Critical Race Theory
A new poem by Kenneth Salzmann. | more…
Imperialist Propaganda and the Ideology of the Western Left Intelligentsia: From Anticommunism and Identity Politics to Democratic Illusions and Fascism
In this interview with Zhao Dingqi of World Socialism Studies, Gabriel Rockhill dives deep into the CIA’s campaign to propagate thinly veiled imperialist and capitalist ideology through the institutions of the Western left intelligentsia—and how this state of affairs continues among intellectuals to this day. | more…
The Collapse of the New Polish Left
Over the past decades, the left in Poland has found its political ambitions frustrated by an inability to connect with the general electorate, pushing the movement collectively toward dissolution. In this timely article, Damian Winczewski explores the shifting constellations attempting to revive Polish left. | more…
Until Tomorrow, Comrades: An Antifascist Novel in Brilliant English Translation
What lessons can be drawn from the struggle against fascism in the previous century? One answer, Jacques LaPere writes, can be found the new English translation of Portuguese antifascist Manuel Tiago’s Until Tomorrow, Comrades. | more…
heaven is a place on earth
An new poem by arson. | more…
‘Ballad of an American’: The Illustrious Life of Paul Robeson, Newly Illustrated
Michael Yates reviews Ballad of an American, a newly released graphic biography of Black actor, singer, and activist Paul Robeson. The book gives an uncompromising look at a complicated, passionate man, wholly dedicated to the cause of liberation. | more…
Until We Fall: Long Distance Life on the Left
Offers vivid first hand accounts of encounters with fellow socialists following the fall of the Soviet Union
Most westerners glimpsed the breakup of the Soviet Union at a great distance, through a highly distorted lens which equated the expansion of capitalism with the rise of global democracy. But there were those, like Helena Sheehan, who watched more keenly and saw a world turning upside down. In her new autobiographical history from below, Until We Fall, Sheehan shares what she witnessed first-hand and close-up, as hopes were raised by glasnost and perestroika, only to be swept away in the bitter and brutal counterrevolutions that followed.
In Until We
China’s Health and Health Care in the “New Era”
What is the state of health care in China? Wei Zhang analyzes the deep institutional issues that plague China’s health care system. Despite its timely and effective efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 crisis, the system still faces deep-seated challenges, many of which can be traced directly to the marketization of hospitals and medical care. | more…
Relative Pauperization and Involution in Contemporary China: A Survey of Jingzhou City
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…
Unequal Value Transfer from Mexico to the United States
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…
The War Against the Commons: Dispossession and Resistance in the Making of Capitalism
A unique historical account of poor peoples’ self-defence strategies in the face of the plunder of their lands and labor
For five centuries, the development of capitalism has been inextricably connected to the expropriation of working people from the land they depended on for subsistence. Through ruling class assaults known as enclosures or clearances, shared common land became privately-owned capital, and peasant farmers became propertyless laborers who could only survive by working for the owners of land or capital.
As Ian Angus documents in The War Against the Commons, mass opposition to dispossession has never ceased. His dramatic account provides new insights into an opposition that ranged
The Double Objective of Democratic Ecosocialism
Humanity in this moment faces two major crises: one ecological, growing more acute with every planetary boundary passed; the other social, leading to deprivation and despair across the globe. An effective ecosocialist approach to these crises, Jason Hickel writes, must aim to resolve both in a single stroke. | more…