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Brings homes the seemingly Sisyphean task of a collective revolutionary project, “with theoretical and stylistic aplomb” (Marx & Philosophy Review of Books on “Marx, Dead and Alive”)

“Marx, Dead and Alive” packs an extraordinary amount into its 184 pages, both historical detail and in contemporizing Marx with multifarious global contexts and examples…. it would make an excellent introduction for someone just starting to grasp Marx and wanting clear definitions of alienation, capital, class, commodity fetishism, value and wage labour – amongst other key concepts…. | more…

Some ways forward after the devastating decline in union membership (Shaun Richman reviewed for Organizing Upgrade)

The ongoing debate about reviving the U.S. labor movement tries to grapple with the devastating decline in the union membership rate from one-third of the workforce in the 1950s to less than 11% today. In this discussion, occasionally a book comes along that is a great combination of labor history, thoughtful analysis of union organizing, and suggestions for ways forward. Shaun Richman’s “Tell the Bosses We’re Coming: A New Action Plan for Workers in the Twenty-First Century” is such a book. | more…

Watch! Deutscher Prize 2020 discussion: “The Return of the Dialectics of Nature”

Friday, Nov 12th, join John Bellamy Foster and his colleagues Helena Sheehan (Dublin City University, Ireland), and Stefano B. Longo (North Carolina State University, Lund University, Sweden), as they engage in a discussion — chaired by Alfredo Saad Filho — of some of the themes that arise in the 2020 Deutscher Prize Winner, “The Return of Nature.” | more…

Chester scrutinizes the liberal darlings of the legal order (“Free Speech and the Suppression of Dissent during World War I” reviewed in the Journal of Arizona History)

Chester scrutinizes the very jurists, policymakers, and political thinkers who scholars often credit with defending and advancing the cause of civil liberties during and after World War I. Mainstream scholars tend to portray Warren and President Woodrow Wilson as quintessential Progressives. But Chester’s evidence clearly demonstrates their authoritarian tendencies… | more…

“A very valuable history of an important period in the labour and socialist movements” (Counterfire reviews Chester)

Chester argues that free speech must be defended as an absolute principle, decrying any ‘call to suppress the views of those on the radical right’, repeatedly arguing against ‘no platform’ policies. Certainly, the left should oppose repressive state laws, but mobilising against racists and fascists when they attempt to use public space to propagate their agenda is essential. It is a necessary part of any defence of working-class interests. | more…

The Kisan Movement’s Direct Action: A defeat not only to Modi, but imperialism

Particular battles often have a significance that goes beyond the immediate context, of which even the combatants may not be fully aware at the time… The battle between the Kisan movement and the Modi government falls into the same genre. At the most obvious level, it has been seen as a climbdown by the Modi government in the face of the incredible resoluteness shown by the agitating peasants. At another level, it has also been seen as a setback for neoliberalism… | more…

Striketober! Let it spread like a contagion (Shaun Richman in ‘In These Times’)

A moment in which tens of thousands of workers are on strike — at John Deere, at Kellogg’s, at Warrior Met Coal—might seem like a strange time to talk about a ​“right” to strike. But a legal right to strike must include the right to return to the job when the strike is over — win, lose or draw — and U.S. workers haven’t had that right since corporations and Ronald Reagan’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) conspired to weaponize a long-dormant Supreme Court decision to legalize union-busting…Strikes are contagious. | more…

Sorting through confusion on the repatriation of Haitian refugees (Listen to Dr. Horne on the Carl Nelson Show)

The short answer is that when the U.S. was involved in Afghanistan, we cut deals with many warlords, shorthand for gangsters, that’s number one. Number two: Afghanistan is quite rich with mineral wealth, which ironically enough, may end up going to the People’s Republic of China, which is quite close to the Pakistanis, which was the major creator and backer of the Taliban, who are now in power. The third point, however, is that the Taliban is going to have a hard way to go…” | more…

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