20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Socialism in Venezuela, October 3, 2006
This review is from: Build It Now: Socialism for the Twenty-First Century (Paperback)
Despite the general title, this booklet is really about the issues Lebowitz, formerly Professor of Economics at Simon Fraser in Vancouver, encountered while helping 'build' socialism in Venezuela. The content consists of a bunch of short essays on the nature of socialism, worker management, resisting global capital, and identifying problems that need solving.
The general tone of the book is very simple and it's clearly aimed at people with no knowledge of socialism or economics whatever. This is in fact the case to such a degree that the only use this booklet can have is as a pointer for people who are sympathetic to socialist solutions, or have an inkling that capitalism may not be all it's cracked up to be, but have no clue where to look for answers. For them, Lebowitz might be a good introduction before they go on to reading real works. For everyone else, this is too simple and too lacking in discussion of serious problems in practice and theory to be worthwhile. Another thing is that Lebowitz seems to equate socialism with market socialism, which is a popular but not entirely uncontroversial solution. Most useful is therefore the last chapter/essay in the booklet, which discusses practical problems encountered in market socialism in Yugoslavia and how to solve them (though the former more than the latter).
I'll give the book three stars because its intent is good and it may be useful as popular literature to spread among friends and family. But do not look here for anything of serious theoretical value, contrary to Lebowitz' other excellent works.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good in spots, but not consistent or compelling, January 23, 2008
This review is from: Build It Now: Socialism for the Twenty-First Century (Paperback)
Michael Lebowitz's "Build It Now" is a collection of seven short essays, all but one originally published or presented elsewhere, discussing some basic concepts of Marxism, democratic socialism, and recent events in Venezuela, where Lebowitz served as an advisor in the Ministry of Social Economy in 2004. While each essay is generally decent on its own -- well-written and often thought-provoking -- they are not well integrated into a coherent whole. They can also get repetitive, with whole paragraphs repeated verbatim in different essays. All together, "Build It Now" ends up less than the sum of its parts, while with some judicious editing it could have been considerably more.
Although the cover claims that "Build It Now" offers "a fresh, clear and innovative vision" of "socialism for the twenty-first century", I got the sense that Lebowitz primarily looked backwards, making Marx the central figure of the book and putting him on a very high pedestal. Somewhat more modern socialist topics were largely limited to Che Guevara and Yugoslavian experimentation with worker co-operatives, while Venezuela's Bolivarian revolution was pretty much the only twenty-first century phenomenon considered by Lebowitz.
Here are some very brief summaries of the seven essays that make up "Build It Now".
"The Needs of Capital versus the Needs of Human Beings" (2002) focuses entirely on Marx, presenting a brief but clear development of some of Marx's criticisms of capitalism.
"Ideology and Economic Development" (2004) criticizes neoclassical and Keynesian economics, along with the associated politics of neoliberalism and social democracy (respectively), promoting instead radical endogenous development.
"The Knowledge of a Better World" (2004) revisits Marx, challenging the commodification of knowledge, as opposed to "the accumulation of knowledge for human development".
"Reclaiming a Socialist Vision" (2000) argues that simply opposing capitalism, without a vision of a socialist alternative, has only limited potential. Again, much of the discussion centers on Marx and his contemporaries.
"Socialism Doesn't Drop from the Sky" (2005) presents a nice discussion of "socialism as a process", as well as arguing against the idea that "you can change the world without taking power".
"Seven Difficult Questions" (2005) is an interesting essay, which outlined some of the problems encountered by Yugoslavian experiments with worker self-management, largely concerning relations between individual firms and society at large.
"The Revolution of Radical Needs: Behind the Bolivarian Choice of a Socialist Path" is the essay written especially for this volume. Since the previous essays are not well integrated, I hoped that this chapter would attempt to knit them together more coherently. However, it doesn't make much reference at all to the preceding pages, instead summarizing the recent history of Venezuela and the development of its Bolivarian revolution, from the 1989 Caracazo to the 1998 election of Chavez and the course of his presidency through 2005.
Individually, some of these were interesting and engaging, though not especially innovative or forward-looking. But they don't mesh or provide enough substance to live up to the title of the book, taken from the famous slogan of the South African Communist Party: "Socialism is the future, build it now!"
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A welcome and much needed contribution to the national dialogue, December 8, 2006
This review is from: Build It Now: Socialism for the Twenty-First Century (Paperback)
"Build it Now: Socialism For the Twenty-First Century" by Michael A. Lebowitz (Professor Emeritus of Economics, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada) offers readers an informed and compelling analysis of socialism adapted to the socio-economic and international political changes that are a part of the 21st century. Articulate, persuasive, and exhibiting a realistic optimism, Professor Lebowitz addresses the needs of capital and the needs of human beings, the necessities of ideological and economic development, how to reclaim a socialist vision in a world dominated by national and international corporations. "Build It Now" is a welcome and much needed contribution to the national dialogue of how to achieve economic and social equality in the world today.
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