By István Mészáros
The Necessity of Social Control is the First Isaac Deutscher Memorial Lecture, delivered at the London School of Economics and Political Science on 26 January 1971 by Istvan Meszaros, following the Award of the Deutscher Memorial Prize 1970 for his book Marx's Theory of Alienation.
This lecture gave a far-sighted critique of capital, anticipating in a pioneering way also the grave ecological dangers facing humanity. The Necessity of Social Control made trenchant attacks on the capital system's apologits, indicating at the same time the position of strength from which society must be changed.
"Without exaggeration The Necessity of Social Control is vital to anyone who is concerned with the difficulties of elaborating a practical sociologist program for this decade."
The new eidtion includes in its Appendix a recent lecture on Structural Crisis Needs Structural Change, delivered in Latin America and in Europe, published in English first in Monthly Review in 2012.