One hundred and fifty years ago Marx and Engels produced the Communist Manifesto. This ended with the stirring words "Workers of all lands unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains. You have a world to win!" Although this slogan inspired generations of unionists and socialists, the internationalism turned into nationalism, the worlds won did not loosen the chains and even the worlds themselves were lost.


This book examines the past internationalism of labour and socialists and the present one of the new radical-democratic social movements (such as womens movements and feminism). It argues for a new global solidarity that relates to a radicalized, globalized, informatized and complex capitalist modernity. This new internationalism addresses multiple global social problems and democratic movements. It both learns from the social theories of today and provides a necessary complement to them.