The Bookshop was the functional centre of the International Group (IG) the precursor to the IMG. The IG was led by some older comrades such as Pat Jordan, Ken Coates, Alex Acheson and Ken Tarbuck. Grouped around them was a younger set recruited from the Labour Party and the Young Socialists. There was also a sprinkling of black comrades such as Dick Skyers and George Powe. Ken attracted several students from the University including Brian Simister who became dedicated to improving the Marxist education of IG members. These students soon drifted into the orbit of the Bookshop. Sylvia has not written a history: it is better than that. She recollects the activities, the feelings and the hopes of young people coming into politics. The story is delightfully irreverent and funny.
The Power of Gulf Capitalism
23 January 2020, byADAM HANIEH HAS produced a compelling and well-documented account of the modern evolution of capitalism in the Persian Gulf. Skillfully utilizing the Marxist categories of class, state, and mode of production he situates the role of Gulf capitalists, organized around the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), within the larger global capitalist economy. His concluding chapter ties the economic trends he details to an analysis of the political crises of the past decade.
Syria’s Unfinished Revolution
23 January 2020, byPERHAPS MORE THAN any other recent question, the Syrian Revolution confused and divided the international left. Many dismissed the revolt as a “color revolution” orchestrated by the United States, and some became willing spokespeople for Bashar al-Assad’s regime, recycling its talking points and conspiracy theories.
Heroism of reason
19 January 2020, byLivio 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.