tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130830332820181818.post7329150303367007914..comments2024-03-29T03:56:08.315-04:00Comments on johnshaplin: Paving the Route to Rupture [Revolution] by Erik Olin Wrightjohnshaplinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17618981988062495637noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130830332820181818.post-92135168260905033102011-02-04T15:36:37.193-05:002011-02-04T15:36:37.193-05:00“This book is an effort to counter such cynicism b...“This book is an effort to counter such cynicism by elaborating a general [ conceptual] framework for systematically exploring alternatives that embody the idea of “real utopia.” <br /><br />Part I of the book presents the basic diagnosis and critique of capitalism that animates the search for real utopian alternatives. Part II reviews the traditional Marxist approach to thinking about the alternatives and shows why this approach is unsatisfactory. It elaborates an alternative strategy of analysis, anchored in the idea that socialism, as an alternative to capitalism, should be understood as a process of increasing social empowerment over state and economy. Part III lays out the central elements of a theory of social transformation, examining three different broad strategies of emancipatory transformation – ruptural, interstitial, and symbiotic. The book concludes with chapter 12, which distills the core arguments into seven key lessons.”johnshaplinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17618981988062495637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130830332820181818.post-75201898781287660552011-02-04T15:35:51.010-05:002011-02-04T15:35:51.010-05:00It is the comprehensive conceptual framework for ...It is the comprehensive conceptual framework for thinking about democracy and socialism presented in this book which is of special value and to which a abbreviated distillation of the core arguments into seven key lessons in this blog cannot hope to do justice. Thus, my endeavor here is to present a couple of examples of his thinking as an enticement to potential readers.<br /><br />“We now live in a world in which the radical, emancipatory visions presented in this book are often mocked rather than taken seriously. Along with the postmodernist rejection of 'grand narratives', there is an ideological rejection of grand designs, even by many people still on the left of the political spectrum. This need not mean an abandonment of deeply egalitarian emancipatory values, but it does reflect a cynicism about the human capacity to realize those values on a substantial scale. This cynicism, in turn, weakens progressive political forces in general".johnshaplinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17618981988062495637noreply@blogger.com