Monthly Review Press

The Ecological Rift reviewed on Hot Topic blog

February 20, 2024

Why do we continue with business as usual when we know that it is leading us to disastrous climate change? According to the authors of The Ecological Rift: Capitalism's War on the Earth it is because our capitalist economic system is driven by forces which cannot stand back and weigh the consequences of their drive. The blind accumulation of private wealth at the expense of the environment has enormous momentum which the system is not geared to control.

An except from the José Carlos Mariátegui Anthology

February 20, 2024

"Pessimism of the Reality, Optimism of the Ideal," is excerpted from José Carlos Mariátegui: An Anthology, edited and translated by Harry E. Vanden and Marc Becker, and newly published by Monthly Review Press. Mariátegui is one of Latin America's most profound and yet overlooked thinkers. A self-taught journalist, social scientist, and activist from Peru, he was the first to emphasize that those fighting for the revolutionary transformation of society must adapt classical Marxist theory to the particular conditions of Latin America. He also stressed that indigenous peoples must take an active role in any revolutionary struggle.

Fred Magdoff at Occupy Boston [VIDEO]

February 20, 2024

On October 30, Fred Magdoff spoke at Occupy Boston, as part of the Howard Zinn Memorial Lecture Series. His talk draws on his new book What Every Environmentalist Needs to Know about Capitalism (written with John Bellamy Foster). Watch the video here

Thoughts on the Tea Party: Interview with Anthony DiMaggio

February 20, 2024

The problem with the Tea Party "movement" is that its members' anger gets manipulated by a small group of partisan and media elites who are essentially Republican Party operatives. This is the dirty little secret of the Tea Party; it's not really a social movement, but a cluster of elitist interest groups operating locally and nationally, which is quite lacking in participatory elements, and largely driven by a top-down approach, determined and dictated by Republican partisan officials and business elites of the Koch variety.

NEW! The Rise of the Tea Party by Anthony DiMaggio

February 20, 2024

In this definitive socio-political analysis of the Tea Party, Anthony DiMaggio examines the Tea Party phenomenon, using a vast array of primary and secondary sources as well as first-hand observation. He traces the history of the Tea Party and analyzes its organizational structure, membership, ideological coherence, and relationship to the mass media. And, perhaps most importantly, he asks: is it really a movement or just a form of "manufactured dissent" engineered by capital? DiMaggio's conclusions are thoroughly documented, surprising, and bring much needed clarity to a highly controversial subject.

Book Party with The People's Lawyer author Albert Ruben, NYC

February 20, 2024

Monthly Review Press, and Michael Ratner and Karen Ranucci, invite you to a special event celebrating the publication of The People's Lawyer: The Center for Constitutional Rights and the Fight for Social Justice, From Civil Rights to Guantánamo by Albert Ruben, in New York City, December 8.

The Ecological Rift reviewed in Earth Island Journal

February 20, 2024

There are more factors than climate change that threaten our existence on Earth. Scientists warn that it is only one of nine "planetary life-support systems" vital for human survival. The other boundaries are: global freshwater use, chemical pollution, ocean acidification, land use change, loss of biodiversity and the increasing extinction rate, ozone and aerosol levels in the atmosphere, and the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles that regulate soil fertility.

The Ecological Rift reviewed in Marx & Philosophy Review of Books

February 20, 2024

In the last few decades, there has been a renewed interest in exploring issues of ecology and sustainability from a Marxist perspective. Partially inspired by the ecological movement more widely, partially by the revival of Marxist economic theory since the 1980s, the topic of 'Marx and ecology' has been given wide attention in a range of publications in recent years. All three of the authors of the present book have earned their stripes in this field of research, and in particular John Bellamy Foster has been influential in putting ecological questions on the agenda of socialist politics, a tradition that had hitherto often been hostile to the claims of (middle class) 'green' campaigners.

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