>> Are they worth the read? Serious question. > > Out of respect for Hobsbawn's memory, which like everybody else's, > deserves sober critical consideration, I found his Ages sorely lacking > in terms of theoretical backbone and immediate, substantive connection > with the struggles and events recounted. You know what I mean. After > reading Trotsky's history of the Russian revolution, you know exactly > what I mean. Julio Huato
--------- I couldn't resist the Age of Empire for 6.50. But I made up for it by getting a hard copy of Trotsky's My Life. And yes I know what you mean. In my researches on LS, I came across a good historian of German Studies. His name is Geoff Ely, and his work on the Reshaping the German Right was very helpful (Somebody on the list suggested him, thanks.) In any event, looking him up tonight, it turns out he has a new book Forging Democracy: The History of the Left in Europe 1850-2000 Here is a video talk on his book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=EJNfCEab8P4&NR=1 The central thesis is that the old urban geography of working class districts, local unions and associations, and local government that was the backbone of socialist politics for nearly a hundred years is over and there is no way to reconstruct it. So we have to rethink where those `spaces' might exist today. He is predominantly talking about Europen socialist and communist parties. This also acknowledges Jim Creegan's point that the massed density of factories and their working classes and their local districts which were the fertile bed, no longer exist. Well, at least in the US. The other big point is the changed nature of fundamental assumptions in concepts of socialist change depended on abundance which is clearly not the case anymore. Therefore the concept of a future utopia, has been constricted down to the merely sustainable and livable future. To a certain extent I find this humorous since I never had the money to maintain a big carbon footprint in the first place. CG _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
