{"product_id":"red-flags","title":"Red Flags","description":"\u003cp\u003eIncreasingly, people are responding to the contemporary crises underwritten by capitalism by exploring the politics of communism. Some have taken a sympathetic, even nostalgic, view of “actually existing socialist” (AES) societies past and present, including the USSR, China, and Cuba, and the Marxist-Leninist political tradition associated with them. They see these states as a powerful alternative to capitalism, governed by parties genuinely committed to socialism and staunchly resisting Western imperialism. But were these societies really in transition towards a classless, stateless society of freedom — the original communist goal? Is Marxism-Leninism the political approach that should orient people on the left now? \u003c\/p\u003e\n  \t\t\t\u003cp\u003e\n  \t\t\t\t\u003cem\u003eRed Flags\u003c\/em\u003e traces the path from the 1917 Russian Revolution to the construction of the world’s first AES society: the USSR. It also looks at the post-revolution societies created along the same lines in China and Cuba. Using the intellectual tools of historical materialism, \u003cem\u003eRed Flags\u003c\/em\u003e argues that they were not in fact moving towards communism because the social relations remained fixed in class exploitation. The workers were never liberated.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \t\t\t\t\u003cp\u003eAt a time of burgeoning anti-communism from both conservatives and liberals, this book is an accessible, vibrant synthesis of the history of communism that draws on the latest research to develop a rigorous analysis of the contradictions and uneasy truths the left needs to confront if it is to build a genuinely liberatory alternative to capitalism.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Fernwood Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":66233741574493,"sku":null,"price":22.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1041\/3893\/2573\/files\/9781773637327.jpg?v=1792211440","url":"https:\/\/shop.gazellebookservices.co.uk\/products\/red-flags","provider":"Gazelle Book Services","version":"1.0","type":"link"}