Making Revolution: The Communist Movement in Eastern and Central China, 1937-1945 (Center for Chinese Studies, UC Berkeley)

In this challenging work, Agnes Heller distills the essence of a political and philosophical standpoint worked out over the course of a productive and illustrious career. Containing both new and previously published pieces, this volume serves as an introduction to Heller's extensive oeuvre.

Her concerns with the 'vulnerability' of modernity raise fundamental questions. Can the political, economic, and moral institutions established by the West meet the immense challenges now posed in the late twentieth century? Are we living in a world from which emotional satisfaction is disappearing? Are the structures of modern life eradicating all authentic elements of everyday existence? Heller addresses these issues in a sensitive and eloquent assertion of the continued viability of modernity. Going against the grain of much postmodernist thought, Heller offers a bold defense of concepts such as the political sphere, practical reason, rights, and democracy.

Can Modernity Survive? displays the full range of Heller's formidable talents for social and philosophical analysis. The papers collected together here provide an integrated statement of her distinctive position concerning the fate of humankind as we approach the twenty-first century. This book will be of interest to all students and professionals in philosophy, political theory, cultural studies, and sociology.