Socialism or Barbarism: From the "American Century" to the Crossroads

by István Mészáros

István Meszáros's bold new study analyzes the historical choices facing us at the outset of the new millennium. Drawing on the theoretical arguments of his monumental and widely-acclaimed work, Beyond Capital, Mészáros shows that the economic boom of the 1990s was built not only on the foundation of new, digital technologies but also on a new social and ethical basis. In the global quest for profit, capitalism has abandoned its claims to serve a larger historical cause. Even in the wealthiest capitalist economies, unemployment has become structural and conditions of life have become more onerous for most of the population.

The failure of capitalism's historical mission is most evident in the end of the project of "Third World modernization" so essential to the claims of U.S. global power to represent an advance on old-style imperialism. Mészaros develops an illuminating analysis of the roots and tensions of the politics of U.S. global power from the time of Roosevelt's "Open Door" policy to the present. Against this historical background, he examines the dilemmas which will be faced in the making of U.S. foreign policy towards China-the largest and most rapidly-expanding national market in the global economy and the newly-emerging rival to U.S. global dominance. Mészáros shows how this process is rooted in the historical logic of contemporary capitalism, and is neither accidental nor temporary. In the process, he gives new meaning and urgency to the alternatives posed by Rosa Luxemburg at the beginning of the 20th century: socialism or barbarism.

Mészáros also explores the conditions for the emergence of a radical alternative to capitalism, arguing that a critical re-examination of earlier movements and struggles is an essential task for the emergence of such an alternative. As a sequel to his essay, an extended interview deals with more reflectively with the main categories underlying his analysis and relates it to developments within the broader analysis of modern society.

Author Biography: István Mészáros is one of the foremost Marxist intellectuals working today. He is professor emeritus at the University of Sussex, where he held the chair of Philosophy for fifteen years. His books include Marx's Theory of Alienation for which he was awarded the Isaac Deutscher Prize, The Work of Sartre: Search for Freedom; The Power of Ideology; and Beyond Capital.

Genres: Politics, History, Society

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2001

About the author

István Mészáros was a Hungarian Marxist philosopher. Described as "one of the foremost political philosophers of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries" by Monthly Review, Mészáros wrote mainly about the possibility of a transition from capitalism to socialism.

Reviews

[Dina]

«تحت حاکمیّت سرمایه، نظامی که به‌طور ساختاری قادر به حلّ تضادهایش نیست، گرایش به این سوست که به‌خاطر ابدی کردنِ وضع حال، تاریخ را هم از جهت گذشته و هم آینده‌اش تحریف کنند. تحریف جانبدارانه‌ی گذشته ناشی از این ضرورت ایدئولوژیک است که زمانِ حال را به غلط در حکم چارچوبی ساختاری جلوه دهند که برای هر گونه تغییر ممکنی لازم است. دقیقاً به این دلیل که وضع حاکمِ امروز باید تا آینده‌ی بی‌نهایت تداوم یابد، گذشته نیز باید افسانه‌وار -و به شکل تعمیم وضع حال به گذشته- به‌عنوان زمینه‌ی همیشگی این نظام به شکل دیگری نشان داده شود تا عوامل تعیین‌کننده‌ی تاریخی و محدودیت‌های زمانیِ شرایط حال از میان برداشته شوند.»

[Natalia Sofía · Rating 2 out of 5]

Smoke and mirrors. What was proposed could have been said in 5-10 pgs.

[Babak Radfar · Rating 5 out of 5]

این کتاب سال ۲۰۰۳ به فارسی ترجمه شده یک مقداری از مباحثش که تاریخ مصرف داشته و تحلیل مسائل وقت بوده گذشته اما باقی مسائلش هنوز ساری و جاری است.مشکل من با این مروجان سوسیالیزم این است که وقتی ازشان می پرسم تعریفتان از سوسیالیزم چیست و چه ویژگیهایی دارد همه شان سوسیالیزم را با ضدش تعریف میکنند و مضار نظام سرمایه داری را برمیشمارند...

[Luís Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

(lido em Chengdu, China)

[Jonasdeleon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Itsvan Meszaros borrows the title "Socialism or Barbarism" from Rosa Luxemburg. It is a must read for those that feel not everything is rosy and a need for democracy.