Bøger af Ralph Miliband

This outstanding and original volume offers a critical examination of a number of developments which in recent years have undermined the idea of socialism and eroded its electoral appeal. Among these developments are the collapse of Communist regimes, the fragmentation of the constituencies upon which earlier socialist advances had depended, changes in the organization and the dynamics of capitalism and a dearth of agencies committed to the socialist project. The book also takes up and seeks to rebut older objections to socialism, such as the notion that it is inevitably totalitarian, that it is based on too optimistic a view of human nature and that it fails to take account of the tendency of power to accumulate in the hands of minorities. The book argues that a social order dominated by the logic of capital and competition cannot, despite all the positive claims made on its behalf, produce the conditions which make true citizenship and community possible. By contrast, socialism offers an attractive and feasible programme for the realization of those ideals. Miliband argues that socialism cannot be seen as an answer to all the ills which have plagued humankind. Socialism, in his view, has to be understood as part of an age-old struggle for a more just society, and he believes that, seen in this light, socialism remains not only desirable but also perfectly possible. Moreover, he believes, socialism will, in time, come to command a majority support which its advancement requires. Socialism has to be seen as a permanent striving for the achievement of democracy, egalitarianism and the creation of an economy under democratic control.

Ralph Miliband is one of the major Marxist sociologists working today. His books, The State in Capitalist Society and Parliamentary Socialism, arc standard reference points in all debates on the nature of the state.Less widely known, and never before collected in one volume, are Miliband's contributions to the development of socialist politics. As an essayist, he deploys a wide political culture and clarity of argument with a sustained commitment to socialist values. The topics of the essays gathered here were sparked by the key occasions of socialist debate in the past twenty years. They include socialist democracy; the relation between class power and state power in the transition to socialism; the role of human agency in history, and the character of the Soviet Union. Kolakowski, Bahro, Medvedev and Bettelheim are among the figures whose contributions are soberly and constructively assessed. The lessons of the overthrow of the Allende government in Chile are drawn in a tour de force of controlled moral outrage and urgent analysis.All of Miliband's interventions in his famous debate with Nicos Poulantzas are brought together for the first time, along with his subsequent reflections on the questions it addressed. Finally, Miliband explores the special problems posed for socialists by the existence of powerful and inert labour parties in advanced capitalist countries, arguing powerfully for a recognition that contemporary conditions demand a rejection both of Leninist and of social-democratic strategies.Class Power and State Power is an impressive display of the depth and range of Ralph Miliband's writing of the past twenty years; it will confirm his status as one of the most important contemporary Marxist thinkers.

Essential writings from a leading British Socialist thinker

Reflecting on the Labor government of Harold Wilson between 1964 and 1970, this concise analysis chronicles the Labor Party from its early days up to the early 1960s, including a 1972 postscript.

Presenting a sustained and concrete challenge to the current political consensus, this reference identifies the radical alternative of adopting socialism as the key issue facing civilization and the crucial condition of making substantial progress. Demonstrating that capitalist control of the state was so comprehensive that partial reforms were impossible, this reference attempts to explain how society has managed to evade socialism, exploring how its claims have failed to persuade many intellectuals and the potential benefactors of an alternative order. Reviewing the influence of economic elites and the dominant class, this study also probes the state's claims to legitimacy, defines the purpose and role of governments, and analyzes the concepts of reform and repression. Depicting how the state reemerged from behind the mystifications of the political system and its behavior to become the central theme of political studies, this radical and philosophical investigation combines a political appeal with thorough, detailed scholarship. A discussion of servants of the state and the concept of imperfect competition are also included.

This readable survey of Marxist political theory and key texts by seminal thinkers including Marx, Engels, and Lenin highlights formative concepts and debates within Marxist thought. The argument is presented that a democratic socialism can defend and extend freedoms and thereby remove class distinctions. This introduction considers the nature of class conflict, the proposed defense of the old order, and the possibilities for reform and revolution. This replaces 0198760620.