Suchergebnisse

This landmark book, first published in 1979, met acclaim as a doubly important work of radical philosophy. Its subject, Jean-Paul Sartre, was among the twentieth century's most controversial and influential philosophers; its author, István Mészáros, was himself establishing a reputation for profound contributions to the Marxian tradition, which would continue into the next century. The Work of Sartre was thus considered essential for its insights on Sartre and as a piece of Mészáros 's developing politico-philosophical project. In this completely updated and expanded volume, Mészáros exami

In this collection of trenchant essays and interviews, István Mészáros, the world's preeminent Marxist philosopher and winner of the 2008 Libertador Award for Critical Thought (the Bolivar Prize), lays bare the exploitative structure of modern capitalism. He argues with great power that the world's economies are on a social and ecological precipice, and that unless we take decisive action to radically transform our societies we will find ourselves thrust headfirst into barbarism and environmental catastrophe. Mészáros, however, is no pessimist. He believes that the multiple crises of world cap

In an interview, Istvan Meszaros, Chair of Philosophy, University of Sussex, talked about critique of the state. The allegedly less and less power of nation-states is a great exaggeration, voiced by governments in the interest of justifying their failure to introduce even some of their thoroughly limited and once solemnly promised social reforms. Thus the reality is not the elimination of nation-state aspirations but an overheating cauldron of perilous contradictions and antagonisms on a variety of levels, ubiquitously asserting themselves among the given and aspiring nation-states and even within the framework of the state formations invented as the projected solution of past inter-state antagonisms, like the -- far from unified -- European Union. The great challenge for the historical time is the necessary eradication of capital from the social metabolic order. And that is inconceivable without eradicating at the same time also the state formations of capital as historically constituted in conjunction with the system's material reproductive dimension and inseparable from it. Adapted from the source document.

The need for the establishment and successful operation of The New International is painfully obvious and urgent today. The enemies of a historically sustainable societal reproductive order, who occupy at the present time still the dominant position in the increasingly endangered world, do not hesitate for a moment to exploit in the interest of their destructive design, with utmost cynicism and hypocrisy, the existing decision-making and opinion-forming organs of the international community, from the Security Council of the United Nations to the great multiplicity of the national and international press and to the other mass media under their direct material stranglehold. In reality the enemies of socialism are attempting to recolonize the world in the name of their preposterous inhuman ideology which targets even with the most violent means the countries of the so-called 'axis of evil,' in former US President George W. Bush's belligerent rhetoric -- not shirking from the open advocacy of 'liberal imperialism'. Adapted from the source document.

The investigation of the dialectical relationship between structure and history is essential for a proper understanding of the nature and defining characteristics of any social formation in which sustainable solutions are being sought to the encountered problems. This is particularly important in the case of capital's social formation, with its inexorable tendency toward an all-embracing, structurally embedded determination of all aspects of societal reproduction and the -- feasible for the first time ever -- global domination implicit in that form of development. It is therefore by no means accidental that, in the interest of the required structural change, Marx had to focus critical attention on the concept of social structure, in the historical period of crises and revolutionary explosions of the 1840s when he articulated his own -- radically new -- conception of history. In his first great synthesizing work, the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844, Marx put into relief that, in the course of modern historical development, natural science, through its close integration with the material practices of capitalist industrial production, had become in an alienated form the basis of social life; a circumstance considered by Marx "a priori a lie." In his view this had to be rectified by extricating science itself from its alienating integument. At the same time science had to be retained, in a qualitatively modified form, remade as "the science of man" -- in its inseparability from "the science of history" -- the enriching and gratifying basis of actual human life. But to achieve this fundamental transformation, it was absolutely necessary to understand and lay bare the deep-seated structural determinations through which the creative potentiality of human labor, including the scientific endeavor of the social individuals, had been subjugated by the alienating imperatives of fetishistic/uncontrollable capital-expansion and accumulation. For this reason the category of social structure had to acquire a seminal importance in the Marxian vision in a completely tangible form. Contrary to the speculative philosophical approaches to these problems dominant at the time, there could be nothing mysterious about the required analysis of the social structure. Nor could political vested interests be allowed to obfuscate the issues at stake in the interest of speculatively transubstantiated state-apologetics. Adapted from the source document.

Draws on Karl Marx to argue that genuine socialism requires the conscious adoption & maintenance of the orienting principle of self-critique if it is to be a hegemonic alternative to capitalism. It is contended that only the communal mode of societal reproduction can replace capital's destructive organic system & that it cannot turn to economic determinations that "work behind the back of the individuals," meaning it must activate the orienting & operative principle of self-critique at all levels. The potential & limits of self-critique is discussed in general terms before addressing some of the contrasting determinations of the communal system as the only sustainable historical alternative to capital's organic system. It is asserted that self-critique is absent from the kind of market socialism envisioned by Gorbachev & ascendant in China. Attention is given to the post festum character of capital's organic system of social metabolic control to shed further light on why the communal organic system is the only one that can adopt self-critique as its normal & sustainable mode of operation. Focus then turns to the place of self-critique in the communal system's planning process. Adapted from the source document.

Discussion opens with a look at Simon Bolivar's 19th-century efforts to achieve freedom & equality in Latin America, the response of the US to prevent this, the environment in which such work is occurring today, & the idea that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is pursuing the realization of the Bolivarian project via creative radical renewal. The author's 1993 perspective on the Bolivarian project is then presented to shed light on the recent history of the movement & as well as what is seen as Chavez's remarkable call for a sustainable socialist transformation in the spirit of radical determination for the historical continuity it reveals. In this light, current prospects for development are considered. D. Edelman

Challenges the assertion that there is no alternative to capitalism, arguing that to create an economically viable & sustainable social reproductive order requires a radical shift in the "self-contradictory inner determinations of the established order." It is contended that partial correctives to capital's operational framework, if not truly quality oriented, will not work, largely in part because socialism & capitalism are mutually exclusive. In providing a critique of capital's mode of social metabolic control, attention is given to the false alternatives, eg, growth vs no-growth, springing from the uncritical advocacy of necessary capital expansion. D. Edelman

The importance of planning as a framework for understanding socialism as the alternative mode of reproduction is explored in terms Harry Magdoff's understanding of the socialist versus capitalist mode of social metabolic control. The contradiction inherent in a capitalistic social metabolic order is asserted to be the simultaneous impact on the natural substratum of human life with the long-term historical dimension of irresponsible husbandry is argued to rule out the possibility of historical consciousness in the age of globalism. The myopic capitalism discussed by Harry & Fred Magdoff is characterized as the relationship between planning & the fundamental determination of time appropriate to the social reproductive system, as well as capitals necessary of use of time. The vital role of planning in redressing the problems & contradictions of capitalism is nullified at the comprehensive societal level & in the life of the particular individuals of capitalism. A radical overcoming of capitals necessary abuse of time -- which degrades human beings to the condition of "time's carcase", denying them the power of self-determination is real subjects -- is vital for the creation of an alternative social order. The true meaning of planning is the acquiring of the power of economists, conscious, & responsible decision-making, with its proper perspective of meaningful life activity. References. J. Harwell

Discussion opens with a look at some disturbing trends in politics & law & a critical examination of recent US & British strategic thinking culminating in three brief cases that illustrate the dangers of monopolized political decision making to the democratic credentials of a legal system. It is deemed necessary to understand the social causes and deep-seated structural determinants central to these trends in politics & law. Thus, the crisis in politics & law must be positioned within the broader structural crisis in the capital system's mode of social metabolic reproduction, which is explored in detail. D. Edelman

Argues that current circumstances render the idea of militarism, particularly as defined by Karl Marie von Clausewitz -- ie, "war is the continuation of politics by other means" -- is untenable given that von Clausewitz assumed the rationality of action linking the two & that the absolute condition of his definition was the "winnability of war in principle." It is argued that war as a mechanism of global governance coupled with the overwhelming destructive force of available weapons means that the world stands at the edge of "absolute irrationality" with 21st-century wars viewed as "unwinnable in principle." In this light, current US strategic doctrine is discussed in terms of a long-standing new phase of global hegemonic imperialism that preceded September 11, 2001. It is asserted that the logic of capital is inseparable from the imperative of powerful state domination of weaker states. Global integration & the current state of the capital system are taken as two key dimensions of this phase of imperialism. In addition, there is a conflicting relationship between the preponderant position of US capital & the structural position of the capital system. To resist militarism requires situating the past few decades' historical changes in a proper causal framework; confronting the new phase of global hegemonic imperialism calls for the socialist countering of the systemic necessity of capital for globally subjugating labor. J. Zendejas

Argues that although many philosophers view capital's political economy according to post-Cartesian dichotomies & dualistically articulated solutions as answers to social & economic problems, solutions can only come through the adoption of a new categorical framework & an alternative social order that is able to remove the practical antinomies of the capitalist system. This article explains that objective dichotomies & antinomies of capital's historical contingency create an interrelated system of determinations in which one side of the dualism controls the other through overturning & inversion of some vital objective relationships. The process establishes rigid hierarchies in which dialectical mediations & workable transitions to structural change are impossible. The works of Karl Marx, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, & Adam Smith on dualisms & dichotomies is analyzed. L. A. Hoffman

Sustainable development & substantive inequality face the greatest of all obstacles -- a world that has always been based on substantive inequality. The goals of the French Revolution -- liberty, fraternity, & equality -- have been unobtainable, with equality exercised in only the strict & formal mechanisms of the political sphere & liberty diminished to the right to vote, a practice increasingly shunned by a growing number of disillusioned citizens. In the US, the top 1% of the people have as much wealth as the bottom 40% together, a figure that has doubled in the last two decades. The US constitutes 4% of the world population, but consumes 25% of the world's energy & strategic material resources & is responsible for 25% of global pollution. Change can be achieved only through a culture of substantive equality, with each individual aware of his or her responsibility to contribute to nonadversarial problem solving. L. A. Hoffman