Телеграм канал «Политическая теория и философия (Political theory and philosophy)»

Alec Nove - Was Stalin Really Necessary?: Some Problems of Soviet Economic Policy

First published in 1964, Was Stalin Really Necessary? is a thought-provoking work which deals with many aspects of the Soviet political economy, planning problems and statistics. Professor Nove starts with an attempt to evaluate the rationality of Stalinism and discusses the possible political consequences of the search for greater economic efficiency, which is followed by a controversial discussion of Kremlinology. The author goes on to analyse the situation of the peasants as reflected in literary journals, then looks at industrial and agricultural problems. There are elaborate statistical surveys of occupational patterns and the purchasing power of wages, followed by an examination of the irrational statistical reflection of irrational economic decisions. Nove’s essay on social welfare was, unlike some of his other work, used in the Soviet press as evidence against over-enthusiastic cold-warriors, among whom the author was not always popular. Finally, the author seeks to generalise about the evolution of world communism.

Stephen Kinzer - The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire

The bestselling author of Overthrow and The Brothers brings to life the forgotten political debate that set America’s interventionist course in the world for the twentieth century and beyond. How should the United States act in the world? Americans cannot decide. Sometimes we burn with righteous anger, launching foreign wars and deposing governments. Then we retreat until the cycle begins again.

No matter how often we debate this question, none of what we say is original. Every argument is a pale shadow of the first and greatest debate, which erupted more than a century ago. Its themes resurface every time Americans argue whether to intervene in a foreign country. Revealing a piece of forgotten history, Stephen Kinzer transports us to the dawn of the twentieth century, when the United States first found itself with the chance to dominate faraway lands. That prospect thrilled some Americans. It horrified others. Their debate gripped the nation.

The country’s best-known political and intellectual leaders took sides. Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, and William Randolph Hearst pushed for imperial expansion; Mark Twain, Booker T. Washington, and Andrew Carnegie preached restraint. Only once before in the period when the United States was founded have so many brilliant Americans so eloquently debated a question so fraught with meaning for all humanity. All Americans, regardless of political perspective, can take inspiration from the titans who faced off in this epic confrontation. Their words are amazingly current. Every argument over America’s role in the world grows from this one. It all starts here.

Григорий Тульчинский - Неравенства в условиях цивилизационных изменений

В статье содержится рассмотрение основных тенденций развития современной цивилизации, которые имеют существенное значение для перспектив развития политической науки. Особое внимание уделено вызовам, которые связаны с интенсивным использованием социально-культурных практик в цифровых форматах.

Matthew Handelman - The Mirror of Critical Theory: The Frankfurt School in Conspiracy Theories

A conspiracy theory surrounding the Frankfurt School has entered the mainstream. Popular in conservative media and even the current White House, the theory holds that the thinkers of the Frankfurt School are to blame for the rise of political correctness and identity politics, political polarization, and the disintegration of the so-called American way of life. The longer history of the conspiracy theory has four distinct phases, which start in conspiracy theorizing on the American left in the 1970s and run up to the contemporary culture wars. However, the conspiracy theory often gets caught up in and refracts elements of critical theory, such as its concern with the effects of mass media and critique of the corporate appropriation of culture. In this curious mirroring, the conspiracy theory forces an examination of the relationship between mimesis and critique, which sheds light on not only how the conspiracy theory fits into the dynamics of antisemitism, but also the cultural politics of critique so poignantly formulated by the Frankfurt School.