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

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. | more…

Mészáros reading groups

March is the month to dig in to Mészáros. Join “Essential Discussions” with Irv Kurki, or The Marxist Education Project’s “Capital Studies Group” respectively focusing on ‘Beyond Leviathan’ and ‘The Necessity of Social Control.’ | more…

I already know what the future holds… (Contributor to “A Land With A People” featured in +972 mag)

We, the subsequent generations of Palestine, take great pride in saying we’re Palestinian citizens, sons, and fathers — but not out of jingoistic patriotism, or national arrogance, but because it has become an imperative assertion amid the systemic violence designed to erase our identity and presence in toto. Right now, over a half of the overall Palestinian population is in exile and diaspora. My son and I are among those remaining Palestinians who can still bear witness to Palestine and feel it in person, even if only a limited part of it. | more…

“Just in time” to address “the rift” (“The Robbery of Nature” reviewed in Science & Society)

Foster and Clark substantially extend Marx’s metabolic rift paradigm, insisting that the rift should not be considered narrowly as an environmental issue. Instead, it must be understood as an array of rifts in the metabolic relationship between human society and non-human nature in capitalist societies. Its breadth is reflected in the various terms used in the book, such as metabolic rift, ecological rift, planetary rift, corporeal rift, anthropogenic rift, epistemological rift, etc. | more…

And as always, the Dems demobilize (Counterpunch discusses “A Left Green New Deal”)

Just two years ago, the sky was the limit for progressives: Medicare for All, a Green New Deal and a Sanders’ candidacy for president. There was serious talk of forgiving student debt, of free community college, paid parental leave, finally lowering the costs of essential medicines and more. Now, the best progressives can muster is primarying the treacherous, corporate, bought-and-paid for Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema. What a difference a couple of years make! This was all entirely predictable. The Democratic party has mainly functioned since the 1930s to demobilize left movements, and these latest weren’t even movements… | more…

Gerald Horne Answers Adam Hochschild About 1619 (Konch Magazine)

To begin with, the Bay Area’s Mr. Hochschild probably should read the New York Times too, for he repeats the misleading critique of this work—taken up with a vengeance by certain mainstream scholars—that slavery had little or nothing to do with the revolt against British rule in 1776. | more…

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

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… | more…

WATCH! MR Conversations: A Land With A People

Co-authors Rosalind Petchesky and Esther Farmer of Jewish Voice for Peace-NY, and their guests Sara Abou Rashed, Mohammed Rafik Mhawesh and Sagiv Galai discuss their contributions to “A Land With A People” and demonstrate the power of anti-Zionism. (Scroll down for a sneak peek at their contributions to the book). | more…