Category: Theory
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Green Designs for 21st Century Socialism
Before turning to the subject matter at hand two abiding issues in Marxist thinking need to be addressed. First, when Marx inveighed against Utopian Socialist futuristic model building, he never intended it to become a mantra dissuading socialists from thinking practically about socialist institutional design. Rather, Marx simply insisted that such endeavors only be undertaken … Keep reading »
States and Capitalist Society
Fifty years after it was published, The State in Capitalist Society remains indispensable for any socialist movement with ambitions of government. Keep reading »
Trump and the Spectre of Fascism
As a long-time educator and researcher in the Canadian labour movement, I think it is imperative at this moment that we reach out to our members and communities on the politics that has been emerging on the hard right. This includes hard right populists like Doug Ford, Jason Kenney and Andrew Scheer in the Conservative … Keep reading »
Sneak peek: Second segment on building socialism in Canada
Sadia Khan, Corvin Russell, and Sharmeen Khan continue their discussion on how we can work to build socialism in Canada – in this Patreon-exclusive sneak peek. Listen to audio »
Lessons from the Past: Markets, Plans, Bureaucracy
Wilder Pérez Varona interviews Eric Toussaint on a range of issues dealing with the Russian Revolution, conducted on 8 May 2019 during the International Colloquium dedicated to Leon Trotsky. Keep reading »
How do we build socialism in Canada?
Sadia Khan, Corvin Russell, and Sharmeen Khan have a discussion based on the following question: “How do we work to build socialism?” Listen to audio »
Transforming Capitalist Power: From the Streets to the State
The communist playwright Bertolt Brecht once wrote, “The individual can be annihilated/But the Party cannot be annihilated” (1977, 29). And yet, in the neoliberal era, the Party has been annihilated – only the individual remains. Or so it seemed until a few years ago. Communist parties have become insignificant political forces, or, as in China, … Keep reading »
Eternal Builder of Dreams and Hopes: Marta Harnecker (1937 – 2019)
“Well, friends, that’s it for today. You have to live in uncertainty and get ahead no matter what it takes. A hug as always, full of dreams and hopes.” – Marta With these words Marta Harnecker bade farewell to all her friends in her last mail on April 24th, after giving us her last brave … Keep reading »
Manifestos and Socialisms for the 21st Century
A review of The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality. Keep reading »
Socialist Strategy and the Capitalist Democratic State
Analysis of the Leninist and the social democratic conceptions of the state, and the need to develop a democratic socialist politics for the 21st century. Keep reading »
The Strategic Question Revisited: Ten Theses
In 2006 Daniel Bensaïd made a very important call to reopen the debate on the ‘politico-strategic’ question. This call was made amidst a series of discussions within the European anticapitalist Left at a moment when signs of hope, such as the new wave of militancy associated with the anti-globalization movement, were combined with strategic contradictions, … Keep reading »
Far-Right Identity Politics and the Task for the Left
Identity politics is a key problem of our age, but the problem is typically misunderstood. Usually the left is vilified by the right for encouraging divisive politics rooted in the grievances of different minority groups. These groups are denounced for pursuing selfish agendas that harm the unity of the nation. The right then portrays itself … Keep reading »