Moments of Decision: Political History and the Crises of Radicalism

Description

In this expanded second edition, the radical classic Moments of Decision has been updated more than 20 years since it was first published and received the Michael Harrington Book Award. Reexamining observations made after the fall of communism, Stephen Eric Bronner blends political meditation, philosophical critique, and history lessons to illuminate the monumental crises that shaped the 20th and 21st centuries. A cosmopolitan work that touches on the implications of conflicts ranging from World War I to the Arab Spring, Moments of Decision explores the assumptions of socialist historiography and the character of modernity. In clear, accessible prose, Bronner has revived and revised a seminal work that is ideal for students, scholars, and anyone interested in political history, theory, and international relations. PRAISE FOR THE PREVIOUS EDITION: “To guess about the future Bronner has rightly looked into the past, going back to the first world war and the momentous split in the labor movement. His book is a learned, lively and inevitably controversial contribution to the political and historical debates of our age.” – Daniel Singer, THE NATION “Stephen Bronner is a distinctive voice on the American left. He combines a deep understanding of working class political history with a passionate interest in devising a democratic strategy for our time, and is willing to take risks in saying just what that strategy should be. Bronner's analysis is both principled and shrewd, unsparing and hopeful. Even where one disagrees with it, one learns.” – Joel Rogers, University of Wisconsin Law School, Editor, POLITICS AND SOCIETY Title Page Copyright Page Contents Preface to the Second Edition Notes Chapter 1 In the Cradle of Modernity: The Labor Movement and World War I Notes Chapter 2 Working-Class Politics and the Nazi Triumph Notes Chapter 3 Léon Blum and the Legacy of the Popular Front Notes Chapter 4 From Class War to Cold War Appendix: Anti-imperialism struggles and non-Western radicalism Notes Chapter 5 Reconstructing the Experiment: Political Culture and the American New Left Notes Chapter 6 Death Throes: Mikhail Gorbachev and the Collapse of Communism Chapter 7 Transformative Moments: 1989, 9/11, and the Arab Spring Notes Chapter 8 The Right, The Left, and the Elections of 2012 Notes Chapter 9 The Future is Now: Human Rights, Realism, and the Cosmopolitan Sensibility Notes Author Index Subject Index