Category: Theory
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The Deconstruction of the American State /w Clyde Barrow
A month after Donald Trump took office as 45th President of the United States, his chief political strategist Stephen K. Bannon declared that “the new administration is in an unending battle for deconstruction of the administrative state.” While many commentators have seen the Trump administration’s actions as unhinged, erratic, unpredictable, and impulsive, this presentation situates … Watch video »
The Tightrope of Socialist Politics and Governance in Canada
Obstacles, Dilemmas, Strategy One of the more persistent irritants amongst supporters of the New Democratic Party (NDP) has been its longstanding inability to replace the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) as the country’s alternative to the different iterations of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC). This irritation has been amplified by the LPC’s habit of campaigning … Keep reading »
Beyond Market Dystopia: Socialist Register 2020
The Toronto book launch of Socialist Register 2020 – Beyond Market Dystopia: New Ways of Living (edited by Leo Panitch and Greg Albo). Watch video »
Die Linke: Now What?
Three Suggestions for a Left Strategy Discussion Society is being transformed. The party system is in a state of upheaval. Parties continually find themselves in troubled waters, and Die Linke (The Left Party) is no exception. Keep reading »
We Must Overcome Our Atomization to Beat Back Neoliberal Fascism
The recent impeachment hearings in the United States made clear that President Donald Trump abused his office and committed a crime against the Constitution. Not only did he attempt to pressure the Ukrainian government into investigating his presidential political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden in exchange for military aid, Trump also used … Keep reading »
The Use and Abuse of Identity in Public Life
The question of identity has become urgent for activism in the West though the issue has been important in many other parts of the world as well. Political identities form in opposition to oppression (or, reactively, as perceived victimization) and demand recognition, rights, and equity (or aggressively promote their denial). They also divide, become separated … Watch video »
‘Dual Power,’ Then… and Now?
Global capitalist crisis, impending ecological disaster, and new responses by popular movements in some regions, particularly in Latin America, inspire radical thinking about the need to go “beyond capital.” But how to attain the desired “system change” – today, an ecosocialist regime in place of capitalist rule – continues to be a matter for debate … Keep reading »
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 »