Rhonda F. Levine - Böcker

At present, Marxism appears to have a strong footing within American sociology. This collection of essays not only focuses on current efforts to revitalize Marxism, but carefully examines the emerging new establishment within the field. It offers the only existing multidisciplinary critique of recent trends in neo-Marxist theory. Its unique critical approach and current information on debates in Marxist sociology will interest those involved in social theory, Marxism, political economy, and contemporary sociology.

At present, Marxism appears to have a strong footing within American sociology. This collection of essays not only focuses on current efforts to revitalize Marxism, but carefully examines the emerging new establishment within the field. It offers the only existing multidisciplinary critique of recent trends in neo-Marxist theory. Its unique critical approach and current information on debates in Marxist sociology will interest those involved in social theory, Marxism, political economy, and contemporary sociology.

In this reassessment of New Deal policymaking, Rhonda Levine argues that the major constraints upon and catalysts for Roosevelt's policies were rooted in class conflict. Countering neo-Marxist and state-centred theories, which focus on administrative and bureaucratic structures, she contends that too little attention has been paid to the effect of class struggle. Levine analyzes the balance of class forces during the Great Depression and the ways in which they shaped the formulation, implementation and consequences of federal policies.

This book documents a little-known aspect of the Jewish experience in America. It is a fascinating account of how a group of Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany came to dominate cattle dealing in south central New York and maintain a Jewish identity even while residing in small towns and villages that are overwhelmingly Christian. The book pays particular attention to the unique role played by women in managing the transition to the United States, in helping their husbands accumulate capital, and in recreating a German Jewish community.Yet Levine goes further than her analysis of German Jewish refugees. She also argues that it is possible to explain the situations of other immigrant and ethnic groups using the structure/network/identity framework that arises from this research. According to Levine, situating the lives of immigrants and refugees within the larger context of economic and social change, but without losing sight of the significance of social networks and everyday life, shows how social structure, class, ethnicity, and gender interact to account for immigrant adaptation and mobility.

Since the 1960s, radical sociology has had far more influence on mainstream sociology than many observers imagine. This book pairs seminal articles with new reflective essays written by the founders of progressive sociology, including Fred Block, Edna Bonacich, Samuel Bowles, Herbert Gintis, Val Burris, G. William Domhoff, Richard Flacks, Harvey Molotch, Goran Therborn, and Erik Olin Wright. The book highlights the wider impact of radical sociology and shows how the work of these and other writers has continued to influence sociology's continuing interest in capitalism, class, race, gender, power, and progressive social change. It also describes future directions for a critical sociology relevant to a multicultural and global world.