Marxist don's son now UK's Foreign Secretary
David Miliband, the new British Foreign Secretary just appointed by PM Gordon Brown in his cabinet, is the eldest son of the late sociology professor and New Left guru Ralph Miliband whose English-language books on Marxism we followed very closely and also consumed with passion in the 1980s in Australia. One of them Marxism and Politics has been reprinted and issued anew by Merlin in London in 2004.Besides the thought-provoking and mind-clearing Marxism and Politics (London, Merlin, 2004), the intellectual legacy of the senior Miliband (1924-1994) is well preserved in my private library in two other books, namely the The State in Capitalist Society - The Analysis of the Western System of Power (London, Quartet, 1982) and A Dictionary of Marxist Thought (London, Blackwell, 1983, 2003).
Karl Marx's works now in Indonesian language
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 10:32 AM
7 Comments:
you should read this, as it best explains the fascinating dynamic of the personal-as-political Miliband family... ralph was more than just an academic - he wrote as well as he advocated:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,4867324-103425,00.html
Ralph was a passionate opponent to US military intervention in Vietnam although UK did not get involved.
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How did the son of a committed Marxist end up as a senior operative in the New Labour Party ?
The UK Labour Party used to be dominated by committed Socialists, but Tony Blair had moved almost all of them into the backwoods.
The New Labour Party looks and sounds almost like the Conservative Party.
1. That a father was a Marxist does not mean the son has to be so although he may be so;
2. Old Ralph was certainly a Marxist but not a member of any communist parties; being a Marxist is not necessarily being a member of any communist party or group;
3. In the 1980s and 1990s, the whole Latin America was Right but now it is almost entirely Left: so, there is no God ordained Law of the Universe that suggest that human society must necessarily move from Left to Right in a linear line of development: political situation may reverse or restore;
Greetings James,
Most Western nations are now largely middle-class societies. Relative poverty still exists, and issues of social justice will remain in human societies for a long time to come - so Socialism will continue to be relevant. But the traditional class struggle looks kind of dated now - at least for First World socities - a bit like black and white movies.
Of course things can change - I suspect the combination of the effects of global warming and escalating energy costs will cause major crises in the world economy over the next few decased.
Much of Latin America was (still is) governed by a succession of dysfunctional and marginally functioning regimes (both right and left wing), I'm afraid the continent will be in turmoil for a long time to come.
One of my current headaches at work is a joint project with a Brazilian company to manufacture a product in Brazil. You wouldn't believe the amount of red tape their government imposes. Compared to Brazilian regulations, the Malaysian government is a model of efficiency (Hard to believe eh ?).
Black and White movie? Check this out:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=F3SBDLFIK2TURQFIQMGCFF4AVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2007/04/29/nrichlist129.xml
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