{"title":"Daniel Bensaid","description":"\u003cp\u003eExplore the revolutionary thought of Daniel Bensaïd, a key figure in contemporary Marxist theory. Discover insightful essays and political writings that challenge the status quo and inspire critical debate.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"strategies-of-resistance-who-are-the-trotskyists-book-daniel-bensaid-9780902869868","title":"Strategies of Resistance \u0026 'Who Are the Trotskyists?'","description":"Daniel Bensaid's challenging survey comes at an appropriate moment. It is a gift to activists reaching for some historical perspective that may provide hints as to where we might go from here. Embracing and sharing the revolutionary socialist political tradition associated with Leon Trotsky, Bensaid is not simply a thoughtful radical academic or perceptive left-wing intellectual - though he is certainly both - but also one of the foremost leaders of an impressive network of activists, many of them seasoned by innumerable struggles. Daniel Bensaid emerged decades ago as a leader of the French section of the Fourth International, the Ligue Communiste Revolutionnaire (LCR). Coming from the 'generation of '68' - the layer of young revolutionary activists of the 1960s - he blends an impressive intellectual sophistication with a refreshing inclination for revolutionary audacity, and with activist commitments which have not faded over the decades. In the tradition of Ernest Mandel, Bensaid has reached for the continuing relevance of revolutionary Marxism not only in the battlegrounds of academe (as a professor of philosophy and author of such works as Marx for Our Times), but even more in the battlegrounds of social and political struggles against the oppressive and lethal realities of capitalist 'globalization.' In this particular work - succinct, crackling with insights and fruitful provocations - Bensaid surveys the history of his own political tradition. We are not presented with a catechism, but with a set of informative and critical-minded reflections and notes. We don't have to agree with all he says. I certainly question his taking issue with Trotsky over whether or not Lenin was essential for the triumph of the Russian Revolution (Trotsky says definitely yes, Bensaid suggests maybe not). Nor am I satisfied when he gives more serious consideration to the dissident current in US Trotskyism of Max Shachtman and James Burnham (both of whom ended up supporting US imperialism in Vietnam) than to the tradition connected with James P. Cannon (which played a role in building a powerful movement that helped end the Vietnam war). On the other hand, Bensaid makes no pretension of providing a rounded historical account of world Trotskyism, or even a scholarly account of the more limited issues that he does take up. He emphasizes that 'this essay is based on personal experience' and is focused on what he views as 'the major debates' within the movement. And one is especially struck by the excellent point he makes in his Introduction (page 14) regarding the necessity of understanding the varieties of Trotskyism around the world in their distinctive cultural and national specificities. Little sense can be made of Trotskyism if it is not related to the actual social movements and class struggles of various parts of the world, and to the left-wing labour sub-cultures, in which it has meaning. The fact remains that Bensaid offers us a thoughtful, stimulating, valuable political intervention which leaves the reader with a sense of Trotskyism's history and ideas and diverse manifestations - and also a sense of their relevance for the struggles of today and tomorrow. For younger activists beginning to get their bearings, and for veterans of the struggle who are thinking through the questions of where we have been and where to go from here, this is an important contribution.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49541382439185,"sku":"GOR004017028","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52478481858833,"sku":"NLS9780902869868","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52740558487825,"sku":"NIN9780902869868","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0902869868.jpg?v=1752759429"},{"product_id":"impatient-life-book-daniel-bensaid-9781781688182","title":"An Impatient Life","description":"The turbulent story of the radical Left in the eloquent words of one of its foremost leaders","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49603704422673,"sku":"GOR006607257","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50092595740945,"sku":"GOR013852139","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50400219201809,"sku":"CIN1781688184G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50992821567761,"sku":"GOR007550386","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51796712292625,"sku":"NGR9781781688182","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1781688184.jpg?v=1751312177"},{"product_id":"marx-for-our-times-book-daniel-bensaid-9781844673780","title":"Marx for Our Times","description":"Presents a defense of the relevance of Marx's thought for understanding global political economy. This title shows that Marx's 'critique of political economy' encompassed three great critiques of the scientific and political canons of its age - historical reason, sociological rationality and scientific positivism.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51053144998161,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51053147554065,"sku":"NIN9781844673780","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51815596294417,"sku":"GOR011680960","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1844673782.jpg?v=1750833067"},{"product_id":"new-parties-of-the-left-book-daniel-bensaid-9780902869516","title":"New Parties of the Left","description":"With its latest publication New Parties of the Left: Experiences from Europe, the IIRE, in collaboration with Resistance Books, provides a much needed analysis of the European regroupment of the radical left. With its pan-European focus combined with detailed accounts from France, Denmark, Britain, Germany, Italy and Portugal this book offers a unique and unprecedented insight into contemporary political history of the radical left in Europe. Social democratic and Stalinist parties, including the Labour Party in Britain and the Socialist Party in France, have shifted to the right across the continent and have fully embraced neo-liberalism. This has opened up a political space to the left of social-democracy which has been filled by new formations of the radical left over the last decades. The book starts out with an introductory background chapter which takes an overall look at the developments of the radical left in Europe since 1989 and the collapse of the Left as we knew it. This chapter provides the reader with new statistical information, such as membership figures and election results, about the left parties and discusses similarities, differences and political challenges for these new parties. The late IIRE Fellow Daniel Bensaid puts the discussion on the reorganisation of the European left into a broader historical and ideological perspective in the chapter 'An idea whose time has come'. With the financial crisis, Bensaid writes, a holy alliance between the left and the right is being preached in order to socialise the losses after having privatised the profits. Social democratic parties have, across the continent, actively contributed in the destruction of the tools of social solidarity, and hereby undermined their own social base. At the same time, European communist parties are undergoing a slow agonising death. Against this background, Bensaid argues, there is a need for new anticapitalist parties, as he points out the successful stories across the continent. The following chapters provide valuable and unique first hand insight into the development and discussions within the New Anti-capitalist Party (Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste) in France, the Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten) in Denmark, Respect in Britain, The Left (Die Linke) in Germany, the Communist Refoundation Party (Partito della Rifondazione Comunista) in Italy and the Left Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda) in Portugal. Each chapter covers a political party and is written by a long-standing member of the party in question. Contributors: Daniel Bensaid Salvatore Cannavo Jorge Costa Klaus Engert Alain Krivine John Lister Miguel Romero Alda Sousa Alan Thornett Bertil Videt Michael Voss","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51097302958353,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51097304596753,"sku":"NIN9780902869516","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52334230765841,"sku":"NLS9780902869516","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0902869515.jpg?v=1751364367"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/author-books-by-daniel-bensaid.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}