George Bridges and Rosalind Brunt: Silver Linings, Lawrence and Wishart 1981, £3.50.
'Some Strategies for the Eighties' is the subtitle of this collection of papers from the 1980 Communist University of London. Unfortunately many of the contributors say nothing about strategy in the real world and those who do either restrict themselves to retreading old ground or elaborate areas of the British Road to Socialism and the Alternative Economic Strategy as if no critique of their basic assumptions were worthy of consideration. Elizabeth Wilson's article on socialist welfare is worth a look but to pursue interesting discussions on strategy from the Communist Party and its periphery, wait for the forthcoming selection of articles on Thatcherism from Marxism Today which at least provide more substance with which revolutionary socialists can engage.
Sam Aaronovitch and Ron Smith with Jean Gardiner and Roger Moore: The Political Economy of British Capitalism: A Marxist Analysis, McGraw Hill, 1981, £7.95; Mike Campbell: Capitalism in the UK: A Perspective from Marxist Political Economy, Croom Helm, 1981, £5.95.
Two Marxist textbooks for students of economics in one year must say something about the evolution of teaching in the social science which has traditionally been most resistant to radical critique. In 400 pages, Aaronovitch et al cover an enormous amount of ground providing useful summaries of relevant statistics on the way; space constraints (and no doubt the requirements of first-year economics teaching) mean that much discussion is superficial. One can read the whole book and still have little understanding of the cause and dimension of British economic decline. Having four authors writing various [illegible] Marxist theory and an empirical account of the UK economy at the same time does not help. Mike Campbell's book is much shorter, [illegible] which is understandable in a text book, but less excusably it is rather weak on introducing the debates between Marxists on important topics. Nonetheless, the book provides a reasonable bibliography and guide to further reading, It adequately introduces basic Marxist theory in relation to business, inequality, economic crisis, the internationalization of capital and the state, and uses it to sketch out a picture of the British economy today. Organisers of educational courses might well find it worth consulting their local library's copies of both books.
Peter Taylor-Gooby and Jennifer Dale: Social Theory and Social Welfare, Edward Arnold, 1981, £5.95.
A further addition to an explosion of Marxist writing on social policy and the welfare state (on which see also the more substantial review in this issue). This is basically two books for the price of one, Part I is a critique by Peter Taylor-Gooby of a wide range of non-Marxist approaches to the study of welfare. Part II, by Jenny Dale, provides a useful summary and discussion of recent Marxist work.
David Coates: Labour in Power?, Longman, 1980, £4.95.
It is unfortunate that David Coates' study of the 1974-9 Labour Government is such hard work to read, For his account of how the government retreated from its pledges, of the weaknesses of its original manifesto, and of the underlying reasons for Labour's inability to move Britain in a socialist direction, would otherwise be essential reading for militants. Particularly in relation to industrial and economic policy Labour in Power? provides a revealing and painstakingly-researched account of the fate of a government which entered office 'with a series of clear policy commitments more radical in tone and in aspiration than any that the party had endorsed since 1945'. It is to be regretted that it will probably only reach an academic audience for whom Coates' Marxism will be an irritant rather than a guide to action.
Robert Jenkins: Tony Benn: A Political Biography, Writers and Readers, 1980, £6.95.
A revealing, readable and interesting, sympathetic biography of [illegible] left. Nonetheless, it is essential reading as a background to the sort of revolutionary Marxist critique of Benn presented by Alan Freeman in this journal. Why no paperback?
The Runnymede Trust and the Radical Statistics Race Group: Britain's Black Population, Heineman Educational, 1980, £5.
Statistics have their limitations and this book certainly does not present any sort of clear picture of the lives of Britain's various 'black' populations. What it does do is provide facts and figures about state policies and their effects in relation to immigration, discrimination, employment, housing, education, and health and social services, It also gives a summary of statistics about the size, distribution and demography of Britain's black populations and about patterns of immigration into Britain. Quite a useful reference book but few will want to part with five pounds for it.
Books received: (listing does not preclude a subsequent review) Liam O'Dowd, Bill Rolston, Mike Tomlinson: Northern Ireland: Between Civil Rights and Civil War, CSE Books, 1980, £3.95.
Susan Edwards: Female Sexuality and the Law, Martin Robertson, 1981, £4.95.
Howard Zinn: A People's History of the United States, Longman, 1981, £6.95.
John Urry: The Anatomy of Capitalist Societies, Macmillan, 1981, £4.95.