On Aug 25, 2010, at 1:32 PM, Bhaskar Sunkara wrote:
> I agree. There's a whole Hobsbawm-perspective that sees socialism/leftism
> as an outside force that influenced the West during the 20th century, as
> opposed to emerging from internal contradictions and struggles.
How about this - the activism brought internal pressure, but the Cold War put the ruling class in a more compromising mood than it would otherwise have been.
Doug