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Review of the Month
French Theory in the Intellectual Cold War
In 1966, Johns Hopkins hosted a seemingly innocuous international conference titled "The Languages of Criticism and the Sciences of Man," featuring leading figures of what would later be known as "French Theory." However, John Bellamy Foster writes, far from a simple meeting of intellectuals, this represented a "politically motivated attempt to create a beachhead for French structuralism in the United States that would counter the radicalization then taking place."
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Article
Could Capitalism Have Thrived Without Colonialism?
Vijay Prashad critiques the argument that colonialism was, at most, ancillary to the transition between capitalism and feudalism in Western Europe. Instead, Prashad argues, "capitalism as it historically emerged—industrial, global, racialized, and imperial—was inseparable from colonial expropriation." This reality must fuel a Marxist conception of the global struggle for reparations for those who have been oppressed and exploited at the hands of empires past and present.
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Article
Trump’s Tariffs and the U.S. Multinational Firm
Craig Medlen dissects the logic behind the Trump administration's efforts to impose tariffs as a way to counteract "unfair" U.S. trade deficits. Situating these deficits in the longer history of U.S. trade hegemony and its crumbling position in the global economy, Medlen uses incontrovertible data to illustrate how mainstream economic orthodoxy fails to acknowledge the effects of foreign inputs that integral to the workings of U.S. monopoly capital.
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Review
Repression in the Classroom
In this dual review, Paul Buhle lends contemporary context to the histories of McCarthyism found in the recently published A Blacklist Education, by Jane S. Smith, and Operation Mind, by Natalie Zemon Davis and Elizabeth Donovan. In these two books, Buhle writes, readers can find parallels with the was that is today being waged against university professors and students for political activities—a stark reminder that political witch-hunts did not end with Joe McCarthy.
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Review of the Month
Western Marxism and the Myth of Capitalism’s Adamantine Chains
In this talk from the inaugural conference of the Society for Peace, Internationalism, and Ecology, John Bellamy Foster relates the story of Prometheus, as presented in the plays of Aeschylus, to Western Marxism's "dialectic of defeat," in which capitalism is portrayed as an unbreakable bond for the working class. Instead, Foster says, we must recognize Prometheus as a subject who is freed from the seemingly inescapable fetters imposed upon him.
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Article
The Slave Trade and the Industrial Revolution Debate: A Look at the Numbers
Using historical databases and quantitative analysis, Thomas E. Lambert calls into question the assertion that the trans-Atlantic slave trade can be considered a separate phenomenon from, rather than a major supporting factor in, the Industrial Revolution in England. Asserting otherwise, he writes, is a to deny "a horrifying and inhuman part of the global history of capitalism."
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Article
The Palestinian Question as a Framework for a Century of Tunisian Mobilization
In this illuminating article, Hèla Yousfi explores the history of solidarity of the Tunisian left and labor movements with the struggle for Palestinian liberation. Through this recounting, Yousfi is able to map out a history of how the brutal occupation of Palestine has influenced political consciousness not only in Tunisia, but throughout the Arab world.
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Article
Mauritius at a Geopolitical Crossroads
Despite its relatively small size, Mauritius increasingly is looming large in the geopolitical jostling in the Indian Ocean region. Tracing the country's often overlooked role in global affairs from the sixteenth century up until the present day, Stefan Gua provides readers with an insightful account of how politics both inside and outside of Mauritius reflect broader debates about colonialism, militarism, and self-determination.
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Article
Eco-Marxism and the Reconstruction of Materialist Dialectics
Speaking before at the Opening Ceremony of the Fourth World Conference on Marxism in Beijing, John Bellamy Foster discusses the development of eco-Marxism and its relation to Marxist theory. Here, Foster argues, "eco-Marxism as we know it today is not simply another branch of Marxism," but is a pathway to the projects of complete socialism and ecological civilization.
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Review
Insectopolis and the Fantastic Peter Kuper
Paul Buhle reviews Insectopolis: A Natural History, a new graphic novel by Peter Kuper. In the book, Kuper, a prolific producer and publisher of left-wing comics, spins a tale of two siblings who find themselves in a world of insects. Through encounters with butterflies, beetles, ants, and more, Kuper reveals the deep entanglements between human society—at its best and worst—and the creatures of its living environment.
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CLASSICS
Unequal Exchange
Open Veins of Latin America
Labor and Monopoly Capital
Albert Einstein’s “Why Socialism?"
Marx’s Ecology
Discourse on Colonialism
Consciencism
Return to the Source
Racism and The Class Struggle
Anarchism
The Art of Democracy
Fanshen
Hidden History of the Korean War
April 25th: Ecosocialism Forum to host Ian Angus, author of “Metabolic Rifts” (Available now!)
On Saturday April 25, starting at 11:00am EST/4:00 pm GMT Ian Angus will introduce his new book, Metabolic Rifts: Capitalism’s Assault on the Earth’s System, drawing on a wealth of... READ MORE
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Excerpt: “Silencing Fighting Bob: The Attack on Antiwar Progressives During the First World War”
"Within months after the United States entered the war, progressives and social democrats became the primary targets of repression. Unfortunately, far too often, they relied on the good faith of the authorities..."
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New! “A Radical Anthropologist: The Trials and Triumphs of Kathleen Gough”
Who said, "Anthropology is a child of imperialism"?
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In the public eye: “Requiem for French Theory” (Forthcoming!)
In advance of the book's release in summer of 2026, John Bellamy Foster's introduction to "Requiem for French Theory" has already been translated into Spanish by the publication "La Haine".
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