Friedrich Engels and the Foundations of Socialist Governance

Friedrich Engels and the Foundations of Socialist Governance

Author: Roland Boer

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-10-08

Total Pages: 134

ISBN-13: 9811646953

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This book states that the political systems of China, Vietnam, Cuba and other socialist countries are showing distinct maturity and ability to deal effectively with challenges – the most recent being the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to understand how they have developed their structures, it is time to return to the roots of the Marxist tradition and re-examine the question of socialist governance. It was Friedrich Engels (and less so Marx) who laid out some of the theoretical foundations for socialist governance. On the basis of extensive research in 1870s and 1880s, Engels developed his analysis of the nature of hitherto existing states as a ‘separated public power’; the role of the dictatorship of the proletariat and its exercise of power; the actual meaning of the ‘withering away of the state’, which would be one of the very last outcomes of socialist construction; and the nature of socialist governance itself. On this matter, he proposed a de-politicised public power that would stand in the midst of society and focus on managing the processes of production for the sake of the true interests of society.


Socialism, Capitalism and Alternatives

Socialism, Capitalism and Alternatives

Author: Peter J. S. Duncan

Publisher: UCL Press

Published: 2019-10-14

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 1787353834

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In 1989 the Berlin Wall came down. Two years later the Soviet Union disintegrated. The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union discredited the idea of socialism for generations to come. It was seen as representing the final and irreversible victory of capitalism. This triumphal dominance was barely challenged until the 2008 financial crisis threw the Western world into a state of turmoil. Through analysis of post-socialist Russia and Central and Eastern Europe, as well as of the United Kingdom, China and the United States, Socialism, Capitalism and Alternatives confronts the difficulty we face in articulating alternatives to capitalism, socialism and threatening populist regimes. Beginning with accounts of the impact of capitalism on countries left behind by the planned economies, the volume moves on to consider how China has become a beacon of dynamic economic growth, aggressively expanding its global influence. The final section of the volume poses alternatives to the ideological dominance of neoliberalism in the West. Since the 2008 financial crisis, demands for social change have erupted across the world. Exposing the failure of neoliberalism in the United Kingdom and examining recent social movements in Europe and the United States, the closing chapters identify how elements of past ideas are re-emerging, among them Keynesianism and radical socialism. As those chapters indicate, these ideas might well have potential to mobilise support and challenge the dominance of neoliberalism.


Platform Socialism

Platform Socialism

Author: James Muldoon

Publisher:

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780745346984

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A bold new manifesto for digital technology after capitalism.


Why You Should Be a Socialist

Why You Should Be a Socialist

Author: Nathan J. Robinson

Publisher: Macmillan + ORM

Published: 2019-12-10

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13: 1250200873

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A primer on Democratic Socialism for those who are extremely skeptical of it. America is witnessing the rise of a new generation of socialist activists. More young people support socialism now than at any time since the labor movement of the 1920s. The Democratic Socialists of America, a big-tent leftist organization, has just surpassed 50,000 members nationwide. In the fall of 2018, one of the most influential congressmen in the Democratic Party lost a primary to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old socialist who had never held office before. But what does all this mean? Should we be worried about our country, or should we join the march toward our bright socialist future? In Why You Should Be a Socialist, Nathan J. Robinson will give readers a primer on twenty-first-century socialism: what it is, what it isn’t, and why everyone should want to be a part of this exciting new chapter of American politics. From the heyday of Occupy Wall Street through Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign and beyond, young progressives have been increasingly drawn to socialist ideas. However, the movement’s goals need to be defined more sharply before it can effect real change on a national scale. Likewise, liberals and conservatives will benefit from a deeper understanding of the true nature of this ideology, whether they agree with it or not. Robinson’s charming, accessible, and well-argued book will convince even the most skeptical readers of the merits of socialist thought.


Socialism and Governance

Socialism and Governance

Author: Henry Wang

Publisher: Trafford Publishing

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 422

ISBN-13: 141201655X

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Probing the relationship between socialism and governance, the author offers a new perspective for understanding Chinese politics since 1949. China's politics can be roughly divided into two periods - the Maoist period (1949-1978) and the Dengist Period (since 1978) - characterized as Revolutionary China and Reformatory China. These two periods are better understood when they are compared with each other. For, to study an epoch, we need a logic that transcends that epoch. A comparative approach is very helpful in uncovering the deeper meaning of Chinese revolution and Chinese reforms. Using the key concept 'two worlds of life' (Experiencing World and Meaning World), the author argues that there is a sharp discrepancy between the two worlds of life in all the self-claimed 'socialist' countries. Although the Meaning World is 'socialist', the Experiencing World cannot be adequately understood as being socialist. 'Socialism' has become an ideational veil which masks the true nature of the Experiencing World. After the 'socialist' revolution, the chain of the concept of 'socialism' awaits the proletariat. Only through Entborgenheit can we understand the true nature of the Experiencing World of all 'socialist' states. It is argued that the concept 'real socialism' is still misleading, for such a 'socialism' is still unreal; that the concept 'state socialism' is no more than a confusing concept and needs also to be rejected, for there is not such a thing as state socialism in our experiencing world. We had neither 'real socialism' nor 'state socialism', we had only statism in our experiencing world. The Maoist Chiina was a schizophrenic case of 'socialism', due to the inherent conflict between statism in the Experiencing World and 'socialism' in the Meaning World. All the Communist states created a Janus-faced creature, with one face being statism and the other face being 'socialism'. This is caused by the pathology of treating statization of means of production as socialization of means of production. Dengist China initiated a de-statization process, but this process is not socialization either.


Stakeholder Capitalism

Stakeholder Capitalism

Author: Klaus Schwab

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2021-01-27

Total Pages: 311

ISBN-13: 1119756138

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Reimagining our global economy so it becomes more sustainable and prosperous for all Our global economic system is broken. But we can replace the current picture of global upheaval, unsustainability, and uncertainty with one of an economy that works for all people, and the planet. First, we must eliminate rising income inequality within societies where productivity and wage growth has slowed. Second, we must reduce the dampening effect of monopoly market power wielded by large corporations on innovation and productivity gains. And finally, the short-sighted exploitation of natural resources that is corroding the environment and affecting the lives of many for the worse must end. The debate over the causes of the broken economy—laissez-faire government, poorly managed globalization, the rise of technology in favor of the few, or yet another reason—is wide open. Stakeholder Capitalism: A Global Economy that Works for Progress, People and Planet argues convincingly that if we don't start with recognizing the true shape of our problems, our current system will continue to fail us. To help us see our challenges more clearly, Schwab—the Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum—looks for the real causes of our system's shortcomings, and for solutions in best practices from around the world in places as diverse as China, Denmark, Ethiopia, Germany, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Singapore. And in doing so, Schwab finds emerging examples of new ways of doing things that provide grounds for hope, including: Individual agency: how countries and policies can make a difference against large external forces A clearly defined social contract: agreement on shared values and goals allows government, business, and individuals to produce the most optimal outcomes Planning for future generations: short-sighted presentism harms our shared future, and that of those yet to be born Better measures of economic success: move beyond a myopic focus on GDP to more complete, human-scaled measures of societal flourishing By accurately describing our real situation, Stakeholder Capitalism is able to pinpoint achievable ways to deal with our problems. Chapter by chapter, Professor Schwab shows us that there are ways for everyone at all levels of society to reshape the broken pieces of the global economy and—country by country, company by company, and citizen by citizen—glue them back together in a way that benefits us all.


The Socialist Manifesto

The Socialist Manifesto

Author: Bhaskar Sunkara

Publisher: Verso Books

Published: 2019-04-30

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 1786636921

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The success of Jeremy Corbyn's left-led Labour Party and Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign revived a political idea many had thought dead. But what, exactly, is socialism? And what would a socialist system look like today? In The Socialist Manifesto, Bhaskar Sunkara, editor of Jacobin magazine, argues that socialism offers the means to achieve economic equality, and also to fight other forms of oppression, including racism and sexism. The ultimate goal is not Soviet-style planning, but to win rights to healthcare, education, and housing and to create new democratic institutions in workplaces and communities. The book both explores socialism's history and presents a realistic vision for its future. A primer on socialism for the 21st century, this is a book for anyone seeking an end to the vast inequities of our age.


Heaven on Earth

Heaven on Earth

Author: Joshua Muravchik

Publisher: Encounter Books

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 438

ISBN-13: 1893554783

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"The search for the Promised Land took socialists in diverse directions: revolution, communes and kibbutzim, social democracy, communism, fascism, Third Worldism. But none of these paths led to the prophesied utopia. Nowhere did socialists succeed in creating societies of easy abundance or in midwifing the birth of a "New Man," as their theory promised. Some socialist governments abandoned their grandiose goals and satisfied themselves with making slight modifications to capitalism, while others plowed ahead doggedly, often inducing staggering human catastrophes. Then, after two hundred years of wishful thinking and fitful governance, socialism suddenly imploded in the 1990s in a fin du siecle drama of falling walls, collapsing regimes and frantic revisions of doctrine."--BOOK JACKET.


The Case Against Socialism

The Case Against Socialism

Author: Rand Paul

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2019-10-15

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 0062954873

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A recent poll showed 43% of Americans think more socialism would be a good thing. What do these people not know? Socialism has killed millions, but it’s now the ideology du jour on American college campuses and among many leftists. Reintroduced by leaders such as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the ideology manifests itself in starry-eyed calls for free-spending policies like Medicare-for-all and student loan forgiveness. In The Case Against Socialism, Rand Paul outlines the history of socialism, from Stalin’s gulags to the current famine in Venezuela. He tackles common misconceptions about the “utopia” of socialist Europe. As it turns out, Scandinavian countries love capitalism as much as Americans, and have, for decades, been cutting back on the things Bernie loves the most. Socialism’s return is only possible because many Americans have forgotten the true dangers of the twentieth-century’s deadliest ideology. Paul reveals the devastating truth: for every college student sporting a Che Guevara T-shirt, there’s a Venezuelan child dying of starvation. Desperate refugees flee communist Cuba to escape oppressive censorship, rationed food and squalid hospitals, not “free” healthcare. Socialist dictatorships like the People’s Republic of China crush freedom of speech and run massive surveillance states while masquerading as enlightened modern nations. Far from providing economic freedom, socialist governments enslave their citizens. They offer illusory promises of safety and equality while restricting personal liberty, tightening state power, sapping human enterprise and making citizens dependent on the dole. If socialism takes hold in America, it will imperil the fate of the world’s freest nation, unleashing a plague of oppressive government control. The Case Against Socialism is a timely response to that threat and a call to action against the forces menacing American liberty.


Democratic Socialism and Education: New Perspectives on Policy and Practice

Democratic Socialism and Education: New Perspectives on Policy and Practice

Author: Neil Hopkins

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-05-09

Total Pages: 60

ISBN-13: 3030189376

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This book engages with the political, philosophical and policy debates around contemporary democratic socialism and state education. It examines contemporary education and education systems, as well as democratic socialism in the context of the complex political world we live in currently. It takes the reader towards a democratic socialist curriculum and pedagogy, and concludes by investigating democratic socialism and governance in education. Discussing the work of Axel Honneth, Chantal Mouffe and Norberto Bobbio, the book argues that contemporary democratic socialism gives a philosophical and political grounding to the notion of education being more than simply preparation for work or a series of qualifications. It makes the case for education as an exercise in democratic community, and learning as collective citizenship. Taking the curriculum, classroom pedagogy, and educational governance in turn, it offers a series of practical ways in which state education can be re-interpreted and re-applied to emphasise the democratic, collective and creative aspects of learning. "Hopkins contends, firstly, that twenty-first-century democratic socialism must reinvigorate itself by responding to the challenges of liberalism; and, secondly, that a socially just education system must be willing to learn from such a reinvigorated socialism. These twinned theses are clearly and concisely thought through in relation to urgent educational, and more broadly socio-political, issues: contemporary democratic-socialist thought; educational systems (and possibilities for reform); curriculum design; pedagogy; systems and mechanisms of governance. In just a few thousand words, Hopkins’s Democratic Socialism and Education manages to be that rare thing: a book that is both lucid introduction and original contribution. It will surely appeal equally to teachers, philosophers of education, and those engaged in educational action research." Dr. Oliver Belas, Lecturer in Education, School of Education and English Language, University of Bedfordshire, UK