New Politics Vol. XVIII No. 2, Whole Number 70
In this issue:
From The Editors
From the Editors
As we are putting together this issue of New Politics, the United States is experiencing one of the greatest crises in its history. The country has lost more than 300,000 people to the coronavirus pandemic, which . . .
The U.S. Elections and Beyond
Biden Replaces Trump: A Malignant “Normalcy” Is Restored
Biden’s win is the triumph not of democracy but of an oligarchic status quo.
The 2020 Elections in the United States: A Socialist View From Afar
Many of us watching with envy from afar—“envy” because the destruction of democratic institutions has gone much further in our countries—have nothing but admiration for the way in which a would-be dictator has been peacefully overthrown.
Auditing U.S. Democracy
The Trump years were deeply undemocratic, but they did not mark an abandonment of a previously rich democratic politics
Opening Articles
Race, Crisis, and Resistance in the United States
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor discusses the significance of the struggle against racism and police violence.
Changes in Global Capitalism
Workers of the World: Growth, Change, and Rebellion
An examination of the global working-class labor force in the twenty-first century.
Western Imperialism and the Role of Sub-imperialism in the Global South
An examination of the significance of BRICS countries as “sub-imperial” powers in the context of global capitalism and imperialism.
The Latin American Left
Latin America in the Time of COVID
Gonzalez examines the development of Latin American political economy and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bolivia’s Elections
Bolivia has given the world an impressive lesson in democracy, but reactionary sectors of the country are once again revealing their anti-democratic impulse.
In Puerto Rico, the 2019 Uprising Produces an Electoral Opening Toward the Left
As the eyes of the world were fixated on the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, the U.S. colony of Puerto Rico produced a more satisfying and historic outcome for the left after its local election on Nov. 3, 2020.
Articles
Belarus: The People’s Fight Continues
More than ever, the organized popular classes in Belarus must take the initiative in favor of political and social change in order to prevent the frustration of this genuinely popular movement by forces opposed to their interests, whether pro-Russian or pro-Western.
The Techniques of Justice
Camus and Orwell both understood that the justification for state violence depends on describing it in such a way as to not convey too specific an image of the actual event.
Unions, Democracy, and the Third Camp
An analysis of debates among labor leftists about how a commitment to socialism “from below” should inform union activity.
Community Schools: Progressive Reform Or Privatization Trojan Horse?
Community Schools Will Help Unions and Education
Community schools are a way to address the challenges faced by low-income school districts; they also provide a unique opportunity to create bottom-up, democratically controlled school governance.
Community Schools and the Dangers of Ed Tech Privatization
Bottom-up democracy through community schools sounds like a great idea, but there are many dangers from these ‘charter schools on steroids.”
Reply to Klyczek
We shouldn’t assume that union and community efforts will inevitably succumb to corporate co-optation.
Review Essays
A Leftist Perspective on China’s Environmental Destruction
As “part of China,” we Hong Kongers have seen how China’s economic growth has contributed to the degradation of its environment. To be fair, Hong Kong’s economic takeoff had already harmed its environment before China took . . .
Film Reviews
Reviews
The Occlusion of Political Economy
Wilkerson’s adroit storytelling jumps off the page, but the glaring omission in her book is political economy.
China’s Workers Battle Apple and Foxconn
Foxconn promises the world but delivers hell, as the authors lay bare.
Looking Back at Maoism and the Global Left
As against nearly a century of debates over Stalinism, the international left has never come to terms with Maoism, especially its global impact.
Capitalism, Romanticism, and Nature
Robert Sayre and Michael Löwy’s Romantic Anti-capitalism and Nature is an extremely interesting book—enjoyable, informative, and intellectually stimulating.
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