Socialism As a Secular Creed

Andrei Znamenski

doi:10.5771/9781498557313

Socialism As a Secular Creed

A Modern Global History

1. Edition 2021

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doi.org/10.5771/9781498557313
ISBN print: 978-1-4985-5730-6
ISBN online: 978-1-4985-5731-3
Lexington, Lanham Lexington, Lanham

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Abstract

Andrei Znamenski argues that socialism arose out of activities of secularized apocalyptic sects, the Enlightenment tradition, and dislocations produced by the Industrial Revolution. He examines how, by the 1850s, Marx and Engels made the socialist creed “scientific” by linking it to “history laws” and inventing the proletariat—the “chosen people” that were to redeem the world from oppression. Focusing on the fractions between social democracy and communism, Znamenski explores why, historically, socialism became associated with social engineering and centralized planning. He explains the rise of the New Left in the 1960s and its role in fostering the cultural left that came to privilege race and identity over class. Exploring the global retreat of the left in the 1980s–1990s and the “great neoliberalism scare,” Znamenski also analyzes the subsequent renaissance of socialism in wake of the 2007–2008 crisis.

Schlagworte

Maoism Marxism Israeli kibbutzim history of anarchism history of socialism Soviet communism Swedish social democracy Tanzanian ujamaa social democracy global history socialist ideologies scientific socialism Western left Western socialism

Chapter Expand | CollapsePage
Preface
- Contents
- List of Figures
- Introduction
1–24 Chapter 1 Religion of Modernity 1–24
25–56 Chapter 2 “Sabbath of History” 25–56
57–86 Chapter 3 Great Schism 57–86
87–110 Chapter 4 Prophecy of the World Revolution and Nationalist Temptations, 1917–1930s 87–110
111–136 Chapter 5 National Bolshevism 111–136
137–164 Chapter 6 True Believers, Fellow Travelers, and Dissenters (1920s–1940s) 137–164
165–190 Chapter 7 Creating Community 165–190
191–210 Chapter 8 “Regime of Goodness” 191–210
211–232 Chapter 9 Blood and Soil in the Palestine Desert 211–232
233–266 Chapter 10 The East Is Red 233–266
267–298 Chapter 11 African Socialism 267–298
299–316 Chapter 12 The Western Left 299–316
317–338 Chapter 13 Retreat of Socialism in the Soviet Union and China (1980s–2008) 317–338
339–358 Chapter 14 How Marxism Became Cultural 339–358
359–382 Chapter 15 The Cultural Left and the “Curse” of the Western Civilization, 1960s–2010s 359–382
383–398 Conclusion 383–398
399–430 Bibliography 399–430
431–450 Index 431–450
451–452 About the Author 451–452

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