Futures Of Socialism

How should the left respond to electoral defeat, the leadership of Keir Starmer and a global crisis? British politics is in an extraordinary place. Grace Blakeley introduces an indispensable collection of analysis and comment. In Futures of Socialism, Sam Gindin and James Meadway reassess socialist strategy after the coronavirus; Dalia Gebrial and Siân Errington debate austerity and precarity; Joshua Virasami and Simukai Chigudu explore anti-racism and the legacy of Empire; and Leo Panitch and Momentum co-founder James Schneider probe the limits of parliamentary socialism. Chris Saltmarsh assesses the prospects for an eco-socialist Green New Deal and Cat Hobbs argues for the ongoing centrality of public ownership to socialist policy. Futures of Socialism takes an in-depth look at the reasons for Labour’s 2019 election defeat, with Unite’s Andrew Murray on Labour’s Brexit position, Tom Mills on the British media, Gargi Bhattacharyya and Jeremy Gilbert on better ways to build a political project, and Keir Milburn on generation left. The anthology also compares the fortunes of the British left with socialist movements overseas, in despatches from Europe and America. Blakeley draws on the talents of all sections of the post-Corbyn left to survey the prospects of “a movement that has dominated the horizons of our lives.”

An exploration of the utopias and dystopias that could develop from present society Peter Frase argues that increasing automation and a growing scarcity of resources, thanks to climate change, will bring it all tumbling down. In Four Futures, Frase imagines how this post-capitalist world might look, deploying the tools of both social science and speculative fiction to explore what communism, rentism and extermininsm might actually entail. Could the current rise of the real-life robocops usher in a world that resembles Ender's Game? And sure, communism will bring an end to material scarcities and inequalities of wealth—but there's no guarantee that social hierarchies, governed by an economy of "likes," wouldn't rise to take their place. A whirlwind tour through science fiction, social theory and the new technologies are already shaping our lives, Four Futures is a balance sheet of the socialisms we may reach if a resurgent Left is successful, and the barbarisms we may be consigned to if those movements fail.

In Remains of Socialism, Maya Nadkarni investigates the changing fates of the socialist past in postsocialist Hungary. She introduces the concept of "remains"—both physical objects and cultural remainders—to analyze all that Hungarians sought to leave behind after the end of state socialism. Spanning more than two decades of postsocialist transformation, Remains of Socialism follows Hungary from the optimism of the early years of transition to its recent right-wing turn toward illiberal democracy. Nadkarni analyzes remains that range from exiled statues of Lenin to the socialist-era "Bambi" soda, and from discredited official histories to the scandalous secrets of the communist regime's informers. She deftly demonstrates that these remains were far more than simply the leftovers of an unwanted past. Ultimately, the struggles to define remains of socialism and settle their fates would represent attempts to determine the future—and to mourn futures that never materialized.

In this text, Roemer proposes a new future of socialism based on a redefinition of market socialism. The Achille's heel of socialism has always been maintaining innovation and efficiency in an economy in which income is equally distributed. Roemer points out that large capitalist firms have already solved a similar problem: in those firms, profits are distributed to numerous shareholders, yet they continue to innovate and compete. The author argues for a modified version of socialism, not necessarily based on public ownership, but founded on equality of opportunity and political influence.

Reclaims the contentious legacy of state socialism in order to build an ecosocialist future

The major problems facing the world as it gets used to the twenty-first century are global inequality, poverty, war and militarism, oppression, exploitation and ecological sustainability. Far from solving these problems, economic and political neo-liberalism seems to be plunging us deeper into them. Diverse opposition movements have arisen over the years to combat these problems, which the groups generally consider to be the result of "globalization". These opposition movements suffer greatly from being opposed to lots of things without necessarily putting forward realistic alternative suggestions. This impressive new book seeks to analyze and develop serious alternatives to the status quo. With contributions from a wide range of scholars, this important book will provide a uniquely varied outlook. Students and academics involved in international politics and economics as well as general readers with an interest in the anti-globalization movement will find this work incredibly useful.

A tentative offering to be considered part of a growing inquiry, rather like starting to design a new house while the embers of the old one are still glowing. Discusses some of the principles of socialism that have been obscured by the Marxist experiment and its failure, analyzes some of the faults underlying that failure, and suggests other approaches to manifesting socialism, particularly market socialism. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR