I During the last few years I have often thought that American intellectuals are now rather deeply involved in what Freud once called “the miscarriage of American civilization.” I do not know exactly what he meant by the phrase, although …
The liberals, as they warm up for 1956, begin again their perennial pursuit of issues. Not much remains to them. They have muted their criticism in most areas, renounced it completely in others. Now, however, a convenient amnesia has set …
CONFLICT, by George Simmel. Free Press. $3.50. The name of Georg Simmel is barely known in America, and that only among professional sociologists. This is a pity, since Simmel is one of the handful of eminent European sociological theorists …
The rise of conservatism among American intellectuals has provoked ironic comment here and there but few attempts to explore its sources in the condition of society or to articulate its living function or to surmise its fate. Despite the recent …
Ever since the Labor Party came to power in England a decade ago, its achievements and shortcomings have been a subject of first importance for socialists, as indeed for everyone else interested in politics. Several articles in DISSENT—one by Stanley …
A Socialist Organization in the U.S. Today?─Yes! Gordon Haskell In his article “Sects and Sectarians” which appeared in the Autumn 1954 issue of DISSENT, Lewis Coser calls for the dissolution of all existing socialist organizations in America. The following is …
One frequently hears these days that socialists cling to a stereotyped picture of American life. Failing to see the subtle and even gross changes that have taken place during the past few decades, they focus on an abstraction called “capitalism” …
In the hope of exorcising the fears of their liberal readers (perhaps the most anxious readers they have) that Conservatism is little more than a revival of crude reaction, the New Conservatives have had to give certain intellectual assurances. These …
READERS or DISSENT are probably as tired as everyone else of analyses of McCarthy. This note is offered for only one reason—to say a word on the continuing fears of a “McCarthy movement.” A close look at contemporary America discloses …
David C. Williams Director of Research & Education, Americans for Democratic Action We read with interest Mr. Irving Howe’s article, “ADA: Vision and Myopia” in your spring issue. We believe that the standard for judgment of ADA which he …
CHARLES A. BEARD: AN APPRAISAL, edited by Howard K. Beale. University of Kentucky Press, 312 pages. $4.50. Charles A. Beard once summarized for a friend the “laws of history”: First, whom the gods would destroy they first make mad. Second, …
Journal of the Quarter Two months ago the largest atomic bomb yet tested in the Nevada desert brought sudden sunrise to cities 300 miles away. Only two miles from the center of the explosion a small town had been …
The following article forms an epilogue to a book that is to appear this fall under the imprint of Beacon Press. Tentatively entitled EROS AND CIVILIZATION. Mr. Marcuse’s book deals with some of the social, political and cultural implications of …
The British elections have created only a faint stir. For once, the expected took place largely as expected. A million and a half voters who in 1945 had supported the Labor Party simply abstained from the ballot, thus allowing the …
The publication in our last issue of “Can Asia Industrialize Democratically?”, reprinted with some small statistical deletions from Asoka Mehta’s pamphlet, SOCIALISM AND PEASANTRY, stirred broad enthusiasm and interest, notably among students of Asia. Below we present another …
