Monthly Review Press

Listening with Respect: What Made Studs Terkel a Great Interviewer, via Truthout

February 20, 2024

Recently, Alan Wieder, author of Studs Terkel: Politics, Culture, but Mostly Conversation, was interviewed by Mark Karlin, the editor of BuzzFlash at Truthout.org:
“Studs Terkel liked to be amazed. He loved stories that took twists and turns and he loved to be surprised. But he also always surprised us. He had been an actor, both in theater and in radio soap operas. In the latter he always played a gangster who was either dead or in jail by the third episode. He listened because he always believed there could be wisdom in the room and he defined room very broadly. Studs had conversations on the bus, at the corner market, on the street, everywhere. People I interviewed talked about when Studs was engaged it was total.

“Venezuela: Economic war or government errors?” by Marta Harnecker

February 20, 2024

Marta Harnecker, author of A World to Build: New Paths toward Twenty-First Century Socialism, recently wrote a piece for Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal, which was translated by Rachael Boothroyd of VenezuelaAnalysis
"1. When Chávez triumphed in the presidential elections of 1998, the neoliberal capitalist model was already falling apart. The dilemma was none other than to either reform the neoliberal capitalist model, evidently with changes, and amongst those a greater for concern for social issues, but still orientated towards the same profit seeking motive, or to move forward with the construction of another model...."

“Never about Native Americans”: Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz on Thanksgiving, via Democracy Now!

February 20, 2024

Historian Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, author of An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, and frequent contributor to Monthly Review magazine, sat down with Democracy Now‘s Nermeen Shaikh for a quick interview on the real meaning of “Thanksgiving”

“Offering great surprise”: A Hidden History of the Cuban Revolution reviewed by Toward Freedom

February 20, 2024

Here is a volume offering great surprise, at least to this presumably well-educated reader, deeply sympathetic to the Cuban Revolution since its inception or at least since a rollout of toys for Christmas 1959 included some kind of Fidel costume (quickly dropped, thereafter, or did they send those props to the East Bloc?). The author of Hidden History, a retired British professor who worked in factories for considerable periods of his life, seems equally surprised. Perhaps, he opines, the cult of the personality around Che and Fidel is the reason for an absence of real social history on this vital subject? We suspect otherwise, but our suspicions hardly detract from our fascination. The material analyzed here is new and essential to any understanding of Cuban revolutionary history.

Fidel Castro, Siempre Presente

February 20, 2024

World leaders have begun to pay tribute to the former Cuban leader and revolutionary Fidel Castro who has died aged 90. ¶ The incumbent Cuban President Raul Castro announced his brother had died at 10:29pm on state television late on Friday night. He ended the announcement by shouting the revolutionary slogan: ‘Toward victory, always!’ ...

Official Statement from the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba

February 20, 2024

On the occasion of the demise of the Commander in Chief of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba declares nine days of National Mourning, as from the 06:00 hrs. of November 26 th, until the 12:00 hrs. of December 4th, 2016. For as long as the National Mourning is in place, public activities and shows shall not be held, the national flag shall be flown at half-staff in public buildings and military facilities. The radio and television shall broadcast informative, patriotic and historic programs.

NYC Condolences Book for Fidel Castro at Mission of Cuba to United Nations

February 20, 2024

The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Cuba to the United Nations communicates that following the decease of the Commander in Chief of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba declares nine days of National Mourning, from 06:00hrs on 26 November to 12:00 hrs on 4 December 2016. ¶ The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Cuba informs that a Condolence Book will be placed at the Mission, located at 315 Lexington Avenue, NY 10016, from Monday 28 November until Sunday 4 December, from 9:00 a.m. -1:00 p.m. and 3:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Monthly Review celebrates Fidel Castro and Cuban History

February 20, 2024

Monthly Review and Monthly Review Press are proud to salute the life and legacy of our longtime friend, Fidel Castro. Our 1960 special edition of Monthly Review, “Cuba: Anatomy of... READ MORE

Imperialism in the 21st Century: “novel forms, old problems”: International Socialism review

February 20, 2024

The significance of John Smith’s book lies in his powerful critique of mainstream economics and official statistics as he attempts a renewal of dependency theory. Mobilising Marxist value theory to this end he argues that the Global South’s formal independence masks an abiding economic and political subordination to the imperialist powers and powerful Northern capitals. The book’s impact is reflected in the critical commentary that it has provoked, including on Michael Roberts’s blog.