Socialism : past and future : the classic text on the role of socialism in modern society / Michael Harrington.

Hypotheses
Socialisms
Authoritarian collectivisms
The Realpolitik of utopia
The end of socialism?
The third creation of the world
Socialization revisited
Market and plan
Visionary gradualism.

On learning his cancer was inoperable, renowned intellectual Michael Harrington simply asked the doctors to keep him alive long enough "to complete a summary statement of the themes I had thought of throughout an activist life." And they did. Socialism: Past and Future is prominent thinker and democratic socialist Michael Harrington's final contribution: a thoughtful, intelligent, and compassionate treatise on the role of socialism both past and present in modern society. He is convincing in his application of classic socialist theory to current economic situations and modern political systems, and he examines the validity of the idea of "visionary gradualism" in bringing about a socialist agenda. He believes that if freedom and justice are to survive into the next century, the socialist movement will be a critical factor. This is the definitive text on the role of socialism throughout history which Publishers Weekly calls "succinct, readable" and the Los Angeles Times Book Review says is "magnificent . . . more than anything, this is a book about hope