• Monthly Review
  • Monthly Review Press
  • Climate & Capitalism
  • Money on the Left
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Mastadon
MR Online
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact/Submission
  • Browse
    • Recent Articles Archive
    • by Subject
      • Ecology
      • Education
      • Imperialism
      • Inequality
      • Labor
      • Literature
      • Marxism
      • Movements
      • Philosophy
      • Political Economy
    • by Region
      • Africa
      • Americas
      • Asia
      • Australasia
      • Europe
      • Global
      • Middle East
    • by Category
      • Art
      • Commentary
      • Interview
      • Letter
      • News
      • Newswire
  • Monthly Review Essays

About Prabir Purkayastha

Prabir Purkayastha is the founding editor of Newsclick.in, a digital media platform. He is an activist for science and the Free Software movement.
  • Soldiers from Fort Riley, Kansas, ill with Spanish flu at a hospital ward at Camp Funston Soldiers from Fort Riley, Kansas, ill with Spanish flu at a hospital ward at Camp Funston.

    Disease capitalism and COVID-19: Hunger in the belly of the beast

    Originally published: Peoples Dispatch on May 10, 2020 (more by Peoples Dispatch)  |

    For capital, profits come from disease, not peoples’ health. COVID-19 shows the consequence of disease capitalism in a globalized world, the rich—countries or individuals—will not be spared either.

  • Hiroshima Appeals by Yusaku Kamekura

    The current U.S. approach to nuclear weapons can only lead to armageddon—arms control provides the only path to peace

    Prabir Purkayastha

    The decade ends with two major threats to humanity: global warming leading to a climate catastrophe and the threat of a nuclear war extinguishing our civilization.

  • USS STARK (FFG-31) listing to port after being hit by two Iraqi Exocet missiles

    The UK’s dubious role in the new tanker war with Iran

    Prabir Purkayastha

    There are signs of a new tanker war in the Persian Gulf, with Britain joining a coalition that wants a war with Iran.

  • PepsiCo and Monsanto’s Bogus Court Cases are War on Indian Farmers (Image courtesy: CNN.com)

    PepsiCo and Monsanto’s bogus court cases are war on Indian farmers

    Originally published: NewsClick.in on May 4, 2019 (more by NewsClick.in)  |

    At the heart of the struggle is capital’s need–Monsanto and Pepsico’s–to continuously enclose spheres and generate surpluses from creating a monopoly over something that it does not actually own.

  • Trump and Putin

    Trump and Bolton’s new motto: how I started to stop worrying and love the bomb

    Originally published: NewsClick.in on October 25, 2018 (more by NewsClick.in)  |

    The key issue is the U.S.’s desire to return to the 90’s status of the world’s sole hegemon.

  • Donald Trump (Image Courtesy: The Wire)

    The Rogue Nation: U.S. breaks the Iran nuclear deal

    Originally published: NewsClick.in on May 10, 2018 (more by NewsClick.in)  |

    This reneging on international agreements by the U.S. is not an isolated case. This is the pattern that the U.S. has been following now for the last 25 years.

  • Aijaz Ahmad

    Aijaz Ahmad on Syria, U.S. and Palestine

    Originally published: NewsClick.in on April 7, 2018 (more by NewsClick.in)  |

    A rational solution is possible for Syria, if the US wants to be rational. But with Kushner in the White House Palestine faces a grim future.

  • What’s Behind the US Escalation Against North Korea?

    Aijaz Ahmad and Prabir Purkayastha

      Aijaz Ahmad: Ever since this young man [Kim Jong-un] became the president, the head of state, of North Korea . . . the West has been testing his will, to see whether he can be stared down. . . .  Every year these very provocative war games take place, involving South Korea and the […]

  • Imperial Sovereignty in the Automated Battlefield: Interview with Aijaz Ahmad

    Prabir Purkayastha

    Aijaz Ahmad: Since the Vietnam War the United States has been developing what they then called the “automated battlefield.”  Now, after about 40 years, we are now seeing some very, very advanced expressions of that, where the entire battlefield is being automated, to use the whole spectrum of technologies that they have . . . […]

  • Imperialists and Their Islamists in Syria: Interview with Aijaz Ahmad

    Prabir Purkayastha

    “No genuine democratic nationalist movement in the world has ever asked for any imperialist intervention.” — Aijaz Ahmad Aijaz Ahmad is a Marxist critic in India.  Prabir Purkayastha is a member of the Delhi Science Forum.  Video by NewsClick (15 February 2012).  See, also, Prabir Purkayastha, “Why Syria Matters: Interview with Aijaz Ahmad” (27 November […]

  • Why Syria Matters: Interview with Aijaz Ahmad

    Prabir Purkayastha

    Aijaz Ahmad: For one thing, Syria is the last remaining representative of Arab nationalism as it used to be understood historically.  It still calls itself socialist.  Even though it has implemented a great deal of neoliberal reform, the state sector is still dominant.  It bans, literally bans, religion from politics.  It will not recognize the […]

  • The Neocolonization of Libya: Interview with Aijaz Ahmad

    Prabir Purkayastha

    Aijaz Ahmad: . . . Europeans, and Italians in particular, are celebrating the 100th anniversary of their first aerial bombing ever done in the world.  The Italians bombed in Libya in 1911.  Now, of course, with 100 years of development of the technology, there have been 20,000 aerial attacks on Libya. . . .  They […]

  • On Syria, Democracy, and Imperialism

    Prabir Purkayastha

    The trajectory of the democratic movement in the Arab world was never going to be a straight line with clear goals and objectives.  The Arab regimes are not homogeneous; they have medieval Islamist monarchies, as in Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states, and secular but completely authoritarian regimes, both Western puppets like Mubarak and […]

  • Libya and Yemen — Study in Contrast

    Prabir Purkayastha

    It is now clear that the no-fly zone has been expanded in Libya to a military campaign for a regime change, something that the UN Security Council did not authorize.  Gaddafi’s residence in Tripoli has been bombed and more strikes are taking place in Tripoli and other towns.  The argument of course is that Gaddafi’s […]

  • The West’s Aim in Libya: Interview with Aijaz Ahmad

    Prabir Purkayastha

    Prabir Purkayastha: If you really look at what is happening, what we have is a historical split between the east and the west, which could be the outline of what could emerge at least in the near future, unless Gaddafi has the strength to push his troops right up to Benghazi.  Aijaz Ahmad The real […]

  • Tunisia, Egypt, and Beyond: Interview with Aijaz Ahmad

    Prabir Purkayastha

    Aijaz Ahmad: The dictatorship is gone but the regime is still there [in Tunisia], tottering, hopefully on its last legs.  This is the last card that the old regime is playing, which is trying to keep the government under the control of the RCD, the ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally.  Actually most of the […]

  • Turkey’s Political Shift

    Aijaz Ahmad and Prabir Purkayastha

      Part 1 Aijaz Ahmad: Israel, which is completely isolated in the region, is very unhappy about the fact that Turkey is rising as a power which is establishing very productive and extensive contacts in the region.  Israel was very happy when both of them were completely isolated in the region: Turkey was in the […]

  • Eurozone Crisis: The Germans Have Gone Mad

    Jayati Ghosh and Prabir Purkayastha

      Jayati Ghosh: It wasn’t an actual transfer of one trillion dollars.  It was a notional thing.  It was a credit line.  It was basically the European Central Bank telling private banks across the region: if you are indeed distressed, we will bail you out, we have a credit line ready for you.  Now, the […]

  • Electric Capitalism: A Discussion with David McDonald

    Prabir Purkayastha

    Prabir Purkayastha: You have written a lot about electricity in South Africa particularly, and you also talked about how this concept of services being priced so the cost of service is recovered is actually starting a complete ideological change in the way infrastructure services are delivered.  So what do you think is the real crisis?   […]

  • GM Crops: The Societal Context of Technologies

    Prabir Purkayastha and Satyajit Rath

    The Bt brinjal debate has featured technological worries relating to genetically modified crops which appear relatively minor in comparison to the critical issue of who controls Indian agriculture and therefore food security in India.  While there cannot be a mere technological fix to the problems of Indian agriculture, technology — and therefore GM — will […]

← Previous
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
Next →

Also By Prabir Purkayastha in Monthly Review Magazine

  • U.S. Control of the Internet July 01, 2014

Books By Prabir Purkayastha

  • Knowledge as Commons: Toward Inclusive Science and Technology August 28, 2024
  • Keeping Up the Good Fight: From the Emergency to the Present Day August 28, 2024

Monthly Review Essays

  • The Migrant Genocide: Toward a Third World Analysis of European Class Struggle
    Iker Suarez A banner at a memorial rally for victims of the 2014 massacre of migrants at Tarajal, 2021.

    Over 10,000 people died in transit to Spain in 2024 alone.[1] On June 2022, the border fence of Melilla, one of two Spanish enclaves in Morocco, was witness to a massacre that killed or disappeared over a hundred African migrants.[2]  A recent BBC investigation revealed that Greek border guards systematically repeal immigrants already on Greek […]

Lost & Found

  • Strike at the Helm: The First Ministerial Meeting of the New Cycle of the Bolivarian Revolution
    Hugo Chávez Mural of Chávez in Caracas. (Univision)

    On October 7th, 2012, after hearing of his victory as the nation‘s candidate with 56 percent of the vote, President Hugo Chávez Frias announced from a balcony in his hometown that a new cycle was beginning the very next day, October 8th.

Trending

  • World leaders attend the 2025 BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 7, 2025. Photo courtesy the Government of India/Wikimedia Commons.
    What is BRICS and where is it going?
  • Paul M. Sweezy and Harry Magdoff
    Paul Sweezy facts for kids
  • Trump
    Trump escalates Ukraine war-Putin acknowledges reality is turning out to be Marxist
  • HADEEQA ARZOO MALIK PREPARES TO SPEAK ON JUNE 8 AT CUNY4PALESTINE’S PRESS CONFERENCE AND RALLY TO ADDRESS REPRESSION ACROSS CUNY. (PHOTO: JUDE SEMINARA / @JUDESIES)
    CUNY suspends student activist leader, fires four faculty members in escalation of repression against Palestine activism
  • The "Atomic Bowl." Photo courtesy Greg Mitchell.
    A new documentary highlights one of the most surreal events of World War II: The “Atomic Bowl”
  • Hard Truths About the US Labor Movement: An Interview with Chris Townsend
  • This colorized transmission electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2—also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19.
    The Costs of Covid
  • RootsAction’s Jeff Cohen and Norman Solomon
    ‘Media and corporate power structures see genuine Democracy as a terrible danger’
  • Berlin Bulletin by Victor Grossman
    Rosy skies are rare: Berlin Bulletin No. 235, July 13, 2025
  • Two Native women in traditional robes and beads stand outside the entrance to a hut-like structure on the Menominee Indian Reservation, crica 1913–18; nearby two other women are seated while another stands.
    The Start of Indigenous Agriculture in North America and the American Genocide

Popular (last 30 days)

  • A person on a crane surveys the ruins of a bombed building, surrounded by smoke.
    The Empire’s Strategic Failure: How the US-Israeli Assault on Iran Accelerated Imperial Decline
  • AP Photo / IRNA/ Mostafa Qotbi
    Iran now first line of defense of BRICS and the Global South
  • Natanz, Iran
    Exclusive: Iran given advance notice as U.S. insisted attack on nuclear sites is ‘one-off’
  • Black citizenship
    The necessity of birthright citizenship for Black People
  • World leaders attend the 2025 BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 7, 2025. Photo courtesy the Government of India/Wikimedia Commons.
    What is BRICS and where is it going?
  • Climeworks CO2 capture plant under construction in Iceland.
    Can carbon dioxide removal save the climate?
  • John Bellamy Foster on U.S. Foreign Policy & the “New MAGA Imperialism”
    What is the Trump Doctrine? John Bellamy Foster on U.S. Foreign Policy & the “New MAGA Imperialism”
  • diabetes
    China strikes Diabetes
  • Chilean Communist Party leader Jeannette Jara in a photo composition with sketches of Santiago and the Chilean flag. Photo: Eduardo Ramón/El País.
    Chile: A major victory for the People and the Left, with strategic impact
  • Paul M. Sweezy and Harry Magdoff
    Paul Sweezy facts for kids

RSS MR Press News

  • EXCERPT: Colonial dreams, racist nightmares, liberated futures (from the introduction to A Land With A People) July 11, 2025
  • LISTEN: Public banking must be definancialized…and democratized (Socialist Register/Thomas Marois on ‘Against the Grain’) July 11, 2025
  • LISTEN: Rafael Barrett’s keen observations, blistering critiques, and anarchist politics (William Costa on ‘Against the Grain’) July 9, 2025
  • The legacy of a Sardinian original (Roses for Gramsci reviewed in ‘Counterpunch’) June 13, 2025
  • LISTEN: Gramsci’s lasting contributions (Andy Merrifield on ‘Against the Grain’) June 6, 2025

RSS Climate & Capitalism

  • ‘Climate tipping points pose catastrophic risks to billions of people’ July 9, 2025
  • Can carbon dioxide removal save the climate? June 29, 2025
  • Global heating isn’t just getting worse. It is getting worse faster. June 19, 2025
  • Ecosocialist Bookshelf, June 2025 June 17, 2025
  • 1.5 is dead: How hot will the Earth get? June 5, 2025

 

RSS Monthly Review

  • July-August 2025 (Volume 77, Number 3) July 1, 2025 The Editors
  • A Special Issue on Communes in Socialist Construction July 1, 2025 Chris Gilbert
  • Venezuela’s Communal Project July 1, 2025 Ángel Prado
  • Socialist Communes and Anti-Imperialism: The Marxist Approach July 1, 2025 Chris Gilbert
  • The Worker-Peasant Alliance in the Transition to Socialism Today July 1, 2025 Prabhat Patnaik

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Creative Commons License

Monthly Review Foundation
134 W 29TH ST STE 706
New York NY 10001-5304

Tel: 212-691-2555