Search results for ""Author Paul Le Blanc""

Lenin's political and organisational ideas confront the reality of the labour movement and the revolutionary process. This study of Vladimir Lenin's conception of the revolutionary party, and its place in Marxist thought, gives a vibrant sense of the historical context - both Russian and international - in which Lenin's views were shaped and upon which they had such a profound impact.

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'Brings out the practical activism, principled politics, and revolutionary patience crucial to organizing the oppressed on a rapidly over-heating planet' - Jodi Dean 'Crackling with intellectual life' - Lars T. Lih Vladimir Lenin lies in a tomb in Moscow's Red Square. History has not been kind to this Russian leader, his teachings reviled by modern mainstream politics. But in today's capitalist society, riven by class inequality and imperialist wars, perhaps it is worth returning to this communist icon's demand for 'Peace, Land and Bread', and his radical understanding of democracy. Lenin was wrestling with the question of 'what is to be done?' when facing the catastrophes of his own time. Against the odds, the Bolshevik party succeeded in rejecting both the corrupt and decaying Romanov dynasty, as well as the capitalist economic system which had started to take root in Russia. To understand how this happened, and what we can learn from him today, Paul Le Blanc takes us through Lenin's dynamic revolutionary thought, how he worked as part of a larger collective and how he centred the labor movement in Russia and beyond, uncovering a powerful form of democracy that could transform our activism today.

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Rosa Luxemburg, brilliant early 20th century German revolutionary, comes alive in a rich set of essays on her life, ideas, and lasting influence. The essays deal not only with her remarkable contributions to political, social and economic theory, but also touch on her vibrant personality and intimate friendships. This collection, the fruit of more than four decades of involvement with Luxemburg's work, simultaneously showcases her penetratingly intellectual, political and deeply humanistic qualities.

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Revolutionary 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.

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Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was perhaps the greatest revolutionary of the 20th century. As stated by historian J. Arch Getty, 'Lenin deserves a lot of credit for the notion that the meek can inherit the earth, that there can be a political movement based on social justice and equality.' Putting this belief into practice, Leninism was the application of Marxist ideas that led the 1917 fight for liberation and political independence among the working classes in Russia. Now Paul Le Blanc weighs in on the fierce controversy surrounding Lenin's life, personality and ideas.

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From the Marxist-tinged anarchism of the Haymarket martyrs to the Occupy Wall Street movement, these essays give a vibrant sense of the central role of the Left in social movements and struggles of the past and present, and highlights some of the amazing individuals, whose unstoppable energies generated remarkable transformations. Left Americana considers both the limitations and successes of Christian socialists, Communists, Maoists, Trotskyists and the 'New Left' activists of the '60s and '70s in creating profound social and political change.

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The first 'American Exceptionalists' belonged to a left-wing current led by Jay Lovestone. Briefly in control of, then dramatically expelled from, the US Communist Party, they maintained an independent existence on the US Left from 1929 to 1940. Lovestone himself collaborated with the CIA to help shape the Cold War foreign policy of the AFL-CIO. Yet earlier documents and articles from the Lovestone group provide rich information and remarkable insights on twentieth-century realities and radicalism.

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This is an entirely new collection of Lenin's writing. For the first time it brings together crucial shorter works, to show that Lenin held a life-long commitment to freedom and democracy. Le Blanc has written a comprehensive introduction, which gives an accessible overview of Lenin's life and work, and explains his relevance to political thought today. Lenin has been much maligned in the mainstream, accused of viewing 'man as modeling clay' and of 'social engineering of the most radical kind.' However, in contrast to today's world leaders, who happily turn to violence to achieve their objectives, Lenin believed it impossible to reach his goals 'by any other path than that of political democracy.' This collection will be of immense value to students encountering Lenin for the first time, and those looking for a new interpretation of one of the 20th century's most inspiring figures.

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In the new edition of this definitive work on the history of the revolutionary socialist current in the United States that came to be identified as 'American Trotskyism', Paul Le Blanc offers fresh reflections on this history for scholars and activists in the twenty-first century. Includes a preface written especially for the new edition of this distinctive work.

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Rosa Luxemburg's writings reveal one of the most brilliant and passionate minds drawn to the revolutionary socialist movement. Through the letters, pamphlets and theorising, we see an outstanding social and economic theorist, a dedicated political activist and a devoted confidant. Providing an extensive overview of her writings, this volume contains a number of items never before anthologised. Her work was broad in scope tackling capitalism and socialism; globalisation and imperialism; history; war and peace; social struggles, trade unions, political parties; class, gender, race; the interconnection of humanity with the natural environment. The editors provide an extensive and informative introduction outlining and evaluating her life and thought. This is the most comprehensive introduction to the range of Rosa Luxemburg's thought.

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