Bookpedia : Library : Genre : [Global:Letter]

ISBN: 039309040X

ListPrice: $30.55

Edition: 2nd

Summary: Given the impact of Marxism on the unfolding history of the later nineteenth and twentieth century, the beginning student of the combined writings of both Marx and Engels will find this collection of the essential works of these two pioneering socialists absolutely essential reading. Its list of included works covers the waterfront of all that is required to gain a fruitful first look at the wealth of their philosophical musings, and the nature of their revolutionary canon, as well. Reading this material is essential if one is to understand the depth of Marx's understanding and the detail of his genius, however discredited he may be in current estimations. Indeed, with the rise of international corporatism is so close to his prognostications regarding the final phases of capitalism that it is hard to deny his continuing relevance. Included here is everything from the Communist Manifesto all the way to Volume One of Das Capital. One can gain a better appreciation for his ideas regarding the way in which the antagonism between the oppressed and the oppressors provides the motive force for history, and how all history is the history of such class struggles between the owners of the means of production, on the one hand, and the workers, who have nothing to barter with but their considerable capacity to accomplish labor. If one want to gain a better appreciation for the nuances regarding how alienation is created buy the organization of work, or the origin of property, or even the ways in which all of the aspects of a particualr society's culture are manifestations of the values of the ruling class, then a careful reading of the material found here will serve you well. I highly recommend this book. Enjoy!

ISBN: 0486224848

ListPrice: $9.95

Edition: Second Edition

Summary: 12 essays by the influential radical include "Marriage and Love," "The Hypocrisy of Puritanism," "The Traffic in Women," Anarchism," and "The Psychology of Political Violence."

ISBN: 0691006008

ListPrice: $45.00

Edition: Centennial

Summary: Avrich details the events of the Haymarket affair, which devastated the anarchist community in 1886. On May 4, 1886, anarchists and workers conducted a meeting in Haymarket Square. They protested the police shooting of striking workers at the McCormick Reaper Works. At the conclusion of demonstration, police interrupted the last speaker and told crowd to disperse. A bomb was thrown at the police and exploded. The police opened fire. Over sixty casualties were reported, including the deaths of seven police officers. The press, business community and politicians provoked a Red Scare. Nine Chicago anarchists were accused. One fled the country. One turned states' evidence. At the trial, the prosecutor presented evidence to sway the jury by concentrating on the background of the defendants, without proving the state's case. The judge further prejudiced the proceedings to ensure a conviction. After the trial, one man committed suicide. One received a lengthy prison sentence. Six were condemned to die. The governor of Illinois commuted two of their sentences to life in prison. Four were hanged. The outcry against this incident inflamed American and European liberals and radicals. Avrich documents this information in meticulous detail. He offers biographies of all the individuals involved in the incident, including the condemned men, their families, the prosecution, the defense, and other related anarchists and socialists. To provide a background for the incident, he traces the development of the anarchist movement in the United States and explores its ties with socialism. He evaluates the doctrines of the anarchists, who organized in the International Working People's Association. Anarchists desired an alternative society based on freedom, brotherhood, and equality against the forces of privilege and authority. They espoused violence as the means to bring about this revolution, because bourgeois capitalists would fight to retain their power. Based on this material, Avrich offers several conclusions about the incident and its influence on American society. He asserts the police instigated the violence, because they disrupted a peaceful demonstration, and by their random shooting of people. Avrich contends that the anarchists were convicted because of their social and economic beliefs rather than because of hard evidence. The trial concluded that none of the seven men could have thrown the bomb. The trial revealed the inequalities of capitalism and the limitations of American justice. He concludes that the affair inspired liberal activism and revealed the inequalities of the American capitalist system.

ISBN: 0252064526

ListPrice: $26.00

Edition: Second Edition

Summary:

ISBN: 0801486181

ListPrice: $20.95

Edition: Second Edition

Summary: Jacob Abrams et al. v. United States is the landmark Supreme Court case in the definition of free speech. Although the 1918 conviction of four Russian Jewish anarchists--for distributing leaflets protesting America's intervention in the Russian revolution--was upheld, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes's dissenting opinion (with Justice Louis Brandeis) concerning "clear and present danger" has proved the touchstone of almost all subsequent First Amendment theory and litigation. In Fighting Faiths, Richard Polenberg explores the causes and characters of this dramatic episode in American history. He traces the Jewish immigrant experience, the lives of the convicted anarchists before and after the trials, the careers of the major players in the court cases--men such as Holmes, defense attorney Harry Weinberger, Southern Judge Henry DeLamar Clayton, Jr., and the young J. Edgar Hoover--and the effects of this important case on present-day First Amendment rights.