Description
Book SynopsisRevolutionary Studies explores the relevance of Marxism to emancipatory politics through a critical examination of core concepts and key twentieth-century revolutionary figures and movements. The first part of Revolutionary Studies explores definitions of the working class, social identities, democracy, capitalism, and socialism. The second applies these understandings to the Russian, Chinese, Nicaraguan, Indian, and South African revolutionary and post-revolutionary experiences. The third engages with the lives and the ideas of five important figures associated with Marxism.
Trade Review"Paul Le Blanc is a true organic intellectual, risen from the working class to become a prolific writer, steadfast activist, and exceptional teacher. His lifelong commitment to the struggle for a democratic, socialist revolution. In this wonderful set of essays, he lays out, in accessible and passionate prose, his penetrating analysis of both revolutionary theory and practice. The theory pieces are must reading; they give readers, whether they are new to the material or seasoned hands, the essence of Marxism, class, identity, working class culture, and the politics of revolution. The practice chapters probe revolutionary efforts around the world, from Russia and Cuba to Nicaragua and South Africa. These will be especially useful to teachers. We are in a time of renewed interest in socialism, and there could be no better book than this one to help us grasp the immanent need for it and how we might get from this dying society to one that offers us not just greater happiness but our only chance for long-term survival." -Michael D. Yates, Associate Editor of Monthly Review and Editorial Director of Monthly Review Press, author of The Great Inequality and Why Unions Matter "In this outstanding collection of essays, Paul Le Blanc deals, with powerful insight, key isssues of revolutionary theory and practice, from Marx and Trotsky to the Sandinista insurrection. Uneven and combined development, labor radicalism and socialist democracy are discussed with great acumen. This is 'plain' - i.e. dialectical - revolutionary Marxism at it's best, refusing to give up the struggle for a new world, a society of liberty and justice for all." -Michael Löwy, Emeritus research director, National Center for Scientific Research, Paris
Table of ContentsIntroduction THEORY 1. Explorations in Plain Marxism 2. Uneven and Combined Development and the Swirl of History 3. Radical Labor Subculture: Key to Past and Future Insurgencies 4. Class and Identities 5. Democracy HISTORY 6. The Russian Revolutions of 1917 7. Making Sense of Post-Revolutionary Russia 8. Origins and Trajectory of the Cuban Revolution 9. Nicaragua: Revolution Permanent or Impermanent? 10. South Africa: Race, Class, Vanguard 11. India: Peculiarities of Development and Revolution PEOPLE 12. Spider and Fly: The Leninist Philosophy of Georg Lukács 13. Antonio Gramsci and the Modern Prince 14. The Odyssey of James Burnham 15. Dennis Brutus: Poet as Revolutionary 16. Revolutionary Patience: Daniel Bensaïd Acknowledgements
