Subjects Archives: Culture

Reinaldo Iturriza examines the current situation in Venezuela, as the Bolivarian Revolution comes under attack from the same neoliberal forces that fuelled its rise.

When state and local governments bid for corporate investment, working people lose. It is as simple as that. And Foxconn’s on-again, off-again, and on-again shrinking investment in Wisconsin is a case in point.

MARTIN LUTHER KING spoke with vision against capitalism, and about the kind of changes needed to replace it: the following quotes reflect some of King’s key thoughts on the subject as US citizens mark Martin Luther King Day.

A young Venezuelan intellectual argues that the revolutionary potential of Chavismo may be in abeyance, but it could come back to life again.

Granma International reproduces excerpts from Ignacio Ramonet’s interview with the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro.

​Silvia Federici is one of the most important feminist thinkers of our time–anyone looking for profound analyses of the role of housework, violence against women, or the importance of control over the body in capitalism inevitably encounters her writings.

As the Yellow Vest movement in France continues its novel and inspiring revolt, president Emmanuel Macron could not help expressing his class disdain for ordinary people: at a gala speech on 11 January, he declared: “Too many French people don’t know the meaning of the word ‘effort’. That’s part of the explanation for the present troubles”.

The student population today is unrecognisable from that of a generation or more ago, writes Matt Myers. And it is central to any socialist project for the future.

Eminent Indian economist Professor Utsa Patnaik (Jawaharlal Nehru University) has estimated that Britain robbed India of $45 trillion between 1765 and 1938, however it is estimated that if India had remained free with 24% of world GDP as in 1700 then its cumulative GDP would have been $232 trillion greater (1700-2003) and $44 trillion greater (1700-1950).

What next for the Extinction Rebellion movement? Daniel Macmillen Voskoboynik writes that we need to shake up the economic and political systems driving the climate crisis.

In this interview with Venezuelanalysis, an independent researcher speaks frankly about the roots of the country’s economic crisis and outlines a series of policies to revert it.

Witches, Witch-Hunting and Women by Silvia Federici, reviewed by Jessica White.

Venezuelan grassroots organization Venezuela Libre de Transgenicos / Semillas del Pueblo (Venezuela Free from GMO / Seeds of the People) reports on the third anniversary of the passing of the Seed Law and the efforts driven from below to implement it.

The “Dust Bowl” of the 1930s was an iconic moment in American history. As a result of what one historian called “the inevitable outcome of a culture that deliberately, self-consciously, set itself [the] task of dominating and exploiting the land for all it was worth” tens of thousands of people fled their homes, usually losing their entire livelihoods in the process.

“Reformed” captain Jair Bolsonaro already committed to the “market” the handover of all decisions in the economic area to large capital, under the hegemony of financial capital and foreign corporations (as personified in Paulo Guedes and his Chicago Boys, including Levy in the Brazilian Development Bank-BNDES).

Samir Amin’s life resembled that of Karl Marx: a man without a homeland, but one whose home was a chosen commitment to a historical project.

Guzslován Gábor of the Federation of Metal Workers Union of Hungary talks about the impact of the ‘slave law’ passed by the far-right government of Viktor Orbán and the massive protests against it.

U.S. elected leaders, and those that work for them, think their constituents are far more conservative than they are. The good news is that this means there is far more support for a progressive political agenda than one might think.

It stinks, it is the most polluted city on earth, but that is not the most terrible thing about it.

AT THE BEGINNING of October, Amazon was quietly issued a patent that would allow its virtual assistant Alexa to decipher a user’s physical characteristics and emotional state based on their voice. Characteristics, or “voice features,” like language accent, ethnic origin, emotion, gender, age, and background noise would be immediately extracted and tagged to the user’s data file to help deliver more targeted advertising.