This article reviews the background and the implications of two transitions in Brazil: the political transition from a military regime (1964-85) to democracy (1985-present), and the economic transition from import-substituting industrialization (ISI, 1930-80) to neoliberalism (1990-present). It subsequently examines how neoliberal economic policies were implemented in a democracy, under the centre-right administrations led by Fernando […]
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Monthly Review Magazine
Barbarism on the Horizon: An Interview With István Mészáros
Mr. István Mészáros, you are coming to visit Brazil to talk about György Lukács. As a profound expert of the work of the philosopher, how do you evaluate the importance of his ideas today? György Lukács was my great teacher and friend for twenty-two years, until he died in 1971. He started publishing as a […]
Rehabilitation of Liberation Theology
Christmas has just gone by, and we’ll soon be ringing in the New Year, a time when a “profound feeling of consolation and peace” overwhelms the faithful. But the buzz, created by Pope Francis’ “apostolic exhortation”, Evangelii Gaudium (EG, translated as “The Joy of the Gospel”), issued in late November, and the subsequent clarificatory […]
What Is Political Will?
Samuel Grove [SG]: For a while now you’ve been working on and defending the old idea of ‘the will of the people’, and you’ve described it in terms of a ‘dialectical voluntarism’; what do you mean by this? Peter Hallward [PH]: I’m not stuck on the terminology, and I’m leery of the way these […]
To Struggle With Hindutva Fascists Among the Adivasi Community
Samir Amin in “The Democratic Fraud and the Universalist Alternative” in our issue of October 2011 sets out the fundamental process of the “democratic” fraud: [A]ll hitherto existing societies have been based on a dual system of exploitation of labor (in various forms) and of concentration of the state’s powers on behalf of the […]
Climate Change and Socialism: An interview with John Bellamy Foster
Steve da Silva (SD): Over the last decade you have emerged as a leading thinker in synthesizing radical ecology with the Marxist tradition. From Marx’s Ecology (2000) to The Ecological Rift (2010) and everything in between, you’ve carried out the much needed intellectual work of recovering the overlooked ecological content of Marx’s original thought, presenting […]
Germany: Fast Food, Slow Decisions
Let me begin with food — fast food. Let me invite you in. Looking around, there’s no denying it: this is Burger King. It could be in Augusta, ME, or Anaheim, CA, and the fatty Whoppers taste the same. But it’s not — most customers here speak German, some maybe Turkish (the biggest minority). For […]
South Africa Under the ANC: A Flawed Freedom
Has the time come when it might be possible to move past the well-deserved praise-song phase of the marking of Nelson Mandela’s death in order to strike a more careful balance sheet on the meaning for present-day South Africa of his storied career? Of course, it remains extremely difficult to speak dispassionately on such matters […]
Mandela Was Not a Hallmark Card
Long-time South African educator and President of the New Unity Movement, R. O. Dudley had a quote that he used when speaking of various iconic South African struggle leaders: He “had arms, not wings.” It is a phrase that we should remember when speaking of the late Nelson Mandela, but unfortunately, press coverage in the […]
Will the ANC Sell-out Workers?
“ANC President, Nelson Mandela delivered an opening address to the September COSATU Special Congress. Having completed his prepared speech, comrade Mandela put aside his notes and spoke directly and spontaneously to the 1 700 worker delegates. He asked a question that was uppermost in the minds of many.” — The African Communist (1993) COMRADES, […]
We Don’t Need Permission to Protest
To You at Whose Side We Struggle: November 26, 2013, we saw the first implementation of a new Egyptian law effectively banning any and all protest not approved and regulated by the Ministry of Interior. This is the same Interior Ministry whose soldiers have killed thousands of protesters, maimed tens of thousands and tortured unknown […]
Challenging Harper’s Imperialist Agenda
It has become commonplace to observe that the Conservative government of Stephen Harper has been re-making the symbols and practices of the Canadian state. Canada, in this view, was once the social democratic heartland of North America. But under Harper, Canada has been transformed into a hyper-regime of neoliberal market fundamentalism. Nowhere, it is argued, […]
National Lawyers Guild Observers Question Validity of Honduran Elections
November 26, 2013 Police Repress Students Protesting Against Electoral Fraud, Tegucigalpa, Honduras, 26.11.13 The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) delegation of 17 credentialed international observers seriously question the validity of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal‘s (TSE) preliminary results of Sunday’s national elections in Honduras. The NLG takes issue with the United States government’s characterization of the electoral […]
Don’t Rush to Recognize Honduras Election “Winner”
This is #Honduras: human rights defender murdered on Election Day and five more killed in La #Moskitia http://t.co/l7D4gCbadl — Kaelyn Forde (@kaelynforde) November 25, 2013 Photo: Military searches man at polling place #Honduras elections pic.twitter.com/hyoQE1aDZW — Laura Raymond (@laurajraymond) November 24, 2013 Military Police at Escuela Simon Bolivar voting station in Tegucigalpa, #Honduras pic.twitter.com/PDEmzyCoQJ — […]
Full Text of Iran-P5+1 Nuclear Deal: “Joint Plan of Action,” Geneva, 24 November 2013
Via Mehdi Mahmoudi @mehdimahmudi, Fars News Agency, . | Print
White Earth Nation Adopts New Constitution
Welcome sign — “Aaniin” (Hi) and “Biindigen” (Come in) — to the White Earth community of Rice Lake, at the entrance to Lower Rice Lake, a popular site for harvesting wild rice. Photo by David Thorstad. In a historic vote, on November 19, 2013, the White Earth Nation in northwestern Minnesota became the first member […]
Do What You Must (Tum Apni Karni Kar Guzro)
Laal is a revolutionary band from Pakistan. Lyrics by Faiz Ahmad Faiz (13 February 1911-20 November 1984). Directed by Taimur Rahman. | Print
Listen to Afghan Peace Volunteers
I’ve been a guest in Colorado Springs, Colorado, following a weeklong retreat with Colorado College students who are part of a course focused on nonviolence. In last weekend’s Colorado Springs Gazette, there was an article in the Military Life section about an international skype phone call between U.S. soldiers in Kandahar, Afghanistan and sixth-grade girls […]
Never Forget, Always Remember
“As the cops try to absolve themselves of the crimes they committed two years ago today, remember this. . . .” — Sherief Gaber, 18 November 2013 “@mosireen video challenges the army’s attempt to erase its role in Mohamed Mahmoud massacre. . . .” — Sonali Pahwa, 18 November 2013 Mosireen is an independent media […]
Voices From the Drone Summit
Last weekend, I participated in a panel on the illegality of drones and targeted killing off the battlefield at the conference “Drones Around the Globe: Proliferation and Resistance” in Washington DC. Nearly 400 people from many countries came together to gather information, protest, and develop strategies to end targeted killing by combat drones. I found […]
