John Bellamy Foster returns to the touchstones of anti-imperialist Marxist thought, found in the works of V. I. Lenin, Samir Amin, and others, in order to confront the rising denial of imperialism on the left. This worldview and its consequences, he writes, has troubling implications not only for the superexploited workers of the periphery, but for all of the workers of the world, and for the internationalist character of contemporary Marxism. | more…
In this deep dive into the world of artificial intelligence, Pietro Daniel Omodeo employs the frameworks laid out in Matteo Pasquinelli’s The Eye of the Master to weave a sociological history of AI that begins with the class struggles of the Industrial Revolution and continues into the context of early twentieth-century computing, which eventually gave rise our current Information Age. “AI,” he concludes, “sheds light onto the intellectual component of labor in all ages.” | more…
Since the 1980s, Chinese writers and thinkers have been engaging with Marxist ecology, constructing a theoretical system that starts with interpretation of Marx and Engels themselves. Chen Yiwen takes stock of how this framework progressed toward an overarching theory of ecological civilization, generating new questions to be answered at every stage of development. | more…
Iqra Angurah elucidates the strategic role in the Indo-Pacific in the context of the New Cold War and, in particular, the country’s close ties to the forces of multinational capital and Western imperialism. The alignment of the Global North and local elites underscores the need for a popular, socialist, and anti-imperialist movement among the Indonesian working class. | more…
As the world hurtles toward planetary catastrophe, driven in large part by the unchecked burning of fossil fuels in the Global North, China has emerged as a leader in renewable energy. This dynamic, Julie de los Reyes and Jewellord Nem Singh contend, mirrors China’s ascendance in many sectors, revealing “the glaring failure of the liberal international order to address pressing social and environmental issues.” | more…
There is a growing sense in China, Alex Witherspoon, Amir Khan, and Yu Zhou write, that the timeworn methods of social advancement are yielding diminishing returns. Using an original survey of 301 individuals in Jingzhou City, the authors lay bare the roots of this widespread feeling of involution. | more…
Matteo Crossa reveals the true nature of unequal value transfer from Mexico to the United States. Going beyond a simple tally of wages lost versus remittances, Crossa’s research demonstrates the true magnitude of the value stolen from Mexico, negating the claim that its manufacturing sector is a boon to the Mexican working class. | more…
Chris Gilbert examines the ecological aspects of Venezuela’s project of communal socialism, as well as its relation to the country’s inherited extractive economy. These democratically run communities present an alternative to the extractivist and productivist social relations driving the planet to ruin. | more…
As the impending planetary crisis looms ever-closer, Martin Hart-Landsberg proposes a new focus on the Second World War industrial conversion experience, in which production and consumption were guided by central planning agencies. These successes and pitfalls of this period provide many useful lessons for activists and organizers working toward planned degrowth. | more…
The working class is being robbed, both through outright expropriation and the more hidden exploitation of countless workers who are struggling to make ends meet while capitalists pocket the surplus value they produce. Fred Magdoff and John Bellamy Foster dissect the neoliberal assault on the working class that is spurring a new generation of labor organizing. | more…
What did Marx mean in his discussion of “so-called primitive accumulation” in Capital? Here, Ian Angus argues that the term is widely misunderstood—but its illumination reveals great insight to the conditions of exploitation and expropriation. | more…
Capital, Ben Selwyn writes, has been advancing its interests under the guise of protecting “global supply chain resilience.” While those promoting the resilience agenda assert that these supply chains represent a net benefit, evidence suggests that they increase the transfer of surplus value from the Global North and, especially, in the. South. | more…