A summary of a book published recently with a penetrating critique of "endism", i.e. the theories about the end of ideology, history, and society. The author suggests that despite political orientation has become more difficult in the recent decades, the recognition of the political element within society is an inevitable condition of any kind of democratic politics. In order to save and develop democracy, the role of the Left must be redefined.
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Modern Islam and the agriculture question
A thorough study of the historical background and pre-conditions of contemporary Islam. It describes the various historic structures, which, mainly in agriculture, has survived centuries and were integrated even into the Soviet system. The survival of pre-capitalist elements is also facilitated by the failure of capitalist and socialist modernisation projects.
No. 23 | (Autumn 1994)
This issue of Eszmélet is published at the time of general elections thus we have to ask: what are the limits of our choices? How the possible is related to the limitations in the existing system of "democracy"? The block of articles addressing theoretical and practical problems of bourgeois democracy aims to raise and answer questions that are not in focus of daily political debates and analysis. A separate group of articles deal with political symptoms in the third world like the raise of Islam or populism of which analysis often misses to look at underlying economic fundamentals. This latter problem makes us to thoroughly address some fundamental economic theory and policy problems in the next issue.
Table of contents
- Perecz László, Szigeti Péter, Z. Karvalics László, Hack Péter, Krausz Tamás, Susan Zimmermann : Beyond burgeois democracy
- Andor László : Society, history and politics – interview with György Wiener
- Samir Amin : Theses on the European left
- Andor László : A short history of our democracies
- Chantal Mouffe : The return of the political
- Yar Mohamed, Katona Magda : Modern Islam and the agriculture question
- Balogh András : Integration and catching up
- Francois Burgat : Islam and pluralism
- Volker Perthes : The fiction of fundamentalism
- Otto Kreye : The external indebtness of developing countries
- Folker Fröbel, Susan Zimmermann : Social conflicts in the blind alley of peripherial capitalism
- Csáki György : Hungary and the IMF
- Charta 88 : Declaration
- Mikes Tamás : In opposition in the 80s
- Polyák Andrea : On New Exodus – New tendencies in inernational labour migration
- Eszmélet : New Internationalist
- NAFTA
- Maquiladora
- Zapata
- n. n. : One world, several worlds – introduction to the issue of “Third Wold”
- How to return from Germany to the Third World?
In opposition in the 80s
A memoir about the activities of the so-called Democratic Opposition, which begun as a movement for political as well as economic democracy, but finished as a local agent of external powers. A former participant of the DO, a predecessor of the present Alliance of Free Democrats, tells why he left that movement at the end of the 1980s.
Beyond burgeois democracy
Péter Hack, Lászlo Perecz, Péter Szigeti, and Susan Zimmermann discuss the possibilities to supersede bourgeois democracy, as well as those factors encouraging scientists and activists to seek alternative political mechanisms. They explain why bourgeois democracy emerged in Western Europe and in our region, and whether it is in crisis or not.