Marx is out of fashion in intellectual circles on the whole but he is increasingly seen as an astute and relevant guide to the spread of a new raw capitalism world wide. This book is a timely and lively reappraisal of Marx and the socialist experience in the light of subsequent political and intellectual developments.

This book reveals how the Japanese national ministries can exploit their Special Status Corporations (public corporations, supported primarily with public funding from a state-run banking agency) in order to intensify their administrative power over industries and local governments and to perpetuate the interests of elite civil servants by facilitating the migration to post-retirement positions in the private sector. The book explains why the existence of these organizations inhibits the Prime Ministers efforts to implement structural reforms.

In this book, Marco Verweij presents a new and challenging theoretical framework with which to understand international relations, based on the cultural theory developed by Mary Douglas, Michael Thompson, Aaron Wildavsky and others. By applying this framework in a detailed study of the environmental protection of the River Rhine in Western Europe and the Great Lakes of North America, he also contributes to a better understanding of how transboundary environmental problems have been, and can be, solved.

Vladimir Ilich Lenin (1870 - 1924) led the first successful revolt against market-based liberal democracy and founded the Soviet State in 1917, serving as the new nation s chief architect and sole ruler for the next five years. This collection of primary sources allows readers to learn about Lenin through his own words and emphasizes Lenin s actions rather than his ideology. Jeffrey Brooks and Georgiy Chernyavskiy have translated newly available documents that make it possible to provide a more accurate portrait of a ruthless political strategist whose actions created a new political,...

A fascinating account of the phenomenon known as the Black Death, this volume offers a wealth of documentary material focused on the initial outbreak of the plague that ravaged the world in the 14th century. A comprehensive introduction that provides important background on the origins and spread of the plague is followed by nearly 50 documents organized into topical sections that focus on the origin and spread of the illness; the responses of medical practitioners; the societal and economic impact; religious responses; the flagellant movement and attacks on Jews provoked by the plague; and...