Category: Monthly Review Press Blog

The Socialist Imperative Wins OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC TITLE

The Socialist Imperative Wins OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC TITLE

These outstanding works have been selected for excellence in scholarship and presentation, the significance of their contribution to the field, and their value as important—often the first—treatment of their subject.

David Swanson of Talk Nation Radio interviews Laurence Shoup, author of Wall Street’s Think Tank, on the Council on Foreign Relations

David Swanson of Talk Nation Radio interviews Laurence Shoup, author of Wall Street’s Think Tank, on the Council on Foreign Relations

“Laurence H. Shoup has taught U.S. history at the university level and has been a historical consultant on California history for over 30 years, authoring or co-authoring over 200 reports for a variety of clients. His new book which we discuss is Wall Street’s Think Tank: The Council on Foreign Relations and the Empire of Neoliberal Geopolitics, 1976-2014. Among his past books is Imperial Brain Trust: The Council on Foreign Relations and United States Foreign Policy….”

JUST OUT! Socialist Register 2016: The Politics of the Right

JUST OUT! Socialist Register 2016: The Politics of the Right

This fifty-second edition of the Socialist Register explores right-wing political forces and parties around the globe, bringing to bear the Register’s reputation for detailed scholarship and passionate engagement on some of the most troubling developments in world politics today. Contributors examine mobilizations of the right in a variety of countries by analyzing their social bases, their relationships with state institutions, and the reach of their influence on mainstream parties and opinion. This volume also addresses the historical transition from right-wing nationalism to ethnicism, the question of resurgent fascism, and how left parties should respond to challenges from the far right.

“Trump Entertains; Lebowitz Enlightens”—The Progressive Populist reviews The Socialist Imperative

“Trump Entertains; Lebowitz Enlightens”—The Progressive Populist reviews The Socialist Imperative

According to Donald Trump, a former front-runner to be the GOP presidential nominee, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist running against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for the presidency, is giving everything away, a partial truth. For a fuller treatment of what a radical break with capitalism entails, read The Socialist Imperative: From Gotha to Now by Michael A. Lebowitz (Monthly Review Press, 2015).
A retired economics professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, his two-part book doesn’t end there. That is a positive thing, as the public is open to socialism, in no small measure due to the Great Recession

Silvertown reviewed by ResoluteReader

Silvertown reviewed by ResoluteReader

In 1889 nearly 3,000 workers at Silver’s, an enormous factory in East London, in Silvertown went on strike. The men and women who walked out were inspired by the New Unionism that was sweeping the city. They’d seen mass strikes by dockers in the East End that had won major victories and they wanted improvements too.

Their twelve week strike has almost been forgotten today. Perhaps because it ended in defeat. But John Tully’s important book rescues the struggle for readers today, and, perhaps surprisingly, the reader will find that we can learn much from those brave men and women.

Deutscher Memorial Prize-winner, Reconstructing Lenin, reviewed by ResoluteReader

Deutscher Memorial Prize-winner, Reconstructing Lenin, reviewed by ResoluteReader

In recent years there has been a intense discussion about the ideas of the Russian revolutionary Lenin. Some of this has its roots in the class struggle – the Arab Spring and the Occupy movement both threw up questions about the nature of revolutionary organisation. Others have attempted to re-examine Lenin to critique existing organisations and ideas. There have been some excellent books, articles and events debating these questions.

Tamás Krausz’s important new biography must be seen as part of this debate. His work is very much an attempt to re-examine Lenin’s ideas as part of a resolute defence of Lenin and his work. Krausz is clear that this is intended to take forward the revolutionary movement that can challenge and defeat capitalism.

New! Crooked Deals and Broken Treaties

New! Crooked Deals and Broken Treaties

By John Tully Long before the smokestacks and factories of industrial Akron rose from Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley, the region was a place of tense confrontation. Beginning in the early 19th-century,… READ MORE

The War on Terror Is a War on Youth — Henry A. Giroux/Brad Evans via Truthout

The War on Terror Is a War on Youth — Henry A. Giroux/Brad Evans via Truthout

There is a revealing similarity between the attacks on September 11, 2001 – when airplanes were flown into the twin towers, killing thousands of people – and the attacks in Paris, in which over 130 people were killed and hundreds wounded. Yet, what they have in common has been largely overlooked in the mainstream and alternative media’s coverage of the more recent terrorist attacks. While both assaults have been rightly viewed as desperate acts of alarming terrorism, what has been missed is that both acts of violence were committed by young men. This is not a minor issue because unraveling this similarity provides the possibility for addressing the conditions that made such attacks possible.