Institutions, Corruption/Prosperity, and Religion (A), (B), (D), (1), (3), (6)

This chapter characterises the relations between religion, institutions, and the transparency–prosperity nexus. It explains how economic prosperity, democracy, and transparency are part of a feedback loop that constitutes a single phenomenon. More importantly, this chapter deepens the institutional analysis by concentrating on the particular historical influence of religion on the different legal traditions in Europe and the Americas. It is the cornerstone of Part 3 and, as such, of the entire book.The Reformation brought forth a wide range of modern institutions. Among these, education and democracy are the most crucial ones for ensuring prosperity/transparency outcomes. Likewise, Protestantism has impacted the secularisation of the state in Protestant countries (and also in Roman Catholics, albeit to a lesser, more indirect extent). Protestantism fosters horizontal power relations and secular-rational attitudes towards authority. Thus, such egalitarian and secular attitudes are linked to greater transparency and prosperity.The Lutheran German Revolution formed the basis of the various later Protestant, dissenting revolutions and legal traditions (i.e. British and American). Some of its concepts (e.g. separation of state functions from the church; state-sponsored education) permeate all modern legal systems to this day and ended the monopoly of Roman canon law.Regardless of the advances made by Roman Catholicism in the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II: 1962–1965), corporatist ideologies remain prevalent, mostly in Latin America. But while Roman Catholic discourse has shifted, the institutional inertia persists and maintains the hierarchical status quo and longstanding feudal structures.

From the German Revolution to the New Left: Revolution and Dissent in Arendt and Marcuse

This article argues that the German Revolution of 1918–19 was a formative event in the politicization of Hannah Arendt and Herbert Marcuse, significantly influencing their understanding of revolutionary action and their reflections on the 1960s New Left movement. The German Revolution draws these often polarized thinkers closer together as both characterize the unfulfilled political possibility of the revolution in substantially similar ways. In the work of Arendt, the staunch critic of Marx, this highlights a critical engagement with the socialist tradition; while for Marcuse, the self-proclaimed “orthodox” Marxist, the revolution reveals the importance of a revised idea of revolutionary action. By tracing the influence of the German Revolution on the work of these two theorists, this paper aims to recover the importance of this historical moment in their later political thought, particularly in their readings of the renewed political possibilities of the 1960s.

Leadership in Social Movements: Evidence from the “Forty-Eighters” in the Civil War

This paper studies the role of leaders in the social movement against slavery that culminated in the US Civil War. Our analysis is organized around a natural experiment: leaders of the failed German revolution of 1848–1849 were expelled to the United States and became antislavery campaigners who helped mobilize Union Army volunteers. Towns where Forty-Eighters settled show two-thirds higher Union Army enlistments. Their influence worked through local newspapers and social clubs. Going beyond enlistment decisions, Forty-Eighters reduced their companies’ desertion rate during the war. In the long run, Forty-Eighter towns were more likely to form a local chapter of the NAACP. (JEL D74, J15, J45, J61, N31, N41)

Wpływ fali radykalizmu społecznego lat 1917–1923 na powstania śląskie

The Wave of Social Radicalism and Its Impact on Silesian Uprisings, 1917–1923Three Silesian Uprisings (1919, 1920, 1921) all contributed to incorporating a portion of industrial Upper Silesia to Poland after the First World War. Until now, history has been emphasizing mostly the national nature of these upheavals. However, the revolutionary wave of between 1917 and 1923 left an enormous impact on the region, influencing the character of the aforementioned uprisings as well. Already in 1917, the Upper Silesia was witness to mass hunger strikes, and in 1918 the region became one of the important centers for the German Revolution. The Communist Party of Upper Silesia counted twenty thousand members, and its activity both affected and reflected a radicalization of sentiment in Silesian laborers. Two sides of the conflict over Silesia,the Polish and the German, both feared the communist influence, but at the same time they were forced by it to put forward more radical democratic and social slogans, as part of their propaganda. Raising of such voices was further encouraged by emergence of Workers’ Councils, by which the workers were drawn directly into the world of politics, and also by the post-war „democratization” of weaponry that led to armament of numerous worker communities.The author’s primary thesis is concerned with how the revolutionary wave influenced the character of the Silesian Uprisings – both in activity (strikes, laborer militias) as well as in dialogue (radical democratic and social slogans). This period in the Silesian history should not be reduced to a Polish-German conflict. Wpływ fali radykalizmu społecznego lat 1917–1923 na powstania śląskieTrzy powstania śląskie (1919, 1920, 1921) przyczyniły się do przyłączenia części przemysłowego Górnego Śląska do Polski po I wojnie światowej. W dotychczasowej historii podkreślano narodowy charakter tych zrywów, w których brali udział śląscy robotnicy polskiej opcji. Okazuje się jednak, że fala rewolucyjna lat 1917–1923 wywarła ogromny wpływ na ten region, w tym także na charakter wspomnianych powstań. Już w 1917 roku na Śląsku doszło do masowych protestów głodowych, a w 1918 roku region ten był jednym z ważnych ośrodków rewolucji niemieckiej. Komunistyczna Partia Górnego Śląska liczyła 20 000 członków, przede wszystkim jednak jej działalność oddziaływała na radykalizację nastrojów robotników, jak i ją też odzwierciedlała. Obie strony konfliktu o Śląsk – polska i niemiecka, obawiały się komunistów, ale też musiały pod ich wpływem wysuwać w propagandzie radykalne hasła demokratyczne i społeczne. Podnoszeniu tych haseł sprzyjały także powstające rady robotnicze, wciągające w świat polityki załogi fabryk, oraz powojenna „demokratyzacja” broni prowadząca do uzbrojenia licznych środowisk robotników.Główna teza autora dotyczy tego, że fala rewolucyjna lat 1917–1923 w ogromnym stopniu wpłynęła na charakter powstań śląskich – tak w sferze działań (strajki, bojówki robotnicze), jak i głoszonych haseł (radykalnie demokratycznych i społecznych). Tego okresu na Śląsku nie można sprowadzać wyłącznie do konfliktu polsko-niemieckiego.