This issue of Eszmélet is investigating three topics. We are continuing the presentation of a reading of the systematic change according to which all the negative consequences of the capitalist restoration had been - in essence - foreseen already in 1988-89. This approach had also shown a community-socialist alternative to the catastrophic economic and social developments that have occurred.

In our world the fate of political Islam is an important topic, and its future development according to some (leftist) authors is still open, that is there is a possibility of a leftist scenario while the traditional Marxist approach cannot imagine such a scenario taking into account the reactionary tendency of this current and considers political Islam finally serving the logic of imperialism.

At last, this issue also addresses the question of the internal and external conditions of the practical problems related to the development of the "Bolivarian socialism" in Venezuela. What are the plausible social-political perspectives of this unquestionably spectacular and attractive attempt for emancipation?

The two thematic sections of this issue of Eszmélet are linked to each other by the question of "class and/or ethnicity". Now theoretical thinking focuses again on ethnicity, a notion that originally noted an ancient community linked by (actual or imaginary) blood. Its use is spreading recently, what is connected to the local, national and ethnic resistance against global trends. In fact what actually was reborn is the ethnic consciousness as the ideological representative of the "wrong antiglobalism". This is not separable from the fact that after the systemic changes in the East, the Marxist class theory has been marginalised by the mainstream scientific narrative in East Europe. Our selection of articles demonstrates the actual relevance of class analysis in an empirical approach of historic-sociological studies, showing how it helps in explaining East-European symptoms developed after 1989, if social-economical consequences of the systemic change are seen as a dynamic play between ethnic and class categories.

The second section is addressing the war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Around our virtual roundtable different interpretations of the events are delivered from historic, geopolitical, international legal and social-psychological approaches. The real problem in the Middle East is (either) not the confrontation of "civilisations" or "ethnicities" but the fact that large or middle powers of the smaller and greater region transform conflicts into their own vocabulary, making them their tools in the power play - in the seemingly endless capital accumulation.

In 2009 events were organised all around the world to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the systemic change in East Europe. The ruling elites of this region, following mainstream US "impulses" as well their own interests, have utilised all the media to deliver self-praising self-celebrations on the occasion. The media in Hungary push system criticising voices to the extreme right thus opening the way for the most violent protectors of the capitalist system. Now it seems that in 1989 all the forces that wanted a change were united solidly for the restoration of capitalism and the exclusive rule of bourgeoisie. The relevance of global trends is neglected and the new groups in power are presented as "freedom fighters". This is not only garbling the clear content of the past 20 years but also keeping the catastrophic impacts of the present global capitalist crisis justified, in a sense - paraphrasing the statement of Lukács in negative:"the worst capitalism is always better as the best socialism." The attempts and humanistic aspirations for finding the possible way between state socialism and capitalist restoration or between the unlimited state economy and the unlimited free market are consequently kept out of memory on the global scene. In the year of the "celebrations" it is especially necessary to show that there are such social and intellectual forces in Hungary that have foreseen the consequences of the systemic change and analysed them from a system-critical viewpoint, meaning they did not served the new elite in power. The basic goal of Eszmélet is to draw attention to those currents and political, organisational, theoretical and social achievements of that time that were both anticapitalist (or non-capitalist) and antistalinist. In issues of this year we would like to present - mostly by Hungarian documents, studies and analyses - that there was a maybe marginalised but nevertheless still existing "third way" of which importance can be seen now especially among the conditions of the present global crisis and in searching the actual way out of it.

A certain renewal can be noticed in this issue. On the one hand, reacting to the systemic crisis of capitalism this issue focuses on the alternatives to it and on the search of surpassing it stronger than before, at the same time also making theory and practice getting closer. Several articles address social self-governance in historic and present perspectives as well, that can contribute to the search of feasible alternatives. On the other hand, we are launching a new column on "culture" which has the challenge to show the devastation caused by the capitalist system in theatre, films, literature, everyday life and sports as well as showing the existing roots of and opportunities for humanistic culture but without falling back into the labyrinth of harmful nostalgia for state socialism. We have an interesting article on Fidel Castro casting new light on the Cuban intervention in Africa in 1961-1988. Our book reviews analyse the first volume of Beyond Capital from István Mészáros and denounce the specific misinterpretation of history that is going on in the Baltic countries.