On October 9, the Oregon AFL-CIO passed a resolution opposing the U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement and three other pending trade deals with Panama, Colombia, and South Korea. A state federation condemning a free trade deal would normally be an unremarkable event, except for the remarkable absence in the Peru case of a typically heavy-weight free […]
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Monthly Review Magazine
Brickies, Sandhogs, and Ironheads: Two Novels of the Building Trades
CHRIST IN CONCRETE by Pietro Di DonatoBUY THIS BOOK THIS SIDE OF BRIGHTNESS by Colum McCannBUY THIS BOOK Here are two novels of the building trades: one by an Italian-American bricklayer, the other by an Irishman who, at 21, paid his way across the States by digging ditches and painting homes. Both novels have been […]
America, America!
Directed by KP Sasi and based on Kamaan Singh Dhami’s anti-war song “American War Paar Da! (Check Out the American War!),” the 4-minute music video is a satirical but severe indictment of America’s role in escalating world conflict. Originally written following the post-9/11 bombing of Afghanistan by the USA, and developed to address the occupation […]
Discuss the Politics of Immigration
Have you heard an anti-immigrant argument that you feel is wrong, but need the facts to contest? (For example: “Immigrants are a drain on social services.”) Do you have your own fear or concern about the issue? (For example: “Are the lowest-paid US-born workers really hurt by immigration?”) Bring your concerns to one of […]
An October for Us, for Russia, and for the Whole World
It is no surprise that the imminent ninetieth anniversary of the October Revolution in Russia has become the object of widespread attention. The events of October 1917 were, indeed, an earthquake that shook the world, altering its economic, social and cultural foundations. Many media sources depict this world-historic phenomenon as a mere coup d’état, […]
Palestine and Apartheid
Preamble Dear Friends, it is a great privilege to be with you again since 2002. As you know, my address then has recently been in the news because on the basis of a distortion of what I said, President Dease of St Thomas University decided I shouldn’t visit his campus. It is good that […]
The Hamilton Declaration on the Palestinian National Struggle
Over the weekend of October 27-28th, 2007, 54 delegates from Palestinian community organizations across Canada participated in a two-day convention in Hamilton, entitled the Palestine National Voice Preparatory Conference. The convention was the third in a series of preparatory meetings toward the founding of a national organization representing the Palestinian community in Canada. Previous meetings […]
Globalization, 2: US Autoworkers, 0
The recent UAW ratification of the Chrysler contract that contains many of the same provisions that were adopted in the labor agreement signed with GM last month is another major blow to the jobs and welfare of US autoworkers. Globalization, the Big Three’s grand strategy of pitting the workers of North America against one another […]
Resistance Movements Unite! Cairo International Conference and Liberation Forum
International Campaign against Zionist and American Occupation Cairo International Conference and Liberation Forum, 27-30 March 2008 Declaration of Principles For National and Individual Liberation In Support of Resistance to the Zionist/American Project Against Zionism and Imperialism Against Despotism and Oppression Against Exploitation and Corruption The political forces, popular committees, civil society organizations, and independent […]
They Met the Resistance
On one of those beautiful, fall Sunday mornings that can make you feel all is right with the world, filmmakers Molly Bingham and Steve Connors discussed their new documentary about Iraqis fighting the U.S. occupation, Meeting Resistance, 84 minutes of unflinching wallop destined to unhinge the way millions of Americans see their country’s role in […]
Self-Guided Tour of a Rank-and-File Union in Action
“Business unionism” is by far the predominant trend in the United States labor movement, and it has held this dominant position for at least the past 50 years. It is a form of labor unionism which essentially sees as its basic mission the sale of the labor power of its members to employers on (sometimes) […]
Twenty Years of Widening Inequality
The Internal Revenue Service tracks the incomes of Americans as recorded in their tax returns each year. The latest numbers, covering 1986 to 2005, summarize one basic feature of this country’s evolving economy and politics: the sharply widening gap between haves and have-nots. Consider the richest 1 per cent of Americans. They filed 1.3 million […]
J. R. R. Tolkien: Saving the Ecosystems of Middle Earth
In J.R.R. Tolkien‘s Lord of the Rings trilogy (1955-56) the ring is at the center of an epochal ecological struggle over the fate of Middle Earth. Received as fantasy, in its own way this tale nevertheless encapsulates nearly a century of geological, biological, and botanical lore that followed Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species (1859). […]
Israel’s Military Court System Is the Model to Avoid
Should the United States, seeking to recalibrate the balance between security and liberty in the “war on terror,” emulate Israel in its treatment of Palestinian detainees? That is the position that Guantanamo detainee lawyers Avi Stadler and John Chandler of Atlanta, and some others, have advocated. That people in U.S. custody could be held […]
How Can Anybody Be Persian? [Comment peut-on être Persan ?]
Dans son chef-d’oeuvre Les Lettres persanes, publié en 1721, le grand philosophe français Charles-Louis de Montesquieu s’interroge sur les comportements surprenants des Français : lorsque Rica, son voyageur iranien arrivé à Paris, décide de s’habiller à la française, il constate avec étonnement que ses amis français ne le traitent plus avec l’admiration qu’ils lui portaient […]
On the Ninetieth Anniversary of the Russian Revolution: Why Socialism Did Not Fail
When the Russian Revolution of October 1917 took place, it raised the hopes of the working class worldwide that a socialist state was possible. The civil war that followed plus the intervention of foreign powers devastated the economy, necessitating a postponement in the transition to socialist relations of production. The New Economic Policy was a […]
Surmounting Sectarianism in the Middle East: An Interview with Hisham Bustani
In a recent interview with the Qatari daily al-Raya, the Jordanian Marxist writer and activist Hisham Bustani analyses current issues: the situation in the Arab region; threats against Iran; the “Broader Middle East Initiative”; the U.S., Arab regimes, and Islamists; and prospects of the Arab liberation project. This interview, conducted by the journalist As’ad al-Azzouni, […]
Financial Capital: Crises Are Part of the Game
Everything went well during the summer of 2007. The economy was in an upswing and stock-market prices rose even faster. Then the end of the housing boom in the United States triggered an international financial crisis. Up to now it has been contained by heavy central-bank intervention; but the euphoria is gone. The world of […]
“We Would Like to See Them Work Together”
From Dictatorship Watch, via Al Musawwir. | | Print
Iran: Bernard Kouchner’s Declaration [Iran : Déclaration de Bernard Kouchner]
La déclaration de Bernard Kouchner appelant à se préparer à la possibilité d’une guerre avec l’Iran est inquiétante. Cette déclaration venant après le discours de Nicolas Sarkozy sur une alternative entre « la bombe iranienne ou le bombardement de l’Iran », simplifiant à l’outrance le problème du dossier nucléaire iranien, vise en réalité à préparer […]
