Category: Monthly Review Press /

Capitalist Globalization reviewed by Counterfire

February 20, 2024

Martin Hart-Landsberg gives us a very clear account of the realities of globalisation, as well as a withering critique of the neo-classical economics behind it, in accessible and succinct form. There is even some debunking of key elements of classical economics, such as Ricardo's theory of comparative advantage. The latter is vital to the argument that, in a context of international free trade, national economies will specialise in certain products for their prosperity ... Like so many nostrums of bourgeois economics, the proof of this theory rests on a series of assumptions requiring an idealised state of affairs that never holds true in practice.

2 NYC Events: Ralf Dose discusses Magnus Hirschfeld at Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung & BGSQD

February 20, 2024

We're pleased to announce two NYC events with Ralf Dose, author of Magnus Hirschfeld: The Origins of the Gay Liberation Movement. He will be speaking at the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung on March 18 (joined by journalist Steven Thrasher) and at The Bureau of General Services—Queer Division on March 23.

Save Our Unions reviewed in Working In These Times

February 20, 2024

The defeat of a union organizing election at the Volkswagen auto plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. this month has stimulated intense national scrutiny of the United Auto Workers (UAW). As labor's friends and enemies debate over the places UAW leadership fell short in the campaign, journalist Steve Early's new book, Save Our Unions: Dispatches From a Movement in Distress (Monthly Review Press) seems especially relevant. Though Early's work doesn't analyze the Volkswagen campaign itself—and makes only passing references to the UAW—the declining power of the country's leading labor organizations is a consistent theme in his reporting.

Ruth First and Joe Slovo in the War against Apartheid reviewed in the Mail & Guardian

February 20, 2024

Back in 1989, with the Berlin Wall about to fall, I enjoyed a long and leisurely dinner with Joe Slovo at his Lusaka home. The youngest of his three daughters, Robyn, popped in, but mostly it was just Joe, his friend Pallo Jordan and me, and it ended with a fine bottle of red wine. "A gift," Joe said after absorbing our compliments, pausing for effect, "from Erich Honecker." Jordan, an independent-minded leftist and no admirer of the ailing East German leader whose fortunes were taking a tumble, offered a raised eyebrow. I offered a nervous smile. Slovo burst into laughter, clearly relishing the irony of it all.

Global NATO and the Catastrophic Failure in Libya reviewed in Counterfire

February 20, 2024

From mid-March to October 2011, Libya was rarely out of the headlines as Western air forces averaged 150 air strikes per day on the hapless population. The brutal killing of Gaddafi – co-ordinated, Campbell says here, by US, British and French special forces and drones – was followed by a brief media celebration. Since then, with the exception of puzzled reports about the killing of the US ambassador in Benghazi in September 2012, and scattered references to chaos and militia rule, there has been virtual radio silence. The traumatic impact of this pummelling was so obvious on the ground, the western media simply slunk away.

A Freedom Budget for All Americans "Essential" CHOICE Review

February 20, 2024

Le Blanc and Yates do an outstanding job of recapturing the development, as well as the social and political context, of this mostly forgotten chapter of American history. The stories of the movement's leading figures take this book even further in bringing the account of the Freedom Budget back to life. The authors use this historical analysis to frame a valuable overview of current social and economic deficiencies of the contemporary US, making a convincing case that the time has come to resurrect the promise of a renewed Freedom Budget. ... This inexpensive book is a must for virtually any library. Summing Up: Essential.

Save Our Unions reviewed by LSE Review of Books

February 20, 2024

Steve Early is a well-known commentator on the complex world of US trade unionism. His analyses are often provocative and always well-informed as he has worked in and around the US labour movement for more than 40 years. This is his third book since he retired from the Communication Workers of America (CWA) union. Evidently he is a man who intends to use the freedom of retirement to stir up debate... Early is passionate about working people having the opportunity not only to have a say in their working lives, but to act as a countervailing power to corporate America.

Save Our Unions reviewed by the Association for Union Democracy

February 20, 2024

Does Steve Early exist? Or is his the brand name for a syndicate of crack labor journalists who in James Thurber's words "get the story and write the story," but write it from the perspective of working people. That's a talent that often unappreciated, even by many unions. And, yes, he exists.

Save Our Unions reviewed in Jacobin

February 20, 2024

It has been Steve Early's fate to chronicle in excruciating detail the decline of the labor empires that grew up in the flush years that followed the World War II — a task he takes up in his new book Save Our Unions: Dispatches From a Movement in Distress.... Union activists concerned with these questions should read Early's book for essential background on this ongoing crisis of the US labor movement.

Capital Accumulation and Women’s Labour in Asian Economies reviewed in Rethinking Marxism

February 20, 2024

In the context of rapid industrialization and globalization in Asia's dynamic economies, Peter Custers's book highlights the continuing relevance of Marxian theory to understanding the exploitation of women's productive and reproductive work. At the same time, it critiques the silences in Marx's work regarding the key role of women's labor in the perpetuation of capitalism...In tracing the coevolution of capitalism and patriarchy and the different ways in which women are impacted by capitalist accumulation processes, Custers makes a noteworthy contribution to the causes of both Marxism and feminism. This book, with its rethinking of Marxist analysis to incorporate insights from feminist theories, would be a very worthy addition to the library of academics, researchers, and students of development alike.