Shlomo Avineri, 1933–2023  

The Israeli political theorist, Shlomo Avineri, a longtime friend of Dissent, died in Jerusalem on December 1. He made his reputation writing major books on Marx and Hegel, but he was never simply an academic. Throughout his life, he was …











Response by Michael Walzer  

Jim Rule has provided a textbook example of what I called in the last issue of Dissent “the great crossover” (“All God’s Children Got Values,” Spring 2005). The political projects that he rejects—”schemes involving vast short-term suffering on behalf of …



Michael Walzer Responds  

A quick word from a third Michael. I agree entirely with the second Michael’s response to the first, but want to add a few comments as co-editor of Dissent. Instead of arguing about the state of the left, Michael Wreszin …





Totalitarianism vs. Authoritarianism  

Every political theorist hopes that his concepts and distinctions will turn, magically, into common currency, so that men and women on the street will talk exactly as he does. And he fears at the same time that his work will …



In A Bad Time  

I can’t recall a time when it was as easy as it is today to glance at the headlines of the morning paper and turn quickly to the sports pages. The presidential campaign is only the most obvious reason for …







Michael Walzer Responds  

There is one major difficulty with Irving Howe’s statement. He fails to grasp the significance of the most important point he makes: that in Vietnam the national liberation movement was from the beginning led by the Communists. There, in a …



Labor in Britain  

Five years ago it was widely believed that the British Labor Party had become a permanent minority. Unable to compete with Tory affluence, burdened with an “old-fashioned” ideology, dependent on a working class doomed to long-term numerical decline, the party …



The Only Revolution  

Historical concepts always tell us as much about the men who use them as about the events they are supposed to describe. Very little is given in intellectual life; artists, writers, even social scientists must choose the way they wish …