The Retreat From Class A New 'True' Socialsim

In this classic study, which won the Isaac Deutscher Memorial Prize, Ellen Wood provides a survey of influential trends in contemporary Marxist theory. Identifying a common trend to dissociate political analysis from class interest, she pursues her own conception of the complex but undeniable relations between class, politics and ideology. In a new introduction, Wood discusses the relevance of The Retreat From Class in a post-Soviet world. She locates post-Marxism as a predecessor to current academic trends such as postmodernism, and argues that a re-examination of class politics by academia is one way out of the current, cynical acceptance of capitalism.

Ellen Meiksins Wood, for many years Professor of Political Science at York University, Toronto, is the author of many books, including Democracy Against Capitalism and, with Verso, The Pristine Culture of Capitalism, The Origin of Capitalism, Peasant-Citizen and Slave, Citizens to Lords, Empire of Capital and Liberty and Property.