Category Archives: Former issues

Former issues

No. 95 | (Autumn 2012)

Analysing the world system also requires Eszmélet to be involved not only in examining the crisis from different angles but also to develop viable alternatives to it, or at least to detect and present such solutions. The first block in this issue represents this empirically oriented approach: lists attempts for community based production made in Hungary over the past years and presents one of the most successful European model, the chain of Longo maï cooperatives, which emerged on 1968 ideas and is working in many countries.

As the never missed theoretical analysis is concerned, now the critique on the false opposition of national and global capitalism is in focus: examining the financial system and the reasons and forms of the re-emergence of ethnic nationalism.

Furthermore, the different approaches to the Gulag are presented in a "more than literary duel" between writers, drawing attention on Varlam Shalamov, who was born 150 years ago and represents higher morale and aesthetics than Solzhenitsyn, who is backed by the West. Shalamov's work and life is analysed in a series of articles contrasting his consequent opposition to power and business to the "compromises" of Solzhenitsyn. Finally, the debate on the attitude of Hungarian historians to Marxism is continued, which typically – as a Hungarian feature – got a flavour of getting deeply personal.

 

Table of contents
  1. Terbe Teréz : “Socios” and “Ecos”. Dilemmas of Community Economy
  2. Fülöp Ádám : Cradles of a Different Europe. The History of Longo Mai Cooperatives in Europe, 1968-2012
  3. Fülöp Ádám : Via Campesina. “Globalise Fight! Globalise Hope!”
  4. Don Kalb : The Deep Play of Finance, Demos and Ethnos in the New-Old Europe
  5. Szilágyi Ágnes Judit : The Situation of Women, Politics and Feminism in Latin-America Over the Past Two Decades
  6. Szarka Klára : Patricio Guzmán Campos the Recorder of the Life in Chile
  7. Szergej Szolovjov : The Unavoidable Solitude. Varlam Shalamov and the Theoretical Heritage
  8. Mark Goloviznyin : The “Liberation Theology” of Varlam Shalamov
  9. Szergej Szolovjov : Shalamov and Solzhenitsyn
  10. Tütő László : Resignation, “Better not to Know”, Being Busy Bees. Variations on Withdrawal
  11. Bartha Eszter : System-Changing Sociology. Critical Dialogues
  12. Artner Annamária : Global Capital System – National Responses?
  13. Gyáni Gábor : Untrue Readings or How to Constructa Disputant
  14. Krausz Tamás : Gábor Gyáni, Who Has Not Been Understood
Former issues

“Socios” and “Ecos”. Dilemmas of Community Economy

According to the author, the alternatives of the present day Hungary seem to come from two directions: there are those who act because they are forced the so-called 'socios' and those who act voluntarily the so-called 'ecos'. Both groups are trying to implement postcapitalist ways of living, which could show ways out of the ever deepening and generalized crises we all face. Their potential and connections will determine the results of the community initiatives. Is another Hungary possible?
Former issues

Cradles of a Different Europe. The History of Longo Mai Cooperatives in Europe, 1968-2012

In December 1972 a group of young people from over 10 European countries hold a meeting in Basel with the aim of "creating experimental zones as expressions of a Europe in solidarity, communities of peace and democracy, which are self-sustaining due to agriculture, handicraft and manufactured products derived from the communities." This essay – based mainly on the book written by Beatriz Graf in 2006 and on an interview made with Heike Schiebeck in the summer of 2012 – tries to give an overall picture about the rich story of the Longo Mai Cooperatives.
Former issues

István Mészáros, a Classic of the 21st Century

In the recent apology of the capital, the maker of the perpetual motion in history, there is no trace of any revolutionary: the new apologists slavishly follow its uncontrolled commandments, exactly in the period of its fall. All of them, unilaterally say that there is no alternative to this system – denounces the classic of the 21st century the mainstream bourgeois ideology of our times.
Former issues

At the Beginning of a Long Road: the Decline of Capitalism, Nostalgia and Hope in the 21st Century

In the 2008 crisis, government subventions were used to fight it – urging consumers to purchase cars and property – but the price of the temporarily recovery was rising state debt with no control. The decline of the core of capitalism, the US economy, will drag in the whole world. By deploying all of its anti-crisis tools accumulated over its history, the by now ‘outworn capitalism’ is not able to curb its serious diseases. We cannot expect a simple replacement of the unipolar world with an effective multipolar one but a very lasting decline. Barbarism is marching on the streets but the suppressed are also preparing to rise up.