In Marxism and the Open Mind, John Lewis seeks to explain Marxism as a system of thought. In doing so, he addresses the studied neglect or grotesque misrepresentation that he feels characterizes Western attitudes toward Marxism. Lewis also aims to stimulate what he believes to be a long overdue re-evaluation of Marxism in the light of what was contemporary thought in 1957, the year of the book's original publication and the height of the Cold War era. The essays include chapters on human rights and a discussion on Marxism and liberty. Marxist ethics, a much-neglected theme, is the subject of an essay that deals with some of the most deeply felt criticisms of Marxism in the 1950s. The ethical aspects of Marxism are examined once again in a contribution to the debate on Marxism and religion. The volume concludes with essays on Berdyaev and Sartre, which strike a note on the Marxist estimation of these thinkers, and with an essay on Marxist humanism. The essays cover a wide field of thought, uniting a close and sympathetic study of Marxism with a critical judgment rooted in academic training at three universities and experience in the Christian ministry.
In Marxism and the Open Mind, John Lewis seeks to explain Marxism as a system of thought. In doing so, he addresses the studied neglect or grotesque misrepresentation that he feels characterizes Western attitudes toward Marxism. Lewis also aims to stimulate what he believes to be a long overdue re-evaluation of Marxism in the light of what was contemporary thought in 1957, the year of the book’s original publication and the height of the Cold War era. The essays include chapters on human rights and a discussion on Marxism and liberty. Marxist ethics, a much-neglected theme, is the subject of an essay that deals with some of the most deeply felt criticisms of Marxism in the 1950s. The ethical aspects of Marxism are examined once again in a contribution to the debate on Marxism and religion. The volume concludes with essays on Berdyaev and Sartre, which strike a note on the Marxist estimation of these thinkers, and with an essay on Marxist humanism. The essays cover a wide field of thought, uniting a close and sympathetic study of Marxism with a critical judgment rooted in academic training at three universities and experience in the Christian ministry.
It has been said that the normal English reaction to uncomfortable facts of life, such as Marxism, is an embarrassed but determined silence. That anyone should experience a desire to enquire into ideas as such, and to probe into the motives influencing them, seems extraordinary. Marxism is, however, subjected to a close study in this book, first published in 1957, and the collected essays attempt the task of combining certain elements in the heritage of modern culture with the insights of Marxism. There can be no vital thinking for our age that does not do justice to both traditions.
It has been said that the normal English reaction to uncomfortable facts of life, such as Marxism, is an embarrassed but determined silence. That anyone should experience a desire to enquire into ideas as such, and to probe into the motives influencing them, seems extraordinary. Marxism is, however, subjected to a close study in this book, first published in 1957, and the collected essays attempt the task of combining certain elements in the heritage of modern culture with the insights of Marxism. There can be no vital thinking for our age that does not do justice to both traditions.
WINNER: The 2018 McGannon Center Book Prize and shortlisted for the Goddard Riverside Stephan Russo Book Prize for Social Justice The New York Times Book Review: "Riveting." Naomi Klein: "This book is downright scary." Ethan Zuckerman, MIT: "Should be required reading." Dorothy Roberts, author of Killing the Black Body: "A must-read." Astra Taylor, author of The People's Platform: "The single most important book about technology you will read this year." Cory Doctorow: "Indispensable." A powerful investigative look at data-based discrimination—and how technology affects civil and human rights and economic equity The State of Indiana denies one million applications for healthcare, foodstamps and cash benefits in three years—because a new computer system interprets any mistake as “failure to cooperate.” In Los Angeles, an algorithm calculates the comparative vulnerability of tens of thousands of homeless people in order to prioritize them for an inadequate pool of housing resources. In Pittsburgh, a child welfare agency uses a statistical model to try to predict which children might be future victims of abuse or neglect. Since the dawn of the digital age, decision-making in finance, employment, politics, health and human services has undergone revolutionary change. Today, automated systems—rather than humans—control which neighborhoods get policed, which families attain needed resources, and who is investigated for fraud. While we all live under this new regime of data, the most invasive and punitive systems are aimed at the poor. In Automating Inequality, Virginia Eubanks systematically investigates the impacts of data mining, policy algorithms, and predictive risk models on poor and working-class people in America. The book is full of heart-wrenching and eye-opening stories, from a woman in Indiana whose benefits are literally cut off as she lays dying to a family in Pennsylvania in daily fear of losing their daughter because they fit a certain statistical profile. The U.S. has always used its most cutting-edge science and technology to contain, investigate, discipline and punish the destitute. Like the county poorhouse and scientific charity before them, digital tracking and automated decision-making hide poverty from the middle-class public and give the nation the ethical distance it needs to make inhumane choices: which families get food and which starve, who has housing and who remains homeless, and which families are broken up by the state. In the process, they weaken democracy and betray our most cherished national values. This deeply researched and passionate book could not be more timely.
Using the theoretical tools drawn from historical materialism and deconstruction, Tzouvala offers a comprehensive history of the standard of civilisation.
