Socialism In A Cold Climate

First published in 1983, this important and stimulating book is a thoughtful contribution to the debate about the first steps that needed to be taken to build a socialist society in the 1980s. It covers topics as diverse as concepts of equality and fairness, sexual discrimination, economic policy, health and urban policy, pensions, poverty and the economics of the welfare state, defence and internationalism.

First published in 1983, this important and stimulating book is a thoughtful contribution to the debate about the first steps that needed to be taken to build a socialist society in the 1980s. It covers topics as diverse as concepts of equality and fairness, sexual discrimination, economic policy, health and urban policy, pensions, poverty and the economics of the welfare state, defence and internationalism.

The current generation owes a moral and political obligation to the next generation and beyond , in terms of their real inheritance: the three interlinked existential crises represented by climate change, the multiple crises of the global environment and the conventional and nuclear arms race. This book is an attempt to reach out to the next generation to start shaping their own collective future through the greening of socialism on a global basis as an affirmative survival response to these crises which will have to be confronted in the course of the twenty-first century. It starts with a clear recapitulation of the major historical event-structures of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries which have been responsible for the genesis of these crises and links them to the possible choices and actions for the next century and beyond. These crises are no longer separable in terms of the consequences they entail for global humanity. Nor is it possible to separate our relationship with Nature as a whole from our relationship with each other at a global level. Consequently, the resolution of these crises is no longer a matter of mere technical or economic fixes, they will involve the major part of humanity as actors intervening into shaping their own future. The decisive moment for social and political change is fast approaching, with a clear choice to be made between systemic change or continuing with fragmented systems which are inexorably driving us towards the possibility of human extinction along with the extinction of major life-forms on earth. The building blocks of a desirable and sustainable future are already available to us but the powerful and entrenched economic and political structures of the world are in continuous denial of the possibilities of the future through systemic changes. This book lays out the above argument in a concise and logical framework that ranges across several disciplines from political economy and history to ecology and the sciences and technology. It is then up to the next generation to make their own choices about the future in the light of the mounting evidence about the urgency of systemic change. The decisive moment is now. This book is an honest account linking the past, the present and the likely future. It is a challenging read for those who will rise to the challenge.

A fresh appraisal of the nature and significance of the democratic left in the Global South.

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.

Allan Flanders was one of the leading British industrial relations academics and his ideas exerted a major influence on government labor policy in the 1960s and 1970s. But as well as being an Oxford academic with a strong interest in theory and labor reform, he was also a lifelong political activist. Originally trained in German revolutionary ethical socialism in the early 1930s, he was the founder and joint editor of Socialist Commentary, the leading outlet for ‘revisionist’ social democratic thinking in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also the leading figure in the influential 1950s ‘think tank’ Socialist Union and played a key part in the bitter factional struggles inside the Labour Party. The main argument of the book is that Flanders’ ethical socialist ideas constituted both his strength and his weakness. Their rigor, clarity and sweep enabled him to exert a major influence over government attempts to negotiate labor reforms with the trade unions. Yet he proved unable to explain the failure of the reforms amidst rising levels of industrial conflict, as his intellectual rigor turned into ideological rigidity. The failure of negotiated reform led to Margaret Thatcher’s neo-liberal assault on trade union power in the 1980s.

A compelling look at the origins of British socialism The Making of British Socialism provides a new interpretation of the emergence of British socialism in the late nineteenth century, demonstrating that it was not a working-class movement demanding state action, but a creative campaign of political hope promoting social justice, personal transformation, and radical democracy. Mark Bevir shows that British socialists responded to the dilemmas of economics and faith against a background of diverse traditions, melding new economic theories opposed to capitalism with new theologies which argued that people were bound in divine fellowship. Bevir utilizes an impressive range of sources to illuminate a number of historical questions: Why did the British Marxists follow a Tory aristocrat who dressed in a frock coat and top hat? Did the Fabians develop a new economic theory? What was the role of Christian theology and idealist philosophy in shaping socialist ideas? He explores debates about capitalism, revolution, the simple life, sexual relations, and utopian communities. He gives detailed accounts of the Marxists, Fabians, and ethical socialists, including famous authors such as William Morris and George Bernard Shaw. And he locates these socialists among a wide cast of colorful characters, including Karl Marx, Henry Thoreau, Leo Tolstoy, and Oscar Wilde. By showing how socialism combined established traditions and new ideas in order to respond to the changing world of the late nineteenth century, The Making of British Socialism turns aside long-held assumptions about the origins of a major movement.