The literate communist : 150 years of the Communist manifesto / Donald Clark Hodges. [electronic resource]

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hodges, Donald Clark, 1923-

Series:

Major concepts in politics and political theory ; vol. 16

Major concepts in politics and political theory The literate communist

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Marx, Karl, 1818-1883. Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei.

Marx, Karl.

Communism.

Socialism.

Historical materialism.

Marxist criticism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (vi, 217 p. )

Place of Publication:

New York : P. Lang Pub., c1999.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"Professor Hodges' thesis is that the Communist Manifesto is not what it claims to be - a forthright and faithful expression of what communists believed in 1848 - and that its subsequent adaptations periodically opened the door to and slammed the door shut on communism. Part I introduces students to the Manifesto's conspiratorial legacy stemming from the great French Revolution of 1789-1794 and to Marx and Engels' informal amendments to it. Part II examines the 150-year-old posthistory of the Manifesto and its interpretations that pull in opposite directions. The author concludes that the Janus-faced Manifesto played a key ideological role in not only the rise, but also the demise of the Soviet Union."--Jacket.

Contents:

Introduction: Understanding the Manifesto

pt. I. A Perplexing Document. 1. The League of the Just. 2. Marx's Communist Correspondence Committees. 3. A Marriage of Incompatibles? 4. Making Communism Credible. 5. Amending the Manifesto

pt. II. A Consequential Document. 6. An Anarchist Manifesto: Bakunin. 7. A Social Democratic Manifesto: Bernstein. 8. A Communist Manifesto: Lenin and Trotsky. 9. A Socialist Manifesto: Stalin. 10. A Humanist Manifesto: Khrushchev and Gorbachev. Conclusion: Assessing the Manifesto.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph