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Former issues

Analysing Political Islam – A Critique of Traditional Historical Materialist Analytic

The author, criticising Amin, considers political Islam rather "modern" although not in the frame of the Eurocentric notion of capitalist modernity the tool traditional historic materialism uses. Anyhow, the foot soldiers of militant Islam are the dreadfully poor who have relied on Islam institutions for their very survival. It is time to desist from homogenizing the makeup of entire Muslim-majority societies as reactionary or obscurantist.

The original article was published in Monthly Review March 2009.

Former issues

Comments on Tariq Amin-Khan’s Text

The disagreements concern our proposals for effective strategies to defeat political Islam says the father of world systems analysis rejecting allegations of Eurocentrism and ignoring differences in his approach. There are no more traditional 'vestiges' that were attacked by earlier modernization theories rather forms traditional in appearance that were remodelled to serve capitalist expansion.

The original article was published in Monthly Review March  2009.

Former issues

No. 83 | (Autumn 2009)

This issue of Eszmélet is investigating three topics. We are continuing the presentation of a reading of the systematic change according to which all the negative consequences of the capitalist restoration had been – in essence – foreseen already in 1988-89. This approach had also shown a community-socialist alternative to the catastrophic economic and social developments that have occurred.

In our world the fate of political Islam is an important topic, and its future development according to some (leftist) authors is still open, that is there is a possibility of a leftist scenario while the traditional Marxist approach cannot imagine such a scenario taking into account the reactionary tendency of this current and considers political Islam finally serving the logic of imperialism.

At last, this issue also addresses the question of the internal and external conditions of the practical problems related to the development of the "Bolivarian socialism" in Venezuela. What are the plausible social-political perspectives of this unquestionably spectacular and attractive attempt for emancipation?

Table of contents
  1. Tütő László : Social Philosphy Alternatives in Transforming the System in Hungary – Part 1.
  2. Mitrovits Miklós : The Fal of Self-Governance – The Neoliberal Systemic Change in Poland
  3. Mészáros István : Bolivar and Chavez – The Spirit of Radical Determination
  4. Kalocsai Kinga : Venezuela: from Bolivarism to Socialism
  5. Samir Amin : Political Islam in the Service of Imperialism
  6. Tariq Amin-Khan : Analysing Political Islam – A Critique of Traditional Historical Materialist Analytic
  7. Samir Amin : Comments on Tariq Amin-Khan’s Text
  8. Nicolas Dot-Pouillard : Nationalism, Islamism, Communism – Concordance of Political Ideologies and Movements in the Arab World
  9. Nathan Coombs : Ali Shariati: Between Marx and the Infinite – An Islamic Utopian
  10. Katona Magda : The establishment of the Party Structure in Afghanistan
  11. Kéri Elemér : On the selected essays of István Kristó Nagy
Former issues

The establishment of the Party Structure in Afghanistan

Afghanistan lives through a dangerous time of chance in the world now becoming multipolar, and faces chaos again. Anyhow, the perspective for parties on the middle term is not gloom here and in other countries in the 'Crisis' Crescent in Asia: they became indispensable elements in the region of extreme importance for global strategy teaming up with other non-governmental (tribal, ethnic, religious and civic) organizations.