Thinking Against the Current

This collection of literary/historical essays, written 1970-2010, covers political subjects as diverse as 17th Century Quaker persecution history, the social impact of Malthus, the self-emancipation of English women, Eleanor Rathbone on the human rights of girls and German women's resistance to Hitler. The more literary subjects include the social thinking of the English Romantics, Dickens' Great Expectations, Simone Weil's great essays attacking militarism and Virginia Woolf's opposition to the State -- as well as contemporary American women poets on the problem of war. But despite all its diversity, this collection has one unifying theme -- the necessity for resistance, for 'thinking against the current', as Virginia Woolf wrote in 'Thoughts on Peace in an Air-raid'. The torch of resistance to oppression and militarism is shown to have been continuously handed on through the generations from the seventeenth century to our own day by men and women who had the courage, at whatever personal cost, to 'fight with the mind'. This book of passionate, lively essays is not merely a treasure trove for biographical researchers; it is also strengthening medicine, introducing us to unfamiliar forebears who can help us in our current struggle for a better world. As Simone Weil said: "We can find something better than ourselves in the past".

Aceasta colectie de eseuri literare / istorice, scrise in perioada 1970-2010, acopera subiecte politice la fel de diverse precum istoria persecutiei Quakerului din secolul al XVII-lea, impactul social al lui Malthus, auto-emanciparea femeilor engleze, Eleanor Rathbone asupra drepturilor omului fetelor si femeilor germane rezistenta fata de Hitler. Subiectele mai literare includ gandirea sociala a romanticilor englezi, Marile asteptari ale lui Dickens, marile eseuri ale lui Simone Weil care ataca militarismul si opozitia Virginiei Woolf fata de stat - precum si poetele contemporane americane despre problema razboiului.