The 1956 crisis in Hungary had a profound impact on China's international affairs and domestic politics. The Chinese Communist Party leadership - party chairman Mao Zedong in particular - had by the end of mid-1950s begun to conceive of "a great Chinese revolution", which would largely take the form of large-scale industrial modernization. At the same time, China's awareness that it could develop into a leading player in the international socialist camp led Mao and his colleagues actively to intervene on the East European scene, posing an implicit challenge to the Soviet dominance in the bloc. The apparent desire of the Hungarian people to break free from Stalinist socialism, and the real risk, as Mao saw it, of the bloc foundering, convinced the Chinese Party that only reverting to a Stalinist pattern of inter-state socialism could keep the camp intact. In the domestic context, the Hungarian events likewise played a formative role in the evolution of Chinese social policy as top officials critically reviewed the Soviet experience of collectivization. Intellectuals and statesmen began to doubt the efficiency of the party's rule, while Mao rejected meaningful reforms of institutional socialism in favour of "soft" means of conscripting the intellectuals and "remolding" popular thought. Having opened up to party to criticism from outside, Mao cited the risk of domestic opponents fomenting a Hungarian-style crisis in China in terminating the Hundred Flowers campaign and moving to a program of ideological purges and massive economic stimulation. By 1958 China was definitively set on the course of the Great Leap Forward and the break with the Soviet Union.

The thesis is a study of R.E. Tawney as a Christian social moralist in his encounter with a modern industrial society. It is divided into three basic parts - what conditioned him, what he was in terms of his theory, and what he did in society. The first part, chapters 1-3, consists of an examination of the contextual forces which contributed to the shaping of a Christian social moralist. The first two chapters identify the key factors which conditioned his response to industrial society. The third chapter recognises the importance of his social and intellectual tradition, and of industry, as dominant parts of his context. In each of these chapters, careful note is made of the key features in his contribution to society as a Christian social moralist. The second part, chapters 4-6, is an enquiry into the theory which undergirded his involvement in society. The fourth chapter examines the nature of his ideology, and his Christian social theory in relation to Christian humanism. The fifth chapter Interprets his view of the Church as a way of life and as an organisation. later exposition of the influence, particularly reactive, of the persistence of capitalism, leads, in the sixth chapter, to a description and evaluation of the key tools he developed as part of his response to the contemporary social order. These vary from an outline proposal for a research and development function in Christian social ethics, to an examination of the nature and contribution of principles to Christian involvement in industrial society. In the third part of the thesis, chapters 7-9, three key areas are selected in order to examine in detail the Christian social moralist, equipped with such a theory, at Work in particular issues. Since the range of Tawney's scholarship and involvement in society was so vast, the choice was made of democracy (chapter 7), the Labour movement(chapter 8), and Industrial (chapter 9). This third part of the thesis is of especial importance,because Tawney's distinctive interpretation of Christian social morality was integrally round up with its implementation in the particulars of an industrial society.

This thesis focuses on Irish communism and the republican left, using Seán Murray’s political career as a nexus between Ireland and the international context. Using newly released and previously under-utilised archival material, the thesis concentrates on two main issues. Firstly, it addresses Murray’s relationship with the international communist movement, challenging and adding nuances to extant research on Irish ‘Stalinism’. Murray had a firm grasp of Marxist-Leninist theory, tactics and methods of organisation. Yet he endured a complex and difficult relationship with the international communist hierarchy and with the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) in particular. Murray developed independent, nationally specific policies and tactics for the Communist Party of Ireland (CPI), often arguing for a liberal interpretation of Comintern policy. In fact, on a number of occasions, he anticipated shifts in Comintern thinking. Secondly, the thesis examines socialist republicanism between 1916 and 1962 from Murray’s perspective. It argues that a proclivity to pursue communist-republican alliances brought out in Murray both the crudest and most advanced forms of socialist republican thinking. Unique in his era, Murray combined aspects of Marxism-Leninism with fundamentally Connollyist analyses of Irish conditions and demonstrated an understanding of imperialism on two levels. He failed to develop a communist-republican synthesis. However, in the final analysis, he articulated an inclusive, left social democratic vision of republicanism which drew upon diverse sources of inspiration.

Marxism is a highly complex subject, and its contribution to the analyses of imperialism and capitalist development in backward countries is no less so. It is in these areas that we find the widest divergence between the writings of Marx and Engels and those of many contemporary Marxists, who claim that capitalist development in the periphery is no longer feasible, or that it is so distorted that it can no longer lead towards socialism. These views go against the spirit and the letter of Marx's writings. Nevertheless, as a general rule, we do not find in these contemporary Marxist writers any effort to explain this divergence. In this context, what is important is to ask whether the differences are attributable to changes in circumstances or in diagnosis; that is to say, whether capitalism has been transformed in such a way that capitalist development in the periphery cannot take place within the modern capitalist system, or whether Marx and Engels' analyses were themselves overoptimistic regarding the possibilities of this development in the backward areas of the world. At the same time, the writings of most contemporary Marxists give the impression that Marxist interest in the problems of capitalist development in the periphery only began in the 1950s, ignoring the important debates on these issues that took place before. One of the main aims of this thesis is to rectify this matter. Another aim is to clarify the conceptual issues around which the debates revolves, and to show how many debates among 'dependency' writers echo similar debates which took place earlier within the Marxist tradition, although in most cases their relevance has not been duly appreciated. I also try to show the problems involved in seeking 'general' implications for contemporary socialist political strategy from the analysis of imperialism and capitalist development in the Third World. In this thesis I have divided the analysis into 4 parts; first, the period from the early writings of Marx and Engels to Lenin's Development of Capitalism in Russia; second, the 'classical' writers on imperialism; third, the period from Lenin's April Theses to Bukharin's and Kunsinen's 1928 theses (during the Sixth Congress of the COMINTERN), to the Seventh Congress and subsequent developments until the Cuban Revolution; and in the fourth, the Latin American 'dependency' debates. This thesis also contains an analysis of how both the Seventh Congress and the 'dependency' approaches were transformed into specific interpretations of the political and economic history of Chile. My analysis of the fourth period concentrates on the Latin America 'dependency' debates, without discussing the works of other writers like Saair Amin, Rey, Arrighi, or Emmanuel. It is not possible to review properly, within the word limit of a thesis, the period I cover and also include these writers, and the overwhelming mass of other writings relating to this fourth period which have appeared, aimed at either supporting or refuting its basic theses, or simply reflecting its sudden ascendancy in academic and intellectual circles hitherto relatively closed to radical critiques of current orthodoxy.

This thesis is divided into three parts. Part One introduces the context of the debate. Chapter One looks at relevant secondary literature relating to inter war Lancashire and four main themes are discussed, Mosley and his road to the BUF, the cotton industry in the inter war years, politics in Lancashire and finally anti Semitism and the development of the Jewish communities of Manchester and Liverpool. The second chapter presents themes linking the BUF and Lancashire, most notably cotton and Fascist plans to reinvigorate that industry. Linked to this is the BUF accusation that Jewish controlled international finance was largely responsible for the travails of the cotton industry - the question of Jewish control of international finance and the consequences of this being a constant one throughout the first two parts of the thesis. The changing attitude of the BUF to parliamentarism is also examined. Part Two begins with a case study of Manchester which notes the inclusive and diverse nature of anti BUF activism in the city and the nature of Jewish opposition to the Movement. Left characterisation of the National Government, another recurrent theme is highlighted, as are the unproductive electoral forays late in the period under review. Chapter Four examines the nature of responses to the BUF in Liverpool and the impact of a highly sectarian local politics on available political space is examined. This theme of electoral space is another constant throughout the thesis. The last local case study, of the cotton towns and in particular Nelson, notes a diversity of response to the BUF. Nelson is seen as having a radical civic culture and political allegiances characterised by youthful optimism, these factors combining to produce a confident response to the BUF. The following chapter examines the response of the Anglo Jewish elite to the threat of the BUF. Jewish opposition to the BUF was highly diverse. The response of the elite was couched in modest and traditional terms, being less concerned with Fascism or anti Semitism than with the often violent confrontational activism of parts of the Jewish community. The question as to whether elite responses meant a tacit acceptance ofBUF slanders is also discussed. The role of Neville Laski as an important conduit between Manchester Jewry, Anglo Jewry at the national level and the state is considered as is the wide intelligence gathering capacity of the Anglo Jewish elite, to the benefit of both themselves and the state. The following chapter considers the role of the state in monitoring BUF/anti Fascist activism. The links between the state at the local and national level are highlighted as is the question of the circumscription of civil liberties, notably in Manchester. The response to Cable Street in terms of the Public Order Act of 1937 is questioned as is the alleged development of a conservative authoritarian state. Chapters eight and nine offer explanations for the political stability of Britain in the inter war years, this being contrasted with regime failure in Germany and Italy. Reasons for the success of the Nazis in Germany and PNF in Italy are contrasted with the failure of the BUF in Britain, the question of political space being seen to have important explanatory relevance. The final chapter focusses on Britain and the importance of the maintenance of two party competition. The role of the Conservative Party is examined as is the National Government and the enduring strength of the political settlement post 1931. The moderation of the Labour Party and its relative weakness post 1931 is considered as is the weakness of the CPGB in comparison with its German counterpart. Factors linked to political development are highlighted as having useful explanatory worth, these themes include the contrasting abilities of the ruling elites in Germany and Britain and the legitimacy of the moderate British left.

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Since the 1990s post-Zionist academics have transformed the anti-Zionist ideology of the fringe political group Matzpen, rooted in pre-1948 ideology of Brit Shalom, the Canaanites, and the Communists, into a mainstream de-legitimizing critique of Israel. Utilizing the tools of the critical, neo-Marxist paradigm depicting Israel as an imperialist, colonialist movement, these scholars have produced a ferocious critique of all facets of Israeli history and society hand-tailored to undermine the Jewish state’s legitimacy. ‘New historians’ have argued that Israel, helped by Western imperialism, overwhelmed the Palestinians and ethnically cleansed them. ‘Critical sociologists’ have depicted Israeli society as controlled by an Ashkenazi, capitalist elite that has subjugated minorities, women, the working classes. ‘Critical political scientists’ have produced voluminous research casting Israel as a fascist-like, apartheid state. And revisionist scholars have argued that Israel has turned the Holocaust into a civil religion glorifying power; has used its lessons to oppress the Palestinians; and has fed a collective paranoia that has made Israelis impervious to rational resolution of the conflict.

In 1989, the Czech Republic rejected the totalitarian system and embarked on a long journey of rebuilding society. This complex process of transition is mainly marked with profound reshaping of the political and economic system. The main aim of this thesis is to explore the attitudes to work in the Czech Republic during the post-socialist transition, and to establish the main determinants of these attitudes. Moreover, it is the purpose of this study to assess the possible legacy of the socialist system in the area of work and employment. This research employs a mixed method approach which is a combination of broader quantitative analysis, setting out the patterns of the change, followed by an in-depth qualitative investigation into how people understand and perceive the change in their everyday lives. By means of combining these different methods, this research is set to reflect on the levels of complexity of the transition process. The most significant finding to emerge from the study, is the central role of the market and its forces as the main driving force of the transition, both in the area of work and in other spheres of life. While the effects of marketization in the Czech society are profound, my investigation shows that the consequences of market forces, including work and life insecurities, are not equally distributed across the population, but vary along the dimensions of age, gender, geographical location and the level of education and qualification. This reinstates social inequality and stratification in the society. The legacies of socialism were found to have an attenuating effect in the transition defined primarily in terms of social and cultural forces. Broader implications arising from these results are in the area of social solidarity in respect to the functioning of the capitalist organizations, as well as in the sphere of people’s relationships in general.