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Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century

Imperialism in the 21st Century reviewed in the UK’s Weekly Worker

Has imperialism changed since Lenin wrote his seminal work, Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism, exactly 100 years ago? Two new books on imperialism by British Marxists help us to answer that question. The first, by Tony Norfield (The City – London and the global power of finance published by Verso Books), looks at the ‘centre’ of imperialism in the major financial hubs of mature capitalist economies. He analyses the ‘superstructure’ of modern imperialism, if you like. In the second, John Smith (Imperialism in the 21st century, published by Monthly Review Press) looks at the foundations of exploitation under modern imperialism in the ‘periphery’. These books thus complement each other and offer new insights into the economic nature of imperialism that bring Lenin’s work up to date. | more…

Confronting Black Jacobins by Gerald Horne

In the Baltimore/DC area? Come hear Gerald Horne at Red Emma’s, Sankofa Bookstores, April 15 & 16

Baltimore, April 15, 7:30 pm: Red Emma’s Bookstore Coffeehouse (30 W North Ave, Baltimore, MD 21201)
Washington, DC, April 16, 3:00 pm: Sankofa Video Books & Cafe (2714 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001)
Monthly Review Press author Gerald Horne will discuss and sign his book, Confronting Black Jacobins: The United States, the Haitian Revolution, and the Origins of the Dominican Republic | more…

The Devil's Milk: A Social History of Rubber

The Devil’s Milk Trilogy: Theater from Akron’s New World Performance Laboratory

I never knew is a common refrain New World Performance Laboratory theater artists are hearing from Akron audience members after open rehearsals of Death of a Man, a new play that brings to life the mutilations and massacres that occurred in the early 1900s during the mad search for rubber in the jungles of the Amazon.

The one-man show, which is still in development, is conceived and performed by Colombian actor Jairo Cuesta, co-artistic director of NWPL. It is the first part of the company’s The Devil’s Milk Trilogy, a long-term project funded by a $15,000 Knight Foundation grant that explores Akron’s relationship with rubber…. | more…

Confronting Black Jacobins: The U.S., the Haitian Revolution, and the Origins of the Dominican Republic

Confronting Black Jacobins reviewed in People’s World

“In the introduction to his book, Confronting Black Jacobins, Gerald Horne writes that the 1804 Haitian Revolution ‛was so profound, so important, so stunning, that it may require an entire school of historians to take its true measure.’ Arguably, he adds, this revolution—an affront to both slavery and white supremacy, bolstering revolt throughout the slave South—changed the course of history….” | more…

Wall Street's Think Tank: The Council on Foreign Relations and the Empire of Neoliberal Geopolitics, 1976-2014

Wall Street’s Think Tank reviewed in New Politics

Shoup tells us that the consequences of this ‛neoliberal geopolitical empire’ has been ‛the destruction of unions and working class communities, privatization, speculation, grotesque economic inequality, ecological destruction, and … war and conquest.’ This is quite an indictment; the book is a carefully documented effort, largely successful, to provide the evidence for that description. | more…

Paramilitarism and the Assault on Democracy in Haiti

Paramilitarism & the Assault on Democracy in Haiti reviewed in HTN

Jeb Sprague examines how Haitian and transnational elite groups sponsored paramilitary violence during the late twentieth and early twenty-first century in order to crush the democratic aspirations of Haiti’s popular classes and forestall democratic and redistributive reform…. As part of his research for the book, Sprague analyzed more than 11,000 documents accessed through Freedom of Information requests. He also conducted more than fifty interviews with various officials, victims, and death squad leaders, sometimes at considerable risk to his own safety as the introduction shows. In doing so, Sprague gives us a thorough account of how paramilitary forces have been developed in Haiti, and the networks that support them. | more…

Imperialism in the 21st Century reviewed in Counterpunch

The world is in crisis. Capitalism, currently the only economic system in existence, is the cause of this crisis. It is a crisis that impoverishes millions more every year while enhancing the wealth of the rarefied few who conspire with politicians to make it so. It is a crisis that manifests itself in endless and meaningless wars. It is a crisis that dismantles schools, hospitals, roads, and other infrastructure in the name of private profit….This is the premise of John Smith’s newly-published work, titled Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century. It is an important, even crucial, work. | more…

Confronting Black Jacobins author Gerald Horne interviewed on BLOCKREPORTRADIO.com

BlockReportRadio.com interviews author and professor Dr. Gerald Horne about his new book, Confronting Black Jacobins. We discussed the Haitian Revolution, the origins of the Dominican Republic, and the doubling in size of the United States. We talk about Haiti’s role in abolishing slavery in the western world. We talked about the role that Washington, London, Paris, and Madrid played in warring with the abolitionist nation. We talked about how Haiti and the U.S. both had plans to relocate U.S. Negroes to the Dominican Republic, at different times for different reason. We also talked about the dilemma that the U.S. was in, when it dealt with Haiti, and much much more…” | more…

The Socialist Imperative: From Gotha to Now

The Socialist Imperative reviewed in Humanities & Social Sciences Online

“’The socialist imperative,’ according to Michael A. Lebowitz, is to ‘end capitalism and build a society of associated producers oriented to the full development of human potential.’ To move beyond capitalism, to understand how capitalism is failing and why it ought to be superseded today, as a matter of urgency, is the primary purpose of Lebowitz’s The Socialist Imperative: From Gotha to Now, a collection of essays based mostly on previous papers, books, and contributions. ‘The necessity to end the capitalist system and to replace it with that inverse situation oriented to the worker’s own need for development is undeniable’ insists Lebowitz. ‘Very simply,’ he concludes his first chapter, ‘if we are to have any dreams, we must end capitalism now, by all means possible.’ | more…

Socialist Register 2016: The Politics of the Right

The Politics of the Right reviewed in People’s World

“With its 2016 edition, “The Politics of the Right,” the Socialist Register has once again demonstrated why, after 52 years, it remains one of the premier international academic journals of the left. This year’s issue brings together a collection of nineteen essays by scholars from around the world engaging with the pivotal challenges presented by the advance of the political right on every continent. For American readers facing record turnout numbers for Donald Trump during the primaries, the growth of billionaire-funded “grassroots” organizations, and the resurgence of racist extremism, this focus on the right danger and its connection to international trends is especially timely | more…

Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century

Imperialism in the 21st Century reviewed in Michael Roberts Blog

John Smith’s book is a powerful and searing indictment of the exploitation of billions of people in what used to be called the Third World and is now called the ‘emerging’ or ‘developing’ economies by mainstream economics (and is called ‘the South’ by Smith). But the book is much, much more than that. After years of research including a PhD thesis, John has made an important and original contribution to our understanding of modern imperialism, both theoretically and empirically. | more…