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IS SOCIALISM DEAD
since the fall of the Soviet Union? What is the way
forward for the Left? Raby argues that Cuba and
above all Venezuela provide inspiration for
anti-globalisation and anti-capitalist movements
across the world. Another World Is Possible, but
only through an effective political strategy to win
power on a popular and democratic basis.
Raby argues
passionately that the way forward for progressives
is not the dogmatic formulae of the Old Left, nor
in the spontaneous autonomism of John Holloway or
Tony Negri. Instead, it is to be found in new,
broad and flexible popular movements with bold and
determined leadership. Examining the relationship
of key leaders to their people, including Hugo
Chavez and the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, Raby shows
that it is more necessary than ever to take power,
peacefully where possible, but in all cases with
the strength that comes from popular unity backed
by force where necessary. In this way it is
possible to build democratic power, which may or
may not be socialist depending on one's definition,
but which represent the real anti-capitalist
alternative for the twenty-first
century.
D.L. Raby
is Honorary Research Fellow at the Institute of
Latin American Studies of the University of
Liverpool, and also holds the rank of Professor
Emeritus in the History Department of the
University of Toronto. Raby has written many
studies of Latin American and Iberian History and
Politics, and is a long-standing activist in
solidarity campaigns with Latin American struggles
and social movements in the UK and Canada.
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