Word: communistes
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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LEADERS of the 75 Communist parties meeting in Moscow-and those conspicuously absent-often argue bitterly about what their faith, Marxism, means. More interesting is the question of what Marxism does. How strong is its influence today? What accounts for its ability to renew its appeal? Who needs...
...Marx concocted a "total" theory, a consistent set of symbols, to explain the course of history, and he intended his theory to be swallowed whole. The vision derives much of its poetic force from its unity, although few modern men gulp down the whole brew. Outside the Communist countries, formal conversion to Marxism is now rarer than it was a generation ago. Much Marxist influence is indirect and fragmentary. In some minds, fragments of the Marxist vision coexist-illogically-with Christianity or Freudianism. For most, it provides a rationale for criticizing society as it is, rather than a plan...
Nevertheless, Marxist influence is still potent, especially where men find themselves in situations somehow analogous to those that surrounded Marx in the Europe of five generations ago. Leaving aside the uses of Marxism within the Communist-ruled countries, groups especially susceptible to the vision today include the peoples of less advanced countries now experiencing early stages of modernization, and certain unassimilated groups (for example, radical U.S. blacks) in advanced countries. Equally susceptible are intellectuals and youth...
...rebellious youth in the advanced countries shows little sign of swallowing Marxism whole, but the Marxist vision does have its strong appeal to the alienated young. An Italian observer, the critic Nicola Chiaramonte, believes that Marxist influence has grown among Italian youth, even though the Communist Party has been losing young members. "Marx isn't very highly regarded as a thinker," Chiaramonte says, "but as a father image he is very much present. The older generation of Marxists remains influenced by Marxist thought, the last philosophy with a consistent system. But youth is moved by Marx's call...
...campaign with key supporters from the French political center, thereby inviting further defections from the already depleted opposition. He planned to visit six more cities across France, plainly hoping for a wide national mandate in the runoff election June 15. As if to help him gain it, the French Communist Party took the unprecedented step of ordering its followers to abstain from the voting altogether. If every Communist voter hewed to the party line, Pompidou was already assured of a majority. No Frenchman expected it to end quite that neatly, but as the campaign entered its final week, Georges Pompidou...