Far-left political ideologies and movements Books

Book SynopsisKarl Marx saw the ruling class as a sorcerer, no longer able to control the ominous powers it has summoned from the netherworld. Today, in an age spawning the likes of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, our society has never before been governed by so many conjuring tricks, with collusions and conspiracies, fake news and endless sleights of the economic and political hand. And yet, contends Andy Merrifield, as our modern lives become ever more mist-enveloped, the works of Marx can help us penetrate the fog. In Marx, Dead and Alive – a book that begins and ends beside Marx’s recently violated London graveside – Merrifield makes a spirited case for a critical thinker who can still offer people a route toward personal and social authenticity. Bolstering his argument with fascinating examples of literature and history, from Shakespeare and Beckett, to the Luddites and the Black Panthers, Merrifield demonstrates how Marx can reveal our individual lives to us within a collective perspective – and within a historical continuum. Who we are now hinges on who we once were – and who we might become. This, at a time when our value-system is undergoing core “post-truth” meltdown.Trade Review“This enchanting portrait of Marx at work, with his legendary overcoat and shuffling ways, is brilliant, informative, and beautifully written. Merrifield then puts the insights he derives from reconnecting with Marx's writing to work to illuminate everything from the writings of Gogol and Dickens to the architectural disaster of New York's Hudson Yards.” —David Harvey, author, A Companion to Marx’s Capital and Marx, Capital and the Madness of Economic Reason

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Book SynopsisPresented at a time when fascism was a new and little understood phenomenon, Zetkin's work proposed a sweeping plan for the unity of all victims of capitalism in an ideological and political campaign against the fascist danger.

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Book SynopsisFascism's ascent to power across Europe in the 1920s & 30s marks one of the greatest historical defeats of the left in history. Far from inevitable, this catastrophic defeat was resisted at every turn by Marxists of varying stripes who tried, unsuccessfully, to push the mass communist and social democratic parties to organize an opposition to the rising movements of violent reaction. This important volume offers the most complete selection of Marxist writings on fascism from this period in any language and provides invaluable lessons for contemporary readers concerned with today's far-right.Trade Review"Marxists in the Face of Fascism, with a very useful introduction by David Beetham, is an unrivaled and vital piece, allowing us to grasp the major contribution of inter-war Marxism, in its great diversity of theoretical approaches and political orientations, and to deepening our understanding of fascism and to antifascist practice"—Ugo Palheta, author La Possibilité du Fascisme

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Book SynopsisIn Marx, Women and Capitalist Social Reproduction, Martha E. Giménez offers a distinctive perspective on social reproduction which posits that the relations of production determine the relations of social reproduction, and which links the effects of class exploitation and location to forms of oppression predominantly theorised in terms of identity. Grounding her analysis in Marx's theory and methodology, Giménez examines the relationship between class, reproduction and the oppression of women in different contexts such as the reproduction of labour power, domestic labour, feminisation of poverty, and reproductive technologies. Because most people, whether members of dominant or oppressed groups, are working class, she argues that the future of feminist politics is inextricably tied to class politics and the fate of capitalism.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction Part 1: Marxist-Feminist Theory1 Marxism and Feminism 2 Structuralist Marxism on The Oppression of Women 3 Marxism, and Class, Gender and Race: Rethinking the Trilogy 4 Reflections on Intersectionality 5 What's Material about Materialist Feminism? Part 2: Capitalist Social Reproduction6 Population and Capitalism 7 Feminism, Pronatalism, and Motherhood 8 Reproduction and Procreation under Capitalism: A Marxist-Feminist Analysis 9 The Feminisation of Poverty: Myth or Reality? 10 The Dialectics of Waged and Unwaged Work: Waged Work, Domestic Labour, and Household Survival in the United States 11 Loving Alienation: The Contradictions of Domestic Work 12 Self-Sourcing: How Corporations get us to Work Without Pay 13 From Social Reproduction to Capitalist Social Reproduction Part 3: Whither Feminism? 14 Connecting Marx and Feminism in the Era of Globalisation: A Preliminary Investigation 15 Global Capitalism and Women: From Feminist Politics to Working-Class Women's Politics 16 Capitalism and the Oppression of Women: Marx Revisited Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisEmpiriomonism is Alexander Bogdanov 's scientific-philosophical substantiation of Marxism. In Books One and Two, he combines Ernst Mach 's and Richard Avenarius 's neutral monist philosophy with the theory of psychophysical parallelism and systematically demonstrates that human psyches are thoroughly natural and are subject to nature 's laws. In Book Three, Bogdanov argues that empiriomonism is superior to G. V. Plekhanov 's outdated materialism and shows how the principles of empiriomonism solve the basic problem of historical materialism: how a society 's material base causally determines its ways of thinking. Bogdanov concludes that empiriomonism is of the same order as materialist systems, and, since it is the ideology of the productive forces of society, it is a Marxist philosophy.Table of ContentsPreface The Autobiography of Alexander Bogdanov Bogdanov as a Thinker V.A. Bazarov Book One 1 The Ideal of Cognition (Empiriomonism of the Physical and the Psychical) 2 Life and the Psyche 1 The Realm of Experiences 2 Psychoenergetics 3 The Monist Conception of Life 3 Universum (Empiriomonism of the Separate and the Continuous) Conclusion to Book One Book Two 4 The 'Thing-in-Itself ' from the Perspective of Empiriomonism 5 Psychical Selection (Empiriomonism in the Theory of the Psyche) 1 Foundations of the Method 2 Applications of the Method (Illustrations) 6 Two Theories of the Vital-Differential Book Three 7 Preface to Book Three 1 Three Materialisms 2 Energetics and Empiriocriticism 3 The Path of Empiriomonism 4 Regarding Eclecticism and Monism 8 Social Selection (Foundations of the Method) 9 Historical Monism 1 Main Lines of Development 2 Classes and Groups 10 Self-Awareness of Philosophy (The Origin of Empiriomonism) Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis innovative book hones in on key elements of Marx's vast oeuvre, focusing on his contribution to social theory. Themes addressed include: the declining utility of Hegelian philosophy for Marx, his deepening confrontation with Ricardian political economy, Engels’ distorting impact on the publication of Capital, the place of the accumulation of capital, and especially of ‘primitive accumulation’, in Marx’s thought, and more. Extending beyond an analysis of the writing of Marx himself, Zarembka highlights the contributions of Rosa Luxemburg in the realms of political economy and nationalism and closes the book with a consideration of state conspiracies.Trade Review“The virtue of Zarembka’s book is that it examines the different ways in which Marx made a contribution to the social sciences. It offers to the reader much that is original and significant.… He explains in clear and accessible language key concepts of Marx’s economics, and how these have been interpreted by writers such as Rosa Luxemburg. This is a book which can be highly recommended both to specialists in Marx’s ideas and to the wider reading public.” —James D. White, Critical Sociology, 47:7/8 (Nov 2021)“[Paul Zarembka] has written a cogent, far-ranging, and informative work that provides useful insights into some evolving issues and controversies in Marx’s political economy… The informed and provocative nature of some of the arguments and ideas presented will serve to stimulate further research into important Marxian concepts.” —Contributions to Political Economy, June 2021

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Book SynopsisIn Forces of Production, Climate Change and Canadian Fossil Capitalism, Nicolas Graham reinterprets the concept of forces of production from an ecological standpoint and in the context of the deepening climate crisis. He argues that ecological knowledge itself, as well as associated developments in renewable energy technology and green infrastructure, represent advancements in productive forces. However, such "green productive forces" are fettered by capitalist relations of production, including the power of carbon capital. In addition to a conceptual and theoretical reinterpretation, case studies focusing on Canadian fossil capitalism provide a concrete-complex analysis of the deepening of fossil-fuelled productive forces and the process of fettering in both renewable energies and in the development and application of ecological knowledge.

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Book SynopsisThe Age of Assassins describes in gripping detail Vladimir Putin?s ruthless rise to power in Russia from his earliest rise to power in 1991 as an insignificant former KGB officer in Berlin. He gained power over the entire country and its economy by determining elections through business deals and criminal intervention ? from sophisticated cheating right up to murder and poisoning.

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Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1965, Reading Capital is a landmark of French thought and radical theory, reconstructing Western Marxism from its foundations. Louis Althusser, the French Marxist philosopher, maintained that Marx's project could only be revived if its scientific and revolutionary novelty was thoroughly divested of all traces of humanism, idealism, Hegelianism and historicism. In order to complete this critical rereading, Althusser and his students at the École normale supérieure ran a seminar on Capital, re-examining its arguments, strengths and weaknesses in detail, and it was out of those discussions that this book was born.Previously only available in English in highly abridged form, this edition, appearing fifty years after its original publication in France, restores chapters by Roger Establet, Pierre Macherey and Jacques Rancière. It includes a major new introduction by Étienne Balibar.Trade ReviewOne of the central texts of French structuralism (and of modern Marxism as well). Its critique of humanism and what Althusser called historicism remains relevant and ought to be renewed in our time. -- Fredric JamesonThe complete edition of Reading Capital returns us to the excitement of the book's first publication. It not only makes available some remarkable essays not included in previous English editions but also allows us to see clearly how the essays emerged from the dynamic interactions of a university seminar. -- Michael Hardt, co-author of the Empire trilogy

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Book SynopsisVladimir Ilyich Lenin, leader of the October 1917 uprising, is one of the most misunderstood leaders of the twentieth century. In his own time, there were many, even among his enemies, who acknowledged the full magnitude of his intellectual and political achievements. But his legacy has been lost in misinterpretation; he is worshipped but rarely read.Tariq Ali explores the two major influences on Lenin's thought - the turbulent history of Tsarist Russia and the birth of the international labour movement - and explains how Lenin confronted dilemmas that still cast a shadow over the present. Is terrorism ever a viable strategy? Is support for imperial wars ever justified? Can politics be made without a party? Was the seizure of power in 1917 morally justified? Should he have parted company from his wife and lived with his lover?In The Dilemmas of Lenin, Ali provides an insightful portrait of Lenin's deepest preoccupations and underlines the clarity and vigour of his theoretical and political formulations. He concludes with an affecting account of Lenin's last two years, when he realized that "we knew nothing" and insisted that the revolution had to be renewed lest it wither and die.Trade ReviewReading this book on your vacation will make your life better and your mind broader. -- Branko Milanovic, * author of Global Inequalities *Ali encourages the reader to take a fresh look at Lenin's choices in the context of a repressive autocracy, the poverty and misery of the bulk of the population under tsarism and the industrialised slaughter of the first world war. What underpins his book is the view that October was an "innocent and utopian birth" that was subsequently "twisted" into Stalinism by three devastating years of civil war. -- Daniel Beer * Guardian *A powerful tool for those wanting to understand the real Lenin and therefore the real politics behind those revolutionaries who fought so hard but ultimately failed in their goal. -- Lindsey German * Counterfire *

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Book SynopsisWhile electorally weak, the Communist Party of Great Britain and its Welsh Committee was a constant feature of twentieth century Welsh politics, in particular through its influence in the trade union movement. Based on original archival research, the present volume offers the first in-depth study of the Communist Party's attitude to devolution in Wales, to Welsh nationhood and Welsh identity, as well as examining the party's relationship with the Labour Party, Plaid Cymru and the labour and nationalist movements in relation to these issues. Placing the party's engagement of these issues within the context of the rapid changes in twentieth century Welsh society, debates on devolution and identity on the British left, the role of nationalism within the communist movement, and the interplay of international and domestic factors, the volume provides new insight into the development of ideas by the political left on devolution and identity in Wales during the twentieth century. It also offers a broad outline of the party's policy in relation to Wales during the twentieth century, and an assessment of the role played by leading figures in the Welsh party in developing its policy on Wales and devolution.Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter One: Conspicuous by its Absence, 1920-1932 Chapter Two: The Awakening of a National Consciousness within the Communist Party in Wales, 1933-1950 Chapter Three: Praxis, Neglect and Renewal, 1950-1969 Chapter Four: Devolution, Defeat and Dissolution, 1970 -1991 Conclusion Bibliography

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Book SynopsisAs commander of the Allied Military Mission to the Greek guerrillas in Greece in 1943-4, C.M. Woodhouse has to hold an uneasy balance between the communist and government sides. Against a background of conflicting communist doctrine, shifting foreign alliances, territorial disputes and personality differences, the communist struggle for Greece unfolded in three rounds. The first began in 1941 with the German occupation of Greece when the National Liberation Front attempted to regain control of the country and overthrow the monarchy. In the second round, the communists tried to seize power at the end of the German occupation in December 1944 and were frustrated by the intervention of British forces. The third round (1946-9) was marked by US intervention, UN fact-finding missions, and the shift from guerrilla tactics to conventional warfare. The communists were weakened by internal feuding and overcome by the US forces. The author based his research on interviews with participants, documentary sources and his own experience. He analyzes the characters, ideologies and events behind one of the longest and most bitter civil wars of modern times.Trade Review'This is the story of the communist and non-communist resistance to the Germans that sprang up in the Greek mountains, and its interaction with the politics of the old political world of Greece and the strategies of the allies. No one was better placed to describe the events of this turbulent period than C. M. Woodhouse, who came to know Greece intimately. The Struggle for Greece is his masterful telling of the story.' -- Michael Llewellyn-Smith, historian and former British Ambassador to GreeceTable of ContentsContents: I: The First Round Prelude to Revolution - Resistance and Reaction - War on Two Fronts - II: The Second Round Return to Legality - The December Events - The Bitter Truce - III: The Third Round Disorder into Guerrilla War - Guerrillas into Battle Order - Deadlock and Stalemate - The Final Breakthrough.

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Book SynopsisThe Burning Forest is an empathetic, moving account of what drives indigenous peasants to support armed struggle despite severe state repression, including lives lost, homes and communities destroyed.Over the past decade, the heavily forested,mineral-rich region of Bastar in central India has emerged as one of the most militarized sites in the country. The government calls the Maoist insurgency the "biggest security threat" to India. In 2005, a state-sponsored vigilante movement, the Salwa Judum, burnt hundreds of villages, driving their inhabitants into state-controlled camps, drawing on counterinsurgency techniques developed in Malaysia, Vietnam and elsewhere. Apart from rapes and killings, hundreds of 'surrendered' Maoist sympathisers were conscripted as auxiliaries. The conflict continues to this day, taking a toll on the lives of civilians, security forces and Maoist cadres. In 2007, Sundar and others took the Indian government to the Supreme Court over the human rights violations arising out ofthe conflict. In a landmark judgment, the Court in 2011 banned state supportfor vigilantism. The Burning Forest describes this brutal war in the heart of India, and what it tells us about the courts, media and politics of the country. The result is a granular and critical ethnography of Indian democracy over a decade.Trade ReviewA very important and interesting book which should be widely read. A deeply disturbing analysis of the sacrifice of tribal lives and communities caught between the camouflaged barbarity of the security forces and the violent arrogance of a deflected rebellion. The appeal for reasoned humanity cannot be any stronger - or more eloquent - than this. -- Amartya SenNandini Sundar, an extraordinary anthropologist-activist, has mined twenty-five years of experience in the region to write an account of Bastar's civil war that is both gripping and harrowing. She pulls no punches in describing the greed and cynical violence of state agencies, mining companies, politicians and immigrants. Her account of life in the Maoist rebel zones is graphic, full of empathy but by no means uncritical. is is a story that everyone who cares about India must read. -- Partha ChatterjeeEvery thinking Indian, every citizen who is concerned about the present and future of the Republic, should read The Burning Forest. It is an impeccably researched and finely written work of scholarship, redolent with insight, and displaying enormous courage as well. -- Ramachandra Guha * Hindustan Times *If many places are like Bastar, few books are like The Burning Forest. It resonates with classics on frontiers and dispossession. -- Christian Lund * Journal of Agrarian Change *Sundar's book is an exceptional expose of the scandal of rural governance in India, a chronicle of State excesses, an anthropologist's view about how conflicts perpetuate themselves and an account of how India's democracy is degraded when few are watching. Policymakers ought to take away one the key lesson from it that there really are no military solutions to social conflicts. -- Sushil Aaron * Hindustan Times *Sundar's book is a must-read for those interested in the genesis and the nature of conflict in Bastar * The Hindu *The work needs to be celebrated for its scholarship, for its independence and for its courage. * The Tribune *Will keep you sleepless over several nights. * The Indian Express *Among the most important works on the conflict in southern Chhattisgarh. * India Today *One of the most rounded accounts of the strife in Bastar. * Telegraph *Sundar asks for no glossing over of any kind. A thorough, diligent and finally credible effort. -- Dilip D’ Souza * The Caravan *A razor sharp critique of the institutions that make India feel good about itself - its parliamentary democracy, its judiciary, its free press, its vibrant civil society. * The Wire *A balanced and incisive narrative of the ground reality in Chhattisgarh. * Force Magazine *There are so many good reasons to read Ms Sundar's book, even if you disagree with her views. But, there is no way you can read it and not feel harrowed by the war India has unleashed against its own people in Bastar and what it implies for us as a functioning democracy. -- Nitin Sethi * The Business Standard *A timely and pro-adivasi book written with utmost honesty and a deep sense of empathy. * Open Magazine *A compelling account of the real-politik of 'democratic nation building'. -- Harsh Sethi * Seminar *The message of this monumental social science inquiry is loud and clear-citizens have to assert their rights to get justice from the Indian state. -- CP Bhambri * Contributions to Indian Sociology *How does democracy affect the prosecution of civil war? Nandini Sundar explores this question with untold courage and fierce determination in her remarkable extended ethnography of counter-insurgency in Chhattisgarh (India) - a desperate struggle to clear the land for mineral exploitation. Starting from poor adivasi villagers, aided and abetted by Naxalites, Sundar lays out in dispassionate detail the history of escalating violence, spurred on by the atrocities of a state-sponsored vigilante group and special police force. Stung by the lack of interest in the Indian media and parliament, she and two collaborators pursued and finally won a Supreme Court case against the state of Chhattisgarh. But, again, with no obvious effect. By multiplying opportunities to contest state violence, democratic institutions may have moderated but also extended the civil war. A rare and brilliant treatment of a topic few social scientists would dare to touch, let alone examine at such close quarters and for over two decades. -- Michael BurawoyThe Burning Forest is vivid, challenging and informative-an exemplar of engaged sociology and anthropology. It is a stellar account of the tension between villagers, insurgents and the multiple levels of state action and inaction, the intricate complications of the legal system and of course, the politics of it all. Nandini Sundar's empathy for the people of the forest and their struggles for a dignified life and livelihood is heart-warming. -- Ari SitasThis meticulous and powerful book not only documents a brutal regime of internal colonialism in the world's largest democracy. It reveals the insidious ways in which consent to state oppression is manufactured and amplified. Everyone interested in the commingled fate of democracy and capitalism in the postcolonial world should read this book. -- Pankaj Mishra, author of Age of Anger

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Book SynopsisCollaborators for more than four decades, lawyer, author, filmmaker, and multimedia artist Alexander Kluge and social philosopher Oskar Negt are an exceptional duo in the history of Critical Theory precisely because their respective disciplines operate so differently. Dark Matter argues that what makes their contributions to the Frankfurt School so remarkable is how they think together in spite of these differences. Kluge and Negt's "gravitational thinking" balances not only the abstractions of theory with the concreteness of the aesthetic, but also their allegiances to Frankfurt School mentors with their fascination for other German, French, and Anglo-American thinkers distinctly outside the Frankfurt tradition.At the core of all their adventures in gravitational thinking is a profound sense that the catastrophic conditions of modern life are not humankind's unalterable fate. In opposition to modernity's disastrous state of affairs, Kluge and Negt regard the huge mass of dark matter throughout the universe as the lodestar for thinking together with others, for dark matter is that absolute guarantee that happier alternatives to our calamitous world are possible. As illustrated throughout Langston's study, dark matter's promise-its critical orientation out of catastrophic modernity-finds its expression, above all, in Kluge's multimedia aesthetic.Trade ReviewFor years I've built a bridge across the Atlantic Ocean with Richard Langston for my project on the poetic force of Critical Theory. Langston forges in Dark Matter substantial links between central themes from my nearly fifty-year theoretical collaboration with Oskar Negt and a selection of my stories and films over the many years. This book illustrates how the labor involved in thinking together with others over time is like the gravitational effects of dark matter that hold our universe's celestial bodies together. This gravitational thinking is the counterweight necessary for opposing today's world of disruptive algorithms. -- Alexander KlugeIn Dark Matter, Richard Langston examines the encounters between director, author, television producer, and lawyer Alexander Kluge and philosopher and social theoretician Oskar Negt, and sees them as an exceptional constellation. Full of tensions, gaps, intersections, synergies, controversies, and reciprocities, Kluge and Negt's remarkable collaborative project is in Langston's account one of the most exciting and brilliant movements of thought in German intellectual history since the seventies. With sensitivity, precision, and erudition, Dark Matter situates the extensive scope of their books and dialogues within the fields of Critical Theory, political philosophy, historical materialism, literature, art, avant-garde cinema, and the challenges of new media. By meticulously following the twists and turns in their collective thinking, Langston unveils their thought's gravitational centers rooted in capitalism's world of work, modern technologies, counter-public spheres, and aesthetic praxis. Dark Matter succeeds in an intelligent and exemplary fashion in reconstructing the radicality and actuality of Kluge and Negt's collaborations as a vital renewal of critical thinking beyond codified disciplines and schools of thought. In Langston's eyes, their work is an expedition into the unknown dark zones of historical and social experience, a historically speculative enterprise that turns, with its appeal to sociability, cooperative intelligence, and utopian fantasy, against the pessimistic tendencies of catastrophic modernity. More than just a commentary on the works of Kluge and Negt, Dark Matter presents readers a deep, investigative look into the intellectual, philosophical, and political spheres of our present moment. -- Joseph Vogl, Humboldt-Universität, BerlinPraise for Visions of Violence:"Richard Langston's brilliant book Visions of Violence is . had to be written to finally help us find a way out of the spell of the endless repetitions of the very same heroic fable of 1968." -- Rembert Hüser * German Quarterly *Praise for Visions of Violence:"Anyone with a serious interest in the politics and aesthetics of post-war German art will find that much of Langston's study has compelling implications for a theorised apprehension of the avant-garde project after fascism." -- Deborah Lewer * Oxford Art Journal *

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Book SynopsisChina's emergence as a twenty-first-century global economic, cultural, and political power is often presented as a story of what Chinese leader Xi Jinping calls the nation's "great rejuvenation," a story narrated as the return of China to its "rightful" place at the center of the world.In China's Revolutions in the Modern World, historian Rebecca E. Karl argues that China's contemporary emergence is best seen not as a "return," but rather as the product of revolutionary and counter-revolutionary activity and imaginings. From the Taipings in the mid-nineteenth century through nationalist, anti-imperialist, cultural, and socialist revolutions to today's capitalist-inflected Communist State, modern China has been made in intellectual dissonance and class struggle, in mass democratic movements and global war, in socialism and anti-socialism, in repression and conflict by multiple generations of Chinese people mobilized to seize history and make the future in their own name. Through China's successive revolutions, the contours of our contemporary world have taken shape. This brief interpretive history shows how.Trade ReviewRebecca Karl brings to life in wonderful detail the successive revolutionary moments that constituted modern China, illuminating their importance even when they failed to achieve their goals. Although that modern world may now be behind us, Karl shows how the modern Chinese experiments provide an essential basis for thinking revolution in our future. -- Michael Hardt, co-author of AssemblyHow do we reckon with "state communism" and the twentieth-century revolutions now that they have passed? This is not an abstract question, but a pressing concern for all those who are committed to the long struggle against capitalism during the current interregnum. Rebecca Karl's China's Revolutions in the Modern World underscores the centrality of China's revolutionary experience to global modernity, and, through an analysis of China's one and a half centuries of revolution in its many permutations, offers readers a deepened understanding of revolution itself. -- Prof. Christopher Connery, University of California, Santa CruzKarl blows away the manufactured fog that has obscured our understanding of China's radical history. She allows us to see the patterns of serial revolution that have brought so much turmoil and innovation to modernity. Breathtaking and indispensable! * Andrew Ross, author of Fast Boat to China: Lessons from Shanghai and Stone Men *It is exceedingly rare for a book to provide both a synthetic, comprehensive overview of a complex historical period and new, original perspectives for our understanding of that period: Rebecca Karl achieves just that in this clearly written and insightful volume. By investigating seven revolutionary moments, from the Taiping to 1989, Karl shows us that China's revolutions were part and parcel of global struggles to define possible futures. Unabashedly anti-teleological, theoretically inspired, and politically engaged, China's Revolution in the Modern World is a perfect introduction to modern China for non-specialists, an excellent teaching tool, but also a revealing read for China specialists, who will find much to think with in this volume. -- Fabio Lanza, author of The End of Concern: Maoist China, Activism, and Asian StudiesChina's Revolutions in the Modern World is an insightful, sometimes provocative, and always readable survey of the most tumultuous events in China's history. Karl provides a convincing narrative of political, social, and intellectual change while offering a unique global perspective as well as nuanced discussions of gender and historiographical issues. This book would make an excellent introductory text in university undergraduate courses. -- Peter Zarrow, author of China in War and Revolution, After Empire: The Conceptual Transformation of the Chinese State, and Educating ChinaA tour de force re-narration of modern China's revolutionary moments. Written with uncommon grace and lucidity, Karl invites readers to rethink China's past as lived creations of the present and explorations of possible futures. A spectacular achievement! -- Ching Kwan Lee, author of The Specter of Global ChinaRebecca Karl's masterful study of revolution in modern China shows us how revolutionary movements became thinkable. -- Asad Haider, author of Mistaken IdentityA concise and thought-provoking overview of nearly two centuries of Chinese revolutionary movements by historian Rebecca Karl, starting with the Taiping Rebellion which broke out in 1850. -- Carlos Martinez * Morning Star *

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Book SynopsisAlthough successive generations of the Frankfurt School have attempted to adapt Critical Theory to new circumstances, the work done by its founding members continues in the twenty-first century to unsettle conventional wisdom about culture, society and politics. Exploring unexamined episodes in the school's history and reading its work in unexpected ways, these essays provide ample evidence of the abiding relevance of Horkheimer, Adorno, Benjamin, Marcuse, Löwenthal, and Kracauer in our troubled times. Without forcing a unified argument, they range over a wide variety of topics, from the uncertain founding of the School to its mixed reception of psychoanalysis, from Benjamin's ruminations on stamp collecting to the ironies in the reception of Marcuse's One-Dimensional Man, from Löwenthal's role in Weimar's Jewish Renaissance to Horkheimer's involvement in the writing of the first history of the Frankfurt School. Of special note are their responses to visual issues such as the emancipation of colour in modern art, the Jewish prohibition on images, the relationship between cinema and the public sphere, and the implications of a celebrated Family of Man photographic exhibition. The collection ends with an essay tracing the still metastasising demonisation of the Frankfurt School by the so-called Alt Right as the source of "cultural Marxism" and "political correctness," which has gained alarming international resonance and led to violence by radical right-wing fanatics.Trade ReviewIn this sizzling collection of essays, Martin Jay demonstrates again that he is the unsurpassed reader of the group of thinkers known as the "Frankfurt School." In fact, he challenges the false unity and coherence of ideas and views often imposed upon them, including his own earlier writings on the subject. Practicing episodic and fragmentary historiography, he uncovers astonishingly novel angles of interpretation as well as demonstrating brilliant re-readings of known texts. An absolute pleasure to read -- Professor Seyla BenhabibWith this collection of brilliant and insightful essays Martin Jay has returned to the topic that defined his early career: Critical Theory, i.e. the lives and works of theorists such as Adorno, Horkheimer, Benjamin, Kracauer, and Marcuse. Based on deep historical knowledge and endowed with great sensitivity for theoretical nuances, Jay traces the unfolding of what is commonly called the Frankfurt School. He succeeds in this endeavor by his refusal to treat their thought as the expression of a unified school. For this difficult task one could not have found a more suitable critic than Martin Jay. This book is a precious gift to America in these troubled times. -- Peter Uwe HohendahlSplinters in Your Eye provides ample evidence of the abiding relevance of Horkheimer, Adorno, Benjamin, Marcuse, Löwenthal, and Kracauer in our troubled times. -- Ryan Tripp * New Books Network *In elegant essays on subjects ranging from Benjamin's stamp collecting to the [Frankfurt School's] engagement with emerging psychoanalytic thought, Jay shows that its writings are not only historical curios, but indispensable for understanding our own age. -- Stuart Jeffries * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisKarl Marx was not only the great theorist of capitalism, he was also a superb journalist, politician and historian. For the first time ever, this book brings together all of his essential political and historical writings in one volume. These writings allow us to see the depth and range of Marx's mature work from the tumultuous revolutions of 1848 that rocked European society through to the end of his life. Including The Communist Manifesto, The Class Struggles in France and The Critique of the Gotha Programme, this volume shows Marx at his most astute, analysing the forces of global capitalism as they played out in actual events.

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Book SynopsisThe US Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) rapidly expanded its presence in the 1980s, as it became the most dangerous decade of the Cold War. Most controversially, a new generation of intermediate-range nuclear weapons was deployed by both sides. As tensions between the East and West escalated, a new generation of aircraft arrived at bases across Western Europe - state of the art F-15 Eagle air superiority fighters were followed by the A 10 tank busters and the multi-role F-16 Fighting Falcons. Illustrated with over 180 images, this book examines the aircraft and bases of the USAFE during the 1980s. It also describes the vital support provided by other arms of the USAF, including Military Airlift Command's transport and tanker fleet. The part played by Strategic Air Command's iconic SR-71s, U-2s, and giant B-52 bombers is outlined, as is the role of Tactical Air Command, which would have rapidly reinforced USAFE in time of war.

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Book SynopsisA powerful account of the decline of the Cuban Revolution, told through the lives of five ordinary Cuban citizens. 'Masterful... Dore uses oral history to tell a history of Cuba from the bottom up' Professor Linda Gordon 'A vital addition to Cuba's rich oral tradition' Will Grant, BBC Cuba Correspondent 'Opens wide a window on the last forty years of Cuban history' Professor Gerald Martin 'To have gathered these life stories together with such grace, eloquence and trust is a towering achievement' Professor Ruth Behar Cuba is not the country it used to be. The regime is disintegrating, and unprecedented protest marches are challenging the gerontocratic Communist Party leadership. How Things Fall Apart reveals the decay of this political system through the lives of five ordinary Cuban citizens. Born in the 1970s and 80s, these men and women recount how their lives changed over a tumultuous stretch of thirty-five years: first when Fidel opened the country to tourism following the fall of the Soviet bloc; then when Raúl Castro allowed market forces to operate, thinking it would stop the country's economic slide; and finally when President Trump's tightening of the US embargo combined with the Covid-19 pandemic to cause economic collapse. With warmth and humanity, they describe learning to survive in an environment where a tiny minority has grown rich by local standards, the great majority has been left behind, and inequality has destroyed the very things that used to give meaning to Cubans' lives. Born out of the first oral history project authorized by the Cuban government in forty years, Professor Elizabeth Dore gathers these stories to illuminate the slow and agonizing decline of the Cuban Revolution over the past four decades. For over sixty years the government controlled the historical narrative. In this book, Cubans tell their own stories.Trade ReviewMasterful... Dore uses oral history to tell a history of Cuba from the bottom up, accompanied by her own astute commentary. How Things Fall Apart reads like a set of vivid short stories -- Professor Linda GordonAn elegant account of the evolution of a revolution. Writing on a topic which still has the power to provoke the most visceral responses across the political spectrum, Dore has done a rare thing: she has let the Cuban people speak for themselves. Dore handles their stories of triumph and hardship with honesty, compassion and respect, and in the process has held up a mirror to the state of the Cuban Revolution in the twenty-first century. How Things Fall Apart is a vital addition to Cuba's rich oral tradition -- Will Grant, BBC Mexico, Central America and Cuba CorrespondentThese life stories of Cubans are so raw, so honest, so moving, that you feel as if you know each of them personally. To have gathered them together with such grace, eloquence and trust is a towering achievement... This book serves as a testament to the audacity and sorrow Cubans experienced in seeking to change not only their own history but the history of the world -- Professor Ruth Behar, author of Letters from CubaElizabeth Dore's book opens wide a window on the last forty years of Cuban history and allows us to listen, uniquely, to the always vivid memories and conclusions of ordinary Cubans as they look back on the lives they lived during the most arduous and troubled years of the Revolution -- Professor Gerald MartinCuba through human lenses. Dore's impressive book sadly portrays the unraveling of the revolutionary utopian dream -- Professor Susan EcksteinThe chronicle of a death foretold * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisJoseph Stalin was one of the most ruthless and authoritarian dictators in world history, who plunged Russia into a barbarous nightmare, leaving behind a damaged nation and a legacy of grief.This concise biography presents Lenin’s heir from his humble and troubled beginnings to the highest rank of all: General Secretary of the Communist Party. Stalin: A Pocket Biography is an accessible account of a complex tyrant, perfect for students or anyone taking a first look into modern Russian history.

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Book SynopsisQuestions of class, power and distribution have reemerged as central concerns in the public discourse. When we talk about class, we don't always know what is meant. Is class about income or affect or the ownership of the means of production? Perhaps it is about authority or autonomy? But what happens when, as is often the case in complex advanced economies, people can occupy social and economic roles that seem to indicate membership in more than one class? And what does this mean for the supposed relationship between class and potential political capacity and affinity?In Classes, Erik Olin Wright, the greatest American Marxist sociologists, rises to the twofold challenge of both clarifying the abstract, structural account of class implicit in Marx, and of applying and refining the account in the light of contemporary developments in advanced capitalist societies. What Wright calls "contradictory class locations" can make the class landscape appear much more complex than the simple model presented in Marx. Despite this complexity, common interests and therefore political alliances can still be found. In a society, like the US, characterized by extreme inequality, Classes provides not just a useful descriptive account of the operation of class but also the tools to understand the interplay of class interests and political (re)alignment.Trade Review“The most impressive book on class I have read in some years.”—Michael Mann, Contemporary Sociology“An empirically supported reformulation of class theory that achieves exemplary standards of critique, complexity and clarity.”—Claus Offe“Erik Olin Wright’s Classes is almost certain to be the most important book on social classes this decade ... The book presents a major breakthrough in the conceptualization of class relations ... and it will be required reading for all macro-sociologists.”—American Journal of Sociology

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Book SynopsisFor several years after 1968, Herbert Marcuse was one of the most famous philosophers in the world. He became the face of Frankfurt School Critical Theory for a generation in turmoil. His fame rested on two remarkable books, Eros and Civilization and One-Dimensional Man. These two books represent the utopian hopes and dystopian fears of the time. In the 1960s and 70s, young people seeking a theoretical basis for their revolution found it in his work. Marcuse not only supported their struggles against imperialism and race and gender discrimination, he foresaw the far-reaching implications of the destruction of the natural environment. Marcuse's Marxism was influenced by Husserl and Heidegger, Hegel and Freud. These eclectic sources grounded an original critique of advanced capitalism focused on the social construction of subjectivity and technology. Marcuse contrasted the "one-dimensionality" of conformist experience with the "new sensibility" of the New Left. The movement challenged a society that "delivered the goods" but devastated the planet with its destructive science and technology. A socialist revolution would fail if it did not transform these instruments into means of liberation, both of nature and human beings. This aspiration is alive today in the radical struggle over climate change. Marcuse offers theoretical resources for understanding that struggle.Trade ReviewA student and friend of Herbert Marcuse in the late 1960s, Andrew Fenberg gives in this new book an outstanding contribution not only to the knowledge of his philosophy, but also to the "ruthless criticism" of advanced capitalism. Feenberg shows, with great insight, how Marcuse's Marxism, rooted in Phenomenology, Hegelian dialectics, and Freudian Eros, was able to combine rationality and imagination, producing a radical version of Critical Theory which won the hearts and souls of the rebellious youth of the 1960's. And which is still very much relevant in our times, because, as Feenberg concludes, climate change validates his revolutionary call for a new society, based on life-affirmative values. -- Michael Löwy, author of On Changing the Word: Essays in Political Philosophy, from Karl Marx to Walter Benjamin (Haymarket Books).For a half century, Andrew Feenberg has tirelessly explicated, interrogated and applied the lessons of his controversial mentor, Herbert Marcuse. The Ruthless Critique of Everything Existing is the culmination of these efforts, building on the strengths of Marcuse's thought, while candidly confronting its weaknesses, in the hope of convincing a new generation of readers of its abiding relevance. -- Martin JayAndrew Feenberg's new book is a tour de force. With detailed yet crystal-clear analyses of Marcuse's major writings in their historical context, it reconstructs the implicit ontology of meaning that sustains Marcuse's unique version of critical theory. Arguing that Marcuse's embrace of phenomenology far outlived his break with Heidegger, Feenberg demonstrates its importance in chapters devoted to Marcuse's reading of Marx, Hegel, and Freud, engaging unflinchingly, yet constructively, with the more controversial aspects of those readings and the famous debates they provoked. Two final chapters - on techno-science and on the environmental crisis - concretize the potential contained in Marcuse's idea of "libidinous reason" for tackling the ideological and structural impasses of our own desperate times. -- Steven Crowell (Rice University)The title of Feenberg's book is to be taken literally: the ruthless critique of everything existing is today needed more than ever, and this critique has to denounce ruthlessly also the limitations of today's forms of Leftist critiques of the establishment which de facto help the establishment to reproduce itself. Is Political Correctness the right way to undermine sexism and racism? Is the elevation of nature into Mother Earth the right way to prevent the destruction of our environment? In short, what we need is to repeat today what Marcuse, in his critique of traditional Marxism, did in the 1960s, and Feenberg does this at the highest possible level. -- Slavoj Zizek

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Book SynopsisThis vivid selection, compiled and introduced by Tamara Deutscher, written by Lenin and those who knew him, brings us the revolution in his everyday life - the man who lived by politics but not by politics alone.Here, we see the Lenin of leisure as well as work, geared to his life's purpose and yet enjoying to the full all the pleasures of a healthy human existence - neither the humourless, monolithic cult hero of Soviet mythology nor the bogeyman of official anti-communism. What did Lenin read? How did he relax? What did he think and feel? This surprising collection, covering everything from his passionate baritone singing voice to his love of hunting wild game and beyond, reveals the man beyond the myth.

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Book SynopsisWhen he died suddenly in 1967, Isaac Deutscher had completed only the compelling first chapter of a long-anticipated biography of Lenin, published here. It covers Lenin's family background, birth and early years in the backwater town of Simbirsk up to the execution of his brother, a traumatic formative event. Drawing on a lifetime of background research, including access to the closed section of Trotsky's archives, Lenin's Childhood gives a novel interpretation of the earliest influences on Lenin's personality and thinking. Most of all, it is a glimpse into an unfinished work which would have striven to save Lenin from fanatical anti-revolutionary condemnation and, perhaps more important, from uncritical communist beatification.This anniversary edition includes an introduction by Deutscher's biographer, Gonzalo Pozo, which situates the Lenin project within Deutscher's oeuvre and discusses the sources, influences and evolution of his never completed life of Lenin.Table of ContentsIntroduction to the Anniversary Edition - Gonzalo PozoIntroduction - Tamara DeutscherLenin's Childhood

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Book SynopsisCommissioned by Oliver Stone in 2015 to commemorate the Russian Revolution, Tariq Ali's captivating screenplay of the life and times of Vladimir Lenin puts flesh on the bones of the historical record and gets its pulse racing. From the author of The Dilemmas of Lenin, the drama captures the enigma of its central character. Ali shows Lenin in his rush from Switzerland to Petrograd by train to grasp his moment in history and the force of his personality on the tumult he found there. He made a revolution and remade a nation. Interwoven with the politics is an exploration of Lenin's personal life, especially his love for Inessa Armand.In the introduction, Ali argues that, despite the difficulties, a serious cinematic assessment of Lenin is still needed. Unfortunately, two very different attempts to film one failed. This first draft provides the basis for something on a grander scale at some stage in the future. Praise for The Dilemmas of Lenin 'Aims to rescue Lenin from both liberal caricature and Soviet hag- iography by recovering the realism and dynamism of his political thought' David Sessions, Nation'An incredibly powerful, panoramic, and insightful study of the central revolutionary figure of the twentieth century' Paul LeBlanc, author of Lenin and the Revolutionary Party Table of ContentsIntroductionThe Lenin ScenarioChronology of Lenin's Life and WorksGlossary of Names

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Book SynopsisThe philosophical and political development that converted Georg Lukács from a distinguished representative of Central European aesthetic vitalism into a major Marxist theorist and Communist militant has long remained an enigma. In this this now classic study, Michael Löwy for the first time traced and explained the extraordinary mutation that occurred in Lukács's thought between 1909 and 1929. Utilizing many as yet unpublished sources, Löwy meticulously reconstructed the complex itinerary of Lukács's thinking as he gradually moved towards his decisive encounter with Bolshevism. The religious convictions of the early Lukács, the peculiar spell exercised on him and on Max Weber by Dostoyevskyan images of pre-revolutionary Russia, the nature of his friendships with Ernst Bloch and Thomas Mann, were amongst the discoveries of the book. Then, in a fascinating case-study in the sociology of ideas, Löwy showed how the same philosophical problematic of Lebensphilosophie dominated the intelligentsias of both Germany and Hungary in the pre-war period, yet how the different configurations of social forces in each country bent its political destiny into opposite directions. The famous works produced by Lukács during and after the Hungarian Commune-Tactics and Ethics, History and Class Consciousness and Lenin-were analysed and assessed. A concluding chapter discussed Lukács's eventual ambiguous settlement with Stalinism in the thirties, and its coda of renewed radicalism in the final years of his life.In this new edition, Löwy has added a substantial new introduction which reassess the nature of Lukacs's thought in the light of newly published texts and debates.Table of ContentsPreface to the New EditionAcknowledgementsIntroductionI Towards a Sociology of the Anti-Capitalist Intelligentsia1 Intellectuals as a Social Category2 The Anti-Capitalist Radicalization of Intellectuals3 The Anti-Capitalism of Intellectuals in Germany4 The Revolutionary Intelligentsia in Hungary II How an Intellectual Becomes a Revolutionary: Lukács 1909-191 Lukács's Anti-Capitalism and Tragic View of the World2 The Passage to CommunismIII Lukács's Leftist Period (1919-21)1 Ethical Ultra-Leftism: 19192 Political Leftism: 19203 Left Bolshevism: 19214 The Problematic of the Reign of FreedomIV 'History and Class Consciousness': 1923V Lukács and StalinismAppendix: Interview with Ernst BlochIndex

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Book SynopsisA classic of Western Marxism, The Destruction of Reason is Georg Lukács's trenchant criticism of German philosophy after Marx and the role it played in the rise of National Socialism. Originally published in 1952, the book is a sustained and detailed polemic against post-Hegelian German philosophy and sociology from Kierkegaard to Heidegger. The Destruction of Reason is unsparing in its contention that with almost no exceptions, the post-Hegelian tradition prepared the ground fascist thought. In this, the main culprits are Friedrich Nietzsche and Martín Heidegger who are accused, in turn, of introducing irrationalism into social and philosophical thought, pronounced antagonism to the idea of progress in history, an aristocratic view of the "masses," and, consequently, hostility to socialism, which in its classic expressions are movements for popular democracy-especially, but not exclusively, the expropriation of most private property in terms of material production.The Destruction of Reason remains one of Lukács's most controversial, albeit little read, books. This new edition, featuring an historical introduction by Enzo Traverso, will finally see this classic come back in to print.Trade Review[Lukacs possessed] a very specific and important kind of mind, raised to an extraordinary degree of interest by its quite exceptional ability. -- Raymond Williams

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Book SynopsisBlack Communist women throughout the early to mid-twentieth century fought for and led mass campaigns in the service of building collective power in the fight for liberation. Through concrete materialist analysis of the conditions of Black workers, these women argued that racial and economic equality can only be achieved by overthrowing capitalism.The first collection of its kind, Organize, Fight, Win brings together three decades of Black Communist women's political writings. In doing so, it highlights the link between Communism and Black liberation. Likewise, it makes clear how Black women fundamentally shaped, and were shaped by, Communist praxis in the twentieth century.Organize, Fight, Win includes writings from card-carrying Communists like Dorothy Burnham, Williana Burroughs, Grace P. Campbell, Alice Childress, Marvel Cooke, Esther Cooper Jackson, Thelma Dale Perkins, Vicki Garvin, Yvonne Gregory, Claudia Jones, Maude White Katz, and Louise Thompson Patterson, and writings by those who organized alongside the Communist Party, like Ella Baker, Charlotta Bass, Thyra Edwards, Lorraine Hansberry, and Dorothy Hunton.Trade ReviewCharisse Burden-Stelly is a sharp engaged radical thinker, representing the best of the Black radical tradition. Along with co-editor Jodi Dean, Burden-Stelly has curated a powerful and enormously valuable collection of writings by Black socialist and communist women, rightly placing their voices at the center of U.S. and international left histories. A great teaching tool and a much needed source of inspiration for contemporary activists. -- Barbara Ransby, historian, author and activistThe women whose voices are collected in Organize, Fight, Win are some of the principal radical thinkers and activists of the 20th century making this collection a must-read for researchers, teachers, and students of freedom struggles. Burden-Stelly and Dean have brought together some of the most significant women in the struggles for equality and their essential contribution to theorizing emancipation, including anticipating how we understand intersectionality and its relevance to political organization. These sources are an important corrective to the history of the Black Freedom Struggle and the women's rights movement putting radical Black women at the forefront of those histories. -- Denise M LynnIn this brilliantly curated anthology, Burden-Stelly and Dean celebrate the voices of Black and communist women whose struggles against capitalism were confluential with their struggles against sexism and white supremacy. The thoughtful collection of articles, reports, proclamations, and personal reflections provides an invaluable glimpse of the essential political role that Black women played between 1919 and 1956, an era which encompassed the first Red Scare, the Great Depression, the Spanish Civil War, World War II, and the second Red Scare instigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee and Joseph R. McCarthy. Organize, Fight, Win reminds us that anticommunism remains a key ideological bludgeon of American white supremacists to this day and provides relevant theoretical tools for continued resistance. -- Kristen Ghodsee, Author of Red Valkyries: Feminist Lessons from Five Revolutionary WomenCharisse Burden-Stelly and Jodi Dean have assembled a fascinating archive of writings by Black women in and around the CPUSA. These militants provide us with an important model for how to be anticapitalist, antiracist, antisexist, anti-imperialist, and antimilitarist all at once. -- Kathi WeeksBurden-Stelly and Dean have compiled a unique, much-needed volume on the lives and thought of black women communists. The voices of Williana Burroughs, Louise Thompson Patterson, Thyra Edwards, Lorraine Hansberry and many others ring out here, resonating with rich historical insights and political inspiration. Organize, Fight, Win is a proper tonic against those who mischaracterize and impugn left anti-capitalist struggle as some whites-only political project. -- Cedric Johnson, author of The Panthers Can't Save Us Now: Debating Left Politics and Black Lives MatterThis is an essential and beautifully curated collection that provides an important foundation for understanding the Black radical tradition. -- Vijay PrashadThis book returns the voices of Black women Communists to their rightful place in histories of labor, race, and gender in the 20th century. Libraries serving historians or general readers interested in Black women's history and activism need to add this to their shelves. * Library Journal *In their new collection Organize, Fight, Win, which gathers the writings of Black Communist women starting in the 1920s, Jodi Dean and Charisse Burden-Stelly provide a genealogy for the strains of Black feminism that emerged as part of the radicalization of the 1960s. -- Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor * The New York Review of Books *In this groundbreaking collection, Burden-Stelly and Dean have compiled a treasure trove of historical, political and seminal writings about Communism from Black women's perspectives. Includes pieces by Claudia Jones, Charlotta Bass, Alice Childress, Dorothy Burnham and so many more. * Ms. Magazine *Organize, Fight, Win brings to light to the theories and tactics activists used to build successful coalition movements at the beginning of the 20th century, and their enduring relevance in today's political climate. -- Morgan Forde * The Nation *This text is an important addition to the history of the United States, especially as regards the struggle for Black residents' freedom and equality. The fact that all of the work included in this book is written by communists is also important in that it proves the important role they played in the struggle during the period represented. However, more than just a look at that legacy, Organize, Fight, Win is also a working textbook for the current and future state of the fight for liberation and against the economic system of capitalism; a system that is the basis of most every other oppression, especially those targeting Black and Brown people. -- Ron Jacobs * Counterpunch *[Organize, Fight, Win] confounds decades of obfuscation and contemporary misconceptions, uncovering a hidden history of black women's leadership of and struggle within communist parties and movements in the twentieth century. Debates around theory and strategy take on a new vibrancy in these writings and paint a picture of left-wing party building that challenges stale caricature. -- Chris Dite * Jacobin *Urgent and passionate ... the editors' careful work has not only corrected the historical narrative but achieved something inspiring. -- Helen Mercer * Morning Star *[An] essential collection. -- Andy Hines * Public Books *Table of ContentsIntroductionCharisse Burden-Stelly and Jodi DeanSection 1: The Early YearsEditors' introduction Grace P. Campbell, "Women Offenders and the Day Court" Williana Burroughs, "Negro Work Has Not Been Entirely Successful"Grace P. Campbell (writing as Grace Lamb), "How Shall the Negro Woman Vote?"Williana Burroughs, "Trade Union Work Report"Williana Burroughs, "Work Among Negro Women", "Woman and Child Labor in the Colonies", "Negro Women in Industry"Section 2: Labor, Militancy and OrganizingEditors' introductionMaude White, "Special Negro Demands" Thyra Edwards, "Let Us Have More Like Mr. Sopkins" Williana Burroughs, "Women's Department"Ella Baker & Marvel Cooke, "The Bronx Slave Market" Louise Thompson, "Toward a Brighter Dawn" Thyra Edwards, "Attitudes of Negro Families On Relief - Another Opinion" Marvel Cooke, "She Was in Paris and Forgot Chanel"Louise Thompson, "Negro Women in Our Party"Thyra Edwards, "Food Gets Scarcer and Scarcer On Spanish Front, Says Writer Miss Thyra Edwards Tells Dramatic Story of Experiences in the War-Torn Country; Winter Rushing On"Louise Thompson Patterson, "Excerpt from Memoirs on Scottsboro Boys Organizing"Esther Cooper Jackson, "The Negro Women Domestic Worker in Relation to Trade Unionism" Section 3: Against FascismEditors' introductionEsther Cooper Jackson, "Negro Youth Organizing for Victory" Thelma Dale, "Reconversion and the Negro People" Claudia Jones, "On the Right to Self-Determination for the Negro People in the Black Belt" Thelma Dale, "The Status of Negro Women in the United States of America"Claudia Jones, "For New Approaches to Our Work Among Women" Claudia Jones, "International Women's Day and the Struggle for Peace" Section 4: International Peace ActivismEditors' introductionVicki Garvin, "Union Leader Challenges Progressive American" Sojourners for Truth and Justice, "Proclamation of the Sojourners for Truth and Justice"Dorothy Hunton, "Where Are YOU Hiding" Lorraine Hansberry, "Egyptian People Fight for Freedom" Sojourners for Truth and Justice, "Our Cup Runneth Over"Lorraine Hansberry, "'Illegal' Conference Shows Peace Is the Key to Freedom" Eslanda Goode Robeson, "Southern Officers Treat Korean POWS Like Negroes in the South" Dorothy Burnham, "Southern Tenants and 'Croppers Talk About Need for Organizing"Yvonne Gregory, "Pearl Bailey Incident Recalls Life and Death of Bessie Smith"Charlotta Bass, "Acceptance Speech of Mrs. Bass"Esther Cooper Jackson, "This is My Husband: Fighter for His People, Political Refugee"Section 5: Struggling Against White Supremacy and Anti-CommunismEditors' introductionEslanda Goode Robeson, "Unrest in Africa Due to Oppression"Dorothy Burnham, "American Women Join World Peace Crusade"Alice Childress, "A Conversation From Life"Eslanda Goode Robeson, Introduction to Ben Davis: Fighter for FreedomClaudia Jones, Excerpt from Ben Davis: Fighter for FreedomVicki Garvin, "White Advocates of Negro Freedom Continue Tradition of John Brown"Vicki Garvin, "New Hope for Negro Labor"Dorothy Hunton, "Prison: The Bail Fund Affair"Charlotta Bass, "In Retrospect: An Attack - An Answer"

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Book SynopsisThe Communist International was the first organised attempt to bring about worldwide revolution and left a lasting mark on 20th-century history. The book offers a new and fascinating account of this transnational organisation founded in 1919 by Lenin and Trotsky and dissolved by Stalin in 1943, telling the story through the eyes of the activists who became its "professional revolutionaries". Studer follows such figures as Willi Münzenberg, Mikhail Borodin, M.N. Roy and Evelyn Trent, Tina Modotti, Agnes Smedley and many others less well-known as they are despatched to the successive political hotspots of the 1920s and '30s, from revolutionary Berlin to Baku, from Shanghai to Spain, from Nazi Germany to Stalin's Moscow. It traces their journeys from revolutionary hope to accommodation, defeat or death, looking at questions of motivation and commitment, agency and negotiation, of life and love, conflict and frustration. In doing so, it reveals a forgotten Comintern, the expression of a multi-dimensional revolutionary moment, which attracted not only working-class but feminist, anti-racist, anti-colonial and anti-imperialist activists, highlighting the role of women in the Comintern and the centrality of anti-colonialism to the Communist project. The book concludes with a reflection on the ultimate demise of a historically unique undertaking.Trade ReviewOver the past quarter of a century, Brigitte Studer has established herself as the world's most original and creative historian of the Comintern. She has pioneered a style of history that transcends the Cold War story of leaders, institutions, ideological clashes, and organizational acronyms in order to explore the lives of those individuals who dedicated themselves to making communist revolution. In Travellers of the World Revolution she explores with verve and insight the lives of two dozen Comintern activists, men and women who were sent by Moscow across the world to set up communist parties, found newspapers, organize and finance political uprisings and military action, or engage in espionage on behalf of the Soviet motherland. Living out of suitcases, they were at constant risk of arrest, interrogation, torture, and even death; yet Studer also shows that much of their lives comprised a dull routine of keeping Moscow informed of what they were doing. As a study of revolutionary commitment it is a first-class piece of work. -- Steve A. Smith, All Souls College, OxfordTravellers of the World Revolution is a fascinating history of the Comintern from the perspective of the women and men who in the 1920s and 1930s staffed its offices from Moscow to Berlin, Shanghai, and Madrid. Tracking these polyglot border crossers, who worked as translators, bookkeepers, propagandists, instructors, couriers, and sometimes spies, Brigitte Studer uncovers their efforts to revolutionize the world and themselves. Her account of the everyday lives of the Comintern's daring world travellers reveals the appeal -- and the limits -- of dreams of economic, racial, and gender equality. -- Lisa A. Kirschenbaum, West Chester UniversityUsually, historians of the Communist International have focused on parties, congresses, and strategies. Brigitte Studer changes the perspective: she reconstitutes the epic, exciting, and tragic itinerary of a few generations of human beings who made revolution a form of life. She merges the carefulness of historical scholarship with the sensitivity of feminism and a postcolonial gaze, thus offering a completely new portrait of the Communist International. Her magisterial work is irreplaceable both for our historical knowledge and for the memory of the left in the twenty-first century. -- Enzo TraversoExpansive and impeccably researched, this is a valuable addition to scholarship on early 20th-century communism. * Publishers Weekly *A landmark publication...Studer's book is a fascinating and informative read for anyone wishing to understand this momentous period and the part played by the Comintern. -- John Green * Morning Star *Studer focuses on the thousands of professional revolutionaries who kept the International running. These polyglot activists earned very little money, traveling from country to country, often illegally, doing myriad jobs, and sometimes ending up in prison. They converged at different hotspots of world revolution: Moscow 1920, Berlin 1923, Shanghai 1925-27, Madrid 1936. Theirs is the story of the Comintern as a workplace. -- Nathaniel Flakin * Left Voice *

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Book SynopsisThere was life before the fall.1989 was a year of astonishing and rapid change: the fall of the Berlin Wall marked the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and an end to an entire way of life for millions of people behind the Iron Curtain. Bloc Life collects first hand testimony of the people who lived in East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Romania during the Cold War era, and reveals a rich tapestry of experience that goes beyond the headlines of spies and surveillance, secret police and political corruption. In fact, many of the people remember their lives under communism as 'perfectly ordinary' and even hanker for the 'security' that it offered.From political leaders, athletes and pop stars, to cooks, miners and cosmonauts, the stories collected in Bloc Life evoke the moods, preoccupations and experiences of a world that vanished almost overnight.Trade ReviewThe stories are by turns harrowing, miraculous and utterly compelling * The Sunday Times *This is a powerful and moving book evoking a way of life that seems long gone and far away, but was endured by millions of people less than 20 years ago, and just a few hundred miles away * The Mail on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisThe works of French philosopher Alain Badiou range from novels, poems, 'romanopéras' and popular political treatises to elaborate philosophical arguments engaging with mathematical theory.Badiou suggests that 'philosophy is always a biography of the philosopher', and throughout all of his writing there is a staunch commitment to emancipatory politics and a radical yet faithful subjectivity. His famous, or infamous, philosophy of emancipation is firmly grounded in his fidelity to the universal idea of a collective life.Introducing Alain Badiou is an elegantly written and crisply illustrated guide to an essential contemporary thinker.

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Book SynopsisThe national protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd in the summer of 2020, made clear what many already knew to be true: policing—in all its iterations—must be abolished. The nationwide uprisings saw the burning of the third precinct in Minneapolis, the creation of autonomous zones in Seattle, and the toppling of statues and memorials to white supremacists, colonizers, and confederates. How We Stay Free chronicles the protests in the city of Philadelphia and the Black organizers that led, sustained, and nurtured the movement for abolition. In the midst of a global pandemic, Philadelphians took to the streets establishing mutual aid campaigns, jail support networks, bail funds, and housing encampments for their community, removing the statue of Frank Rizzo, the former mayor and face of racist policing, called for the release of all political prisoners including Mumia Abu-Jamal, and protested, marched, and agitated in all corners of the city. From Philadelphia, which dating back at least to W.E.B. DuBois has served as a vista to understand Black life in the US, How We Stay Free collects and presents reflections and testimonies, prose and poetry from those on the frontlines to take stock of where the movement started, where it stands, and where we go from here. How We Stay Free is both a celebration of the organizing that sustained the uprising and a powerful call-to-action—demanding all of us to take to the streets, organize our communities, and revolt for the creation of new, better, and freer worlds. Trade Review"This powerful volume provides a maroon archive of Black resistance, historical memory, and survival work during the 2020 uprisings in Philadelphia. From the founding of the Philadelphia Black Radical Collective to the emergence of the Black Students Alliance in July 2020, the writings and spoken word in How We Stay Free remind us that, “Freedom is not a destination. It’s a process.” By documenting Black Philadelphia’s activist praxis during the United States’ largest popular mobilization in history, this edited collection unearths the precious artifacts of local struggle through voice, material culture, poetry and prose. It connects past, present, and future by interweaving the histories of the Paul Robeson House and Museum and Hakim’s Bookstore in West Philadelphia to the contemporary practices of mutual aid and survival developed by the Black and Brown Workers Cooperative to ensure that Black Trans Lives Matter. How We Stay Free is a rich tapestry of political work and freedom dreams that is essential reading for understanding our city and the larger world beyond as we reckon with the COVID-19 pandemic, the scale of state violence at home and abroad, and unprecedented ecological crisis. Underneath all we do, Mike Africa, Jr.’s reminds us that “the overall mission, the grand mission itself” must be to “protect life.”—Donna Murch, author of Living for the City: Migration, Education, and the Rise of the Black Panther Party in Oakland, California and Assata Taught Me: State Violence, Racial Capitalism and the Movement for Black Lives“As a loud and proud West Philadelphian, I found this volume to be a visionary and genuinely inspiring approach to chronicling the momentous events of 2020. How We Stay Free, with its offering of poetry, history, context, and practical organizing strategies is a book that so many of us didn't even know that we needed. I am persuaded that the spirit of onetime West Philadelphia resident Paul Robeson moves through pages, which attest to Black identity as an infinite plurality and Black love as Black collective action.”—Asali Solomon, author of The Days of Afrekete“How We Stay Free is a foundational text and map that builds on the legacy of the Black Radical Tradition as localized in Black Philadelphia. Through this eloquent mix of poetry, prose, interviews, and archives of Philly’s Black Uprising, this text places our fight for justice that year within a much longer history and future of radical revolt. This is must read for community residents, activists, organizers to model ways that Philly has paired arts-based resistance work with organized protests and mobilization to build sustainable radical coalitions for freedom."—Dr. Christina Jackson, Scholar-Activist, Community Facilitator, Associate Professor of Sociology at Stockton University“How We Stay Free is a living archive built by a community of freedom fighters. In its pages, readers walk the streets of West Philadelphia, stepping into Hakim’s Bookstore, marching up Broad St. with the Philly Black Student Alliance, sharing food at the Bunny Hop in Malcolm X Park, or sitting in the parlor at 4951 Walnut where Paul Robeson’s voice still thunders in the walls. This is poetic record of resistance from the 2020 uprisings. From the ashes of the MOVE bombing to the surviving nail where Frank Rizzo’s statue once stood, these are blueprints for a future being made in the present. A beautiful compendium of struggle.”—Christina Heatherton, coeditor of Policing the Planet: Why the Policing Crisis Led to Black Lives Matter “Christopher Rogers and Fajr Muhammad have curated an urgent and timely collection. How We Stay Free documents how the 2020 Black uprising in Philadelphia sparked the political imagination. Produced in collaboration with the Paul Robeson House and Museum, it illuminates how Paul and Eslanda Robeson remain inspiring symbols of the radical social change so urgently needed today.”—Jordan T. Camp, author of Incarcerating the Crisis: Freedom Struggles and the Rise of the Neoliberal State

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Book SynopsisIn this gripping narrative, John Koehler details the widespread activities of East Germany''s Ministry for State Security, or Stasi. The Stasi, which infiltrated every walk of East German life, suppressed political opposition, and caused the imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of citizens, proved to be one of the most powerful secret police and espionage services in the world. Koehler methodically reviews the Stasi''s activities within East Germany and overseas, including its programs for internal repression, international espionage, terrorism and terrorist training, art theft, and special operations in Latin America and Africa.Koehler was both Berlin bureau chief of the Associated Press during the height of the Cold War and a U.S. Army Intelligence officer. His insider''s account is based on primary sources, such as U.S. intelligence files, Stasi documents made available only to the author, and extensive interviews with victims of political oppression, former Stasi officers, and West German government officials. Drawing from these sources, Koehler recounts tales that rival the most outlandish Hollywood spy thriller and, at the same time, offers the definitive contribution to our understanding of this still largely unwritten aspect of the history of the Cold War and modern Germany.Table of Contents* Revenge Versus the Rule of Law * Erich Mielke: Moscows Leader for the Red Gestapo * KGB and Stasi: Two Shields, Two Swords * The Sword of Repression * The Invisible Invasion: Espionage Assault on West Germany * The Stasi Against the United States and NATO * The Stasis Spy Catchers * Stasi Operations in the Third World * The Stasi and Terrorism: The La Belle Bombing * Playground for International Terrorists * Safe Haven for the Red Army Faction * Shattered Shield, Broken Sword

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Book SynopsisExcellent. The Economist A gripping account. South China Morning PostWell worth reading. The Morning StarA persuasive and readable narrative. History TodayElegantly written. The Tablet An excellent study. The Chartist Engaging. Asia Times The events of 1949 in China reverberated across the world and throughout the rest of the century. That tumultuous year saw the dramatic collapse of Chiang Kai-shek's pro-Western' Nationalist government, overthrown by Mao Zedong and his communist armies, and the foundation of the People's Republic of China.China 1949 follows the huge military forces that tramped across the country, the exile of once-powerful leaders and the alarm of the foreign powers watching on. The well-known figures of the Revolution are all here. But so are lesser known military and political leaders along with a host of ordinary' Chinese citizeTrade ReviewAdds to our understanding of the rise of Chairman Mao. * The Independent *An excellent new book about the founding year of the People’s Republic. * The Economist *China 1949: Year of Revolution is a gripping account... the book answers in meticulous detail the big question: why did the Communists win?... an excellent record of one of the most important historical events of the 20th century. * South China Morning Post Magazine *An excellent book, which confines its focus to the pivotal year which ended 30 years of chaos and civil conflict and opened a new chapter in China’s history — and the world’s. Well worth reading. * Morning Star *A persuasive and readable narrative of that critical year, accurately emphasising the catastrophic shortcomings of the Nationalists and of Chiang Kai-shek that contributed to their defeat… China 1949 brings this critical year to life and is a good starting point for understanding how the People's Republic of China developed. * History Today *Well researched and elegantly written. * The Tablet *Provides an engaging day-by-day account of those momentous events … For those wishing to pursue the subject in greater detail, this volume lays an excellent foundation. * Asia Times *This is an excellent study and highly recommended. * The Chartist *This book offers an accessible, authoritative account that provides orientation on where things were at the very start of the great Communist project, and some way of understanding better where they stand today. * Asian Affairs *‘A wonderful read for students and general readers why 1949 was a fateful and pivotal year that changed the fate of the most populous country in the world. It shows vividly that the Communist Party did not come to power riding on the tide of a great revolution that swept across China but it seized the mandate of Heaven as successive imperial dynasties had done in the past – by military conquest.’ * Steve Tsang, Professor of Chinese Studies and Director of the China Institute, SOAS University of London, UK [and author of A Modern History of Hong Kong] *China 1949 is a compelling achievement. First, Hutchings gives a clear, balanced account of the titanic forces that brought to power one of the most important political movements of the 20th century, the Chinese Communist Party. But then, he gives the book a deeply humane and moving heart with accounts of the emotions and dilemmas felt both by those who supported the revolution and those who opposed it. This is history on the grand scale but with a brilliant, observant eye for the complexities that underpin this pivotal event. * Rana Mitter, Director of the University China Centre, University of Oxford, UK, and author of China's Good War: How World War II is Shaping a New Nationalism *‘The Chinese have recently celebrated the 70th anniversary of a revolution which changed the course of world history. Graham Hutchings reveals the extent of the Communist triumph in that epoch-making year, and the countervailing humiliation of the Nationalists. The book is well researched, tells a fascinating story with pace and elegance, and illuminates what is happening in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong today.’ * Simon Scott Plummer, Feature Writer on East Asia for The Times, Diplomatic Correspondent and Chief Foreign Leader Writer for The Daily Telegraph, and frequent reviewer for Times Literary Supplement and The Tablet *An interesting aspect for today's readers is the book's contribution to understanding current issues surrounding China and its place in the world. * China2025.nl (Bloomsbury Translation) *The victory of Chinese Communist forces over those of China’s Nationalist Government in 1949 is one of the great climacterics of the twentieth century. Not only did it define China’s subsequent political trajectory, but it also shaped the futures of Taiwan and Hong Kong. China 1949 provides a vivid picture of the final act in the long-drawn-out struggle for power in China. Drawing on a wide range of private papers, archival and Chinese-language sources, Graham Hutchings has achieved the difficult feat of producing a scholarly history that is also a real page turner. He has an unerring ear for the arresting phrase, and writes with elegance and élan. His pacy narrative, viewed through multiple prisms of a varied cast of protagonists ranging from political and military leaders to ‘ordinary’ individuals, is peppered with piquant detail that brings the unfolding events of 1949 vividly to life. * Bob Ash, Emeritus Professor, SOAS, University of London, UK *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction 1. Adversaries 2. “The Event on the Horizon” 3. Peace Postures 4. ‘Offshore China’ 5. Crossing the River 6. Taking the Cities 7. Parallel Worlds 8. Mao’s New World 9. Endgames 10. Afterwards

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Book SynopsisJames Klugmann appears as a shadowy figure in the legendary history of the Cambridge spies. As both mentor and friend to Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess and others, Klugmann was the man who manipulated promising recruits deemed ripe for conversion to the communist cause. This perception of him was reinforced following the release of his MI5 file and the disclosure of Soviet intelligence files in Moscow, which revealed he played a key part in the recruitment of John Cairncross, the ''fifth man'', and had a pivotal war-time role in the Special Operations Executive, helping shift Churchill and the allies to support Tito and the communist partisans in Yugoslavia. In this book, Geoff Andrews reveals Klugmann''s story in full for the first time, uncovering the motivations, conflicts and illusions of those drawn into the world of communism - and the sacrifices they made on its behalf.Trade ReviewA fascinating study of the intellectual and moral ossification that can result from an addiction to dogma. Geoff Andrews has done his research…well-written and thought-provoking account. -- Alan Judd, Literary ReviewGeoff Andrews has done a fine job in piecing together the story. This fascinating biography illuminates the world of the mid-twentieth century Communist intellectuals: the idealism that motivated them, and the choices that they had to make. -- Tom Buchanan, Professor of Modern British and European History, University of OxfordIn his illuminating, sympathetic, but far from sycophantic, biography of Klugmann, a leading member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, Geoff Andrews paints a picture of a troubled intellectual who sacrificed his integrity through rigid devotion to the party. -- Richard Norton-Taylor, The GuardianTable of ContentsPrologue 1. Hampstead: Bourgeois Beginnings 2. Outsider at Gresham’s 3. A Cambridge Communist 4. Organising the Movement 5. Mentor and Talent Spotter 6. The Making of a Communist Intellectual 7. Working for the Comintern 8. The Professional Revolutionary 9. The Spy Circle 10. The Reluctant Spy 11. A Communist Goes to War 12. Comrade or Conspirator? 13. Great Expectations 14. Cold War Intellectual 15. Trials and Tribulations 16. The Party Functionary: 1956 and After 17. Lost Generation 18. Late Spring 19. Hopes and Fears 20. A Good Jesuit

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Deutscher Memorial Prize 2023This book presents an encompassing, detailed and thorough overview and reconstruction of Lefebvre's theory of space and of the urban. Henri Lefebvre belongs to the generation of the great French intellectuals and philosophers, together with his contemporaries Michel Foucault and Jean-Paul Sartre. His theory has experienced a remarkable revival over the last two decades, and is discussed and applied today in many disciplines in humanities and social sciences, particularly in urban studies, geography, urban sociology, urban anthropology, architecture and planning. Lefebvre, together with David Harvey, is one of the leading and most read theoreticians in these fields. This book explains in an accessible way the theoretical and epistemological context of this work in French philosophy and in the German dialectic (Hegel, Marx, and Nietzsche), and reconstructs in detail the historical development of its different elements. It also gives an overview on the receptions of Lefebvre and discusses a wide range of applications of this theory in many research fields, such as urban and regional development, urbanization, urbanity, social space, and everyday life.Trade ReviewChristian Schmid's reception and interpretation of Lefebvre's oeuvre refers strictly to the French originals and represents the first comprehensive epistemological reconstruction of the theory of the production of space. On that basis many of the previous confusions in the development of a critical spatial theory are clarified. This is where I see the highest significance of this path-breaking publication. -- Prof. Dr. Benno Werlen, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, GermanySchmid's publication is a superb theoretical treatise on Lefebvre, clarifying many common misunderstandings. It is particularly timely for those urban China researchers who are keen to avoid past mistakes of randomly indigenising and appropriating Western concepts and develop locally relevant theories in fruitful conversation with critical urban research. -- Prof. Dr. Wing-Shing Tang, Hong Kong Baptist UniversityChristian Schmid provides us with a wonderfully lucid guide through the complexity and richness of Henri Lefebvre's oeuvre. Among the many contributions of the book is the powerful new light it sheds on Lefebvre's spatio-historical and dialectical theory of society. Without question, it opens up vital new possibilities for a renewal of social theory, empirical research and political practice. -- Gillian HartChristian Schmid's carefully translated and strategically updated volume offers the most comprehensive reconstruction of Henri Lefebvre's theory of the production of space available in the English language today. On the basis of an unusually methodical discussion of the various intellectual currents that converge in Henri Lefebvre's vast life work, Schmid gives us crucial insights about the deeply dynamic and richly multidimensional ways in which space is produced. Henri Lefebvre and the Theory of the Production of Space constitutes mandatory reading for a wide audience ranging from specialists of 20th century social theory to thoughtful political organizers and practitioners of urban research. -- Stefan Kipfer, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York UniversityIn this authoritative book, Christian Schmid systematically reconstructs Henri Lefebvre's theory of space production as a general theory of the urban society. By critically expanding the German-language original, this volume shows both the basis and the outcome of four decades of Schmid's thinking and studying cities with Lefebvre. -- Lukasz Stanek, University of Michigan, Ann ArborChristian Schmid has written the most meticulous, comprehensive and lucid interpretation of French Marxist philosopher Henri Lefebvre's incomparable oeuvre on space. Henri Lefebvre and the Theory of the Production of Space is distinguished above all by Schmid's imaginative grasp of Lefebvre's dialectical method, especially in exploring spatial mediations of everyday life, state and capital. This book will be essential and exhilarating reading for anyone interested in how space is political. -- Kanishka Goonewardena, Geography and Planning, University of TorontoIn an age of planetary urban transformation, crisis and insurgency, Henri Lefebvre's ideas continue to inspire radical urban research and practice around the world. In this long-awaited translation and elaboration of a work originally published in German over two decades ago, Christian Schmid offers a comprehensive reconstruction and systematic interpretation of Lefebvre's philosophy of space, framed in direct relation to the challenges of deciphering ongoing patterns and pathways of urban restructuring, their contradictions and their potentialities. In so doing, makes a path-breaking contribution to radical urban theory. -- Neil Brenner

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Book SynopsisDespite insoluble contradictions, intense volatility and fierce resistance, the crisis-ridden capitalism of the 21st century lingers on. To understand capital's paradoxical expansion and entrenchment amidst crisis and unrest, Mute Compulsionoffers a novel theory of the historically unique forms of abstract and impersonal power set in motion by the subjection of social life to the profit imperative. Building on a critical reconstruction of Karl Marx's unfinished critique of political economy and a wide range of contemporary Marxist theory, philosopher Søren Mau sets out to explain how the logic of capital tightens its stranglehold on the life of society by constantly remoulding the material conditions of social reproduction. In the course of doing so, Mau intervenes in classical and contemporary debates about the value form, crisis theory, biopolitics, social reproduction, humanism, logistics, agriculture, metabolism, the body, competition, technology and relative surplus populations.Trade ReviewNot a day goes by without a question imposing itself on the minimally sane mind: how can all this shit around us just go on? In this masterful study, Søren Mau methodically drills into the core of the matter: the deeply entrenched power of some people over others, and of capital over everyone. It is this power that drives the disasters of our time, and it is a specific form of power, one rooted in the most basal layers of existence-the economy, where human bodies are (supposed to be) sustained. Written with verve and clarity, analytically sharp and dialectically shrewd in equal measure, Mute Compulsion reinvigorates historical materialism for the mid-twenty-first century. Through close readings of Marx and critical dialogues with contemporary theory, it throws up fresh insights for a new generation of Marxists, as well as for long-time connoisseurs. A big red book to cherish. -- Andreas Malm, author of Fossil Capital (Verso, 2016), The Progress of this Storm (2018) and How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2021).An instant classic. The best introduction to Marx's thought in any language. -- Aaron BenanavThis is the first in-depth investigation of a key concept used in Marx's Capital: mute compulsion. Far beyond a purely philological exercise, Søren Mau shows the centrality of this concept for a better understanding of capitalist class rule, subsumption and biopolitics. If we take the findings of Søren Mau's book seriously, it will considerably change our views on the "power of capital" and the political strategies to fight against this power. -- Michael HeinrichMute Compulsion manages to do something quite extraordinary: it puts a definitive end to accusations of economic reductionism levelled against Marx through an argument which is both complex, and yet very simple. By proposing that capital's domination operates through a form of economic power that subordinates our everyday life, Mau underscores the need to throw our gaze not only at what happens in the workplace, but particularly outside of it. A tour de force through some of the key Marxist concepts and debates. -- Sara R. Farris, author of In the Name of Women's Rights. The Rise of Femonationalism (Duke UP, 2017)

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