Ira Katznelson
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780198279242
- eISBN:
- 9780191601910
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198279248.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The first of the two main sections of this chapter discusses Marx's goal and the elements of a Marxist tradition, and presents the views of various later scholars (David Little, Steven Lukes, Alvin ...
More
The first of the two main sections of this chapter discusses Marx's goal and the elements of a Marxist tradition, and presents the views of various later scholars (David Little, Steven Lukes, Alvin Goulder, Edward Thompson, Leonard Krieger, Georg Lukács, Antonio Gramsci, and others) on these elements. The three distinctive but inter‐related projects elaborated in Marx's aim of reconstructing the post‐capitalist world are examined in detail: the construction of a theory of history to account for the change between epochs on the largest possible scale, which focuses on the struggles between social classes within the twin frame of the development of the forces of production, and the nature of the relationships joining people in the social features of the production process; the building of a model of the economy within the capitalist epoch; and the construction of a social theory capable of inventing explanations about specific capitalist societies (the focus of most of this book). Gramsci elaborated on the most promising lines of inquiry embedded in Marx's historical writings to develop the base–superstructure distinction as a complex web of relations in which the economic, political, and cultural elements of a situation are interconnected, and in which the historicity of social structure is made central. The final section of the chapter explores these issues of Marxist social theory in the work of Edward Thompson, Raymond Williams, Eric Hobsbawm, and G. A. Cohen (who demonstrate the repertoire of alternative theoretical moves developed since Gramsci), and points out that the capacity of Marxism to provide an attractive alternative to the differentiation problematic in studies of the city hinges on the character and persuasiveness of these linkages. In the concluding discussion, the author returns to the issue of the capaciousness of Marxist theory.Less
The first of the two main sections of this chapter discusses Marx's goal and the elements of a Marxist tradition, and presents the views of various later scholars (David Little, Steven Lukes, Alvin Goulder, Edward Thompson, Leonard Krieger, Georg Lukács, Antonio Gramsci, and others) on these elements. The three distinctive but inter‐related projects elaborated in Marx's aim of reconstructing the post‐capitalist world are examined in detail: the construction of a theory of history to account for the change between epochs on the largest possible scale, which focuses on the struggles between social classes within the twin frame of the development of the forces of production, and the nature of the relationships joining people in the social features of the production process; the building of a model of the economy within the capitalist epoch; and the construction of a social theory capable of inventing explanations about specific capitalist societies (the focus of most of this book). Gramsci elaborated on the most promising lines of inquiry embedded in Marx's historical writings to develop the base–superstructure distinction as a complex web of relations in which the economic, political, and cultural elements of a situation are interconnected, and in which the historicity of social structure is made central. The final section of the chapter explores these issues of Marxist social theory in the work of Edward Thompson, Raymond Williams, Eric Hobsbawm, and G. A. Cohen (who demonstrate the repertoire of alternative theoretical moves developed since Gramsci), and points out that the capacity of Marxism to provide an attractive alternative to the differentiation problematic in studies of the city hinges on the character and persuasiveness of these linkages. In the concluding discussion, the author returns to the issue of the capaciousness of Marxist theory.
Gøsta Esping‐Andersen
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198742005
- eISBN:
- 9780191599163
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198742002.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter and the next revisit the political economy within which post‐war welfare regimes emerged, matured, and, now, appear crisis‐ridden. Here, an analysis is made of the democratic class ...
More
This chapter and the next revisit the political economy within which post‐war welfare regimes emerged, matured, and, now, appear crisis‐ridden. Here, an analysis is made of the democratic class struggle. The first section of the chapter looks at varieties of the struggle, and has subsections on models of industrial relations, employment regulation, and worker rights. The second section looks at de‐ruralization and post‐industrialization, and has subsections on family behaviour and full employment, and the declining correlates of class.Less
This chapter and the next revisit the political economy within which post‐war welfare regimes emerged, matured, and, now, appear crisis‐ridden. Here, an analysis is made of the democratic class struggle. The first section of the chapter looks at varieties of the struggle, and has subsections on models of industrial relations, employment regulation, and worker rights. The second section looks at de‐ruralization and post‐industrialization, and has subsections on family behaviour and full employment, and the declining correlates of class.
Jeremy Krikler
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198203803
- eISBN:
- 9780191675997
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203803.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
This chapter seeks to establish the class conflict, what might be termed a class war, which erupted in the Transvaal between 1899 and 1902. This radical upheaval was attendant upon the arrival of the ...
More
This chapter seeks to establish the class conflict, what might be termed a class war, which erupted in the Transvaal between 1899 and 1902. This radical upheaval was attendant upon the arrival of the British Army in that territory during the South African, or Boer, War. British arms shattered the mould of everyday life in the Transvaal, throwing the balance of class forces on the land into sudden disequilibrium. This massive and decisive intervention into the world of the landowners, however, was an intervention into a world already riven with conflicts and antagonisms. The alienation and resistance of the rural oppressed were released from the paternalism in which they were swaddled. During the war, the British strategy came increasingly to concentrate upon destroying the labour class.Less
This chapter seeks to establish the class conflict, what might be termed a class war, which erupted in the Transvaal between 1899 and 1902. This radical upheaval was attendant upon the arrival of the British Army in that territory during the South African, or Boer, War. British arms shattered the mould of everyday life in the Transvaal, throwing the balance of class forces on the land into sudden disequilibrium. This massive and decisive intervention into the world of the landowners, however, was an intervention into a world already riven with conflicts and antagonisms. The alienation and resistance of the rural oppressed were released from the paternalism in which they were swaddled. During the war, the British strategy came increasingly to concentrate upon destroying the labour class.
Miles Taylor
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198207290
- eISBN:
- 9780191717277
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198207290.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
In January 1846, Ernest Jones began the move which led him from the fringes of the London literary scene and the bar to centre-stage in the Chartist movement. Chartist poetry of the 1840s represented ...
More
In January 1846, Ernest Jones began the move which led him from the fringes of the London literary scene and the bar to centre-stage in the Chartist movement. Chartist poetry of the 1840s represented a popular appropriation of romanticism in England, and specifically of the work of Lord Byron and Percy Shelley. Of all the Chartist poets who did most to popularise Byron and Shelley, and who also imitated much of their style, the most prominent was Thomas Cooper, the undisputed ‘poet laureate’ of Chartism. However, Jones’s ascent within the Chartist movement led to Cooper’s expulsion. Jones’s impact as a Chartist poet was more than simply fortuitous; there was also something captivating about his poetry. Jones’s poems presented a somewhat particular version of the class struggle. His early Chartist poetry and oratory were distinctive for their evangelical tenor and Gothic, melodramatic sense of history, rather than their appeal to class solidarity.Less
In January 1846, Ernest Jones began the move which led him from the fringes of the London literary scene and the bar to centre-stage in the Chartist movement. Chartist poetry of the 1840s represented a popular appropriation of romanticism in England, and specifically of the work of Lord Byron and Percy Shelley. Of all the Chartist poets who did most to popularise Byron and Shelley, and who also imitated much of their style, the most prominent was Thomas Cooper, the undisputed ‘poet laureate’ of Chartism. However, Jones’s ascent within the Chartist movement led to Cooper’s expulsion. Jones’s impact as a Chartist poet was more than simply fortuitous; there was also something captivating about his poetry. Jones’s poems presented a somewhat particular version of the class struggle. His early Chartist poetry and oratory were distinctive for their evangelical tenor and Gothic, melodramatic sense of history, rather than their appeal to class solidarity.
Richard English
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198202899
- eISBN:
- 9780191675577
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198202899.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Political History
This chapter examines coercion and class struggle in the Irish Free State during the period 1930–1932. The 1930s started with a fierce debate concerning social radicalism within the republican ...
More
This chapter examines coercion and class struggle in the Irish Free State during the period 1930–1932. The 1930s started with a fierce debate concerning social radicalism within the republican movement. In November 1930, Irish Republican Army chief of staff Moss Twomey published a draft constitution titled The Sovereignty of the People: Suggestions for a Constitution for an Irish Republic. In this draft constitution, Twomey supported the view that the nation or community life possessed extensive rights over natural resources and economic life. Twomey's proposal sparked a series of heated debates focusing on the issue of private property.Less
This chapter examines coercion and class struggle in the Irish Free State during the period 1930–1932. The 1930s started with a fierce debate concerning social radicalism within the republican movement. In November 1930, Irish Republican Army chief of staff Moss Twomey published a draft constitution titled The Sovereignty of the People: Suggestions for a Constitution for an Irish Republic. In this draft constitution, Twomey supported the view that the nation or community life possessed extensive rights over natural resources and economic life. Twomey's proposal sparked a series of heated debates focusing on the issue of private property.
Craig Calhoun
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226090849
- eISBN:
- 9780226090870
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226090870.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
This chapter examines the role of place and local community in workers' radicalism, and the challenges of trying to extend collective action at the national level. It first discusses the distinction ...
More
This chapter examines the role of place and local community in workers' radicalism, and the challenges of trying to extend collective action at the national level. It first discusses the distinction between class struggle and popular mobilizations based on community or other direct interpersonal relationships. The chapter then considers the importance of communications and transportation infrastructures as part of the material basis for class struggle, even though these were only developed adequately to this purpose as capitalism's continuing Industrial Revolution exceeded the level it had achieved in the first third or even half of the nineteenth century. It also argues that class struggles are often caught within certain limits imposed by capitalism and capitalist democracy, and tackles these issues using historical examples from Britain.Less
This chapter examines the role of place and local community in workers' radicalism, and the challenges of trying to extend collective action at the national level. It first discusses the distinction between class struggle and popular mobilizations based on community or other direct interpersonal relationships. The chapter then considers the importance of communications and transportation infrastructures as part of the material basis for class struggle, even though these were only developed adequately to this purpose as capitalism's continuing Industrial Revolution exceeded the level it had achieved in the first third or even half of the nineteenth century. It also argues that class struggles are often caught within certain limits imposed by capitalism and capitalist democracy, and tackles these issues using historical examples from Britain.
Kian Tajbakhsh
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520222779
- eISBN:
- 9780520924642
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520222779.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Urban and Rural Studies
This chapter examines the work of David Harvey concerning urban theory. It identifies the place that Harvey's reaffirmation of classical Marxism occupies within the discourse of Marxian urbanism and ...
More
This chapter examines the work of David Harvey concerning urban theory. It identifies the place that Harvey's reaffirmation of classical Marxism occupies within the discourse of Marxian urbanism and analyzes Harvey's interpretation of urban conflict through his theory of urban-based movements as displaced class struggles. This chapter argues that by discounting the political and institutional salience of the distinction between workplace and residential community Harvey's model has two principal drawbacks. The chapter also considers Claus Offe's analysis of the two logics of collective action in the context of the problems of trade-union politics when faced with the expansion and differentiation of their traditional constituencies.Less
This chapter examines the work of David Harvey concerning urban theory. It identifies the place that Harvey's reaffirmation of classical Marxism occupies within the discourse of Marxian urbanism and analyzes Harvey's interpretation of urban conflict through his theory of urban-based movements as displaced class struggles. This chapter argues that by discounting the political and institutional salience of the distinction between workplace and residential community Harvey's model has two principal drawbacks. The chapter also considers Claus Offe's analysis of the two logics of collective action in the context of the problems of trade-union politics when faced with the expansion and differentiation of their traditional constituencies.
Jason Beckfield
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- March 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190494254
- eISBN:
- 9780190494292
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190494254.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility, Economic Sociology
This chapter provides an overview of the book’s main themes. The book argues that European integration has reorganized class struggle to the European level, entrenching a technocratic capitalism that ...
More
This chapter provides an overview of the book’s main themes. The book argues that European integration has reorganized class struggle to the European level, entrenching a technocratic capitalism that weakens welfare states and raises income inequality. It asks: How have the fruits of European labor been distributed? Who wins and who loses from European integration? How are citizenship rights and economic fortunes being distributed? The remainder of the chapter discusses trends in welfare-state development and income inequality; current approaches to the welfare state and income inequality; and the turn toward to technocratic capitalism that now characterizes the EU’s policy priorities.Less
This chapter provides an overview of the book’s main themes. The book argues that European integration has reorganized class struggle to the European level, entrenching a technocratic capitalism that weakens welfare states and raises income inequality. It asks: How have the fruits of European labor been distributed? Who wins and who loses from European integration? How are citizenship rights and economic fortunes being distributed? The remainder of the chapter discusses trends in welfare-state development and income inequality; current approaches to the welfare state and income inequality; and the turn toward to technocratic capitalism that now characterizes the EU’s policy priorities.
David Barber
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781934110171
- eISBN:
- 9781604733051
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781934110171.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter examines the struggles between Old Left understandings of race, gender, and empire, and New Left understandings in the period between the end of 1968 and the fall of 1969. During these ...
More
This chapter examines the struggles between Old Left understandings of race, gender, and empire, and New Left understandings in the period between the end of 1968 and the fall of 1969. During these years, the Old Left Progressive Labor Party (PL) sought to take over Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). At the heart of PL’s program stood the Old Left notion that black nationalism was a diversion from the all-important class struggle. To save SDS from PL’s clutches, SDS leaders were compelled to strengthen their ties to and understanding of black nationalism. By the spring of 1969, SDS, for the first time, clearly articulated a mission for itself that corresponded with the one that the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had laid down three years earlier: that SDS would organize white communities against racism.Less
This chapter examines the struggles between Old Left understandings of race, gender, and empire, and New Left understandings in the period between the end of 1968 and the fall of 1969. During these years, the Old Left Progressive Labor Party (PL) sought to take over Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). At the heart of PL’s program stood the Old Left notion that black nationalism was a diversion from the all-important class struggle. To save SDS from PL’s clutches, SDS leaders were compelled to strengthen their ties to and understanding of black nationalism. By the spring of 1969, SDS, for the first time, clearly articulated a mission for itself that corresponded with the one that the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had laid down three years earlier: that SDS would organize white communities against racism.
Robin Briggs
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198206033
- eISBN:
- 9780191676932
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198206033.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
The middle decades of the seventeenth century, from the 1630s to the 1670s, saw the most intensive and widespread sequence of revolts in the history of France. Both the Soviet historian Boris ...
More
The middle decades of the seventeenth century, from the 1630s to the 1670s, saw the most intensive and widespread sequence of revolts in the history of France. Both the Soviet historian Boris Porchnev and his leading French critic Roland Mousnier incorporated the revolts into broad theses about the changing relationship between state and society. The main thrust of the revolts appeared to be against the behaviour of the leading groups in local society. Porchnev saw the revolts as a class struggle, whereas Mousnier emphasized the participation of local elites in revolt. The best-known revolt of the period, the 1580 Carnival of Romans, revealed deep social divisions within a modest town in Dauphiné, which arose due to the exceptionally complex and controversial taxation in the province. The religious wars, for so long an intermittent series of local conflicts, had flared up after 1588 into a general conflagration affecting much of the kingdom, with numerous small armies living off the countryside. In many areas the peasants assembled and took arms in self-defence.Less
The middle decades of the seventeenth century, from the 1630s to the 1670s, saw the most intensive and widespread sequence of revolts in the history of France. Both the Soviet historian Boris Porchnev and his leading French critic Roland Mousnier incorporated the revolts into broad theses about the changing relationship between state and society. The main thrust of the revolts appeared to be against the behaviour of the leading groups in local society. Porchnev saw the revolts as a class struggle, whereas Mousnier emphasized the participation of local elites in revolt. The best-known revolt of the period, the 1580 Carnival of Romans, revealed deep social divisions within a modest town in Dauphiné, which arose due to the exceptionally complex and controversial taxation in the province. The religious wars, for so long an intermittent series of local conflicts, had flared up after 1588 into a general conflagration affecting much of the kingdom, with numerous small armies living off the countryside. In many areas the peasants assembled and took arms in self-defence.
Saul Newman
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719071287
- eISBN:
- 9781781701522
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719071287.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
How do we think about radical politics today, in the wake of the collapse of Marxist-Leninism and the triumph of neo-liberal capitalism? How should radical political theory respond to new challenges ...
More
How do we think about radical politics today, in the wake of the collapse of Marxist-Leninism and the triumph of neo-liberal capitalism? How should radical political theory respond to new challenges posed by globalisation, postmodernity, the ‘war on terror’ and the rise of religious fundamentalism? How are we to take account of the new social movements and political struggles appearing on the global horizon? In addressing these questions, this book explores the theme of universality and its place in radical political theory. It argues that both Marxist politics of class struggle and the postmodern politics of difference have reached their historical and political limits, and that what is needed is a new approach to universality, a new way of thinking about collective politics. By exploring various themes and ideas within poststructuralist and post-Marxist theory, the book develops a new approach to universality — one that has implications for politics today, particularly on questions of power, subjectivity, ethics and democracy. In so doing, it engages in debates with thinkers such as Laclau, Žižek, Badiou and Rancière over the future of radical politics. The book also applies theoretical insights to contemporary events such as the emergence of the anti-globalisation movement, the ‘war on terrorism’, the rise of anti-immigrant racism and the nihilistic violence that lurks at the margins of the political.Less
How do we think about radical politics today, in the wake of the collapse of Marxist-Leninism and the triumph of neo-liberal capitalism? How should radical political theory respond to new challenges posed by globalisation, postmodernity, the ‘war on terror’ and the rise of religious fundamentalism? How are we to take account of the new social movements and political struggles appearing on the global horizon? In addressing these questions, this book explores the theme of universality and its place in radical political theory. It argues that both Marxist politics of class struggle and the postmodern politics of difference have reached their historical and political limits, and that what is needed is a new approach to universality, a new way of thinking about collective politics. By exploring various themes and ideas within poststructuralist and post-Marxist theory, the book develops a new approach to universality — one that has implications for politics today, particularly on questions of power, subjectivity, ethics and democracy. In so doing, it engages in debates with thinkers such as Laclau, Žižek, Badiou and Rancière over the future of radical politics. The book also applies theoretical insights to contemporary events such as the emergence of the anti-globalisation movement, the ‘war on terrorism’, the rise of anti-immigrant racism and the nihilistic violence that lurks at the margins of the political.
Dia Da Costa
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252040603
- eISBN:
- 9780252099045
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252040603.003.0004
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
Although Jana Natya Manch’s working-class theater poses an ideological challenge to hegemonic creativity for neoliberal capitalism and Hindu nationalism, this chapter analyzes the historical, ...
More
Although Jana Natya Manch’s working-class theater poses an ideological challenge to hegemonic creativity for neoliberal capitalism and Hindu nationalism, this chapter analyzes the historical, affective and political incitements and messy collaborations between ideological opposites. This middle-class troupe’s plays dedicated to working-class struggles confront the challenge and decimation of labor struggle through a life-long commitment to Marxian critique. Far from an ahistorical commitment, their ‘ideology for life’ responds to contemporary challenges, in part by memorializing the personal, subjective, and spatial deaths of ideal leaders and sites of worker struggle. Memorialization and nostalgia largely distances them from working-class lives, but it makes their politics and performance effective sites for contemporary constructions of progressive middle-classness in Delhi whilst generating an inadvertent embrace of creative economies discourse.Less
Although Jana Natya Manch’s working-class theater poses an ideological challenge to hegemonic creativity for neoliberal capitalism and Hindu nationalism, this chapter analyzes the historical, affective and political incitements and messy collaborations between ideological opposites. This middle-class troupe’s plays dedicated to working-class struggles confront the challenge and decimation of labor struggle through a life-long commitment to Marxian critique. Far from an ahistorical commitment, their ‘ideology for life’ responds to contemporary challenges, in part by memorializing the personal, subjective, and spatial deaths of ideal leaders and sites of worker struggle. Memorialization and nostalgia largely distances them from working-class lives, but it makes their politics and performance effective sites for contemporary constructions of progressive middle-classness in Delhi whilst generating an inadvertent embrace of creative economies discourse.
A. James McAdams
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691196428
- eISBN:
- 9781400888498
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691196428.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
This chapter reveals that, although Mao Zedong would present the communist victory in 1949 as the inevitable result of the class struggle and the death battle with imperialism, his success in ...
More
This chapter reveals that, although Mao Zedong would present the communist victory in 1949 as the inevitable result of the class struggle and the death battle with imperialism, his success in establishing his perspective as the predominant conception of political action was not the result of a logical progression from one stage of history to the next. Like Russia's revolutionaries in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, he benefited from the misperceptions and missteps of others, friends and foes alike. In fact, had certain events not occurred, it is conceivable that the ideas embedded within the Hunan Report would never have taken concrete form. To understand both the evolution of Mao's thinking and his circuitous path to power, the chapter turns to the circumstances more than a century before his travels to Hunan. These circumstances convinced legions of Chinese radicals like himself that the creation of a fundamentally different type of political order was necessary and achievable.Less
This chapter reveals that, although Mao Zedong would present the communist victory in 1949 as the inevitable result of the class struggle and the death battle with imperialism, his success in establishing his perspective as the predominant conception of political action was not the result of a logical progression from one stage of history to the next. Like Russia's revolutionaries in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, he benefited from the misperceptions and missteps of others, friends and foes alike. In fact, had certain events not occurred, it is conceivable that the ideas embedded within the Hunan Report would never have taken concrete form. To understand both the evolution of Mao's thinking and his circuitous path to power, the chapter turns to the circumstances more than a century before his travels to Hunan. These circumstances convinced legions of Chinese radicals like himself that the creation of a fundamentally different type of political order was necessary and achievable.
Henry M. McKiven Jr.
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807845240
- eISBN:
- 9781469603711
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807879719_mckiven
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This study of Birmingham's iron and steel workers unravels the complex connections between race relations and class struggle that shaped the city's social and economic order. It also traces the links ...
More
This study of Birmingham's iron and steel workers unravels the complex connections between race relations and class struggle that shaped the city's social and economic order. It also traces the links between the process of class formation and the practice of community building and neighborhood politics. According to the author, the white men who moved to Birmingham soon after its founding to take jobs as skilled iron workers shared a free labor ideology that emphasized opportunity and equality between white employees and management at the expense of less skilled black laborers. Doubtful of their employers' commitment to white supremacy, they formed unions to defend their position within the racial order of the workplace. This order changed, however, when advances in manufacturing technology created more semiskilled jobs and broadened opportunities for black workers. The author shows how these race and class divisions also shaped working-class life away from the plant, as workers built neighborhoods and organized community and political associations that reinforced bonds of skill, race, and ethnicity.Less
This study of Birmingham's iron and steel workers unravels the complex connections between race relations and class struggle that shaped the city's social and economic order. It also traces the links between the process of class formation and the practice of community building and neighborhood politics. According to the author, the white men who moved to Birmingham soon after its founding to take jobs as skilled iron workers shared a free labor ideology that emphasized opportunity and equality between white employees and management at the expense of less skilled black laborers. Doubtful of their employers' commitment to white supremacy, they formed unions to defend their position within the racial order of the workplace. This order changed, however, when advances in manufacturing technology created more semiskilled jobs and broadened opportunities for black workers. The author shows how these race and class divisions also shaped working-class life away from the plant, as workers built neighborhoods and organized community and political associations that reinforced bonds of skill, race, and ethnicity.
S. P. Mackenzie
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205777
- eISBN:
- 9780191676789
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205777.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Military History
This chapter examines the criticism on the Home Guard in Britain. There were those who suggested that the Home Guard was a means of establishing an armed force directly under the control of the ...
More
This chapter examines the criticism on the Home Guard in Britain. There were those who suggested that the Home Guard was a means of establishing an armed force directly under the control of the hunting-shooting-fishing oligarchy to be used as an instrument of the class struggle. Others called the Home Guard the de facto instrument of imperialism while left-wingers never stopped seeing the volunteer group as the basis for future people's militia.Less
This chapter examines the criticism on the Home Guard in Britain. There were those who suggested that the Home Guard was a means of establishing an armed force directly under the control of the hunting-shooting-fishing oligarchy to be used as an instrument of the class struggle. Others called the Home Guard the de facto instrument of imperialism while left-wingers never stopped seeing the volunteer group as the basis for future people's militia.
Patsy Stoneman
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719074479
- eISBN:
- 9781781701188
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719074479.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
Most critics deplore the presence of ‘extraneous factors’ such as the love story and the murder plot in Mary Barton. Elizabeth Gaskell dissociated herself from ‘political economy’ because she ...
More
Most critics deplore the presence of ‘extraneous factors’ such as the love story and the murder plot in Mary Barton. Elizabeth Gaskell dissociated herself from ‘political economy’ because she believed that humane ethical attitudes, rather than blind market forces, should govern social relationships. Mary Barton develops a contrast between two ethical systems, that of the working class, based on caring and co-operation, and that of the middle class, based on ownership, authority and the law. The dichotomy is similar to the conventional gender-role division, and Gaskell has been criticised for trying to evade the question of class struggle with an inappropriate domestic ethic. She had, however, some justification for presenting the working class as observing a ‘female ethic’. Rather than evading the question of class struggle, however, Mary Barton offers a critique of confrontational politics. As a critique of fatherhood, Mary Barton needs its ‘irrelevant’ subplots.Less
Most critics deplore the presence of ‘extraneous factors’ such as the love story and the murder plot in Mary Barton. Elizabeth Gaskell dissociated herself from ‘political economy’ because she believed that humane ethical attitudes, rather than blind market forces, should govern social relationships. Mary Barton develops a contrast between two ethical systems, that of the working class, based on caring and co-operation, and that of the middle class, based on ownership, authority and the law. The dichotomy is similar to the conventional gender-role division, and Gaskell has been criticised for trying to evade the question of class struggle with an inappropriate domestic ethic. She had, however, some justification for presenting the working class as observing a ‘female ethic’. Rather than evading the question of class struggle, however, Mary Barton offers a critique of confrontational politics. As a critique of fatherhood, Mary Barton needs its ‘irrelevant’ subplots.
Patsy Stoneman
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719074479
- eISBN:
- 9781781701188
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719074479.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
With Mary Barton, North and South is now the most widely read of Elizabeth Gaskell's works, and we owe its modern rehabilitation to the Marxist critics of the 1950s. This critical mediation, however, ...
More
With Mary Barton, North and South is now the most widely read of Elizabeth Gaskell's works, and we owe its modern rehabilitation to the Marxist critics of the 1950s. This critical mediation, however, means that we now receive the text together with a consciousness of its shortcomings in Marxist terms: its parent–child analogy for class relations obscures the economic source of class oppression in the appropriation of surplus value, and its ‘resolution’ is a marriage which at best seems a symbolic reconciliation and at worst a romantic diversion from the industrial theme. However, this chapter argues that the novel only appears inadequate because of the assumption underpinning Marxist theory that work relations alone provide the fundamental structures of society. Feminist theory affirms that gender relations are at least of equal, if not primary, importance. North and South sees class and gender as axes that intersect rather than coincide, and, moreover, it recognises class struggle as the product of economic conflicts of interest which are not resolvable, though they can be ameliorated, by benevolence.Less
With Mary Barton, North and South is now the most widely read of Elizabeth Gaskell's works, and we owe its modern rehabilitation to the Marxist critics of the 1950s. This critical mediation, however, means that we now receive the text together with a consciousness of its shortcomings in Marxist terms: its parent–child analogy for class relations obscures the economic source of class oppression in the appropriation of surplus value, and its ‘resolution’ is a marriage which at best seems a symbolic reconciliation and at worst a romantic diversion from the industrial theme. However, this chapter argues that the novel only appears inadequate because of the assumption underpinning Marxist theory that work relations alone provide the fundamental structures of society. Feminist theory affirms that gender relations are at least of equal, if not primary, importance. North and South sees class and gender as axes that intersect rather than coincide, and, moreover, it recognises class struggle as the product of economic conflicts of interest which are not resolvable, though they can be ameliorated, by benevolence.
Antonio Negri
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231146821
- eISBN:
- 9780231519427
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231146821.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter focuses on Vladimir Lenin’s reading of Karl Marx, with particular emphasis on his approach to the theory of organization as derived from a theory of capital. In order to understand how ...
More
This chapter focuses on Vladimir Lenin’s reading of Karl Marx, with particular emphasis on his approach to the theory of organization as derived from a theory of capital. In order to understand how Lenin proceeds from the theory of capital to a theory of organization, the chapter examines his reading and critical analysis of Marx’s Capital. The skeleton of Capital is not so much the critical analysis of the economic theory of capital but rather of the social relation that this theory unveils, a relation established between the social forces of production of a determinate social formation. All chances of development are, for capital, a record of the solution, however determined, of a power relation in class struggle. This chapter also analyzes Lenin’s position that economic struggle and workers’ spontaneity will always be at the basis of revolutionary social democracy and its process of organization. When the latter becomes complicated, develops, and centers on political struggle, it demonstrates the maturity of the project but will still demand a great political emphasis on economic and spontaneous struggle as its first phase.Less
This chapter focuses on Vladimir Lenin’s reading of Karl Marx, with particular emphasis on his approach to the theory of organization as derived from a theory of capital. In order to understand how Lenin proceeds from the theory of capital to a theory of organization, the chapter examines his reading and critical analysis of Marx’s Capital. The skeleton of Capital is not so much the critical analysis of the economic theory of capital but rather of the social relation that this theory unveils, a relation established between the social forces of production of a determinate social formation. All chances of development are, for capital, a record of the solution, however determined, of a power relation in class struggle. This chapter also analyzes Lenin’s position that economic struggle and workers’ spontaneity will always be at the basis of revolutionary social democracy and its process of organization. When the latter becomes complicated, develops, and centers on political struggle, it demonstrates the maturity of the project but will still demand a great political emphasis on economic and spontaneous struggle as its first phase.
Janja A. Lalich
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520231948
- eISBN:
- 9780520937512
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520231948.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter deals with the eventual decline and fall of the DWP. A double standard had quickly taken hold in the leadership. Dixon was never held accountable in the ways her followers were, nor did ...
More
This chapter deals with the eventual decline and fall of the DWP. A double standard had quickly taken hold in the leadership. Dixon was never held accountable in the ways her followers were, nor did she ever live by the organization's rigid rules and norms that she herself put in place. Two purges of non-full-time militants came during a time of increasing isolation, erratic political involvements and changing strategies, and the onset of intensified class-standpoint struggle inside the DWP. This became a significant turning point in organizational life. The cadre members realized that Marx's utopian vision of a communist society was not within their sights. Feeling harassed and distraught, members of the inner circle staged a revolution of sorts, breaking the bonds of silence and, in Dixon's absence, dissolving the party and expelling her. The members' varied reactions to the breakup are recorded. For those who had spent the best part of a decade or more totally devoted to the ideals and goals of the group, it was an extremely emotional event.Less
This chapter deals with the eventual decline and fall of the DWP. A double standard had quickly taken hold in the leadership. Dixon was never held accountable in the ways her followers were, nor did she ever live by the organization's rigid rules and norms that she herself put in place. Two purges of non-full-time militants came during a time of increasing isolation, erratic political involvements and changing strategies, and the onset of intensified class-standpoint struggle inside the DWP. This became a significant turning point in organizational life. The cadre members realized that Marx's utopian vision of a communist society was not within their sights. Feeling harassed and distraught, members of the inner circle staged a revolution of sorts, breaking the bonds of silence and, in Dixon's absence, dissolving the party and expelling her. The members' varied reactions to the breakup are recorded. For those who had spent the best part of a decade or more totally devoted to the ideals and goals of the group, it was an extremely emotional event.
Wang Zheng
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780520292284
- eISBN:
- 9780520965867
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520292284.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
In 1964 the CCP’s journal Red Flag openly criticized Women of China for its alleged bourgeois and revisionist line in its advocacy of “women question.” Investigating this mysterious case, this ...
More
In 1964 the CCP’s journal Red Flag openly criticized Women of China for its alleged bourgeois and revisionist line in its advocacy of “women question.” Investigating this mysterious case, this chapter discovers the crucial moment when the masculinist male authority in the Party successfully deployed a Maoist concept of class struggle to suppress ACWF’s efforts to transform gender relations, especially in the domestic setting. Underlying this attack on ACWF was personal entanglement among the top echelon of the Party. Political rhetoric camouflaged personal animosities; and the political was indeed inseparably blended with the personal. State feminist endeavors became casualties of personal politics, a case revealing marginalization of the ACWF in the power structure as well as drastic deterioration of the political dynamics in the CCP.Less
In 1964 the CCP’s journal Red Flag openly criticized Women of China for its alleged bourgeois and revisionist line in its advocacy of “women question.” Investigating this mysterious case, this chapter discovers the crucial moment when the masculinist male authority in the Party successfully deployed a Maoist concept of class struggle to suppress ACWF’s efforts to transform gender relations, especially in the domestic setting. Underlying this attack on ACWF was personal entanglement among the top echelon of the Party. Political rhetoric camouflaged personal animosities; and the political was indeed inseparably blended with the personal. State feminist endeavors became casualties of personal politics, a case revealing marginalization of the ACWF in the power structure as well as drastic deterioration of the political dynamics in the CCP.
