Peter Ranis reviews Ilya Budraitskis’s book on the history of left dissidents in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia.
Category: Intellectual History
A Century Since the March on Rome
Fascism, Past and Present
Historian Stéfanie Prezioso traces the rise of revisionist historiography on Italian fascism.
On the Eve of National Elections, Looking Backward
Italy’s Rising Black Tide, A Creeping Counter-Revolution
On September 25 Italy will hold elections following the resignation of Prime Minister Pario Draghi and the concern is palpable.
The Imaginative Dialectic in the Novels of Victor Serge
A discussion of Victor Serge’s novels and how literature can enrich revolutionary socialist politics.
Their Values and Ours: The Debate over Western Values and the Values of the Socialist Left
Where does the Left stand and where should it stand on this question of “Western values”?
review
Marx’s Last Years Explored
Karl Marx’s last years, when he famously failed to complete all the volumes of Capital, were for a long time viewed as a period of illness and even senescence, even though he was only 64 years old at his death . . .
review
The Centrality of Dialectics in Marxist Theory and Politics
Kevin B. Anderson’s1 latest offering, Dialectics of Revolution, brings forward diverse perspectives on the concept of dialectics that have been discussed over the past two centuries. Beginning from Hegel, Anderson extends the discussion to Marx and then further on to . . .
review
What Is Social Reproduction Theory Trying to Explain?
Ferguson lays out the issues, doesn’t hide behind political labels, and advances a sophisticated analysis that crystallizes some contemporary thinking.
review
Half-Apology for Apartheid?
Linfield’s The Lions’ Den reads like an intervention toward holding back the encouraging tide of pro-Palestinian awareness.
Psychoanalysis for Collective Liberation
A Review of Erich Fromm’s Critical Theory
Erich Fromm (1900-1980) was a humanistic psychoanalyst, writer, and activist influenced by the theories of Marx and Freud, though critical of both.
Marx’s Commune
An Appreciation and a Critique
For the 150th anniversary of the Paris Commune, an analysis of Marx’s views on the Commune and its historical possibilities.
Capturing “the Spirit of Struggle”
Rosa Luxemburg on Literature
Luxemburg’s recognition of the paradoxical push and pull of creative literature speaks to contemporary debates in the context of both a resurgent far right and mass movements against systemic racism.
On Gramsci’s Fall: A Review
In Nora Bossong’s latest novel, Gramsci’s Fall, we meet forty-six-year-old Anton Stöver whose marriage is falling apart with extra-marital affairs coming to a close and a career in a German university at a dead end.
Unions, Democracy, and the Third Camp
Comparing Lessons from New Politics and Herman Benson
An analysis of debates among labor leftists about how a commitment to socialism “from below” should inform union activity.
Karl Marx: Promethean Visionary?
“This small book is a very useful account of how Marx came to develop his materialist conception of history.” Michael Löwy reviews Eric Rahim, “A Promethean Vision: The Formation of Karl Marx’s Worldview” (Glasgow: Praxis Press, 2020).
Revolution in the Twenty-First Century: A Reconsideration of Marxism
Leftists must tolerate disagreements and work together—must even work with left-liberals—because a worldwide transition between modes of production takes an inordinately long time and takes place on many different levels.
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