On The Global Waterfront: The Fight to Free the Charleston 5
by Suzan Erem and E. Paul Durrenberger

On the Global Waterfront tells the story of how longshoremen in South Carolina confronted attempts to wipe out the state's most powerful black organization. When a Danish shipping company began to shift their transportation to a nonunion firm in 1999, Local 1422 in Charleston, South Carolina, mobilized to protect their hard-won rights. What followed culminated in a protest in which 660 riot police arrayed against fifty dockworkers, a group that grew to 150 before the night was over. Four black and one white longshoreman — subsequently known as the Charleston 5 — were held for twenty months under house arrest on trumped-up felony charges of inciting a riot.

Global Flashpoints: Reactions to Imperialism and Neoliberalism

Socialist Register 2008
edited by Leo Panitch and Colin Leys

Since 1964, the Socialist Register has brought together leading writers on the left to investigate aspects of a common theme.

Global Flashpoints: Reactions to Imperialism and Neoliberalism examines the distinguishing features of neoliberalism today as well as the prospects for the left in the Islamic world, in Latin America, and in the capitalist north.

More Unequal: Aspects of Class in the United States

Essays by John Bellamy Foster, William K. Tabb, David Roediger, Stephanie Luce, Mark Brenner, and others.
Edited by Michael D. Yates

“The shocking data about wealth, income, home ownership, access to health care, education, and political influence cry out for analysis which is driven by the desire not only to understand but also to transform. Fortunately, the scholars and activists who have contributed to More Unequal offer such analysis, and they do so clearly and succinctly. This book will prove useful to teachers, students, researchers, and activists as we struggle to understand how class is working in the twenty-first century United States.” —Peter Rachleff, professor of history, Macalester College, and President, Working Class Studies Association

Inside Lebanon: Journey to a Shattered Land with Noam and Carol Chomsky
edited by Assaf Kfoury

Inside Lebanon describes Noam Chomsky's journey and situates it within the tragically altered context of Lebanon and Palestine before and after the war of 2006. Chomsky's essays provide a framework for understanding the role of U.S. politics, power, and policies in these conflicts by examining how the United States wages war and imposes world domination while presenting itself as the righteous protector of democracy. Ironically, U.S. efforts at imperial control generate conflict and crises within the region while undermining democracy.

Humanitarian Imperialism: Using Human Rights to Sell War
by Jean Bricmont
Translated by Diana Johnstone

Since the end of the Cold War, the idea of human rights has been made into a justification for intervention by the world's leading economic and military powers-above all, the United States-in countries that are vulnerable to their attacks. The criteria for such intervention have become more arbitrary and self-serving, and their form more destructive, from Yugoslavia to Afghanistan to Iraq. Until the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the large parts of the left was often complicit in this ideology of intervention-discovering new “Hitlers” as the need arose, and denouncing antiwar arguments as appeasement on the model of Munich in 1938. Timely, topical, and rigorously argued, Jean Bricmont’s book establishes a firm basis for resistance to global war with no end in sight.

Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate: An Economist's Travelogue
by Michael D. Yates

Michael Yates and his wife Karen have traveled around the country, often spending months at a time on the road. This book is a penetrating examination of life in contemporary America and at the same time a lively and entertaining narrative. Michael Yates recounts their travels and experiences in a distinctive voice—with humor, always down to earth, and without apology or pretense.

Coming to Terms With Nature: Socialist Register 2007 edited by Leo Panitch and Colin Leys

Since 1964, the Socialist Register has brought together leading writers on the left to investigate aspects of a common theme. Coming to Terms with Nature: Socialist Register 2007 examines whether capitalism can come to terms with today's ecological challenges and whether socialist thought has developed sufficiently to help us do so.

Through a Glass Darkly: American Views of the Chinese Revolution
by William Hinton

William Hinton brings everyday life in revolutionary China graphically to life. In a time when the distorted views first developed by U.S. critics of the Chinese Revolution are often propagated by the new Chinese elite themselves, Through a Glass Darkly has more than just historical relevance. For anyone wishing to understand present-day rivalries between the United States and China, Hinton shows how these began. This is a fitting completion of the work of a great scholar and revolutionary.

The Cold War and the New Imperialism: A Global History, 1945–2005
by Henry Heller

The Cold War and the New Imperialism is an account of global history since 1945, which ties together the narrative of the Cold War to that of neoliberalism and the new imperialism in ways that illuminate and clarify the dilemmas of the present moment. Written for the general reader, it draws together scholarly research on a huge range of events, countries, and topics into an intelligible whole.

Faces of Latin America Updated Edition by Duncan Green
by Duncan Green

Faces of Latin America celebrates the vibrant history and culture of Latin America’s people. Duncan Green takes the reader beyond the conventional media coverage of the drug trade, corrupt politicians and military leaders, death squads, or guerrilla movements familiar to us on the nightly news. Faces of Latin America examines some of the key forces—from conquest and the growth of the commodity trade, military rule, land distribution, industrialization and migration to civil wars, the debt crisis, neoliberalism and NAFTA —shaping the region’s political and social history.

Build It Now:
Socialism for the 21st Century
by Michael A. Lebowitz

Build It Now puts forward a clear and innovative vision of a socialist future, and at the same time shows how concrete steps can be taken to make that vision a reality. It shows how the understanding of capitalism can itself become a political act-a defense of the real needs of human beings against the ongoing advance of capitalist profit.

Religion and the Human Prospect
by Alexander Saxton

“Religion and the Human Prospect is a work of amazing originality and profound scholarship that is an urgent tract for our time. Saxton brings us face to face with the massive worldwide religious revival of the past quarter century and the flight of major social scientists from Enlightenment values and scientific conquests. In response, he offers huge, and disconcerting, analyses of the universality of religion in human societies, of its historical role in sustaining the species, of its capacity to circumvent the most devastating intellectual criticisms, and of its current potential for accelerating environmental destruction and bringing on war. Saxton has, in previous incarnations, given us the classic proletarian novel, The Great Midland and path-breaking studies of working-class racism. His new, rigorously argued book might be his most important contribution yet. None of us can afford to ignore it.”
—Robert Brenner, director, Center for Social Theory and Comparative History, UCLA, author of The Economics of Global Turbulence

A History of World Agriculture:
From the Neolithic Age to the Current Crisis
by Marcel Mazoyer and Laurence Roudart

A History of World Agricultureis a path-breaking and panoramic work, beginning with the emergence of agriculture after thousands of years in which human societies had depended on hunting and gathering, showing how agricultural techniques developed in the different regions of the world, and how this extraordinary wealth of knowledge, tradition and natural variety is endangered today by global capitalism, as it forces the unequal agrarian heritages of the world to conform to the norms of profit.

Naked Imperialism The U.S. Pursuit of Global Dominance by John Bellamy Foster

John Bellamy Foster's Naked Imperialism shows the political and economic roots of the new militarism and its consequences both in the global and local context. Foster shows how U.S.-led global capitalism is preparing the way for a new age of barbarism and demonstrates the necessity for resistance and solidarity on a global scale.

Railroading Economics: The Creation of the Free Market Mythology by Michael Perelman

Most economic theory assumes a pure capitalism of perfect competition. This book is a penetrating critique of the rhetoric and practice of conventional economic theory. It explores how even in the United States-the most capitalist of countries-the market has always been subject to numerous constraints.

Telling the Truth: Socialist Register 2006 edited by Leo Panitch and Colin Leys

Telling the Truth: Socialist Register 2006 examines how contemporary social and political debate is structured, how ideas and ideologies come to inform policy making, research, education, and our conceptions of truth more generally. It also discusses the role of the state in intellectual life and the media, and the role of think-tanks, foundations, political parties and global institutions such as the World Bank in the dissemination of knowledge and ideas.

Understanding the Venezuelan Revolution: Hugo Chavez Talks to Marta Harnecker by Hugo Chavez and Marta Harnecker
» Read Excerpt

“Marta Harnecker’s important book helps clarify the challenges facing Venezuela’s ongoing revolutionary process. The bourgeoisie still controls the economy, the media, the judiciary, and many elected bodies. Additionally, the middle classes which formerly enjoyed an orgy of spending financed by oil money, have now converted from previous nationalist attitudes into allies of imperialism. The decisive role played by Hugo Chavez in initiating that revolutionary process and the immense support he continues to receive from the popular classes makes this book necessary reading for understanding the forces at work in what may well become a stage in the long run transformation of the global system.”—SAMIR AMIN

The Language of Empire: Abu Ghraib and the American Media by Lila Rajiva
» Read Excerpt

“With a calmness and clarity of purpose worthy of Virgil, Lila Rajiva leads us step-by-step into a darkness none of us want to confront. But face it we must, if we have any hope of derailing the mad machinery of death and torture unleashed on the world by the Bush Imperium. The horror chambers of Abu Ghraib have become a stomach-turning symbol of the official sadism of the Iraq war. A tragic excess, say some; the work of a demented few, say others. But Rajiva looks deeper, exposing how the perverse logic of torture has infected the language and psychology of the American imperial project, from its sycophants in the press and its evangelists in the pulpit. Her book is an unsettling expedition into the political consciousness of cruelty.” —JEFFREY ST. CLAIR, coeditor of CounterPunch and author of Grand Theft Pentago

Reclaiming the Ivory Tower: Organizing Adjuncts to Change Higher Education by Joe Berry

“Reclaiming the Ivory Tower would be worth reading if it consisted only of the last two chapters, which could stand alone as an organizer's toolkit . It is doubly valuable for its scholarly insights into the history and sociology of the contingent faculty movement. Buy it by the dozen and share it with your colleagues.” —JANE BUCK, National President, American Association of University Professors

The Next Liberation Struggle: Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy in Southern Africa by John S. Saul
» Read Excerpt

“John Saul's book is as much the fruit of many decades of struggle and commitment to the cause of the working class in Africa as it is of careful scholarly research. Both as a scholar and an activist he has taught and inspired many revolutionaries, myself included, and has been part of bold practical efforts to go beyond capitalism.” —TREVOR NGWANE, chair, Anti-Privatization Forum, South Africa

Last Resorts: The Cost of Tourism in the Caribbean by Polly Pattullo

Last Resorts examines the real impact of tourism on the people and landscape of the Caribbean. It explores the structure of ownership of the industry and shows that the benefits it brings to the region do not live up to its claims.

Philosophical Arabesques
by Nikolai Bukharin with
an Introduction by Helena Sheehan

Bukharin’s Philosophical Arabesques was written while he was imprisoned in the Lubyanka Prison in Moscow, facing trial on charges of treason and the likelihood of execution. While awaiting his death, Bukharin wrote prolifically. He considered Philosophical Arabesquesto be the most important of his prison writings. In its pages, he covers the full range of issues in Marxist philosophy—the sources of knowledge, the nature of truth, freedom and necessity, the relationship of Hegelian and Marxist dialectic. The project constitutes a defense of the genuine legacy of Lenin’s Marxism against the use of his memory to legitimate totalitarian power.

The Fiction of a Thinkable World: Body, Meaning, and the Culture of Capitalism by Michael Steinberg

“A groundbreaking work of ethical theory and a fascinating read….” — DAVID GRAEBER, Yale University, author of Toward an Anthropological Theory of Value

Beautifully conceived and written, The Fiction of a Thinkable Worldshows how the Western conception of the human subject came to be formed historically, how it contrasts with that of Eastern thought, and how it provides the basic justification for the institutions of liberal capitalism.

The Political Economy of Media: Eduring Issues, Emerging Dilemmas
by Robert W. McChesney

More than any other work, The Political Economy of Media demonstrates the incompatibility of the corporate media system with a viable democratic public sphere, and the corrupt policymaking process that brings the system into existence. Among the most acclaimed communication scholars in the world, Robert W. McChesney has brought together all the major themes of his two decades of research. Rich in detail, evidence, and thoughtful arguments, The Political Economy of Media provides a comprehensive critique of the degradation of journalism, the hyper-commercialization of culture, the Internet, and the emergence of the contemporary media reform movement. The Political Economy of Media is mandatory reading for anyone wishing to understand and change media, and the political economy, in the world today.

Bush versus Chávez: Washington's War on Venezuela
by Eva Golinger

Bush versus Chávez reveals how Venezuela's revolutionary process has drawn more than simply the ire of Washington. It has precipitated an ongoing campaign to contain and cripple the democratically elected government of Latin America's leading oil power.

Bush Versus Chávez details how millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars are used to fund groups — such as the National Endowment for Democracy, the United States Agency for International Development, and the Office for Transition — with the express purpose to support counter-revolutionary groups in Venezuela.

Biology Under The Influence: Dialectical Essays on Ecology, Agriculture, and Health
by Richard Lewontin and Richard Levins

How do we understand the world? While some look to the heavens for intelligent design, others argue that it is determined by information encoded in DNA. Science serves as an important activity for uncovering the processes and operations of nature, but it is also immersed in a social context where ideology influences the questions we ask and how we approach the material world. Biology Under the Influence: Dialectical Essays on Ecology, Agriculture, and Health breaks from the confines of determinism, offering a dialectical analysis for comprehending a dynamic social and natural world.

The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers by Jane Guskin and David Wilson

The Politics of Immigration takes a fresh, honest look at immigration policy in the United States. Its up-to-date analysis, presented in question-and-answer format, aims to dispel the myths and clarify the issues. Those who support more restrictive enforcement in the belief that immigrants are a threat to U.S. society—taking jobs from Americans, driving down wages, straining public services, and avoiding paying taxes—will find reasoned and compelling evidence here against such assumptions. Those who welcome today's wave of immigration will find the answers they need to respond to the cynical and arguably racist anti-immigrant forces. Those still undecided will find the solid data and clear reasoning they need to form their own opinion.

China and Socialism: Market Reforms and Class Struggle by Martin Hart-Landsberg and Paul Burkett

Hart-Landsberg and Burkett's China and Socialism argues that market reforms in China are leading inexorably toward a capitalist and foreign-dominated development path, with enormous social and political costs, both domestically and internationally. The rapid economic growth that accompanied these market reforms have not been due to efficiency gains, but rather to deliberate erosion of the infrastructure that made possible a remarkable degree of equality. The transition to the market has been based on rising unemployment, intensified exploitation, declining health and education services, exploding government debt, and unstable prices.

Pox Americana:Exposing the American Empire edited by John Bellamy Foster and Robert W. McChesney

“Expertly co-edited by John Bellamy Foster and Robert W. McChesney, … Noam Chomsky, Barbara Epstein, and many more learned contributors discuss U.S. imperialism throughout history …. A highly sober accounting….”
— Paul T. Vogel, THE MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

This volume brings together the work of leading Marxist analysts of imperialism to examine the burning question of our time—the nature and prospects of the U.S. imperial project currently being given shape by war and occupation in the Middle East.

The Problem of the Media: U.S. Communication Politics in the Twenty-First Century by Robert W. McChesney

The symptoms of the crisis of the U.S. media are well-known—a decline in hard news, the growth of info-tainment and advertorials, staff cuts and concentration of ownership, increasing conformity of viewpoint and suppression of genuine debate. McChesney’s new book, The Problem of the Media, gets to the roots of this crisis, explains it, and points a way forward for the growing media reform movement.

The Empire Reloaded:Socialist Register 2005 edited by Leo Panitch and Colin Leys

Socialist Register 2005 expands upon the question of imperialism and the future of the global order addressed in the 2004 volume, The New Imperial Challenge. The Empire Reloaded examines the nature and impact of contemporary imperialism in various regions of the world with a particular focus on finance and culture.

Windows on the Workplace: Technology, Jobs, and the Organization of Office Work by Joan Greenbaum (2nd Edition)

In this eye-opening book, Joan Greenbaum tells the story of changes in management policies, work organization, and the design of office information systems from the 1950s to the present. She describes the impact of new technologies on the organization of working life with a keen awareness of the social forces that seek to benefit from them, showing how the process is driven by the needs of capitalist profit and control over the workforce rather than greater efficiency.

Toward an Open Tomb: The Crisis of Israeli Society by Michel Warschawski

“A meticulously documented, yet intensely personal meditation by a leading dissident on the political psychosis currently gripping large segments of the Israeli population. Highly recommended.”
— NORMAN FINKELSTEIN

The question of the future direction of Israeli society is critical for the whole array of conflicts in the Middle East, and hence for the global order. Michel Warschawski writes with an insider's understanding of Israel, integrating political analysis, personal anecdote and a powerful moral vision. Toward an Open Tomb reveals the horror of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory while focusing mainly on the effects on the occupiers themselves.

The Liberal Virus: Permanent War and the Americanization of the World by Samir Amin

“Amin is both a real-world social scientist and a revolutionary socialist.”
— REVIEW OF RADICAL POLITICAL ECONOMY

Samir Amin's ambitious new book argues that the ongoing American project to dominate the world through military force has its roots in European liberalism, but has developed certain features of liberal ideology in a new and uniquely dangerous form. Where European political culture since the French Revolution has given a central place to values of equality, the American state has developed to serve the interests of capital alone, and is now exporting this model throughout the world. American imperialism, Amin argues, will be far more barbaric than earlier forms, pillaging natural resources and destroying the lives of the poor.

The Postmodern Prince: Critical Theory, Left Strategy, and the Making of a New Political Subject by John Sanbonmatsu
» Read Excerpt

“In a well-argued, often insightful book, Sanbonmatsu traces the rise of postmodern theory to the ‘expressivist’ politics of the New Left; he shows that the postmodern attempt to promote differences and question notions of universality has undercut the possibility of a unified radical movement. Going back to the work of Antonio Gramsci, the author argues for the need to develop a theory of a ‘postmodern prince,’ one that assumes unity and difference by squarely lodging its analysis in the experiential realm where solidarity can arise. In the process of such an argument, Sanbonmatsu admirably explicates the problems associated with postmodern theory, particularly the work of Michel Foucault, and clearly lays out the relevant arguments associated with Gramsci’s theory … Highly recommended.” — B.J. MacDONALD, CHOICE, Current Reviews for Academic Libraries

The Rosa Luxemburg Reader edited by Peter Hudis and Kevin B. Anderson

“Rosa Luxemburg travels into the twenty-first century like a great messenger bird, spanning continents, scanning history, to remind us that our present is not new but a continuation of a long human conflict changing only in intensity and scope. Her fiery critical intellect and ardent spirit are as vital for this time as in her own. With meticulous care, including valuable endnotes, editors Hudis and Anderson project her in the fullness of her being and thought.” — Adrienne Rich

The Rosa Luxemburg Readerwill be the definitive one-volume collection of Luxemburg's writings in English translation. Unlike previous publications of her work from the early 1970s, this volume includes substantial extracts from her major economic writings—above all, The Accumulation of Capital(1913)—and from her political writings, including Reform or Revolution(1898), the Junius Pamphlet (1916), and The Russian Revolution (1918).

Silent Revolution:The Rise and Crisis of Market Economics in Latin America by Duncan Green, 2nd Ed.

“A well ordered, rigorous, and coherent presentation. Moreover, Green writes clearly and with polish, producing a book that has proven to be accessible and interesting …. Those who know the first edition will find the second edition to be familiar in positive ways, but to a great extent, the second edition is a new book. Tables, excellent appendices, and recommendations for further reading organized by topic. Highly recommended.”
— CHOICE, Current Reviews for Academic Libraries

The first edition of Green's Silent Revolution, published in 1995, described the imposition of neoliberal economic models in Latin America, the role of the IMF and World Bank in enforcing them, and their consequences. This second, revised and updated edition makes clear that the "miracle" of the 1990s has come to an end. Green extends his analysis into the present, showing how the economic meltdown that is now taking place in Latin America was prepared by an economic strategy that could never live up to its own claims.

The Marxian Imagination: Representing Class in Literature by Julian Markels
» Read Excerpt

“Sophisticated theorizing and deft interpretations … A significant contribution to Marxist theory and the theory of the novel.”
— JIM PHELAN

The Marxian Imaginationis a fresh and innovative recasting of Marxist literary theory and a powerful account of the ways class is represented in literary texts.

COMING TO TERMS WITH NATURE
Socialist Register 2007
edited by Leo Panitch and Colin Leys

Since 1964, the Socialist Register has brought together leading writers on the left to investigate aspects of a common theme. Coming to Terms with Nature: Socialist Register 2007 examines whether capitalism can come to terms with today's ecological challenges and whether socialist thought has developed sufficiently to help us do so. Topics include: the ecological contradictions of capitalist accumulation and the growing social conflicts they create; the relationship between imperialism, markets, oil politics, and renewable energy; the significance of the impasse over the Kyoto protocol; and how technology can overcome the "limits to growth" and yet preserve the biosphere.

These essays also analyze how deeply consumerism affects working class politics and the shortcomings of Green parties and “green commerce.” In addition, they address the need to redefine standards of living chiefly in the countries of the North, in order to allow for the global redistribution of wealth and income necessary for development in the South. They also call for eco-socialist strategies that can marry democracy with the planning needed to come to terms with nature.

The international roster of contributors includes Mike Davis and Neil Smith (USA), Enrique Leff (Mexico), Joan Martinez-Alier (Spain), Elmar Altvater (Germany), and Michael Löwy (France).

 

TELLING THE TRUTH
Socialist Register 2006
edited by Leo Panitch and Colin Leys

Since 1964, the Socialist Register has brought together leading writers on the left to investigate aspects of a common theme. Telling the Truth: Socialist Register 2006 examines how contemporary social and political debate is structured, how ideas and ideologies come to inform policy making, research, education, and our conceptions of truth more generally.

It also discusses the role of the state in intellectual life and the media, and the role of think-tanks, foundations, political parties and global institutions such as the World Bank in the dissemination of knowledge and ideas. Such questions are not always at the center of public debate, but are essential to establishing freedom for critical thought and reflection and for the formation of a new generation of intellectuals.

Contributors include Terry Eagleton, Barbara Ehrenreich and Frances Fox Piven, Doug Henwood, Robert McChesney, and Michael Burawoy.

 

THE EMPIRE RELOADED
Socialist Register 2005
edited by Leo Panitch and Colin Leys

“I know the Register very well and have found it extremely stimulating, often invaluable.”— Noam Chomsky

“The Socialist Register has been the intellectual lodestar for the international left since 1965.”— Mike Davis

Since 1964, the Socialist Register has brought together leading writers on the left to investigate aspects of a common theme. This volume examines the new U.S.-led imperialist project that is currently transforming the global order, its impact on different regions of the world, and on gender, media, and popular culture.

How does the new American empire work? Who runs it? How stable is it?

What is the new American Empire's impact throughout the world?

What is its influence on gender relations? On the media? On popular culture?

 

THE NEW IMPERIAL CHALLENGE
Socialist Register 2004 edited by Leo Panitch and Colin Leys

“I know the Register very well and have found it extremely stimulating, often invaluable.” — NOAM CHOMSKY

“The Socialist Register has been the intellectual lodestar for the international left since 1965.”— MIKE DAVIS

For forty years, the annual Socialist Register has brought together leading writers on the left to investigate aspects of a common theme. Contributors to this volume consider what imperialism means in the new century by examining the U.S.-led imperialist project currently transforming relations of global power.

The essays in this fortieth volume of the Socialist Register analyze the unique nature of the new U.S. empire and challenge the left to develop a better theory of imperialism and its relation to globalized capitalism. Other essays examine the limits and contradictions of “Americanization” as a dimension of U.S. global power; the facts and myths surrounding U.S. strategic interests in Iraq and the “war on terror”; ecological imperialism, and the significance of international migration in the new imperial order.