Hasil untuk "Socialism. Communism. Anarchism"

Oscar Alexander Undahl

I denne artikkelen analyserer jeg hvordan den egyptiske arbeiderbevegelsen ble omformet under Nasser-regimet (1952–1967) fra en relativt autonom grasrotmobilisering til et korporativt og statskontrollert system. Ved å kombinere arbeidshistoriske og statsteoretiske perspektiver viser jeg hvordan fagforeningene ikke bare ble institusjonelt integrert i staten, men også omgjort til symboler for nasjonal enhet og utvikling. Basert på en kritisk lesning av eksisterende forskning argumenterer jeg for at denne transformasjonen var både en videreføring og en nøytralisering av tidligere mobiliseringstradisjoner. Jeg identifiserer tre sentrale dimensjoner: institusjonell korporatisering, ideologisk mobilisering og historisk kontinuitet. Analysen bidrar til en bredere debatt om autoritær modernisering, postkolonial nasjonsbygging og arbeidermakt i det globale sør. Fagforeningenes rolle i det nasseristiske Egypt blir her forstått som et uttrykk for hvordan staten både temmet og aktiverte arbeiderklassen i byggingen av en ny nasjonal orden. I tillegg antyder jeg at Egypts erfaring må forstås i lys av bredere regionale mønstre i den arabiske verden, der lignende korporative strategier, særlig i Tunisia, Irak, Syria og Algerie, ble brukt for å integrere fagbevegelsen i statens politiske og ideologiske prosjekt. I dette komparative perspektivet blir det understreket at analysen av Egypt ikke bare belyser et nasjonalt forløp, men også gir innsikt i hvordan autoritære regimer i regionen brukte arbeiderklassen som både symbol og styringsverktøy i prosessen med å konsolidere makt.

Hernán Díaz

Reseña de Pablo Scotto, Los orígenes del derecho al trabajo en Francia (1789-1848), Madrid, Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales, 2021, 486 pgs.

Xavier Mínguez Alcaide

El presente trabajo hace confluir la historiografía, la psicología política y los estudios feministas, con el objetivo de conocer determinantes de subjetivación política de mujeres antifranquistas vascas entre 1965 y 1975. A partir de 18 Producciones Narrativas, se presenta un relato que muestra elementos psicológicos, sociales y estructurales de subjetivación política elaborados desde la familia, la escuela, organizaciones juveniles, y la militancia estudiantil, vecinal, sindical y política. Los resultados sugieren situar el papel de las mujeres en la construcción de la resistencia antifranquista, y sumar el ideario feminista emergente al nacionalista y marxista en la lectura del antifranquismo vasco. 

Jeff Noonan

The paper argues that a Marxist transhumanism is politically and ethically incoherent. While it is true that transhumanists and Marxists and transhumanists believe that human beings are self-determining, self-transforming, transhumanists are committed to transcending the material conditions of organic life. Their ultimate aim is to encourage the emergence of a artificial superintelligence whose self-creative capacities are not limited by the needs of organic life forms. Socialism, by contrast, is a political and ethical movement committed to ending the suffering caused by capitalism, by changing social institutions and the values according to which resources are distributed and utilized. The success of the transhumanist project would render all social and political theories and institutions obsolete. The socialist use of technology would expand human life-capacities while preserving the ties of mutual need that link us together and make human life meaningful and worthwhile,

J. Gunnell

Boldizzoni develops his argument that two cultural factors account for the persistence of capitalism in Western societies: a long history of social hierarchy/stratification (which has taken various forms from antiquity through feudalism and now in capitalism) and the more recent, modern emphasis on individualism. In contrast, societies with a history of less hierarchical social relations, such as Norway, have tended to adopt versions of capitalism closer to socialism (p. 260). Similarly, societies that “lacked an individualist social pattern, such as Russia” (p. 260) were the most viable candidates for socialist revolution, regardless of their stage of economic development. It seems plausible that these factors at least partly account for the persistence of capitalism. But it is not clear that they prove that the goal of ending capitalism, even in the long term, rests on somany “false hopes” (p. 4). Specifically, even if individualism and hierarchy are as supportive of capitalism and as resistant to change as Boldizzoni argues, why does that make radical change so unlikely? Boldizzoni baldly states that the “highly hierarchical social structure” and “individualistic social pattern” in Britain and most of Western Europe, and even more so in the United States, make it “difficult to imagine a radical change toward socialism” (p. 261). Given the long history of social hierarchy inWestern societies, it does seem unlikely to disappear quickly, if at all. However, the claim that this rules out the possibility of socialism rests on the assumption that socialism is necessarily incompatible with or resistant to any form of social stratification or inequality, an assumption that is contradicted by the principle of distribution according to contribution (in Marx’s first phase of communism) as well as by the principle of distribution according to needs (in communism’s higher phase). Similarly, to assume that individualism renders socialism unlikely ignores the importance that socialist thought and practice have placed on individual freedom and flourishing: recall Marx’s own line that the “free development of each will be the condition for the free development of all” in communism. It is true that the forms of social hierarchy and individualism that characterize contemporary capitalist society are at odds with most views of socialism, but they might be more subject to challenge and change than Boldizzoni assumes. Anger directed at the 1%, for example, registers disapproval of the current patterns of social stratification. And to what extent do the concrete forms that individualism now takes—such as careerism and opportunity hoarding—express genuine preferences as opposed to reluctant adaptations to structural constraints? Although Boldizzoni rightly criticizes others for dichotomous thinking, he too falls into the trap: either we focus on reformist politics that avoid the false hope of a foreseeable end of capitalism, or we succumb to the naïve wishful thinking of those who believe that more radical change is possible. But why are these mutually exclusive? Here one thinks of André Gorz’s concept of nonreformist reforms, most notably used by Nancy Fraser, as a way of thinking about reformist measures that carry a more transformative potential. Ironically, giving up hope of radical social change, as Boldizzoni counsels, will help fulfill the prophecy of capitalism’s persistence.

Michael D. Schmidt

The aim of Black Flame is to examine the ideas and history of a once neglected anarchist movement. The principal ambitions of the authors are threefold: to establish the parameters of this movement, to traces its global history and to demonstrate its continuing power as a counter to neo-liberal globalization. This first volume provides the theoretical framework for the analysis and examines the history of the movement from the latter part of the nineteenth century to the start of World War II. The second volume promises to pick up the story of the movement’s international development from the 1940s and show its continued relevance to modern political struggles. The relationship between anarchism and syndicalism is the book’s central focus and the first part of this volume is devoted to showing the necessity of this relationship. For Schmidt and Van der Walt syndicalism – or class struggle anarchism – is not merely one possible form of anarchism, it is its only coherent expression (p. 19). Fully aware of the contentiousness of this claim, the authors support it carefully: their argument is extremely well structured, based on an impressive knowledge of anarchist thought and a mastery of the available historical sources. They anticipate objections to their thesis and meet these forcefully. For example, Malatesta is not recruited to their cause before his debate with Pierre Monatte in 1907 is scrutinized. Similarly, in seeking to downplay the differences between anarchist communism and anarcho-syndicalism, the authors acknowledge Kropotkin’s tendency to differentiate the two and his keenness to enrich the former with an ancient pre-history. Distinguishing between principles, strategies, and tactics, the authors are able to explain the complex internal politics of the movement and make sense of the confusing grounds of syndicalist disagreements. Their account is rich in detail. At times, the short sketches of key activists and thinkers interrupts the flow of the analysis, but these introductions to lesser or unknown anarchists give the text real depth. More importantly, their interest in world movements – from Argentina to modern-day Zimbabwe – enables them to challenge the claims that the Spanish experience was an exceptional success in a history of anarchist failure and that anarchism effectively died in 1939 with Franco’s victory in the Spanish Civil War. Of course, none of this argumentation lessens the contentiousness of the claim that the broad anarchist tradition extends to figures who considered themselves Marxists – Bill Haywood for example – whilst excluding established notables – Godwin, Stirner, and Tolstoy – as well as a host of other self-identifying anarchists, including Proudhon. The politics of the book reflects a desire to divorce anarchism from free-market libertarianism. Insofar as this leads the authors to challenge the legalistic approach adopted by the littleread Paul Eltzbacher, their case is unimpeachable. Nevertheless their rejection of the claim that anti-statism is a sufficient condition for anarchism is a narrow starting point which leaves open the possibility of acknowledging its necessity and of defining anti-statism in different ways – precisely the move they make in presenting their critique of Marxism. At the risk that some readers might confuse Rothbard with Rocker, the authors construct what appears to be a very exclusive ‘‘broad’’ tradition. Their endorsement of Bookchin’s critique of lifestyle anarchism and the replication of his individualist/ collectivist and egoist/solidarist binaries heightens the sense that they are also throwing down a gauntlet to syndicalism’s critics, not merely driving a wedge between socialist Book Reviews 329

Omar Acha

La trayectoria de la historia intelectual en la Argentina de los últimos treinta años participa de un proceso correlativo a la crisis del marxismo en términos culturales, académicos y políticos. Ese tránsito historiográfico encuentra semejanzas con trayectorias historiográficas occidentales, pero revela también particularidades nacionales. En la Argentina, la práctica y la teoría de la historia intelectual tuvieron una menor distancia con el marxismo, cuyas peculiaridades son aquí analizadas. La reinterpretación de la teoría crítica marxista de las últimas décadas sitúa en otro marco conceptual –prolongando una hipótesis de José Sazbón formulada en 1997– la posibilidad de que el marxismo intervenga en las proyecciones de investigación de la historia intelectual. Este trabajo interrelaciona historia y teoría enfocando en los derroteros historiográficos argentinos como índices de debates más amplios.

M. Newman

What is socialism? The Introduction outlines the beliefs socialists have in common, including their opposition to gaps in wealth and equality and commitment to the creation of an egalitarian society. Socialism, capitalism, and liberalism are products of a post-19th-century age in which people see themselves as having the agency to effect change. Socialism’s detractors focus on its negative manifestations, such as Stalinism. Socialism has been interpreted differently around the world, inspiring distinct types of communism in Russia and China. Cuba has one of the best-known socialist political systems. Smaller socialist experiments include the kibbutz movement and post-colonial Arab and African efforts to combine socialism with existing traditions.

J. Watson

ABSTRACT This paper uses the concept of learning spaces to reflect on the pedagogies that will help humans acquire the wisdom to support a transition to a durable postcapitalist socioeconomy. Since Plato’s Academy dedicated “academic” spaces have been set aside from economic life. While humans naturally learn all the time, access to higher status learning remains restricted. Most learning is informal and outside academic spaces. An example is given from a novel published more than 100 years ago of an unpromising workplace becoming a space for deep learning about socialist resistance. I will suggest that all spaces occupied by humans at every scale from the room to the globe, and not just those of formal education, are learning spaces. The question is how they can be linked up to form a global space of exchange that could be called a learning society or, alternatively, postcapitalism, socialism, communism, or the society of associated producers. The ideas outlined here were presented in a module on Geographies of Education that I designed and taught at the University of Brighton until my recent retirement.

Antonio Oliva

Reseña de Enzo Traverso, Melancolía de izquierda. Marxismo, historia y memoria, México: FCE, 2018, 416 pgs.

Johan Heinsen

I tidligt moderne Danmark-Norge blev mandlige forbrydere ofte dømt til hårdt arbejde i institutioner kendt som slaverier. Arbejdet kom både hæren og flåden til gode. De største af denne type institutioner var Trunken (1620-1741), der var placeret på Københavns flådeværft, og Stokhuset (1741-1860), der lå i det nordlige København. Om natten var fangerne spærret inde i disse fængsler. Om dagen arbejdede de i større slæng på havnen eller rundtomkring i byen. Arbejdets primære funktion var opbyggelse og vedligeholdelse af statens militære infrastruktur, såsom skibe og fæstningsværker. Denne artikel bruger fængslernes fangeprotokoller i perioden 1690-1790 (4.300 fanger i alt) til at identificere de mange forskellige veje, som ledte mænd ind og ud af dette strafarbejde. Med inspiration fra Marcel van der Lindens arbejder med tvangsarbejdets globalhistorie bliver livet som straffefange undersøgt som tre momenter: indgang, selve udnyttelsen af arbejdskraften og udgang. Hvert af disse momenter kunne tage mange forskellige former. I mange tilfælde kunne straffefangens liv endda forme loops, hvor udgangen af én form for tvangsarbejde blot var begyndelsen på en anden. To individuelle livshistorier udforskes i artiklen for at vise den kompleksitet, dette i praksis kunne medføre.

This, essay was written in 1949-1950 and published in 1952 in the Princeton compendium, Socialism and American Life, edited by Donald Egbert and Stow Persons. Since then about a half-dozen published studies on American socialism have appeared (as well as a dozen unpublished Ph.D. theses), and on American communism ten scholarly volumes have been published in the series edited by Clinton Rossiter for the Fund for the Republic, while a score of other books, historical, analytical, and sensational (see the Bibliographical Essay, pp. 194-201), have increased the bulk of writing on this subject. This essay is being reprinted unchanged, and the reasons for this are twofold. First, despite the number of books on the Marxian movements in the United States, there is still not a single volume which encompasses, as this sketch does, the history of all the Marxian parties-the Socialist Labor Party, the Socialist Party, the Communist Party-as well as the various splinter and sectarian groups and personalities; and while many details have been added by the more specialized studies, the historical outline as presented in this monograph remains untouched. Second, and perhaps more important, the theoretical and interpretative framework presented in this essay has influenced many of the subsequent studies in the field, and this may be its enduring contribution. The basic question confronting all the students of American Marxism is the one posed in 1906 by Werner Sombart: "Why is there no socialism in the United States?" In the most advanced capitalist country of the world, there has been no Labor Party, little corporate class consciousness, and feeble intellectual leadership from the Left-though clearly the ideas of Marxism and the political proposals of the American Socialist Party are now the common coin of American intellectual life and its polity. Most of the explanations-one thinks here of those given two generations ago by Sombart or by Selig Perlman, or of the analyses made by such contemporary theorists as Sidney Hook, Louis Hartz, or S. M. Lipset-have stressed the distinctive conditions of American life, which made a barren ground for a socialist movement: the idea of equality, the opportunities for social mobility, the commitment to liberalism, the constraints of a two-party structure, the rising standard of living, the opportunity for labor to realize its demands through economic bargaining, and the like. The one question which all such explanations eschewed, and the one this essay attempted to answer was: Why did the socialist movement, as an organized political body, fail to adapt to the distinctive conditions of American life and find a place in the society as did, say, the British Labour Party in England (though not the Social Democratic Federation,

Antonio Oliva

Reseña de Marcello Musto (ed.) y otros, De regreso a Marx: nuevas lecturas y vigencia en el mundo actual, Buenos Aires: Octubre Editorial, 2015, 432 pgs.

Cristian Aquino

El presente artículo explora las disputas del sindicalismo revolucionario en torno a la organización de los gremios ferroviarios durante los primeros años de la década de 1920. Nos centramos en los debates sobre la personería jurídica y el modelo de sindicato industrial centralizado o federativo. Sostenemos que estas disyuntivas derivaron en la fragmentación de la corriente en tres sectores a los cuales proponemos denominar sindicalismo rojo, sindicalismo forista y sindicalismo pragmático.

Laura Caruso

El sindicalismo revolucionario, sus ideas, prácticas y giros, fueron vitales en la experiencia del movimiento obrero en Argentina al despuntar el siglo XX. En la navegación marítima el sindicalismo tuvo un protagonismo determinante tanto para la experiencia de sus trabajadores como para la propia corriente. Este trabajo indaga la militancia sindicalista a bordo, sus prácticas y formas de organización y de acción, así como las nociones que las sustentaron. Esto busca dar cuenta tanto de las particularidades del sindicalismo como de sus aspectos compartidos, en relación a su estrategia político-sindical y las formas de desplegarla, particularmente a través de la federación, de ciertas nociones de masculinidad, del control del trabajo y de una particular defensa del derecho obrero.

Simon Springer

Lisa A. Flores, Christy-Dale L. Sims

J. Friedman

Wayne Fife

Borrowing techniques from creative non-fiction, this article explores the parallels between gambling and fly-fishing in late modern capitalism. It introduces the concept of gnostic tourism and argues that some forms of contemporary leisure create moments of singularity in which the actor comes to feel as though he or she has penetrated to the heart of a deep secret. This, in turn, creates an affective state that fuels serial consumption. Implications are explored in relation to the potential for a more critical form of political consciousness.

Steve Striffler

it's a commentary....