Contemporary political concepts - a critical introduction

Editors: Georgina Blakeley and Valerie Bryson, Pluto Press, 230 pages, paperback, £3.99

This book explores the change in the language of political debate and analysis in recent years, and argues that the vocabulary of the left has been abandoned and replaced with a new set of concepts.

It notes that the world economy is discussed in terms of "globalisation" instead of "international capitalism"; analysis of the capitalist state has been replaced by studies of the structure of governments; gender and ethnicity are regarded as more significant signs of inequality than class; and while concepts of citizenship and stakeholding have replaced those of class and class conflict.

Moreover, it says that, in today's political climate, "socialism" is seen as "old fashioned or utopian" while capitalism is looked on as "realistic".

In this series of essays written by 10 university lecturers the real issues behind these new concepts are examined, providing a useful, though rather controversial, guide.