Socialism And Communism

The story of socialism and communism is a saga of idealism and cynicism, revolution and repression, power and powerlessness. The entire political and economic history of the modern era is contained in this account, forming a detailed and lively panorama. The world is still grappling with age-old questions regarding governance, equality, justice, and freedom. As this enthralling text details so vividly, socialism and communism attempted to answer these questions definitively. In that they failed, but in doing so, they highlighted the importance of the questions themselves and of the ordinary people whose lives hang in the balance, waiting for answers

‘An Age of Progress?’ is an advanced examination of major twentieth-century global developments regarding subjects as diverse as violence, capitalism, socialism and communism, imperialism, racism, nationalism, westernization, globalization, international finance, freedom and human rights, physical and mental environmental changes, culture, science, education, religion and social criticism. This momentous study also explores the ways in which the twentieth century made significant progress – and the ways in which it did not.

This book provides a comprehensive account of the structure, conduct, and performance of the centrally planned economies of Eastern Europe, the USSR, Communist China and the Marxist LDCs, looking at 26 nations in all. The author focuses on reform, perhaps the most important issue facing countries such as the USSR, Poland, Hungary, and China. Bureaucracy, soft budget constraints, markets, and the nature of the socialist state are the central issues that arise in the course of reforming a socialist economy. The first half of the book deals with 'classical socialism' and provides a theoretical summary of the main features of a now closed period of history. The second half deals with the processes of reform and concludes that the reform of classical socialist systems is doomed to failure as they are unable to renew themselves internally.

This international bestseller plumbs recently opened archives in the former Soviet bloc to reveal the accomplishments of communism around the world. The book is the first attempt to catalogue and analyse the crimes of communism over 70 years.

Since the eighteenth century, socialism has evolved alongside increasingly industrial societies in which workers and the government keep the wealthy few from exploiting the masses. Socialism has been shaped by Communism and Democracy both, and has undergone changes in the twentieth century alongside the turmoil of World Wars and the Cold War. The birth of Socialism is examined as well as major figures in its development and practice in government and labor unions. This comprehensive volume intersperses historical context with photographs, artwork, publications and more to help readers comprehend this important and evolving movement.

No detailed description available for "An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Marxism, Socialism and Communism".

To understand the dramatic collapse of the socialist order and the current turmoil in the formerly communist world, this comprehensive work examines the most important common properties of all socialist societies. JNBnos Kornai brings a life-long study of the problems of the socialist system to his explanation of why inherent attributes of socialism inevitably produced in-efficiency. In his past work he has focused on the economic sphere, maintaining consistently that the weak economic performance of socialist countries resulted from the system itself, not from the personalities of top leaders or mistakes made by leading organizations and planners. This book synthesizes themes from his earlier investigations, while broadening the discussion to include the role of the political power structure and of communist ideology. Kornai distinguishes between two types, or historical phases, of socialism. The "classical socialism" of Stalin, Mao, and their followers is totalitarian and brutally repressive, but its components fit together and make up a coherent edifice. Associated with names like Tito, KNBdar, Deng-Xiaoping, and Gorbachev, "reform socialism" relaxes repression, but brings about a sharpening of inner contradictions and the eventual dissolution of the system. Kornai examines the classical system in the first half of the book, and moves on to explore the complex process of reform in the second half. The Socialist System is addressed to economists in the first place, but also to political scientists, sociologists, and historians. In addition, it will appeal to policymakers, business analysts, and government officials who need to understand either formerly or presently communist countries.

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.