Tag: Reviews

Stimulating thoughts anew for the cognoscenti (Radek reviewed in ‘Counterfire’)

Stimulating thoughts anew for the cognoscenti (Radek reviewed in ‘Counterfire’)

February 20, 2024

Heym’s own biography helps to explain why he chose Karl Radek as the central character for this historical novel. Like Heym, Radek was a literate and articulate Jew who rubbed authority the wrong way. Born Lolek Sobelsohn in Lemburg (Lviv), then under Austrian rule, Radek, like Heym, was a Marxist who became compromised as Russia went from being a beacon of revolutionary socialism to a Stalinist dictatorship. Radek helped to shape history and was also tested by it….

“Can We Re-Invent Work?” Work Work Work reviewed in ‘The Bullet’)

“Can We Re-Invent Work?” Work Work Work reviewed in ‘The Bullet’)

February 20, 2024

Most of what Yates writes about in these essays reflects a deep understanding of Marxism and its application to an understanding of working-class strategy and necessary agendas. His critique of social democracy, as practiced both by elements within the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and the classical so-called Labour parties, is the kind of thinking that is absolutely necessary to help guide a future working-class strategy.

A graphic history of that precursor to the fight against fascism in WWII, the Spanish Civil War (!Brigadistas! reviewed in ‘The Nation’)

A graphic history of that precursor to the fight against fascism in WWII, the Spanish Civil War (!Brigadistas! reviewed in ‘The Nation’)

February 20, 2024

Ferguson deserves to be applauded for incorporating nuance into both the characters and the narrative of ¡Brigadistas! instead of hitting the reader over the head with political messaging. Don’t get me wrong: This is a very political book. But not everything about the characters and how they interact with one another is “politically correct,” making this a far more realistic drama than one might expect.

Beyond the “two-state” v. “One State” debate (‘A Land With A People’ reviewed in MLT)

Beyond the “two-state” v. “One State” debate (‘A Land With A People’ reviewed in MLT)

February 20, 2024

How do we get there? The text notes the role of U.S. imperialism and the imperialism of other capitalist powers in promoting Israel’s domination of Palestinians. The leadership role of Palestinians, first, and secondarily, of Jews, in the anti-Zionist struggle is evident in this volume. However, it will take a broad anti-imperialist movement supported by the working class of the capitalist countries if Zionism is to be defeated…

“In Seattle, for a time, they did things differently…” (HISR reviews Cal Winslow)

“In Seattle, for a time, they did things differently…” (HISR reviews Cal Winslow)

February 20, 2024

Winslow studied at Warwick University under E. P. Thompson, the undisputed pioneer in this approach, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In his Introduction he cites another founder of the new labor history, Herbert Gutman, to the effect that ‘Studying a single event cannot answer the basic questions, not even the general strike … We need the background, of the discontent of working people in the Pacific Northwest as well as of the Seattle social and economic structure.’ This Winslow provides in considerable detail…

A 300-year excursion through the history of the global economy (‘International Affairs’ reviews the Patnaiks)

A 300-year excursion through the history of the global economy (‘International Affairs’ reviews the Patnaiks)

February 20, 2024

Patnaik and Patnaik unpick the realities of capitalism: First, as thriving on exogenous rather than endogenous stimuli––namely colonialism followed by state intervention after the Second World War––thus negating its capacity to be self-contained and perpetual; and second, leading to high unemployment through deindustrialization and land grabs for export crops and property accumulation which push petty producers and peasants into joblessness.

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