On the history of workers councils in Hungary
A book written by Erzsébet Szalai is a first attempt to present a comprehensive volume about the transformation of employee representation in Hungary, starting with the movement of workers' councils. The reviewer was part of the movement that launched the workers' councils, and comments the volume from the point of view of the eyewitness and the historian.
The myth of European Union
A recent book by progressive economists provides a devastating critique of the idea of single market and monetary union in Europe. The authors, however, can also be criticised from an ecological point of view, for making too much concessions to grand infrastructural projects destroying the environment and local jobs. (A. Amin and J. Tomaney (eds): Behind the Myth of the European Union: Prospects for Cohesion. Routledge, London 1995)
Unemployment in Western Europe
The historically high level of unemployment in Western Europe is the greatest challenge before economists and politicians. Most of the authors contributing to a book (Michie and Grieve Smith (eds): Unemployment in Europe. London, Academic. Press, 1994) urge radical reforms based on post-Keynesian considerations.
Spectre
A new magazine that intends to become the common forum of the anti-Maastricht left, launched by British, Dutch and Belgian politicians. The questions of monetary union can be found in the focus of Spectre, but sufficient space is devoted to the issues of female labour, militarism, and the integration of the Western and Eastern halfs of the continent.
No. 34 | (Summer 1997)
Two unexpected voices articulated their concern in the public last year about the neoliberal economic era warning on the tragic consequences – the Catholic Church and George Soros. It is known that none of them has recently developed their "social concern" and Soros cannot be considered neither as a left-wing personality nor progressive. Articles in the present issue of Eszmélet, study the relationship between the church and social problems presenting examples from different periods and continents on churches trying to ease the misery of the poor and their relationship to left-wing political forces. Thinking of Soros, often depicted in the global press as "philanthropic", on the mechanism of market economy is presented in the book review section compared to progressive economists like Marx, Keynes and Schumacher.
Table of contents
- alfabeta : Benevolent churches and benevolent citizens?
- Gergely Jenő : Is the church a social institute? (Interview with the historian)
- Benoit Guillou : The “theology of prosperity” – religion and neoliberalism in Peru
- Zsumbera Árpád : The social activity of early Christian communities
- Illés László : Against the deadly flow of death – Social teachings of the Church and the Hungarian Catholic press in the early 1930s
- Balogh Margit : Churches and church policy in the Kadar era
- Lugosi Győző : Liberation theory
- Lugosi Győző : Sects
- Balogh Sándor : Jozsef Mindszenty – a cardinal-politician
- Mester Béla : Gyorgy Bretter the philosopher
- Bretter György : Fact and theory
- Hild Márta : Re-dicovering Marx in the 20th century
- Lóránt Károly : on Georg Soros: The alchemy of finance
- Magyar Jenő : Is science harmful? – on Schumacher’s books: Small is beautiful and Good work
- Susan George : How economic thought became unlinear?
- Richard Gott : The missing year of Che Guevara