Monthly Review Press

Jim Young’s Union Power reviewed by Labor Notes

Jim Young’s Union Power reviewed by Labor Notes

For unions in corporate America, it’s always been hard times. Even in labor’s heyday—the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s—unions had to struggle for everything. Plus, back then organizers risked being tarred as stooges for Moscow. ¶ Historian James Young makes those points clear in his readable new book Union Power: The United Electrical Workers in Erie, Pennsylvania. But the book offers more than history—it’s instructive, showing how a progressive union can survive in the incredibly hostile and toxic environment of corporate America.

Oakland, May 30: Against the Corporate Juggernaut – Howard Ryan on Educational Justice

Oakland, May 30: Against the Corporate Juggernaut – Howard Ryan on Educational Justice

Tuesday, May 30
5:00-7:00pm
2027 42nd Ave.
Oakland, CA 94601
With Donald Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos at the helm, teachers, parents, and students have every reason to organize! But what exactly are we up against? Let’s talk about that with Howard Ryan, author of Educational Justice: Teaching and Organizing Against the Corporate Juggernaut, who will offer an analysis and organizing stories that can help our work.

Aeon: “Who Names Diseases?” – in which Rob Wallace figures prominently

Aeon: “Who Names Diseases?” – in which Rob Wallace figures prominently

In his book Big Farms Make Big Flu, the evolutionary ecologist Rob Wallace draws a direct link between the growing threat of zoonotic diseases, and the agricultural practices that neoliberalism has encouraged—notably, the expansion and consolidation of agribusinesses, and the vertical integration of different stages of food production. The food we eat is produced by an ever-shrinking number of ever-growing mass-production units, in which vast herds or flocks of hybrid animals are packed into megabarns, forced to mature in a matter of months, and then slaughtered, processed and transported around the world.

New! The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers

New! The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers

U.S. immigration has been the subject of furious debates for decades. On one side, politicians and the media talk about aliens and criminals, with calls to “deport them all.” On the other side, some advocates idealize immigrants and gloss over problems associated with immigration. Dialogue becomes possible when we dig deeper and ask tough questions: Why are people in other countries leaving their homes and coming here? What does it mean to be “illegal”? How do immigration raids, prisons, and border walls impact communities? Who suffers and who profits from our current system—and what would happen if we transformed it?

Gerald Horne on Trump in Saudi Arabia

Gerald Horne on Trump in Saudi Arabia

Gerald Horne, historian and author of several books, including Confronting Black Jacobins, Race to Revolution, and the forthcoming The Apocalypse of Settler Colonialism, talks to RT Moscow about Trump’s hypocrisy vis-à-vis Islam, money, and military arms, and how the president is reaching new lows in mixing business with politics…

Helena Sheehan at NYU to Discuss The Syriza Wave: May 25, 6:30pm

Helena Sheehan at NYU to Discuss The Syriza Wave: May 25, 6:30pm

Thursday, May 25, 6:30-8:30pm
New York University
King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center
53 Washington Square South, Manhattan
Hear Helena Sheehan, author of The Syriza Wave: Surging and Crashing with the Greek Left, talk about her book with Nantina Vgontzas, NYU Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology and AKNY-Greece Solidarity Movement member, Thomas Harrison, Co-Director, Campaign for Peace and Democracy, and Molly Nolan, NYU History Professor.

Fred Magdoff on Creating an Ecological Society: Sunday, April 30, Brookyn, NY

Fred Magdoff on Creating an Ecological Society: Sunday, April 30, Brookyn, NY

6:00-8:00pm April 30 at the Brooklyn Commons
388 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Presented by the Marxist Education Project (MEP)
Sickened by the contamination of their water, their air, of the Earth itself, more and more people are coming to realize that it is capitalism that is, quite literally, killing them. It is now clearer than ever that capitalism is also degrading the Earth’s ability to support other forms of life. Come hear Fred Magdoff, author (with Chris Williams) of the upcoming Creating an Ecological Society: Toward a Revolutionary Transformation, talk about his book and how it really might be possible to to envision and create a society that is genuinely democratic, equitable, and ecologically sustainable.

Gerald Horne on Trump’s bombing Syria, via The Real News Network

Gerald Horne on Trump’s bombing Syria, via The Real News Network

PAUL JAY: So, what do you make of this moment? Trump is under attack for being pro-Russian, and just a few days ago he talks about over-throwing Assad is not the target. Which must have royally — excuse the language — pissed off a whole lot of the American foreign policy establishment.
GERALD HORNE: Well, I think you put your finger on a major issue, that this attack on Syria can be easily interpreted as a kind of wag the dog strategy by Mr. Trump. That is to say, the bloodhounds were on his trail, as a result of his pre-November 2016 contacts with Moscow.

New! Harbors Rich in Ships: The Selected Revolutionary Writings of Miroslav Krleža

New! Harbors Rich in Ships: The Selected Revolutionary Writings of Miroslav Krleža

Miroslav Krleža was a giant of Yugoslav literature, yet remarkably little of his writing has appeared in English. Harbors Rich in Ships gives English-speaking readers an unprecedented opportunity to appreciate the astonishing breadth of Krleža’s literary creations. Beautifully translated by Željko Cipriš, this collection of seven representative early texts introduces a new audience to three stories from Krleža’s renowned antimilitarist book, Croatian God Mars; an autobiographical sketch; a one-act play; a story from his collection of short stories, Thousand and One Deaths; and his signature drama, The Glembays, a satirical account of the crime-ridden origins of one of Zagreb’s most aristocratic families. This collection will help readers of all interests and ages see just why Krleža is considered among the best of the literary moderns.

International Conference: Marx’s Capital after 150 Years

Marx's Capital after 150 Years: Critique and Alternative to Capitalism
May 24-26 at York University, Toronto, Canada
ADMISSION TO THIS CONFERENCE IS FREE
For many scholars, today Marx's analyses are arguably resonating even more strongly than they did in Marx's own time. This international conference brings together several world-renowned sociologists, political theorists, economists, and philosophers, from diverse fields and 13 countries.