Ernest Ezra Mandel (; also known by various pseudonyms such as Ernest Germain, Pierre Gousset, Henri Vallin, Walter (5 April 1923 – 20 July 1995), was a Belgian Marxian economist,

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

activist and theorist, and

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally accep ...

. He fought in the underground resistance against the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

during the occupation of Belgium.

Life

Born in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

, Mandel was recruited to the Belgian section of the international

movement, the Fourth International, in his youth in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. His parents, Henri and Rosa Mandel, were

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

emigres from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, the former a member of

Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg (; ; pl, Róża Luksemburg or ; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Polish and naturalised-German revolutionary socialism, revolutionary socialist, Marxism, Marxist philosopher and anti-war movement, anti-war activist. Succ ...

's and

Karl Liebknecht Karl Paul August Friedrich Liebknecht (; 13 August 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a German socialist and anti-militarist. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) beginning in 1900, he was one of its deputies in the Reichstag fro ...

Spartacist League The Spartacus League (German: ''Spartakusbund'') was a Marxist revolutionary movement organized in Germany during World War I. It was founded in August 1914 as the "International Group" by Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, Clara Zetkin, and othe ...

. The beginning of Mandel's period at university was interrupted when the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

occupying forces closed the university. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, while still a teenager, he joined the Belgian Trotskyist organisation alongside

Abraham Leon Abraham (Abram) Leon (1918–1944) (born Abraham Wejnstok), was a Belgian Jewish Trotskyist party leader and theorist, who was murdered in 1944 by the Nazis at the Auschwitz death camp. Biography Leon was born in Warsaw in 1918. His parents, adhe ...

and

Martin Monath Martin Ludwig Monath (name later changed to Martin Witlin, and also known by pseudonyms such as Paul Widelin and Viktor) (5 January 1913 – August 1944) was a German Jewish Trotskyist resistance fighter. Life Monath was born in Berlin. His p ...

. He twice escaped after being arrested in the course of resistance activities, and survived imprisonment in the German

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

at Dora. After the war, he became the youngest member of the Fourth International secretariat, alongside Michel Pablo and others. He gained respect as a prolific journalist with a clear and lively style, as an orthodox Marxist theoretician, and as a talented debater. He wrote for numerous media outlets in the 1940s and 1950s including ''

Het Parool ''Het Parool'' () is an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper. It was first published on 10 February 1941 as a resistance paper during the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940–1945). In English, its name means ''The Password'' or ''The Mott ...

'', ''Le Peuple'', ''l'Observateur'' and

Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. AFP has regional headquarters in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong and Washington, ...

. At the height of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

, he publicly defended the merits of

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

in debates with the

social democrat Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soc ...

and future Dutch premier Joop den Uyl.

Activity

After the 1946 World Congress of the Fourth International, Mandel was elected into the leadership of the International Secretariat of the Fourth International. In line with its policy, he joined the

Belgian Socialist Party nl, Belgische Socialistische Partij , logo = Logo of the Belgian Socialist Party.png , caption = The fist and rose emblem used by the party from 1973. , leader1_title = President , leader1_name = Achille Van Acker (first)André Cools (last) ...

where he was a leader of a

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin ...

socialist tendency, becoming editor of the socialist newspaper ''La Gauche'' (and writing for its

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

sister publication, ''Links''), a member of the economic studies commission of the

General Federation of Belgian Labour The General Labour Federation of Belgium (french: Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique, or FGTB; nl, Algemeen Belgisch Vakverbond, ABVV) is a socialist national trade union federation in Belgium. It was founded in 1945. It is affiliated ...

and an associate of the Belgian

syndicalist Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of pr ...

André Renard André Renard (25 May 191120 July 1962) was a Belgian trade union leader who, in the aftermath of World War II, became an influential figure within the Walloon Movement. Born into a working-class family, Renard was as a metalworker in the L ...

. He and his comrades were expelled from the Socialist Party not long after the Belgian general strike of 1960–61 for opposing its coalition with the

Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

and its acceptance of anti- strike legislation. He was one of the main initiators of the 1963 reunification between the International Secretariat, which he led along with Michel Pablo, Pierre Frank and

Livio Maitan Livio Maitan (April 1, 1923 – September 16, 2004) was an Italian Trotskyist, a leader of Associazione Bandiera Rossa and of the Fourth International. He was born in Venice. Life and career He graduated in Classics (''lettere classiche'') from ...

, and the majority of the International Committee of the Fourth International, a public faction led by James Cannon's Socialist Workers Party that had withdrawn from the FI in 1953. The regroupment formed the

reunified Fourth International The Fourth International (FI), founded in 1938, is a Trotskyist international. In 1963, following a ten-year schism, the majorities of the two public factions of the Fourth International, the International Secretariat and the International C ...

(also known as the USFI or USec). Until his death in 1995, Mandel remained the most prominent leader and theoretician of both the USFI and of its Belgian section, the Revolutionary Workers' League. Until the publication of his massive book ''Marxist Economic Theory'' in French in 1962, Mandel's Marxist articles were written mainly under a variety of pseudonyms and his activities as Fourth Internationalist were little known outside the left. After publishing ''Marxist Economic Theory'', Mandel travelled to

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

and worked closely with

Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...

on economic planning, after Guevara (who was fluent in French) had read the new book and encouraged Mandel's interventions. He resumed his university studies and graduated from what is now the École Pratique des Hautes Études in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

in 1967. Only from 1968 did Mandel become well known as a public figure and Marxist politician, touring student campuses in Europe and America giving talks on socialism,

imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic powe ...

and revolution. Although officially barred from

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

(and several other countries at various times, including the United States, France,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

), he gained a PhD from the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

in 1972 (where he taught for some months), published as ''Late Capitalism'', and he subsequently gained a lecturer position at the Free University of Brussels. Mandel gained mainstream attention in the United States following the rejection of his visa by Attorney General

John N. Mitchell John Newton Mitchell (September 15, 1913 – November 9, 1988) was the 67th Attorney General of the United States under President Richard Nixon and chairman of Nixon's 1968 and 1972 presidential campaigns. Prior to that, he had been a municipal ...

against the suggestion of Secretary of State

William P. Rogers William Pierce Rogers (June 23, 1913 – January 2, 2001) was an American diplomat and attorney. He served as United States Attorney General under President Dwight D. Eisenhower and United States Secretary of State under President Richard Nixo ...

in 1969. Attorney General Mitchell acted under the

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (), also known as the McCarran–Walter Act, codified under Title 8 of the United States Code (), governs immigration to and citizenship in the United States. It came into effect on June 27, 1952. Befor ...

(also known as the McCarran–Walter Act). This act states that those who "advocate the economic, international and governmental doctrines of world Communism" and "who write or public any written or printed matter advocating or teaching the economic international and governmental doctrines of world Communism" can have their visas barred. Mandel had been granted visas in 1962 and 1968 but had violated the conditions of his second visit unknowingly by asking for donations for the defence in the legal cases of French demonstrators. As a result of his rejected visa, a number of American scholars came out to vouch for his right to visit the United States. They attempted to highlight that he did not affiliate with the Communist Party and had publicly spoken out against the invasion of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

in 1968. In 1971, a Federal Court in New York voted to void Mitchell's decision, stating that the United States could not bar a visitor, but on 29 June 1972, the Supreme Court ruled, 6 to 3, that Mitchell had acted within his job description in rejecting the visa. In 1972, his exclusion from the United States was upheld in the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

case '' Kleindienst v. Mandel''. In 1978, he delivered the ''

Alfred Marshall Alfred Marshall (26 July 1842 – 13 July 1924) was an English economist, and was one of the most influential economists of his time. His book '' Principles of Economics'' (1890) was the dominant economic textbook in England for many years. I ...

Lectures'' at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, on the topic of the long waves of capitalist development. Mandel campaigned on behalf of numerous dissident left-wing intellectuals suffering political repression, advocated for the cancellation of the Third World debt, and, in the

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to the country's dissolution in 1991. He served as General Secretary of the Com ...

era, spearheaded a petition for the rehabilitation of the accused in the

Moscow Trials The Moscow trials were a series of show trials held by the Soviet Union between 1936 and 1938 at the instigation of Joseph Stalin. They were nominally directed against " Trotskyists" and members of " Right Opposition" of the Communist Party o ...

of 1936–1938. When in his seventies, he travelled to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

to defend his vision of

democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...

and continued to support the idea of Revolution in the West until his death.

Writings

In total, he published approximately 2,000 articles and around 30 books during his life in German, Dutch, French, English and other languages, which were in turn translated into many more languages. During the Second World War, he was one of the editors of the underground newspaper, '' Het Vrije Woord''. In addition, he edited or contributed to many books, maintained a voluminous correspondence, and was booked for speaking engagements worldwide. He considered it his mission to transmit the heritage of classical Marxist thought, deformed by the experience of

Stalinism Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the the ...

and the

, to a new generation. And to a large extent he did influence a generation of scholars and activists in their understanding of important Marxist concepts. In his writings, perhaps most striking is the tension between

creative Creative may refer to: *Creativity, phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is created * "Creative" (song), a 2008 song by Leon Jackson * Creative class, a proposed socioeconomic class * Creative destruction, an economic term * Creative dir ...

independent thinking and the desire for a strict adherence to Marxist doctrinal orthodoxy. Due to his commitment to socialist democracy, he has even been characterised as "Luxemburgist".

Death and legacy

Mandel died at his home in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

in 1995 after suffering from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

. Mandel is probably best remembered for being a populariser of basic Marxist ideas, for his books on

late capitalism Late capitalism, late-stage capitalism, or end-stage capitalism is a term first used in print by German economist Werner Sombart around the turn of the 20th century. In the late 2010s, the term began to be used in the United States and Canada t ...

and Long-Wave theory, and for his moral-intellectual leadership in the

movement. Despite critics claiming that he was 'too soft on

', Mandel remained a classic rather than a conservative Trotskyist: writing about the Soviet bureaucracy but also why capitalism had not suffered a death agony. His late capitalism was late in the sense of delayed rather than near-death. He still believed though that this system hadn't overcome its tendency to crises. A leading German Marxist,

Elmar Altvater Elmar Altvater ( Kamen, Province of Westphalia, 24 August 1938 – 1 May 2018) was Professor of Political Science at the Otto-Suhr-Institut of the Free University of Berlin, before retiring on 30 September 2004. He continued to work at the institu ...

, stated that Mandel had done much for the survival of Marxism in the German Federal Republic.

& Jürgen Hoffmann, "The West German State Derivation Debate." ''Social Text'', No. 24, 1990, pp. 134–155, at p. 134.

Bibliography

Selected bibliography

*''Traité d'économie marxiste'', 1962. (''Marxist Economic Theory'', trans. Brian Pearce, 1968.) *''Die EWG und die Konkurrenz Europa-Amerika'', 1968. (''Europe versus America: Contradictions of Imperialism'', trans. Martin Rossdale, 1970.) *''La formation de la pensée économique de Karl Marx: de 1843 à la rédaction du "Capital"'', 1970. ('' The Formation of the Economic Thought of Karl Marx, 1843 to Capital'', trans. Brian Pearce, 1971.) *''Decline of the Dollar: a Marxist view of the Monetary Crisis'', 1972 (a collection of articles) *''Der Spätkapitalismus'', 1972. (''

Late Capitalism Late capitalism, late-stage capitalism, or end-stage capitalism is a term first used in print by German economist Werner Sombart around the turn of the 20th century. In the late 2010s, the term began to be used in the United States and Canada t ...

'', trans. Joris de Bres, 1975.)
"The Driving Forces of Imperialism"
Paper submitted to the Bertrand Russell Centenary Symposium, Linz, Austria, 11 to 15 September 1972, published in ''Spheres of Influence in the Age of Imperialism'' (Ken Coates, ed, Nottingham 1972) *''La Dialectique de la Croissiance'', Mai, November 1972, pp. 7–14; ''Krisis in de ekonomiese theorie: lezingen en diskussies van het vesvu kongres vu-amsterdam'' (Nijmegen, 1973), pp. 55–76, VESVU-kongreskommissie (ed.); *''Vervreemding en revolutionaire perspectieven'', 1973. *''The Marxist Theory of Alienation'', 2nd ed, Ernest Mandel & George Novack, 1973 *''Why they invaded Czechoslovakia'', 1974. * * Review of

Marcel Liebman Marcel Liebman (7 July 1929 – 1 March 1986) was a Belgian Marxist historian of political sociology and theory, active at the Université libre de Bruxelles and Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Life A historian of socialism and of communism, ...

's Leninism Under Lenin * Discussion with Bill Warren. *''Introduction au marxisme'', 1975. (''From class society to communism: an introduction to Marxism'', trans. Louisa Sadler, 1977.) * *''La longue marche de la revolution'', 1976 (a collection of articles) * *''Krise und Aufschwung der kapitalistischen Weltwirtschaft 1974–1977'', 1977. (''The second slump: a Marxist analysis of recession in the seventies'', trans. Jon Rothschild, 1978.) * *''Critique de l'eurocommunisme'', 1978. (''From Stalinism to Eurocommunism'', trans. Jon Rothschild, 1978.) *''De la Commune à Mai 68: Histoire du mouvement ouvrier international'', 1978 (articles) *''Long Waves of Capitalist Development'', 1978. *''De la bureaucratie'', Editions la Brèche, 1978 ("What is the bureaucracy?". In: Tariq Ali (ed.), ''The Stalinist Legacy''. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1984, pp. 60–94). *''Revolutionäre Strategien im 20. Jahrhundert : politische Essays'', trans. and ed. Gisela Mandela, 1978. *''Revolutionary Marxism Today'', ed. by Jon Rothschild, 1979 (based on interviews and discussions) *''Réponse à Louis Althusser et Jean Elleinstein'', 1979. *''Trotsky: A Study in the Dynamic of his Thought'', 1979. *''Offener Marxismus: ein Gespräch über Dogmen, Orthodoxie und die Häresien der Realität'', 1980 (with

Johannes Agnoli Johannes Agnoli (22 February 1925 in Valle di Cadore, Eastern Dolomites – 4 May 2003 in San Quirico di Moriano near Lucca) was a German-Italian Marxist political scientist, though he rejected the label ''Marxist'', preferring instead - somewhat ...

) *''La crise 1974–1982: les faits, leur interprétation marxiste'', 1982. * *''Karl Marx: die Aktualität seines Werkes'', ed. Willy Boepple, 1984. *''Delightful Murder: A Social History of the Crime Story'', 1985. *''The meaning of the Second World War'', 1986. *
Pdf.
* *''Cash Crash & Crisis: Profitboom, Börsenkrach und Wirtschaftskrise'', 1989 *''Où va l'URSS de Gorbatchev'', 1989. (''Beyond Perestroika: the future of Gorbachev's USSR'', trans. Gus Fagan, 1989.) * *''Octobre 1917 – coup d'État ou révolution sociale?'', 1992. (''October 1917: Coup d'état or Social Revolution?'', trans. by Penny Duggan and Steve Bloom, 1992.) *'' Trotzki als Alternative'', 1992. (''Trotsky as Alternative'', trans. Gus Fagan, 1992.) *''Kontroversen um "Das Kapital"'', trans. Alfred Kosing, 1992 (taken from Mandel's introduction to Marx's ''Capital'') *''The Place of Marxism in History'', 1994, *''Power and Money: A Marxist Theory of Bureaucracy'', 1994. *''Revolutionary Marxism and Social Reality in the 20th Century: Collected Essays'', ed. Stephen Bloom, 1994.

Books he (co-)edited

*''50 Years of World Revolution 1917–1967: an International Symposium'', 1968 *''Arbeiterkontrolle, Arbeiterräte, Arbeiterselbstverwaltung'', 1971 *''Ricardo, Marx, Sraffa: the Langston Memorial Volume'', 1984 *''New Findings in Long-Wave Research'', 1992

References

Sources

;Biographies * * * ::Published in English as: *

Frank Lovell Frank Lovell (July 24, 1913 – May 1, 1998) was an American communist politician. Lovell was born in Ipava, a town situated in the farming district of Illinois. Lovell studied psychology at the University of California in Berkeley. After ...

Ernest Mandel, A Revolutionary Life
by Barry Healy, 29 June 2009
A Systematic Biography of Ernest Mandel
by

Michael Löwy Michael Löwy (born 6 May 1938) is a French-Brazilian Marxist sociologist and philosopher. He is emeritus research director in social sciences at the CNRS (French National Center of Scientific Research) and lectures at the ''École des hautes ...

Thirty Years After: A Critical Introduction to the Marxism of Ernest Mandel
by

Daniel Bensaïd Daniel Bensaïd (25 March 1946 – 12 January 2010) was a philosopher and a leader of the Trotskyist movement in France. He became a leading figure in the student revolt of 1968, while studying at the University of Paris X: Nanterre. Life and ...

A film about life and times of Ernest Mandel, mostly in French, with some English
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mandel, Ernest 1923 births 1995 deaths Belgian communists Belgian Jews Male journalists Belgian male writers Belgian Marxist historians Belgian people of Polish-Jewish descent Belgian resistance members Belgian Trotskyists Belgian non-fiction writers German emigrants to Belgium Historians of communism Imperialism studies Jewish socialists Jewish resistance members during the Holocaust Marxist journalists Marxist theorists Marxist writers Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp survivors Politicians from Frankfurt Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Marxian economists 20th-century Belgian journalists