Fiat socialism could also be called flexible socialism, as it frees socialism from the rigidities imposed by historical law. This socialism will take different forms in different places, it accepts that socialist organizations are not exempt from making mistakes, it will involve different levels of participation by the private sector, as well as different levels in the gross operating surpluses, and it is open to processes of improvement in order to mobilize real resources in the best possible way to achieve the goals of socialism. Only one rigidity is established: monetary sovereignty. Modern monetary theory is only valid in monetary systems where the state is the sovereign issuer of its currency and where there is an appropriate coordination between the Central Bank and the Treasury. If Archimedes in ancient Greece said give me a point of support and I will move the world, a socialist Archimedes would say give me monetary sovereignty and I will build you socialism. Euro delendus est

In this book, William Mitchell and Warren Mosler, original proponents of what's come to be known as Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), discuss their perspectives about how MMT has evolved over the last 30 years. In delightful, entertaining, and informative way, Bill and Warren reminisce about how, from vastly different backgrounds, they came together to develop MMT. They consider the history and personalities of the MMT community, including anecdotal discussions of various academics who took up MMT and who have gone off in their own directions that depart from MMT's core logic. A very much needed book that provides the reader with a fundamental understanding of the original logic behind 'The MMT Money Story' including the role of coercive taxation, the source of unemployment, the source of the price level, and the imperative of the Job Guarantee as the essence of a progressive society – the essence of Bill and Warren's excellent adventure. The introduction is written by British academic Phil Armstrong.

Based on research in previously closed Soviet archives, this book sheds light on the formative years of Soviet city planning and on state efforts to consolidate power through cityscape design. Stepping away from Moscow's central corridors of power, Heather D. DeHaan focuses her study on 1930s Nizhnii Novgorod, where planners struggled to accommodate the expectations of a Stalinizing state without sacrificing professional authority and power. Bridging institutional and cultural history, the book brings together a variety of elements of socialism as enacted by planners on a competitive urban stage, such as scientific debate, the crafting of symbolic landscapes, and state campaigns for the development of cultured cities and people. By examining how planners and other urban inhabitants experienced, lived, and struggled with socialism and Stalinism, DeHaan offers readers a much broader, more complex picture of planning and planners than has been revealed to date.

First published in 1976, this book is concerned with the nature of classification in the social sciences. Its thesis is that classifications are dependent upon and are derived from theoretical explanations. Classification is not a theoretically neutral typification or ordering of social forms. This is because objects classified – societies, social institutions – are not given to knowledge independently of the categories which construct them and because the categories of classification are themselves the products of theories.

Thoroughly revised, this new edition of Critical Theory of Technology rethinks the relationships between technology, rationality, and democracy, arguing that the degradation of labor--as well as of many environmental, educational, and political systems--is rooted in the social values that preside over technological development. It contains materials on political theory, but the emphasis has shifted to reflect a growing interest in the fields of technology and cultural studies.

Feminist author Marilyn French's iconic and influential novel exploring the lives of women set in the rapidly changing world of the 1940s to the 1960s. “Mira was hiding in the ladies’ room. She called it that, even though someone had scratched out the word ladies’ in the sign on the door, and written women’s underneath…” So begins the famous feminist novel that follows the transformation of Mira Ward and her circle as the women’s movement begins to have an impact on their lives. The story follows Mira as she grows from a young girl in the 1940s to a woman of the 1960s. As she experiences marriage, motherhood, and friendship as a woman of the 1950s, she grows increasingly lonely and unfulfilled. When she looks to the women in the neighborhood she has befriended, she realizes that they are suffering, too. But after Mira is faced with divorce and a near-tragedy, she begins a new chapter in her life that coincides with the Women's Liberation Movement in the 1960s. Although her life improves slightly as she gains more independence and discover's her life's purpose, she still finds that women around her are still suffering as they navigate the ever-changing landscape of womanhood. Written with unwavering conviction and powerful prose, the themes in The Women's Room are still all too relevant today, and provide an essential jumping-off point for conversations still to come.

This is the first comprehensive study of the transition to democracy in Eastern Europe which includes the processes in party-formation, political culture-building, institution-building and economic transformation, and to differentiate between areas and countries. East and southeastern Europe are included as well as the Republics of the former Soviet Union. The theories of transformation to democracy developed in former transitions, such as 1919, 1945 and the 1970s are tested in the case of Eastern Europe. In many areas the picture developed by the author is not very optimistic. He feels that 'Anocracy', a mixture between democracy and authoritarian regimes, is likely to develop in many countries.