The paths of history.

Diakonoff, Igor M.

Published by Cambridge University Press, 1999

About this Item

Diakonoff, Igor M. The paths of history. Cambridge University Press, 1999, xi, 355pp., sewn PAPERBACK, PENCIL MARKINGS on about 30 pages in the first 90, HEAVY ON SOME PAGES and messy on a few, rest of book is good. "The Paths of History provides an overview of the entire history of humanity and the laws governing it. This study takes as its point of departure Marx's theory of social evolution. Igor M. Diakonoff has expanded Marx's five stages of development to eight. In addition, and in contrast to Marx, Diakonoff denies that our transition from one stage to the next is marked by social conflict and revolution and demonstrates that these transitions are sometimes achieved peacefully and gracefully. Professor Diakonoff's focus is not limited solely to the economic and socio-economic aspects of our development; rather he examines in detail the ethnic, cultural, religious and military-technological factors which have been brought to bear over the centuries., He also denies that social evolution necessarily implies progress and shows how 'each progress is simultaneously a regress'. Finally the book concludes with a prognosis for the future of humanity."-- CONTENTS: Introduction: the restless vanity -- America as a mass society: a critique -- The breakup of family capitalism: on changes in class in America -- Is there a ruling class in America? The power elite reconsidered -- The prospects of American capitalism: on Keynes, Schumpeter, and Galbraith -- The refractions of the American post: on the question of national character -- Status politics and new anxieties: on the radical right and ideologies of the fifties -- Crime as an American way of life: a queer ladder of social mobility -- The myth of crime waves: the actual decline of crime in the United States -- The racket-ridden longshoremen: the web of economics and politics -- The capitalism of the proletariat: a theory of American trade-unionism -- Work and its discontents: the cult of efficiency in America -- The failure of American socialism: the tension of ethics and politics -- The mood of three generations: The once-born, the twice born, and the after-born ; The loss of innocence in the thirties ; Politics in the forties ; Dissent in the fifties -- Ten theories in search of reality: the prediction of Soviet behavior -- Two roads from Marx: the themes of alienation and exploitation and workers' control in socialist thought -- The end of ideology in the west: an epilogue. 9780521643986 ISBN 0521643988.

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: The paths of history.
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1999
• Binding: Soft cover