Monthly Review Press

The Invisible Handcuffs of Capitalism reviewed in Sacramento News & Review

February 20, 1681

Michael Perelman, economics professor at CSU Chico, uses the Greek legend of Procrustes, who sadistically shortened or stretched unwary travelers to fit them on his iron bed, as a metaphor for a system that cruelly disciplines workers. In The Invisible Handcuffs of Capitalism: How Market Tyranny Stifles the Economy by Stunting Workers, Perelman shows how economic theory marginalizes workers and makes a robust case against the idea that competitive markets create freedom.

Watch: On NYT’s ‘ransom of Haiti’ (Horne on ‘Democracy Now!’)

February 20, 1642

Says Horne: The New York Times series, “The Ransom,” will “hopefully cause us to reexamine the history of this country and move away from the propaganda point that somehow the United States was an abolitionist republic when actually it was the foremost slaveholder’s republic....”

Marx & Philosophy Review of Books on the work of Samir Amin

February 20, 1539

On 3 September 2011 Samir Amin celebrated his 80th birthday. Amin is a consistent and irrepressible exponent of the development of Marxism in his chosen discipline, International Political Economy. His long and fruitful career of intellectual struggle has been marked by a series of publications and re-publications, including the five books under review.

As Veterans Day descends: An important work, timely, and badly needed (Counterfire reviews ‘Dissenting POWs’)

February 20, 1472

The authors begin their introduction to the book on Memorial Day of 2012, when President Barack Obama declared that: ‘Today begins the fiftieth commemoration of our war in Vietnam’ and thereby prompted nation-wide efforts to explore the record of that conflict...

E.P. Thompson and the Making of the New Left reviewed in Radical Ruminations

February 20, 1441

Winslow produced an excellent book. The essays hang together as proposals for, and responses to, the first New Left and as evidence of the intimate connection between Thompson's historical writing and his politics. They provide a twofold intellectual history of those dramatic years. Thompson is powerful and elegant; Winslow is as passionate about intellectuals in socialist politics as Thompson was when he wrote these indispensable essays. But we need to understand what they built on.

Rob Wallace, on Monkeypox, Kinkajou, state fairs, cute bats and “Dead Epidemiologists” (Watch: John Oliver Show)

February 20, 1409

Did you happen to catch Rob Wallace on Last Week Tonight With John Oliver? It’s a primer on what we all wish was “a once in a lifetime nightmare” but... READ MORE

Social Structure and Forms of Consciousness reviewed in International Socialism

February 20, 1354

Karl Marx wrote, "It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness." With this in mind, István Mészáros uses this two-volume work to locate the philosophy and political economy of the past few centuries within the capitalist mode of production. Capitalist relations of production produce ideological imperatives that are expressed by bourgeois intellectuals, who Marx called the "hired prize fighters" of the bourgeoisie.

10/25: Book Launch for E.P. Thompson and the Making of the New Left with Cal Winslow

February 20, 1301

Join us Saturday, October 25th to celebrate Cal Winslow and his latest book, E.P. Thompson and the Making of the New Left, in Sausalito, CA. In his early years, Cal studied with the brilliant scholar and activist, E.P. Thompson, author of the acclaimed historical masterpiece The Making of the English Working Class. Thompson was also a political activist and strategist who played a key role in shaping the New Left of the 1960's. He engaged with workers, unions, political parties, elections and co-founded the New Left Review. Cal's new book explains the critical role that Thompson played in shaping New Left thinking in Britain, America and around the world – with insights that remain valuable and relevant for political activists today.

India “at a moment of great danger”–Bernard D’Mello launches his book at the Mumbai Press Club

February 20, 1243

When the time came to say our goodbyes and lal salaams (red salutes), I told the aged man that he should not have taken all this effort to come so far with us. He replied: ‘You have come all the way from Kolkata to learn about us, our struggles, our concerns. You care about us…

Listen to a Talk by Jeb Sprague from His Book Tour

February 20, 1210

Jeb Sprague is the author of Paramilitarism and the Assault on Democracy in Haiti, new from Monthly Review Press. He is currently on a North American book tour. This talk was recorded on September 15, 2012 at the University of Victoria in Victoria, Canada. The audio is on the website of Gorilla Radio, a show on Victoria Radio FM 102.1.

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