In fact, the 'second edition' of capitalism is being created in Russia rather than of its 'restoration'. While pre-revolutionary Russia, although feudal-capitalistic and underdeveloped, was progressing, the present, now capitalistic Russia in turn is losing its population, declining in culture and science. Assembly lines now are advancing in sectors requiring advanced technology and scientific background. Industries, which were regarded progressive 30-40 years ago now stagnate. The traditional collective cultural activities of the Soviet times have disappeared, and are replaced by passive, individual free-time activities made at home, which characterise atomised societies. It is a special second edition, as global capitalism placed Russia on the semi-periphery, launching regressive and degrading processes.

The study examines the anti-Nazi screening procedures at the Hungarian Radio, an important but almost forgotten episode in the post liberation history of Hungary – fighting delusions. The practice of the screening committees and people's courts should be interpreted in a complex way: they provided a forum for acting out justified emotions ignited by war events and war propaganda and they made a basis for subsequently launching show trials but also helped to reveal facts of the that time recent past and also conveyed the message that serving a criminal regime was immoral and a crime itself.

The study follows the changes in gender relations and women policy in the time of Hungarian state-socialism, examining key areas in society, politics, economy and culture. Within gender policy and gender relations, the relationship between continuity and change is in the focus, examining how the emancipative ideal of socialism/communism matched social reality, what were the background motives of the system, and how developments correspond to West European gender policy achievements reached in the same period.

Original article Zimmermann, Susan: Gender Regime and Gender Struggle in Hungarian State Socialism in Aspasia Volume 4 , pp. 1-24, 2010

Topics of the articles of this issue vary considerably but almost all of them are common in dealing with the fundamental contradictions of the capital system and capitalism, which are undermining the framework of human life. From Holocaust to the global crisis, the reader can find thorough analyses on the chances of escaping by social production as well as on cultural resistance. The debate on the world-systems analysis of Wallerstein is also continued. A series of photos, as a new feature of Eszmélet, present the artwork of Éva Keleti. We recommend reading on Auschwitz, the ghetto, defaulting states and the world system, economic collapse, Beatles, global crisis, postcoloniality and on escaping the grip of the state and capital.

The history of the workers councils in 1989 had many progressive elements especially that employees by using the 1956 experience of workers self-governance have tried again to gain control over production and to establish constitutional guarantees for their ownership. The article recapitulates historic events emphasizing critical points, which bear lessons for a future movement of workers self-governance.