Book Description
This book asksâand tries to answerâseveral basic questions that affect all Leftists today. Will anarchism remain a revolutionary social movement or become a chic boutique lifestyle subculture? Will its primary goals be the complete transformation of a hierarchical, class, and irrational society into a libertarian communist one? Or will it become an ideology focused on personal well-being, spiritual redemption, and self-realization within the existing society?
In an era of privatism, kicks, introversion, and post-modernist nihilism, Murray Bookchin forcefully examines the growing nihilistic trends that threaten to undermine the revolutionary tradition of anarchism and co-opt its fragments into a harmless personalistic, yuppie ideology of social accommodation that presents no threat to the existing powers that be. Includes the essay, "The Left That Was."
Customer Reviews:
Social Anarchsim or Lifestyle Anarchism - Mooray Bookchin.......2007-09-25
I've come to rescue this book from the unjustifiably negative reviews. Bookchin is the very definition of a working-class intellectual, and for that reason alone, imho, everything he writes is worth reading. Of course you won't agree with all of it; I, for one, took umbrage with his characterization of William Godwin as "individualistic" (Godwin said over and over that "the general welfare" should be the basis for all action). Then again, I'm not sure why you would want to read only things that you entirely agree with.
There are two myths about this book that are present in the Amazon reviews of it. One is that Bookchin is authoritarian. He isn't - he wrote the seminal "Listen, Marxist!", which you can find online with a bit of googling, as an attack on the authoritarian tendencies of the American left in the 60's. He didn't spare the Marxists anything--from what I've heard (I'm not familiar enough with Marx to have an opinion), he actually portrays Marx and Engels as *more* authoritarian than they really were.
The second myth is that this book--the mirror image of "Listen, Marxist!"--is totally unjustified. It isn't. North American anarchism has *always* been less serious, more kooky, more uber-individualistic and less socialistic than anarchism in Europe. Given that at least one NA anarchist has endorsed the actions of the Unabomber, there's really no denying that NA anarchism has strains of pure kookiness that are geared to appeal to bored trust-fund kids rather than social reformers and revolutionaries. If anarchism is to be a political philosophy, it must be social: society is what politics are all about. And anarchism IS a political philosophy. If you need further convincing that anarchism as a serious political movement is threatened by individualist as much as by authoritarian ideas, check out Chaz Bufe's "Listen, Anarchist!" (yes, it's a play on the title of Bookchin's own "Listen, Marxist"), which is also available for free on several websites.
The bottom line is: Buy the book. Let the man make his argument. Even if you don't agree with everything he says--and you surely won't--his writing is consistently thought-provoking and thrillingly dense. I also recommend Post-Scarcity Anarchism for a look at his earlier thought; espite what the other reviews here say, you'll actually find a strong continuity between his earlier and later writings. He never changed, anarchism did.
All those who identify as Anarchists need to read and grapple with this book.......2006-07-06
Written some ten years ago, Bookchin's devasating and concise critique is even more relevant today then when it was written. Anarchism today in the English speaking world especially is in a state of total disarray, having its socialistic core washed away and its previous concern for genuine change and an actual social revolution destroyed. In 1999 Bookchin, as a result of what was happening to Anarchism in the West, broke with Anarchism while remaining a revolutionary libertarian socialist -- a specific form of lbertarian socialism he has termed Communalism.
One cannot blame Bookchin at all for his action. For he had seen a movement he had participated in for some 40 years collapsing around him into a bourgeoisized mystical, New Age, misanthropic, anti-civilizational, cult for middle class kids who want to simply "do there own thing" but not actually do anything that might genuinely challenge the establishment. Bookchin may very well be vindicated in the end as the movement he left behind dissolves into irrelevancy, his leaving it and moving to a genuinely revolutionary democratic and libertarian philosophy, program, and ideal may help someday bring the Left back its ethical vision of a free and just world.
Hopefully some person interested in Anarchism will read this and learn that if Anarchism is to have any relevance in the struggle for human liberation, it must ask itself some very difficult questions, hopefully Bookchin's book will provoke them to do just that and create a movement that might actually change the world for the better.
a grumpy man that should be heard.......2004-01-23
I'll concede that Bookchin comes across like a grumpy old man. On the other hand, he has a deep insight that close attention should be paid to. He makes a distinction between freedom and autonomy, and points out that freedom is a social condition which precedes autonomy. Autonomy has become sacrosanct in our American culture. Bookchin gives scathing critiques of a few anarchist books with ideas that overemphasize autonomy at the expense of social freedom.
I've been thinking lately about the practical ramifications for the insight of the anarchist principle. Do we vote? The idea of an anarchist system sounds contradictory. But I think you will find in this book, a new way of thinking about these kinds of problems. I highly recommend it.
Don't waste your money.......2003-10-29
Bookchin, a washed up Marxist, lays down a lot of nonsense about post-leftist anarchism, most likely motivated by the fact that few people are paying attention to him anymore
Anarchy after Bookchin.......2002-06-22
This may be the worst book about anarchists any of them has ever written. Contemporary anarchists, many of whom had been influenced by Bookchin, were shocked by this diatribe, which assailed basically everything different from (not even always opposed to) Bookchin's ideology in its current Marxized version. Murray had been away for so long trying to take over the Greens movement that most anarchists perforce elaborated their various tendencies without his guidance (he's an ex-Dean). Bookchin's deliberately divisive innovation is to distinguish Social Anarchists (good anarchists who agree with the four tenets he lays down) from Lifestyle Anarchists, who are an unsavory lot of mystics, lumpenproletarians, post-modernists, primitivists, spontaneists, New Agers, Stirnerites, irrationalists, bourgeois and petit bourgeous,liberals -- and fascists (!). No attempt is made to explain the apparent irrationalities in Bookchin himself, for example, how people can be bourgeois and lumpen, or liberal and fascist at the same time. Part of this rhetoric Bookchin seems to have brought back from his controversies with deep ecologists without noticing that none of his targeted enemies are deep ecologists. He had all this rhetoric, why waste it? No one, not Bookchin even (he has a second book out on this theme, even more Marxist and authoritarian) has ever identified even one attribute shared by all these tendencies. There is only one such attribute: Murray Bookchin dislikes them. It would be no trouble (but very time-consuming) to refute most of what Bookchin now says out of his earlier writings, and two books and a number of reviews have done so. The consensus is that he was right the first time. Additionally, although the book parades its footnotes, most of them distort or entirely fail to represent the propositions they are attached to. Critics argued that Bookchin had returned to his original Stalinism (in the 1930s) or at the very least, that he was not an anarchist (he favors sovereign municipalities or neighborhoods and voting in local elections). It is sad that it is this book, and its even more execrable sequel, for which Bookchin will be remembered. -- According to an item in the magazine "Anarchy," Bookchin no longer considers himself an anarchist.
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Infinity and the Brain: A Unified Theory of Mind, Matter, and God
Glenn G. Dudley
Manufacturer: Paragon House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Consciousness & Thought
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ASIN: 1557788073 |
Book Description
This book may be the long-awaited breakthrough in understanding the relationship between mind and matter by showing, based on a novel approach to the brain, that consciousness is fundamentally a thermodynamic battle between the finite and the infinite - and, equivalently, between opposing tendencies toward and away from nonexistence. The author proposes a giant step in our thinking about consciousness - that the seeing-of-an-image, all but defining consciousness, is the actual modus operandi for restraining the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and thereby responsible for existence itself. Given that all organized matter functions according to principles identical with those of the brain, the proposal requires reality to be fundamentally personal and God-centered, As such, the author reasons, the universe itself must be an image in the mind of a transcendent God.
The book's analysis of neural design demonstrates the truth of this startling hypothesis by showing how an image, surrounded by a sense of self, is produced by minimizing mismatch throughout the brain and that, accordingly, the creation and sustaining of a visual field is a function of the brain's weight- and temperature-regulating center - where the relationship between order (a match) and disorder (mismatch) is stabilized on the basis of the brain's capacity for creating a match with what is expected. A tiny but ongoing mismatch implicitly sustains our relationship to the infinitude of nonexistence, thereby contrastingly illuminating the self to itself as "conscious."
The energy needed for modulating body and eye movement toward an expected state is released by an organizational counterpart to "infinity anticipation" - namely a regression, as if backward in time, in the direction of our once previous weightlessness. As such, an ongoing contrast between one's actual body mass and that as anticipated in the momentary absence of an image regressively releases and channels energy in the creation of the expected form. The only presupposition is that we have necessarily been made in the image of God as the ultimate overcomer of nonexistence and that, accordingly, infinity has been stringently encoded within neural design.
Qualia (elementary sensations) can now be understood as becoming conscious by the way they compete with one another for attention, thereby stalemating directional movement in the creation of a singular image surrounded by competing ambient stimuli. The very existence of this image, being finite and therefore expectable, optimizes our relationship to infinity and/or God, equivalently conserving energy and thwarting the probability of nonexistence.
This well-referenced book is a must read for anyone hoping to find a truly logical, evidence-based solution to the paradox of mind and body, and who is willing to move beyond the notion that matter somehow organizes itself and mysteriously gives rise to mind.
Book Description
This final book in the three volume "Foundations of Economic Personalism Series", systematically applies the praxeological (from the first volume) and theoretical (from the second volume) foundations of the personalist tradition to free-market economic theory. Unlike the previous two, this work defends economic liberty in theologically sensitive terms that reference the personalist tradition, without compromising the disciplinary integrity of either economics or social ethics.
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Beyond Self-Interest
Gregory R. Beabout ,
Robert F. Crespo ,
Stephen J. Grabill ,
Gregory M.A. Gronbacher ,
Kim Paffenroth , and
Kyle Swan
Manufacturer: Lexington Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0739101838 |
Book Description
This book presents the methodological and theoretical foundations for economic personalism through a detailed investigation of human action from two different, yet complimentary perspectives: from the personalist perspective of Karol Wojtyla in the "Acting Person" (1961), and the free-market perspective of Ludwig von Mises in "Human Action" (1963). Both Wojtyla and Mises approach their subjects with a well-developed praxeology (i.e., a theory of human action). By comparing and contrasting the viewpoints of Wojtyla and Mises, the authors develop a comprehensive praxeology capable of analyzing human action from moral and economic perspectives. "Beyond Self-Interest" illustrates how a unified praxeology could encourage more sustained analysis of the moral dimensions of economic activity while simultaneously softening the utilitarian prejudice of contemporary economic analysis.
Book Description
To which institutions or social practices should we grant authority? When should we instead assert our own sense of what is right or good or necessary?
In this book, James Boyd White shows how texts by some of our most important thinkers and writers—including Plato, Shakespeare, Dickinson, Mandela, and Lincoln—answer these questions, not in the abstract, but in the way they wrestle with the claims of the world and self in particular historical and cultural contexts. As they define afresh the institutions or practices for which they claim (or resist) authority, they create authorities of their own, in the very modes of thought and expression they employ. They imagine their world anew and transform the languages that give it meaning.
In so doing, White maintains, these works teach us about how to read and judge claims of authority made by others upon us; how to decide to which institutions and practices we should grant authority; and how to create authorities of our own through our thoughts and arguments. Elegant and accessible, this book will appeal to anyone wanting to better understand one of the primary processes of our social and political lives.
Customer Reviews:
Acts of Hope.......2000-05-11
i love this book this is coming from a person who loves to read ... this is one of the best books that i have ever read and i have a whole library full of books this is the book i most recomend u to buy !
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The Communitarian Third Way: Alexandre Marc's Ordre Nouveau, 1930-2000
John Hellman
Manufacturer: McGill-Queen's University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Revolutionary
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ASIN: 0773523766 |
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The Value Driven Bank: Strategies for Total Market Satisfaction
Terry C. Wilson , and
Reginald Goeke
Manufacturer: Irwin Professional Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1557387737 |
Book Description
The Value Driven Bank offers an innovative, cost-effective management strategy for financial institutions that capitalizes on internal strengths using these approaches to profitably reach customers, with a focus on the value elements unique to the bank such as service, convenience, quality. Balanced with analysis and answers to the complexity of banking competition. The Value Driven Bank covers these proven methods of increased competitiveness and profitability, including case studies and examples of successful banks to help project winning strategies onto institutions: accurately assessing the financial needs and desires of customers; emphasizing service over price; making bankers understand bank's value advantage; conveying the benefits of your bank that transcend the basic products; closing the loop by bringing the message to customers and price to customers that you have what they want.
Book Description
The eighth edition of this best-selling book continues to provide readers with a realistic picture of actual collective bargaining and labor relations situations drawn from the authors' considerable experiences. Sections of actual labor agreements as well as arbitration cases and decisions of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the courts illustrate and emphasize contemporary issues of collective bargaining and labor relations. Experts in the fields of labor law and arbitration have contributed “tips” on how the concepts in the book can actually be applied.
In addition to covering history and law, workplace challenges, the collective bargaining process, and labor contracts, major features of this new edition include expanded coverage of public sector labor relations, international collective bargaining issues, union organizing and avoidance strategies, and collective bargaining in professional sports.
Because of its comprehensive coverage and excellent resource material, this book is an excellent reference for human resource directors, labor relations directors, personnel directors, and labor negotiators.
Customer Reviews:
Dry.......2007-02-19
I only bought this book because I'm in labor relations class. It's as dry as a piece of stale bread. But if you want to know anything and everything about Labor Relations and the history, BUY IT!
My first textbook order from Amazon.......2007-01-11
This is the first time I have order a textbook online. My experience was awesome. I received my order in a timely manner. The textbook was in outstanding condition. This text consisted of labor law material along with various labor law cases and procedures. I just order another book I am awaiting for the early arrival of this text.
THANK YOU AMAZON !!
Fairly good - Not excellent.......2004-11-19
I just took a college level class in which we used this book as the textbook. There is a lot of good information inside which provides a good introduction to the novice on how the process of collective bargaining works. It begins with the history of how it started and continues through the specific issues that collective bargaining entails. There is even a copy of the National Labor Relations Act in the back of the book.
There are some rough spots that should be worked out in the next edition however. Sometimes I found myself lost in the verbage that the author chose to use and had no idea what the point had been. The case studies at the ends of the chapters have no solutions, they ask questions of you and then leave you - a novice - to flounder with no professional direction in the event - which is frequent - that you can't figure out the answer. And, there are some typo's in key locations which end up disproving, instead of proving, the point that the author was attempting to make (very confusing.)
This text is best used in conjunction with lectures by a good professor if you want to get the most out of it.
Great Book.......2002-05-17
Great book for the novice negotiator or student.Current, easy to read, practical examples.
Concise & complete.......2002-04-11
The authors provide a complete & concise discussion of the process of collective bargaining within a general labor relations context. Many, current cases, tips from experts, and historical references help present the concepts. A solid text for the novice negotiator or interested student.
Book Description
Hilgert/Dilts is the only non-custom product on the market to offer an anthology of cases for the labor relations/collective bargaining course. It contains an extensive set of cases dealing with Union/ Management problem situations. The cases vary in length, complexity and numbers of issues.
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- Como Negociar Internacionalmente
- Con paquetes estilo turístico, las aseguradoras invaden el campo del servicio médico social.(TT: With tourist style packages, the insurance companies invade ... medical field.): An article from: Proceso
- Concentracion Economica Regional En Argentina (Coleccion Estudios Politicos y Sociales)
- Contabilizacion del Impuesto A las Ganancias: Metodo del Impuesto Diferido
- Cooperatives and Local Development: Theory and Applications for the 21st Century
- Coping with Difficult People: The Proven-Effective Battle Plan That Has Helped Millions Deal with the Troublemakers in Their Lives at Home and at Work
- Crisis Economica y Politicas de Ajuste
- Dolarizacion, La - Ensayo Sobre La Moneda
- Economia 14
- Economia - 15b: Edicion
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