Books by Michael Newman
Socialism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
What is socialism? Does it have a future, or has it become an outdated ideology in the 21st century?
This Very Short Introduction considers the major theories in socialism, and explores its historical evolution from the French Revolution to the present day. Michael Newman argues that socialism has always been a diverse doctrine, while nevertheless containing a central core of interconnected values and goals: a critique of capitalism; an optimistic view of human beings; and the belief that it is possible to establish societies based on egalitarianism, social solidarity, and co-operation. In this new edition, he draws on case studies such as Cuba, Sweden, and Bolivia, to consider attempts to implement socialism in practice, before discussing New Left challenges to conventional notions of socialism on such questions as feminism, climate change, and direct action. Rejecting the widespread view that socialism is an out-dated doctrine, Newman argues that it remains ultimately relevant in today's world.
ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books ar the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
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Socialism: A Very Short Introduction
Today, most people think of socialism as an outdated ideology. In this Very Short Introduction, Michael Newman seeks to place the idea of socialism in a modern context for today's readers. He explains socialist ideas in the framework of its historical evolution, from the French Revolution to the present day, and examines practical attempts to implement socialism.
Not just another history of socialist ideas, this book aims for a different approach that looks at practice as well as theory--centering on the contrast between Communism and Social Democracy. The relationship between socialism and notions of democracy, freedom, and equality is also discussed. Newman brings the subject entirely up to date by tackling contemporary forms of socialism. While the book's focus is on Europe and the Soviet Union, it is set in a broader geographical context. Newman's fresh approach to the subject enables the reader to re-evaluate socialism.
About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.
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Un Coup de Dés: Writing Turned Image, an Alphabet of Pensive Language
by Michael Newman, Jacques Ranciere, Gabriele Mackert
In her essay “Writing Turned Image: An Alphabet of Pensive Language," Sabine Folie writes, "An idea...explored in Stéphane Mallarmé's Un coup de dés (A roll of the dice) of 1897 has in the twentieth century become an integral part of the poetological and, more generally, the avant-gardist vocabulary: the idea of unmasking language as a convention whose purpose it is to discipline the individual and to subject it to a regulated system of capitalist exploitation as well as to guarantee orientation in the world... Writing was released from the textual ensemble of the book and integrated into the flow of its media--as a disturbance, a deconstruction of meaning." The ideas of Symbolist poet and galvanizing nineteenth-century intellectual Stéphane Mallarmé are discussed in this text-heavy volume in relation to works by Robert Barry, Lothar Baumgarten, Marcel Broodthaers, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha and Rodney Graham, among others. Scholarly essays by Sabine Folie, Anna Sigridur Arnar, Jacques Rancière, Gabriele Mackert and Michael Newman accompany a generous selection of images by each of the artists.
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