Livio Maitan, Memoirs of a critical communist. Towards a History of the Fourth International, Preface by Daniel Bensaïd, translated by Gregor Benton, edited with and introduction by Penelope Duggan, Resistance Books, IIRE, Merlin Press, 2019, 455 pages
A paradigm of modern barbarism
13 November 2019, byIn its series Notebooks for Study and Research the Amsterdam International Institute for Research and Education has published, or rather re-published, an interesting collection of essays by Enzo Traverso. Re-published because Critique of modern barbarism is an enlarged version of Traverso’s Understanding the Nazi Genocide. Six more recent essays cover subjects related to the original theme, aiming to bring the understanding further and extend these findings to more general issues. Nevertheless the bulk of the book is formed by the six original texts. So a spoiler alert is warranted: those who know the original book may feel disappointed.
Was Marx an ecologist?
16 August 2019, byWas Marx an ecologist and does Marx’s theory offer a coherent theoretical and practical approach for ecologists in the 21st century? The publication, in the original language (mostly German), of Marx’s excerpts and notes on ecology from the mid-1860s may help to answer that question.
Decolonial Communism reviewed
29 July 2019, byDecolonial Communism, Democracy and the Commons, by Catherine Samary, with contributions from Samuel Farber, Silvia Federici, Franck Gaudichaud, Zagorska Golubovic, Ernest Mandel, Goran Markovic, Svetozar Stojanovic and Raquel Varela. Pub. Resistance Books/IIRE/Merlin Press, 2019.
Facing the Apocalypse: Arguments for Ecosocialism
22 May 2019, byThis is an important book . One may disagree on some issues -e.g. population, which I do not believe should be a major concern for ecologists - but Alan Thornett arguments are a substantial contribution to ecosocialist thinking - and action. In clear and precise language, without academic jargon, his book is precious tool for the socio-ecological struggles of the future.
The Patriarchal Stranglehold
16 May 2019, by“From each, says the slogan, according to her ability; to each according to his needs.” —Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale
Desperately seeking socialism
29 March 2019, by ,A response by GABRIEL LEVY to Dissidents Among Dissidents, by Ilya Budraitskis – and Budraitskis’s response to that response.
From Marx to Ecosocialism
29 March 2019, byThere is a growing body of ecomarxist and ecosocialist literature in the English-speaking world, which signals the beginning of a significant turn in radical thinking. Some Marxist journals, such as Capitalism, Nature and Socialism, Monthly Review and Socialism and Democracy have been playing an important role in this process, which is becoming increasingly influential. The two books discussed here—very different in style content and purpose—are part of this “Red and Green” upsurge.
The state of Northern Ireland and the democratic deficit. Between sectarianism and neoliberalism
9 March 2019, byThe reviewer approached this book with some anticipation. I knew a number of the authors personally, many have a high reputation as anti-imperialist activists and trade unionists and I had worked with some as a member of the Irish Workers Union.
Nicolas Calas: The Trotskyist Time Forgot
4 February 2019, byNicolas Calas (1907-88) may be the most visionary poet, art critic, museum curator, cultural historian, and lifelong Trotskyist of whom you have never heard. Writing decades before Fredric Jameson’s classic The Political Unconscious: Narrative as a Socially Symbolic Act (1981) declared, “Always historicize!,” Calas embodied this precept in every dimension of his multifaceted career.
