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Five crises 2. The capitalist roots of these crises 3. A growing tension 4. The promise and limits of reform 5. Managing our economy, democratically and effectively 6. A democratic socialist America 7 . Getting there References

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Book SynopsisThis book explores how austerity came to be the predominant fiscal policy response to the Great Recession in Europe, even for centre-left governments. It examines the political consequences of this response, combining qualitative and quantitative methods and drawing on a wide range of empirical evidence.Trade ReviewBremer has written a profoundly important book on European economic policymaking. Combining deep case based research with analysis of media coverage and original survey data, he explains why mainstream political parties converged in supporting austerity policies during the 2010s. In a rich and deeply insightful book, he carefully connects the left's limited demand side policies to its earlier attempts to employ new supply side policies, and in so doing offers a novel theorization of the way ideas and electoral incentives come together to shape partisan economic policies. * Jane Gingrich, Professor of Social Policy, University of Oxford *Why do social democrats embrace austerity policies, especially in moments when the conditions are ripe for their rejection? Bjorn Bremer answers this question by reference to a double dilemma that confounds social democrats. To win elections they must attract voters for whom pro-spending policies ring deficit alarm bells. But to do so they must embrace ideas and policies that undermine their ability to provide any alternatives to deficit reduction. Coping with his dilemma leads to a constant search for 'credibility' by the left that alienates their core constituencies and invites internal strife. Social Democrats constantly seek 'credibility' on the economy. That is, to reassure the more affluent votes that they need to win elections that they will not pump up the debt and the deficit. * Mark Blyth, The William R. Rhodes '57 Professor of International Economics, Brown University *Table of Contents1: Introduction 2: Theoretical Framework 3: The Programmatic Response 4: Attitudes towards Austerity 5: Public Opinion Regarding Fiscal Consolidation in the Face of Trade-Offs 6: The Fiscal Policies of the British Labour Party in Times of Crisis 7: The Fiscal Policies of the German SPD in Times of Crisis 8: The Electoral Effects of Social Democratic Austerity Conclusion Appendices Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe first history in English of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), beginning with the exile period in 1926 and concluding with a study of the administration of Craxi, Italy's first Socialist prime minister.Trade Review'For those who like blow-by-blow hagiography, this will appeal. Others may find it useful for the mass of inside information Mr Di Scala has had access to.' Paul Furlong, University of Hull, Political Studies`Spencer Di Scala, the author of a fine study of Filippo Turati, Dilemmas of Italian Socialism, has now written an equally good history of the post-1945 Italian Socialist party (PSI) ... The result is a provocative, well-researched history of the PSI, based on a combination of archival work, interviews with major protagonists, and a comprehensive survey of socialist periodicals and secondary sources ... it is a tribute to the author's scholarship and objectivity that, despite his ultimately favourable judgement of Craxi, the reader has ample material from which to draw quite different conclusions about the new PSI.' Journal of European Economic History

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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 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 SynopsisOur sense of history shapes how we think about ourselves. One of the distinguishing features of the left in Britain is that it holds to a remorselessly bleak and miserabilist view of our recent political history -- one in which Margaret Thatcher''s election in 1979 marked the start of a still-continuing fall from political grace made evident by the triumph of a free market get-what-you-can neoliberal ideology, dizzying levels of inequality, social decay, rampant individualism, state authoritarianism, and political corruption. The left does not like what has happened to us and it does not like what we have become.Andrew Hindmoor argues that this history is wrong and self-harming. It is wrong because Britain has in many respects become a more politically attractive and progressive country over the last few decades. It is self-harming because this bleak history undermines faith in politics. Post-Brexit, post-Grenfell, and post the 2010, 2015, and 2017 general elections, things may not, riTrade ReviewAt a time when polarised argument on social media has obscured the fact that politics is usually cast in shades of grey, [Hindmoors] nuanced case ought to be welcome. * John Harris, New Statesman *An extraordinary timely moment to remind the world of how politics in the real world affects the ability to make positive change and how winning widespread support is essential to attaining power. * Advance praise from The Rt Hon. the Lord Blunkett, former Home Secretary and Professor of Politics in Practice *The Left prides itself on its intellectual optimism but Andrew Hindmoor shows convincingly that the opposite is the case. This important book isolates the tendency of the political Left to regard its own nation with pessimism. * Advance praise from Phil Collins, The Times *The future of social democracy depends on better understanding its past. Andy Hindmoor provides a clear-headed rather than optimistic assessment, backed by convincing evidence and careful analysis. His commentary will help a great deal in the process of rediscovering what is the social democratic project and how it could be delivered. * Advance praise from Gerry Stoker, University of Southampton and University of Canberra *Table of Contents1: Introduction 2: Enter Neoliberalism... And It All Went Horribly Wrong 3: Bad Attitude? Public Opinion, the Left, and Neoliberalism 4: Alive and Kicking: What the State Does and why it has not Been Rolled-Back 5: Public Services: Health and Education 6: More and Less: Equality and Inequality in Britain 7: Keep Calm: On Growth, Austerity, and Happiness 8: The Unspectacular World of a Reasonably Well Functioning Democracy 9: Conclusion Notes Index

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Book SynopsisA new collection of Shaw's major political writings which reflect on his long career and influential role as a public intellectual. These essays reveal significant shifts in his positions and beliefs from the Victorian era to the aftermath of World War II.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: A Manifesto 2: Jevonian Criticism of Marx 3: Bluffing the Value Theory 4: Economics from Fabian Essays 5: What Socialism Is 6: Fabian Society - What it has done and how it has done it 7: Vote! Vote!! Vote!!! 8: The Impossibilities of Anarchism 9: Illusions of Socialism 10: Women as Councillors 11: Fabianism and the Empire 12: Socialism for Millionaires 13: Common Sense about the War 14: How to Settle the Irish Question 15: The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism 16: Socialism: Principles and Outlook 17: In Praise of Guy Fawkes 18: Everybody's Political What's What 19: The Unavoidable Subject Bibliography Note on the Text

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Book SynopsisWould it have been possible to build a unified and democratic Germany half a century before the fall of the Berlin Wall? This book reassesses this question by exploring Germany''s division after the Second World War from the point of view of the SED, the communist-led and Soviet-sponsored ruling party of East Germany.Drawing on unpublished documents from the SED archives, Dr Spilker rejects claims that the East German comrades and their Soviet masters had abandoned their struggle for socialism and were willing to accept a democratic Germany in exchange for a pledge to neutrality. He argues that the communists'' sudden switch to a multi-party approach at the end of the war was a tactical move inspired not by a desire for compromise but by the mistaken belief that they could win political hegemony - and the chance to introduce socialism throughout Germany - through the ballot box.Communist optimism, as this book shows, rested on specific assumptions about the situation after the war, allTrade Review...cogent and persuasive...Specialists will find the book stimulating...But the book's vigorous argument, and direct, unpretentious prose will also make it accessible to a wider audience interested in the early phases of the Cold War. * Gareth Pritchard The English Historical Review *Spilker often breaks new gorund...a well structured and readable study... * Dierk Hoffmann Bulletin German Historical Institute *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. 'It Should Look Democratic': The German Communists and the Birth of the SED ; 2. Nationwide Goals and Zonal Priorities: The KPD/SED and the German Question from Potsdam to Bizonia ; 3. Between Hope and Despair: The SED and the Consolidation of the SBZ ; 4. Unity Postponed: The SED and the Founding of the GDR ; 5. Retreat and Retrenchment: The SED and the German Question in the Early 1950s ; Conclusion ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisThis text, winner of the John Gilmary Shea Prize, examines the social and political atmosphere of late imperial Vienna. It traces the demise of Vienna's liberal culture and the growth of a new radicalism during the latter half of the 19th century.Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Map of Vienna 1: Austrian Liberals and Liberal Politics, 1848-79: Burger Privilege and the Fragmentation of Bourgeois Politics 2: The Viennese Artisans and the Origins of Political Antisemitism, 1880-90 40 3: Catholic Politics in Vienna: The Radical Clergy and the Restoration of Mittelstand Society 4: Karl Lueger and the Radicalization of Viennese Democracy, 1875-90 5: The Transformation of Viennese Politics: Metropolitan Vienna, White Collar Radicalism, and the Elections of 1891 6: The Collapse of the Liberals and the Antisemitic Conquest of Vienna, 1893-97 Conclusion Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisWhat does the durability of political institutions have to do with how actors form knowledge about them? The author investigates this question in the context of a historical case: socialist East Germany's unexpected self-dissolution in 1989. He also explores why the Stasi never developed a realistic understanding of the phenomenon of dissidence.Trade Review"Political Epistemics is a wonderful book that explains at long last the epistemological reasons behind the collapse of Eastern European state socialism. It is a magnificent testimony to the resurgence of the sociology of knowledge and its provocative arguments and conclusions will be debated widely for years to come." - Dominic Boyer, Rice University"

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Book SynopsisThroughout the 20th century socialism and war have been intimately connected, the two world wars providing the impetus for a variety of socialist experiments. This volume in a series of works by Hayek, documents the evolution of his thought on socialism and war during the 1930s and 1940s.

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Book SynopsisThe Left is in crisis. Despite global economic turbulence, left-wing political parties in many countries have failed to make progress in part because they have grown too ideologically fragmented. Today, the term Left is associated with state intervention and public ownership, but this has little in common with the original meaning of the term. What caused what we mean by the Left to change, and how has that hindered progress? With Wrong-Turnings, Geoffrey M. Hodgson tracks changes in the meaning of the Left and offers suggestions for how the Left might reclaim some of its core values. The term Left originated during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries sought to abolish the monarchy and privilege and to introduce a new society based on liberty, equality, fraternity, and universal rights. Over time, however, the meaning radically changed, especially through the influence of socialism and collectivism. Hodgson argues that the Left must rediscover its roots in the Enlightenment and

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Book SynopsisThe Left is in crisis. Despite global economic turbulence, left-wing political parties in many countries have failed to make progress in part because they have grown too ideologically fragmented. Today, the term Left is associated with state intervention and public ownership, but this has little in common with the original meaning of the term. What caused what we mean by the Left to change, and how has that hindered progress? With Wrong-Turnings, Geoffrey M. Hodgson tracks changes in the meaning of the Left and offers suggestions for how the Left might reclaim some of its core values. The term Left originated during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries sought to abolish the monarchy and privilege and to introduce a new society based on liberty, equality, fraternity, and universal rights. Over time, however, the meaning radically changed, especially through the influence of socialism and collectivism. Hodgson argues that the Left must rediscover its roots in the Enlightenment and

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Book SynopsisIntense debates in recent decades have provoked major new directions in Marxist theory. Earlier reductionist notions of knowledge, dialectics, contradiction, class, and capitalism have been challenged and profoundly transformed.

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Book SynopsisWilliams examines the colonial and anti-colonial arguments of Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, Jeremy Bentham, and L.T. Hobhouse. He reveals some of the central ambiguities that characterise the ways that liberal thought has dealt with the reality of an illiberal world.Trade Review"Progress, Pluralism, and Politics reconstructs a significantly more intricate story of liberalism than what is typically told. The subtlety of Williams' analysis, and his willingness to provide a nuanced account of both the liberal tradition and the individual authors that he considers in his book, are really appreciated." Brian Schmidt, Carleton University"Progress, Pluralism, and Politics makes a timely contribution to the recent debates on liberalism's historical liaisons with imperialism. David Williams insightfully reconstructs the philosophical aporias that liberal anticolonialism has found difficult to avoid and even more difficult to resolve." Onur Ulas Ince, Singapore Management University and author of Colonial Capitalism and the Dilemmas of Liberalism

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Book SynopsisWilliams examines the colonial and anti-colonial arguments of Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, Jeremy Bentham, and L.T. Hobhouse. He reveals some of the central ambiguities that characterise the ways that liberal thought has dealt with the reality of an illiberal world.Trade Review"Progress, Pluralism, and Politics reconstructs a significantly more intricate story of liberalism than what is typically told. The subtlety of Williams' analysis, and his willingness to provide a nuanced account of both the liberal tradition and the individual authors that he considers in his book, are really appreciated." Brian Schmidt, Carleton University"Progress, Pluralism, and Politics makes a timely contribution to the recent debates on liberalism's historical liaisons with imperialism. David Williams insightfully reconstructs the philosophical aporias that liberal anticolonialism has found difficult to avoid and even more difficult to resolve." Onur Ulas Ince, Singapore Management University and author of Colonial Capitalism and the Dilemmas of Liberalism

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Book SynopsisBest known as the author of On Liberty, John Stuart Mill remains a canonical figure in liberalism today. Yet according to his autobiography, by the mid-1840s he placed himself "under the general designation of Socialist." Taking this self-description seriously, John Stuart Mill, Socialist reinterprets Mill's work in its light.Trade Review"John Stuart Mill, Socialist is a marvellous book, industriously researched, skilfully argued and delivered in elegant prose. Essential reading for specialists and non-specialists alike, what McCabe succeeds in showing us is that Mill provides a practical form of socialism concerned with freedom, equality, cooperation, diversity, human flourishing and the environment, entirely free of the ressentiment which typifies much of what passes for left-wing theory today." Marx and Philosophy Review of Books"Helen McCabe’s book John Stuart Mill, Socialist should join the ranks of the essential books on Mill’s political philosophy and political economy." Utilitas"McCabe’s book breathes new life into the discussion of Mill’s thought." History of European Ideas"McCabe’s book is a must read for anyone interested in understanding the limits of Mill’s liberalism and its compatibility with his other commitments to socialism or feminism." The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought"John Stuart Mill is a marvellous book, industriously researched, skilfully argued and delivered in elegant prose." Marx & Philosophy Review of Books“John Stuart Mill, Socialist does more than provide a fresh perspective in a long-lasting feud. In dissolving the supposed contradictions in Mill's thought and questioning the usual conceptualization of socialism, McCabe's remarkable book offers a powerful and convincing argument not only for seeing Mill as a socialist, but also for rethinking our political categories. This book is highly relevant for both historians of ideas and political philosophers, whether with or without socialist leanings.” *History of Political Thought *

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Book SynopsisThis text paints a picture of Roosevelt and the American decade he has come to define. The book investigates the many facets of Roosevelt's politics and personality that inspired a nation to believe that the presidency had been reborn.Trade ReviewLeuchtenburg's ability to present a compelling, informed analysis and to draw readers into the world of national politics makes this collection an essential part of any understanding of FDR, the New Deal, and their joint legacy. Journal of American History The FDR Years will serve as benchmark and provocation. An absorbing collection of eight essays and an oral-history interview with the author... the book covers topics from Roosevelt's relationship with Huey Long to the Tennessee Valley Authority and the New Deal's use of the war metaphor. As a whole, it reacts to the criticisms of the New Deal and its leader made over the past thirty years and anticipates those of the next. Washington PostTable of Contents1. Franklin D. Roosevelt: The First Modern President 2. The New Deal and the Analogue of War 3. FDR and the Kingfish 4. The Election of 1936 5. Roosevelt, Norris, and the "Seven Little TVAs" 6. Hurricane Politics 7. The Great Depression and the New Deal 8. The Achievement of the New Deal 9. The "Europeanization" of America, 1929-1950

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Book SynopsisShows how Eleanor Roosevelt, after being freed from the constraints imposed by her role in the White House, expanded her career and challenged both the Democratic party and American liberals to practice what they preach.

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Book SynopsisThis second volume of Gramsci's prison notebooks contains Notebooks Three, Four and Five. It features Gramsci's entire cluster of notes on Dante, the first set of critical texts on the question of the intellectual, and the first of a series of reflections called "Notes on Philosophy".Trade ReviewAltogether a tremendous achievement... This volume provides us with an immediate sense of the scale and diversity of Gramsci's project. -- Richard Bellamy Times Literary Supplement An impressive and welcome commencement to the translation of one of the great intellectual legacies of the twentieth century...in Gramsci, Marxism acquires the founder of a proletarian intellectual tradition that is likely to continue as long as society has use for democracy. -- William Hartley Italian QuarterlyTable of ContentsPreface Prison Notebooks Notebooks 3 (1930) Notebooks 4 (1930-1932) Notebooks 5 (1930-1932) Notes Notebook 3: Description of the Manuscript Notes to the Text Notebook 4: Description of the Manuscript Notes to the Text Notebook 5: Description of the Manuscript Notes to the Text Sequence of Notes by Title or Opening Phrase Name Index

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Book SynopsisBreaking new ground in cultural, political, and social history, Rossinow tells the story of the new left-wing movement that emerged in the 1960s from an innovative perspective: illustrating the spiritual dimension of student activism and providing the first account from the bottom up-as well as linking local developments to the national scene.Trade ReviewIn a masterful blend of political, cultural, social, and diplomatic history, this book brings the crucial decade of the 1980s to life--and it does so in a highly original, imaginative manner. An ideal book for students, general readers, and speciallists alike. -- Robert McMahon, Ohio State University

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsForeword by Dick Howard Preface to the New Second Edition Acknowledgments 1. The Democratic Legacy of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels 2. Karl Kautsky: The Rise and Fall of Orthodox Marxism 3. Eduard Bernstein and the Logic of Revisionism 4. Leninism and Beyond 5. A Bridge to the Present: Rosa Luxemburg and the Underground Tradition 6. Recasting the Project: Prologue for a Critical Theory of Socialism Notes Index

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsForeword by Dick Howard Preface to the New Second Edition Acknowledgments 1. The Democratic Legacy of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels 2. Karl Kautsky: The Rise and Fall of Orthodox Marxism 3. Eduard Bernstein and the Logic of Revisionism 4. Leninism and Beyond 5. A Bridge to the Present: Rosa Luxemburg and the Underground Tradition 6. Recasting the Project: Prologue for a Critical Theory of Socialism Notes Index

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Book SynopsisCinematic Guerrillas is a media history of Chinese film exhibition and reception that offers fresh insights into the powers and limits of propaganda.Trade ReviewIn this groundbreaking book, Jie Li delivers a fascinating account of socialist cinema. Reviving the scene of mobile projection and reception, Li reveals the human as central to technology, infrastructure, and energy. By taking propaganda history seriously, Li makes a major contribution to global media theory and archaeology. Cinematic Guerrillas will reverberate across multiple fields in the years to come. -- Weihong Bao, author of Fiery Cinema: The Emergence of an Affective Medium in ChinaCinematic Guerillas is both a bumper research harvest and a thrilling read. The memories of Mao-era mobile projectionists and audiences make us understand and feel how the cinema enchanted its audiences with revolutionary spirit—and how it made them willing to pay the heavy price of utopian dreams. -- Chris Berry, coeditor of Chinese Film Festivals: Sites of TranslationCinematic Guerrillas offers an ingenious exploration of Mao-era China. Jie Li considers state messages conveyed in film, embedding them in a physical mediascape of itinerant projectionists who hauled equipment, cash-strapped collectives who paid for local screenings, and villagers who flocked to open-air showings for entertainment and respite. Perceptive, hilarious, and heartbreaking. -- Gail Hershatter, author of The Gender of Memory: Rural Women and China's Collective PastHow do you turn a scattered population into a revolutionary mass? Drawing on extensive archival and oral research, Li depicts the work of thousands of mobile projectionists traveling all over China training rural peoples for political struggle. A tour de force of historical reconstruction and theoretical intervention, this book shows how the Chinese revolution was also a media revolution dependent on the logistical work of ‘cinematic guerillas.’ -- Brian Larkin, author of Signal and Noise: Infrastructure, Media, and Urban Culture in NigeriaCinematic Guerrillas is cultural history at its best. Not only does it provide an engaging account of the culture of the young and aspiring PRC, but it also lays out an impeccable method to study socialist culture, straddling media studies and political economy to critically analyze some fundamental features of its very effective propaganda. -- Laikwan Pang, author of The Art of Cloning: Creative Production During China's Cultural RevolutionJie Li’s research on Maoist cinema as a spirit medium reveals the constant struggle to keep revolutionary enthusiasm high after the People’s Republic of China was established in 1949. Her research on mobile projectionists brings out the complexity of working with rural audiences who sought the entertainment value in films meant to be understood ideologically. This book is a fine contribution to the study of cinema under socialism. -- Wendy Larson, author of Zhang Yimou: Globalization and the Subject of CultureThrough its marvelous narrative, Cinematic Guerrillas makes a compelling case that reception constitutes the core of cinema’s function and value . . . What Li manages to both uncover and produce is a rich and richly contradictory history of Chinese cinema, or, more precisely, of cinema in China, detailing in its intricacies how projectionists and audiences became key conduits of the “media revolution” that others might more commonly call the “Chinese revolution.” -- Bruno Guaraná * Film Quarterly *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Revolutionary Spirit MediumshipPart I: Projectionists as Media Infrastructure1. Cinematic Nation-Building: Media Networks and Spiritual Battlegrounds2. Mobile Projectionists and the Things They Carried3. The Three Sisters Movie Team: Projecting Models, Model Projectionists, and Female Projectionists4. The Cost of Spiritual Food: A Ritual Economy of Rural CinemaPart II: Audiences as Creative Agents5. The Hot Noise of Open-Air Cinema6. Guerrilla Cinema and Guerrilla Reception7. Transcultural Guerrillas: The Reception of Foreign Films in Socialist China8. Poisonous Weeds and Censorship as ExorcismEpilogueAppendix: InterviewsNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisCinematic Guerrillas is a media history of Chinese film exhibition and reception that offers fresh insights into the powers and limits of propaganda.Trade ReviewIn this groundbreaking book, Jie Li delivers a fascinating account of socialist cinema. Reviving the scene of mobile projection and reception, Li reveals the human as central to technology, infrastructure, and energy. By taking propaganda history seriously, Li makes a major contribution to global media theory and archaeology. Cinematic Guerrillas will reverberate across multiple fields in the years to come. -- Weihong Bao, author of Fiery Cinema: The Emergence of an Affective Medium in ChinaCinematic Guerillas is both a bumper research harvest and a thrilling read. The memories of Mao-era mobile projectionists and audiences make us understand and feel how the cinema enchanted its audiences with revolutionary spirit—and how it made them willing to pay the heavy price of utopian dreams. -- Chris Berry, coeditor of Chinese Film Festivals: Sites of TranslationCinematic Guerrillas offers an ingenious exploration of Mao-era China. Jie Li considers state messages conveyed in film, embedding them in a physical mediascape of itinerant projectionists who hauled equipment, cash-strapped collectives who paid for local screenings, and villagers who flocked to open-air showings for entertainment and respite. Perceptive, hilarious, and heartbreaking. -- Gail Hershatter, author of The Gender of Memory: Rural Women and China's Collective PastHow do you turn a scattered population into a revolutionary mass? Drawing on extensive archival and oral research, Li depicts the work of thousands of mobile projectionists traveling all over China training rural peoples for political struggle. A tour de force of historical reconstruction and theoretical intervention, this book shows how the Chinese revolution was also a media revolution dependent on the logistical work of ‘cinematic guerillas.’ -- Brian Larkin, author of Signal and Noise: Infrastructure, Media, and Urban Culture in NigeriaCinematic Guerrillas is cultural history at its best. Not only does it provide an engaging account of the culture of the young and aspiring PRC, but it also lays out an impeccable method to study socialist culture, straddling media studies and political economy to critically analyze some fundamental features of its very effective propaganda. -- Laikwan Pang, author of The Art of Cloning: Creative Production During China's Cultural RevolutionJie Li’s research on Maoist cinema as a spirit medium reveals the constant struggle to keep revolutionary enthusiasm high after the People’s Republic of China was established in 1949. Her research on mobile projectionists brings out the complexity of working with rural audiences who sought the entertainment value in films meant to be understood ideologically. This book is a fine contribution to the study of cinema under socialism. -- Wendy Larson, author of Zhang Yimou: Globalization and the Subject of CultureThrough its marvelous narrative, Cinematic Guerrillas makes a compelling case that reception constitutes the core of cinema’s function and value . . . What Li manages to both uncover and produce is a rich and richly contradictory history of Chinese cinema, or, more precisely, of cinema in China, detailing in its intricacies how projectionists and audiences became key conduits of the “media revolution” that others might more commonly call the “Chinese revolution.” -- Bruno Guaraná * Film Quarterly *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Revolutionary Spirit MediumshipPart I: Projectionists as Media Infrastructure1. Cinematic Nation-Building: Media Networks and Spiritual Battlegrounds2. Mobile Projectionists and the Things They Carried3. The Three Sisters Movie Team: Projecting Models, Model Projectionists, and Female Projectionists4. The Cost of Spiritual Food: A Ritual Economy of Rural CinemaPart II: Audiences as Creative Agents5. The Hot Noise of Open-Air Cinema6. Guerrilla Cinema and Guerrilla Reception7. Transcultural Guerrillas: The Reception of Foreign Films in Socialist China8. Poisonous Weeds and Censorship as ExorcismEpilogueAppendix: InterviewsNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisGeorge Orwell''s moving reflections on the English character and his passionate belief in the need for political change.The Lion and the Unicorn was written in London during the worst period of the blitz. It is vintage Orwell, a dynamic outline of his belief in socialism, patriotism and an English revolution. His fullest political statement, it has been described as ''one of the most moving and incisive portraits of the English character'' and is as relevant now as it ever has been.

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Book Synopsis''A rich and readable account of left-wing activism in the West and opposition to Soviet-style communism in the East'' Katja Hoyer, The Spectator''A dream, perhaps, but one that still sounds worth fighting for, even beautiful'' Stuart Jeffries, The Observer''An ambitious and masterly account of utopian protest in Europe ... Fast-paced, with an eye for telling detail and written with a light touch'' Robert GildeaIn post-war Europe, protest was everywhere. On both sides of the Iron Curtain, from Paris to Prague, Milan to Wroclaw, ordinary people took to the streets, fighting for a better world. Their efforts came to a head most dramatically in 1968 and 1989, when mass movements swept Europe and rewrote its history.In the decades between, Joachim C. Häberlen argues, new movements emerged that transformed the nature of protesting. Activism moved beyond traditional demonstrations, from squatting to staging 'Trade ReviewWell written and informative ... The stories of Provo and other groups, less mythologised than the brick-throwers of 1968 but equally important, illuminate the pages of this book, showing that their efforts 'changed the society in which we live' not merely by achieving things, but also by encouraging us to try it ourselves. -- Anna Aslanyan * Financial Times *[Haeberlen's] particular strength is in covering not just protests in the West, such as the 1968 movements, but on the other side of the Iron Curtain ... intricate details ... a rich and readable account of left-wing activism in the West and opposition to Soviet-style communism in the East. -- Katja Hoyer * The Spectator *An amiable history of countercultural agitators, from Amsterdam’s anti-car anarchists to Poland’s ‘revolution of dwarfs’, shows the myriad faces of postwar dissent ... A dream, perhaps, but one that still sounds worth fighting for, even beautiful. -- Stuart Jeffries * The Observer *Although Europe had the uprisings in Paris and Prague in 1968, the revolutionary violence of the 1970s and theorists such as Herbert Marcuse and Guy Debord, the counter-culture it produced tends to take second place in the Anglophone world’s imagination. Joachim C. Häberlen’s wide-ranging book gives the continent its due. -- Dorian Lynskey * Literary Review *An ambitious and masterly account of utopian protest in Europe from the 1950s to 1989 and beyond, ranging from political revolt to environmental and humanitarian movements and the sexual revolutions, lifestyle changes, music and laughter of the counterculture. Fast-paced, with an eye for telling detail and written with a light touch. -- Robert GildeaVibrant ... a book that pulses with colour and light ... vividly demonstrates that the post-war impulse to build a better world was so much more than mere theory. -- Marcus Colla * The Interpreter *

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Book SynopsisOn Anarchism is an essential introduction to Noam Chomsky''s political theory.On Anarchism sheds a much needed light on the foundations of Chomsky''s thought, specifically his constant questioning of the legitimacy of entrenched power. The book gathers his essays and interviews to provide a short, accessible introduction to his distinctively optimistic brand of anarchism. Refuting the notion of anarchism as a fixed idea, and disputing the traditional fault lines between anarchism and socialism, this is a book sure to challenge, provoke and inspire. Profoundly relevant to our times, it is a touchstone for political activists and anyone interested in deepening their understanding of anarchism, or of Chomsky''s thought.''Arguably the most important intellectual alive'' New York Times

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Book SynopsisBorn to Slovenian peasants, Louis Adamic commanded crowds, met with FDR and Truman, and built a prolific career as an author and journalist. Behind the scenes, he played a leading role in a coalition of black intellectuals and writers, working class militants, ethnic activists, and others that worked for a multiethnic America and against fascism. John Enyeart restores Adamic''s life to the narrative of American history. Dogged and energetic, Adamic championed causes that ranged from ethnic and racial equality to worker''s rights to anticolonialism. Adamic defied the consensus that equated being American with Anglo-Protestant culture. Instead, he insisted newcomers and their ideas kept the American identity in a state of dynamism that pushed it from strength to strength. In time, Adamic''s views put him at odds with an establishment dedicated to cold war aggression and white supremacy. He increasingly fought smear campaigns and the distortion of his views--both of which continued aTrade Review"Enyeart's work comes at a moment in which forging the multiracial, multiethnic, working-class-based, transnational antifascist movement Adamic championed is urgently necessary. . . . Death to Fascism is both praiseworthy and relevant to scholars and organizers alike." --North Median Review"Enyeart weaves together the questions of Americanism, immigration, antifascism, and foreign policy in a coherent and engaging fashion. . . . Death to Fascism is a well-written and engaging piece of historical research." --Social History"The objective of his book, Enyeart says, is 'recovering Adamic’s legacy so that we can better understand [that] our antifascist past is vital to our future' (p. 161). His well-researched book largely achieves its objective." --Journal of Cold War Studies"In this well-researched, original work, Enyeart establishes the importance of Louis Adamic as an influential political and cultural figure of the period between the 1930s and the early Cold War. Adamic's life reveals the presence of a robust anticolonialist and antifascist strand of thinking in the often-overlooked early twentieth century immigrant/ethnic Left."--John Bukowczyk, editor of Immigrant Identity and the Politics of Citizenship"Because Enyeart has captured the life and work of an antifascist democratic radical who continues to resonate today, Death to Fascism is a major accomplishment. " --H-Net Reviews"Enyeart knows his subject intimately and passionately." --TruthDig"This is a very important book. It challenges the emphasis in so much recent radical history on the centrality--for good or ill--of the Communist Party, and sees the broader left, of which Adamic was a leading member, as central. Readers will come to care about Adamic, his struggles, and even his contradictions."--David Roediger, author of Class, Race, and Marxism

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis is a thought-provoking and enlightening, if in places frustrating, collection of interdisciplinary essays that will be of benefit to social scientists interested in consumer lifeworlds under communist rule. -- Gediminas Lankauskas, University of Regina * The Russian Review *The volume is a useful study of Eastern European consumption during socialism and an invaluable tool with which to think about writing the histories of consumerism and state socialism in general. The provocative conclusions regarding socialism's failures as reverse echoes of our world today, with its own tortured relation to consumption, should, one hopes, resonate beyond the confines of the fields of Eastern European and socialist history. -- Victor Petrov - University of Tennessee * H-Net (Socialisms) *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments1. The Pleasures of Backwardness / Zsuzsa Gille, Cristofer Scarboro, and Diana Mincytė2. Consuming Dialogues: Pleasure, Restraint, "Backwardness," and "Civilization" in Eastern Europe / Mary Neuburger3. Just Rewards: The Social Contract and Communism's Hard Bargain with the Citizen-Consumer / Patrick Hyder Patterson4. Conceptualizing Consumption in the Polish People's Republic / Brian Porter-Szűcs 5. Oranges and the New Black: Importing, Provisioning, and Consuming Tropical Fruits and Coffee in the GDR, 1971–1989 / Anne Dietrich6. VCRs, Modernity, and Consumer Culture in Late State Socialist Poland / Patryk Wasiak7. The Enchantment of Imaginary Europe: Consumer Practices in Post-Soviet Ukraine / Tania Bulakh8. The Late Socialist Good Life and its Discontents: Bit, Kultura, and the Social Life of Goods / Cristofer Scarboro9. The Prosumerist Resonance Machine: Rethinking Political Subjectivity and Consumer Desire in State Socialism / Zsuzsa Gille and Diana MincytėIndex

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Book SynopsisArgues the “pink tide” in Latin America in the late 1990 was caused by voters to punish political parties unable to improve their economic well-being.Trade Review"This book breaks new ground in testing the origins of Latin America’s political turn to the Left, exploring the effects of discontent with government performance and market reform policies. Queirolo demonstrates that Latin America has experienced previous periods of leftist electoral success and that the most recent wave is more than a simple backlash against neoliberal reforms. This empirically rich study is a most welcome addition to the growing body of work on voting behavior in Latin America and its relationship to policy and performance." —Kenneth M. Roberts, Cornell University"This careful, comprehensive investigation makes an important contribution: It shows that the recent electoral success of the Latin American left did not arise from an ideological backlash against neoliberalism, but rather from a pragmatic quest for economic improvement. The book is a significant addition to the literature." —Kurt Weyland, Lozano Long Professor of Latin American Politics, University of Texas at Austin"Rosario Queirolo's The Success of the Left in Latin America: Untainted Parties, Market Reforms, and Voting Behavior makes a valuable contribution to the study of Latin American politics and of comparative politics more generally. Queirolo makes a compelling argument that the general shift to the Left in Latin America was less a straightforward protest against neoliberal policies but more strongly a reaction to negative economic performance. Enriched with extensive survey data, her book is authoritative and persuasive." —Elizabeth J. Zechmeister, Vanderbilt University“Many have argued the success of the Left [in Latin America] is due to a rejection of neoliberal reforms, but Queirolo demonstrates how ‘citizens in the region are more outcome than policy oriented.’ Another assumption she successfully challenges is that Latin American electoral behavior is clientelistic and personalistic; however, she shows how in many cases the electorate is sophisticated in demanding accountability.” —Choice"Queirolo's work substantially advances our understanding of the motivations behind voter behaviour in Latin America. It is clear that in terms of its substantive content, the quality of its argument, and its use of a mixed method and micro and macro focus, this book is essential reading for those seeking to understand not only the recent 'Pink Tide' in Latin America, but also those of the cyclical historical patterns that preceded it." —Democratization“Rosario Queirolo’s path-breaking study of the Latin American left departs from this view. . . [that] we tend to ascribe voter behavior and political change to ideological variables. Queirolo’s approach is innovative in its focus on both macro political and micro political variables, and in viewing the question of the recent leftist resurgence in historical perspective. Queirolo’s work substantially advances our understanding of the motivations behind voter behavior in Latin America.” —Democratization“Queirolo is at the top of her craft when it comes to debunking myths. The first important myth is the idea that the pink tide [the electoral success of parties on the left] was a novelty. . . . Queirolo shows that the region has had ‘ideological cycles’ in the past, and that the left was a previous favorite. . . The second set of myths Queirolo debunks is the idea that the current phase represents a rejections of the neoliberal policies predominant in the 1990s, or conversely, a sign of ‘disadvantaged classes’ rising politically, or something even simpler—a mere reflection of economic indicators. . . . Queirolo has offered one of the best explanations in the literature for the origins of all this pink.” —The Americas

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Book SynopsisThis work takes argument with the notion that Fascism never took hold in France. By the author of "French Fascism: The First Wave, 1924-1933".Table of ContentsAcknowledgements; Introduction: The Debate over Fascism, The Consensus School, The Sternhell Controversy, Historical Fascism in ltaly and Germany, Defining Fascism, Contextualising Fascism, Major Common Denominators of European Fascism; Context: Depression and its Political Consequences, The February 6th, 1934, Riots, The Popular Front; Major and Declining Fascisms, Newspaper Allies, and the Greenshirts: Small and Large Fascisms, The Francistes, The Jeunesses Patriotes, The Action Francaise Newspaper Allies, The Greenshirts, The Cagoule, The Fascist Left: Deat and Bergery; The Solidarite Francaise: Leadership, Financing, and Membership, Rise and Fall Was the Solidarite Francaise Fascist?, Anti-Semitism, Praising Musslini and Hitler and Calling for a Franco-Italian-German Alliance Fascist "Republicanism" and National "Socialism", Anti-Marxism, Antiliberatism, Women Patriotism, Tradition, and the Veterans' Mystique; The Croix de Feu - Parti Social Francais: Political History, 1928- 1939, La Rocque after 1940, Financing, Membership, Was La Rocque's Movement Fascist?, Anti-Semitism, Antidemocracy, Paramilitarism, Anti-Marxism, "Neither Right nor Left", Antidecadence, Antiliberalism; The Parti Populaire Francais: Jacques Doriot: The Communist Years, 1920-1936, The Shift to Fascism, Fascist Symbolism, Financing , Leadership, Membership, National "Socialism" as Anti-Marxism, Cultural Traditionalism, Antifeminism, and Imperialism, National "Socialism" in the Writings of Pierre Drieu La Rochelle, Raymon Fernandez, and Bertrand de Jouvenel Antidemocracy, Antiliberalism, Antirationalism, and Anti-Semitism; Fascist Intellectuals and the Revolt against Decadence: Bertrand de Jouvenel, Pierre Drieu La Rochelle, Robert Brasillach, Louis-Ferdinand, Celine Splitting; Conclusion; Notes; Index.

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Book SynopsisBringing together the Soviet historical experience and Stalin-era art, in novels, films, poems, songs, painting, photography, architecture, and advertising, this work examines Stalinism's representational strategies and demonstrates how real socialism was begotten of Socialist Realism.Trade Review"Dobrenko is a master interpreter of Socialist Realism. He explores the functionality of the Leninist-Stalinist cultural project with verve and imagination. Those who study Soviet art, literature, film, photography, history, and much else will be hard put to find a better guide. The book is a pleasure to read."—Jeffrey Brooks, author of Thank You, Comrade Stalin! Soviet Public Culture from Revolution to Cold War -- Jeffrey Brooks"Unsurpassed in its grasp of Stalinism and Stalinist culture, Dobrenko's new book makes the convincing theoretical move of turning the categories of Stalinist thought against Stalinist cultural production. Rigorous in interpretation and research, challenging and persuasive."—William Mills Todd III, Harvard University -- William Mills Todd III“This book by an internationally celebrated scholar of Soviet culture offers a uniquely rich and convincing account of how Socialist Realism was the pre-determining force in Stalinist discourse, shaping biological sciences and ‘scientific Communism’ as well as glossy magazines, official histories, narrative films, public exhibitions, and advertising. The eccentricities and paradoxes of a country where, as Dobrenko puts it, there was ‘a single need. The need to provide the spectacle of socialism,’ are everywhere on view. This fascinating study will be indispensable reading for anyone interested in Russian culture from the 1930s onwards.”—Catriona Kelly, University of Oxford -- Catriona Kelly“Evgeny Dobrenko has written the most sweeping, theoretically-informed book to-date on Socialist Realism and its centrality to the Stalinist project. He presents a chilling analysis of Socialist Realism as a discourse of repression. From photojournalism, to cinema, to biology, to advertising and Stalin’s speeches, Dobrenko shows how Socialist Realism produced socialism by aestheticizing and ‘de-realizing’ life. I have never seen a more convincing indictment of art’s centrality in Soviet terror. ”—Eric Naiman, University of California, Berkeley -- Eric Naiman

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Book SynopsisTracing Japanese Leftist Political Activism (19572017) tells the story of the Japanese Red Army (JRA), a militant left-wing group founded in 1971 which was involved in numerous terrorist attacks.It traces the origins of the group in the Japanese New Left in the 1960s and looks at Red Army groups of the early 1970s in Japan, such as the Red Army Faction, and the United Red Army which became infamous for murdering its own members. The book also examines the JRA''s trans- and international links with other militant groups including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, as well as the networks of intellectuals and fellow activists who supported them.This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of terrorism, radicalism, and Japanese social history.Trade Review"Claudia Derichs has gracefully completed the manuscript left behind by Kevin Coogan’s untimely death. It tells a richly detailed story of Japanese leftist political activism that sheds light on neglected connections spanning national, organizational, and chronological boundaries."Kenji Hasegawa, Yokohama National University, Japan, and author of Student Radicalism and the Formation of Postwar Japan"Studies of the Long Sixties are increasingly transnational in approach and this book is another bold entry in that growing canon. Gleaned from a multilingual array of sources — political publications, previous scholarship, memoirs, reportage, declassified materials, and more — it is an ambitious attempt to pull together the disparate and sometimes astonishing threads of the Japanese Red Army and Beheiren — respectively, perhaps the most notorious and lauded elements of the Japanese New Left — as they intersected through several key intellectual-activists and interacted with other radicals around the world."William Andrews, author of Dissenting JapanTable of ContentsPART ONE: TOKYO (1957–1973) Introduction: The Boomerang Flying Transnational Section One: The Rise and Fall of Student Radicalism 1. The Birth of the Japanese New Left 2. The First Bund 3. Ampo 4. Zengakuren’s Gangster Shōgun? 5. Profiling Zengakuren 6. The Return of Ikki Kita 7. Icarus Falling – The Second Bund 8. "Disorganize Tokyo Imperialist University!" Section Two: Beheiren 9. The Riddle of Shunsuke Tsurumi 10. Voiceless Voices – The Rise of Beheiren 11. The Intrepid Four 12. Beheiren’s War 13. "Destroy from Within" Section Three: Red Army 14. Sekigun! 15. The Yodogō Hijack 16. Sixteen Gravestones – Rengō Sekigun 17. Tsuneo Umenai Declares War PART TWO: GOING TRANSNATIONAL (1972–2017) Section Four: Arab and Japanese Red Army 18. Slaughter at the Airport 19. Paris Underground 20. Takahashi in the Curiel Network 21. Pyongyang Calling 22. The Hague 23. The Stockholm Arrests 24. Crisis in Kuala Lumpur 25. Trapping Takahashi Section Five: Return to Japan 26. After Dhaka 27. O! Japan 28. Station to Station Conclusion: Man of Ghosts

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Book SynopsisThis revised and enlarged edition of the leading anthology provides the essential writings of Marx and Engels--those works necessary for an introduction to Marxist thought and ideology.

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Book SynopsisThe gripping story of a collective passion for freedom that shook the world.

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