Politics (journal)
Encyclopedia
Politics was a journal founded and edited by Dwight Macdonald
from 1944 to 1949.
Macdonald had previously been editor at Partisan Review
from 1937 to 1943, but after falling out with its publishers, quit to start Politics as a rival publication, first on a monthly basis and then as a quarterly.
Politics published essays on politics and culture and included among its contributors James Agee
, John Berryman
, Bruno Bettelheim
, Paul Goodman
, C. Wright Mills
, Mary McCarthy
, Marianne Moore
, Irving Howe
, Daniel Bell
, Hannah Arendt
.
The journal reflected Macdonald’s interest in European culture. He introduced US readers to the thinking of the French philosopher Simone Weil
, publishing "A Poem of Force", her reflections on the Iliad
, and to Albert Camus
. Another European, the Italian political and literary critic Nicola Chiaromonte
, was also given space in the journal.
Politics was also Macdonald’s vehicle for his repeated and violent attacks against Henry Wallace
and his Progressive Party campaign for President.
In a letter to Philip Rahv
at the end of December 1943, George Orwell
mentioned that Macdonald had written asking him to contribute to his forthcoming journal. Orwell had replied telling him he might "do something ‘cultural’" but not ‘political’ as he was already writing his "London Letters
" to Partisan Review.
In his "As I Please
" article for the 16 June 1944 issue of Tribune
, George Orwell recommended Politics. He stated that he disagreed with its policy but admired "its combination of highbrow political analysis with intelligent literary criticism." He went on to add that there were no monthly or quarterly magazines in England "to come up to" the American ones, of which there were several.
Macdonald, in an editorial comment for the November 1944 issue of Politics referred to a letter from Orwell which cast interesting light on the ‘russification
’ of English political thought over the last two years. Orwell had read the May issue’s review of Harold Laski
’s Faith, Reason and Civilisation and mentioned that the Manchester Evening News
, the evening edition of the Manchester Guardian, had refused to print his own review because of its anti-Stalin implications. Despite considering the book "pernicious tripe", Orwell had praised the author for being "aware that the USSR is the real dynamo of the Socialist movement in this country and everywhere else.", but criticized him for shutting his eyes to "purges, liquidations", etc. Macdonald pointed out that the fact that such a review should be considered "too hot" shows how much the feats of the Red Army had misled the English public opinion about Russia. He added that the "English liberal press had been far more honest about the Moscow Trials
than our own liberal journals" and that Trotsky had been able to write in the Guardian.
Dwight Macdonald
Dwight Macdonald was an American writer, editor, film critic, social critic, philosopher, and political radical.-Early life and career:...
from 1944 to 1949.
Macdonald had previously been editor at Partisan Review
Partisan Review
Partisan Review was an American political and literary quarterly published from 1934 to 2003, though it suspended publication between October 1936 and December 1937.-Overview:...
from 1937 to 1943, but after falling out with its publishers, quit to start Politics as a rival publication, first on a monthly basis and then as a quarterly.
Politics published essays on politics and culture and included among its contributors James Agee
James Agee
James Rufus Agee was an American author, journalist, poet, screenwriter and film critic. In the 1940s, he was one of the most influential film critics in the U.S...
, John Berryman
John Berryman
John Allyn Berryman was an American poet and scholar, born in McAlester, Oklahoma. He was a major figure in American poetry in the second half of the 20th century and was considered a key figure in the Confessional school of poetry...
, Bruno Bettelheim
Bruno Bettelheim
Bruno Bettelheim was an Austrian-born American child psychologist and writer. He gained an international reputation for his work on Freud, psychoanalysis, and emotionally disturbed children.-Background:...
, Paul Goodman
Paul Goodman (writer)
Paul Goodman was an American sociologist, poet, writer, anarchist, and public intellectual. Goodman is now mainly remembered as the author of Growing Up Absurd and an activist on the pacifist Left in the 1960s and an inspiration to that era's student movement...
, C. Wright Mills
C. Wright Mills
Charles Wright Mills was an American sociologist. Mills is best remembered for his 1959 book The Sociological Imagination in which he lays out a view of the proper relationship between biography and history, theory and method in sociological scholarship...
, Mary McCarthy
Mary McCarthy (author)
Mary Therese McCarthy was an American author, critic and political activist.- Early life :Born in Seattle, Washington, to Roy Winfield McCarthy and his wife, the former Therese Preston, McCarthy was orphaned at the age of six when both her parents died in the great flu epidemic of 1918...
, Marianne Moore
Marianne Moore
Marianne Moore was an American Modernist poet and writer noted for her irony and wit.- Life :Moore was born in Kirkwood, Missouri, in the manse of the Presbyterian church where her maternal grandfather, John Riddle Warner, served as pastor. She was the daughter of mechanical engineer and inventor...
, Irving Howe
Irving Howe
Irving Howe was an American literary and social critic and a prominent figure of the Democratic Socialists of America.-Life and career:...
, Daniel Bell
Daniel Bell
Daniel Bell was an American sociologist, writer, editor, and professor emeritus at Harvard University, best known for his seminal contributions to the study of post-industrialism...
, Hannah Arendt
Hannah Arendt
Hannah Arendt was a German American political theorist. She has often been described as a philosopher, although she refused that label on the grounds that philosophy is concerned with "man in the singular." She described herself instead as a political theorist because her work centers on the fact...
.
The journal reflected Macdonald’s interest in European culture. He introduced US readers to the thinking of the French philosopher Simone Weil
Simone Weil
Simone Weil , was a French philosopher, Christian mystic, and social activist.-Biography:Weil was born in Paris to Alsatian agnostic Jewish parents who fled the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. She grew up in comfortable circumstances, and her father was a doctor. Her only sibling was...
, publishing "A Poem of Force", her reflections on the Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
, and to Albert Camus
Albert Camus
Albert Camus was a French author, journalist, and key philosopher of the 20th century. In 1949, Camus founded the Group for International Liaisons within the Revolutionary Union Movement, which was opposed to some tendencies of the Surrealist movement of André Breton.Camus was awarded the 1957...
. Another European, the Italian political and literary critic Nicola Chiaromonte
Nicola Chiaromonte
Nicola Chiaromonte was an Italian activist and author. In 1934 he fled Italy for France, after opposing Benito Mussolini's fascist government. During the Spanish Civil War, he flew in André Malraux's squadron, fighting against fascist supported General Francisco Franco...
, was also given space in the journal.
Politics was also Macdonald’s vehicle for his repeated and violent attacks against Henry Wallace
Henry Wallace
Henry or Harry Wallace may refer to:*Henry A. Wallace , U.S. Vice President 1941-1945, presidential candidate for the Progressive Party 1948**Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center...
and his Progressive Party campaign for President.
In a letter to Philip Rahv
Philip Rahv
Philip Rahv was an American literary critic and essayist.-Life:...
at the end of December 1943, George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
mentioned that Macdonald had written asking him to contribute to his forthcoming journal. Orwell had replied telling him he might "do something ‘cultural’" but not ‘political’ as he was already writing his "London Letters
London Letters
The "London Letters" were a series of fifteen articles written by George Orwell when invasion by Nazi Germany seemed imminent,and published in the American left-wing literary magazine Partisan Review...
" to Partisan Review.
In his "As I Please
As I Please
"As I Please" was a series of articles written for the British left-wing newspaper Tribune by author and journalist George Orwell.On resigning from his job at the BBC in November 1943, Orwell joined Tribune as literary editor...
" article for the 16 June 1944 issue of Tribune
Tribune (magazine)
Tribune is a democratic socialist weekly, founded in 1937 published in London. It is independent but supports the Labour Party from the left...
, George Orwell recommended Politics. He stated that he disagreed with its policy but admired "its combination of highbrow political analysis with intelligent literary criticism." He went on to add that there were no monthly or quarterly magazines in England "to come up to" the American ones, of which there were several.
Macdonald, in an editorial comment for the November 1944 issue of Politics referred to a letter from Orwell which cast interesting light on the ‘russification
Russification
Russification is an adoption of the Russian language or some other Russian attributes by non-Russian communities...
’ of English political thought over the last two years. Orwell had read the May issue’s review of Harold Laski
Harold Laski
Harold Joseph Laski was a British Marxist, political theorist, economist, author, and lecturer, who served as the chairman of the Labour Party during 1945-1946, and was a professor at the LSE from 1926 to 1950....
’s Faith, Reason and Civilisation and mentioned that the Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
The Manchester Evening News is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in the United Kingdom. It is published every day except Sunday and is owned by Trinity Mirror plc following its sale by Guardian Media Group in early 2010. It has an average daily circulation of 90,973 copies...
, the evening edition of the Manchester Guardian, had refused to print his own review because of its anti-Stalin implications. Despite considering the book "pernicious tripe", Orwell had praised the author for being "aware that the USSR is the real dynamo of the Socialist movement in this country and everywhere else.", but criticized him for shutting his eyes to "purges, liquidations", etc. Macdonald pointed out that the fact that such a review should be considered "too hot" shows how much the feats of the Red Army had misled the English public opinion about Russia. He added that the "English liberal press had been far more honest about the Moscow Trials
Moscow Trials
The Moscow Trials were a series of show trials conducted in the Soviet Union and orchestrated by Joseph Stalin during the Great Purge of the 1930s. The victims included most of the surviving Old Bolsheviks, as well as the leadership of the Soviet secret police...
than our own liberal journals" and that Trotsky had been able to write in the Guardian.