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We revisit the model of socialism proposed in our Towards a New Socialism (1993) and attempt to answer various questions that have been raised regarding the connection between our view of socialism and our perspective on capitalism, the process of transition to socialism, the failings of the Soviet model, the relationship between socialism and communism, the role of direct democracy under socialism, and the use of labor-time calculation in a socialist economy. We argue that the contradictions of capitalist property relations, and of the accumulation process on a world scale, are set to present once again the necessity of the abolition of private property during the 21st century, and offer some thoughts on transitional forms that could implement this abolition. We defend the ideas of direct democracy and economic calculation in terms of labor time, and argue that these elements distinguish our proposals from the Soviet model. We trace the demise of the latter both to specifics of the Russian situation and to more general problems of Leninism, notably Lenin’s conception of the council state, and of socialism as a long period during which the productive forces are built up in preparation for an eventual communism.

Tourism in the UK showed a downturn in the first part of the 1990s and the period has been described as encompassing the most traumatic years in recent history for UK hoteliers. However, by 1995 the volume of tourism had recovered the levels of the late 1980s and it continued to grow. The total volume of overnight tourism in the UK increased by an estimated 23 per cent between a low in 1993 and 1997, the latest year for which official statistics are currently available. Findings suggest that the recovery in the hotel sector as a whole kept pace with this. The volume of UK hotel nights in 1997 was an estimated 8 per cent higher than in 1989. Other official figures on the numbers of hotels and on their financial turnover reveal developments in the hotel sector through the 1990s: fewer hotels providing the same level of bedstock; turnover and gross margins increasing. We note improvements to official statistics on the hotel sector, including a new UK Occupancy Survey, and we look at their potential in adding to understanding of the hotel sector. However, timeliness remains a concern. Also, the official statistics do not generally provide the level of detail needed by the industry, for example to show the effect of new markets such as budget hotels.

For Marxists, the present controversies are rooted in Marx's own development and exposition of the labor theory of value, especially its presentation in Volumes I (Marx, 1954 [1867]) and III of Capital. As is well known, in Volume I, Marx begins with his analysis of commodities, emphasizing the role of human labor in both its concrete and abstract aspects, and from that he develops (1) the concepts of (exchange) value, of socially necessary labor time, and of its expression in the form of money and the distinction between value and price; (2) the concepts of capital and of surplus value; and (3) the concept of the commodity labor power. With these concepts, his analysis of capitalist production lays bare the nature of capitalist exploitation and links the phenomenon of profit to surplus value (i.e., the unpaid labor time of productive workers). In Parts I and II of Volume III, Marx, explicitly allowing for the interplay of many different capitals, endeavors to show how surplus value is converted into profit, how the rate of surplus value is converted into the rate of profit, how the general rate of profit is formed, and how the values of commodities are transformed into prices of production. He claimed that the transformation preserved the following equalities: total value=total prices; total surplus value=total profits; and, the rate of profit=the rate of surplus value. Marx's presentation of this material in Volume III is, unfortunately, quite rough, since this material is comprised of manuscripts that he had prepared prior to the publication of Volume I in 1867. These manuscripts were not, however, in a final, finished state, and unfortunately Marx never got around to getting them ready for publication.

The class concepts of economic classes, social classes and political forces all have an important role to play in advancing the theoretical understanding necessary for achieving progress in the socialist project. The “new class analysis” is a series of attempts made since the 1960s by a number of Marxist writers to orient the political forces of socialists by providing analyses of the changing class structure of the advanced capitalist formations. Many of these contributions have been flawed. An account of class is made which shows the naivety of these views. It is put forward that it is necessary to make use of the three class concepts and that there is no a priori necessary association between the membership of these variously conceptualised groups — they can cut across one another in various ways. Each of the concepts is outlined. In contrast to stock Marxist conceptions, this approach may be more fruitful.

Barbados is at a very advanced stage of population aging. Health care services are designed to ensure universal access for all Barbadians but the contributing factors for older adults’ health care utilization are not well explored. This chapter examines gender differences in the correlates of seeking medical care among older adults in Barbados.

Logistic regression models were applied to data drawn from the 2000 Survey of Health, Well-Being and Aging of Older Adults in Latin America and the Caribbean (SABE), Bridgetown sample (n = 1,068).

Health needs, based on chronic conditions, were positively associated with seeking medical care for men and women. Different forms and directions of intergenerational support were associated with men and women seeking care. Among men, receiving financial support was positively associated with seeking care. Among women, providing financial support was associated with lower odds of seeking care while receiving instrumental support was associated with higher odds of seeking care.

Medical care is only one form of health care use and there is no specification of the nature of care or consultation. The sample is cross-sectional and limited to older adults in urban areas. The relative importance of enabling factors and health needs, especially, may differ across time and space within Barbados.

The study contributes to the literature on health care utilization among older adults within developing countries and highlights the pertinence of family relations influencing gender differences in health care utilization.

The purpose of this paper arose out of a Public Mental Health Network meeting in September 2015 and a suggestion then by the editor of the British Journal of Psychiatry. The British Journal of Psychiatry had just published an editorial by the chief medical officer for England that challenged the current concept of wellbeing, within health policy.

The analysis is structured around three key elements of the chief medical officer’s challenge to the concept of “wellbeing”: has wellbeing been scientifically defined? Does improving wellbeing prevent mental illness? Is there any robust, peer-reviewed evidence to support a wellbeing “approach” to mental health?

Wellbeing is definable provided there is recognition that it has multiple dimensions. At least some of these dimensions relate to health, with most published research focused on personal wellbeing.

This policy analysis addresses the three questions above, within the context of mental health improvement and training for public mental health.