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Li Dazhao: China's First Communist, Patrick Fuliang Shan

New Biography of “China’s First Communist” Reveals Nuances for English-Speaking Readers

This article will be released in full online December 30, 2023.

Joel Wendland-Liu reviews Li Dazhao: China’s First Communist, by Patrick Fuliang Shan (SUNY Press, 2024). This first-ever English-language biography of Li, a founding member of the Communist Party of China, Wendland-Liu writes, contains not only new scholarship but a fresh approach to the life of this revolutionary figure. | more…

Pages from 'A Hunger Artist' published by Twisted Spoon Press

Hegemony and the Subaltern in Kafka’s “Josephine the Singer”

Christian Noakes invites readers into a literary exploration of Franz Kafka’s short story, “Josephine the Singer.” After all, as the author notes, “Kafka’s often nightmarish stories reflect many of the social, political, and cultural dynamics inherent under capitalism.” In applying this notion to “Josephine the Singer,” Noakes discovers a tale that describes not only the mechanisms of domination that constrain us, but the possibilities of a new consciousness, and a new world. | more…

"Honoring agreements by burying them..."

The Council on Foreign Relations, the Israel Lobby, and the War on Gaza

Over six months into to Israel’s atrocity-filled assault on Gaza, Laurence Shoup digs deep to reveal a rarely discussed—but enormously influential—force within the Israel Lobby: the Council on Foreign Relations. The CFR, he writes, is more than just Wall Street’s think tank; it is an elite network of Zionist politicians and donors who comprise a significant part of the Israel lobby and the continuing U.S. commitment to funding Israel’s genocidal actions in Palestine. | more…

French people went on strike and joined enormous marches across the country on January 19, 2023

Old Age but No Rest: A Political-Economic Reflection on Delayed Retirement Policy

As populations worldwide grow older, politicians are clamoring to raise the retirement age, thus extending people’s working lives at their own expense. Using the lens of political economy, Cai Chao examines the false narratives behind capitalists’ claims that delayed retirement is necessary to maintain society’s productive capacity, and proposes solutions to promote human development at all life stages. | more…

October Revolution in Jazz 1964 poster

Do It Yourself, Brother: Cultural Autonomy and the New Thing

Christian Noakes tells the story of the struggle to liberate jazz from the exploitative, white-controlled music industry in 1950s and beyond. Recounting the seminal events of the movement and backlash from white civil society, Noakes reveals a legacy of Black cultural autonomy and resistance led by such jazz legends as Charles Mingus, Max Roach, Eric Dolphy, Bill Dixon, and others. | more…

Paul Burkett

Eleven Theses on Music

This lyrical vignette from the recently departed Paul Burkett is the author’s final, posthumously published piece for Monthly Review. In it, the eminent ecological economist and jazz musician muses on the nature of creativity, technology, and the corporatization of music—and the struggle to decommodify it, freeing musicians and their craft from the confines of capitalism. | more…

Monthly Review Volume 75, Number 6 (November 2023)

November 2023 (Volume 75, Number 6)

In 2022, China released its “Global Civilization Initiative,” a document enumerating China’s commitment to fostering diversity, equality, and cultural exchange. The editors analyze how the U.S. foreign policy community and media jumped to attack the initiative in the interest of defending U.S. imperial strategy around the globe. | more…

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