EXCERPT: Introduction This document was created by the community of Isha L’Isha—Haifa Feminist Center. It began as a process of examination and re-conceptualization of the term “security” as we, feminist women in Israel, experience it. Over the past five years, Isha L’Isha has been discussing and dealing with issues related to women, peace and […]
Subjects Archives: Marxism
The Marxism of Samir Amin
An interview with Egyptian economist Samir Amin: his latest book reiterates his search for alternatives to surpass capitalism, which he describes as “a historical parenthesis”; meanwhile, processes of migration are building a planet of slums. “Memoirs of an Independent Marxist”: that is the subtitle of A Life Looking Forward (Zed Books, 2006), the latest […]
A Difficult Love Affair? On the Relation between Marxism and Theology
Abstract: From the moment Marx and Engels became involved with the League of the Just, Marxism has always had a long and often difficult relation with theology and the Bible. Some of the leading figures of the twentieth century were no exception — Althusser, Adorno, Gramsci, Lefebvre, Eagleton are just a few. And in our […]
Ambivalent Feminism: Romantic Socialism, Gender, and the Individual
Naomi Andrews, Socialism’s Muse: Gender in the Intellectual Landscape of French Romantic Socialism, Lanhan, Md.: Lexington Books, 2006. 210 pp. $66.00 (hb). ISBN 10-0739-108-441. In Socialism’s Muse: Gender in the Intellectual Landscape of French Romantic Socialism, Naomi Andrews brings her readers into a complex conversation that touches on individualism and egoism, on the nature […]
Studying Madrasas in West Bengal
Nilanjana Gupta. Reading with Allah: Madrasas in West Bengal. New Delhi: Routledge, 2010. Pp. 192. R. 595. ISBN: 978-0-415-54459-7. Much has been written on the Indian madrasas or Islamic seminaries, but because the most influential madrasas in the country are concentrated in the northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, many of these writings tend […]
Honduras: Students, Trade Unionists, and Teachers March amidst Crisis at UNAH
Tegucigalpa, Honduras — Scores of students, trade unionists, and teachers of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) marched to the National Congress today in protest, due to the current crisis of this university, demanding that it be not closed. The march was composed of a student group from the University Revolutionary Front (FRU), […]
Israeli Socialism and Anti-Zionism: Historical Tasks and Balance Sheet
A talk delivered at the conference “The Left in Palestine/The Palestinian Left,” School of Oriental and African Studies, London, 28 February 2010 This talk is dedicated to the memory of my late friend and comrade, the Arab Marxist Jabra Nicola (1912-74). The terms “Right” and “Left” as used in Israel are misleading: they do […]
A Family Affair: Intergenerational Social Mobility across OECD Countries
Higher inequality is associated with lower intergenerational mobility. More progressive taxation, higher unemployment benefits, more childcare and early childhood education, and other measures that reduce inequality promote social mobility. Tracking, ability-grouping, and pushing disadvantaged students into vocational education hinder it. Poorer students have better chances of overcoming their socioeconomic backgrounds in systems where “larger […]
Honduras: Massive Mobilization of Feminists in Resistance
Memory and Justice for WomenInternational Feminist Mobilization8-14 March 2010 CommuniquéTo women of Honduras and the worldTo human rights organizationsTo democratic and independent organizationsTo national and international mediaTo people in general We, Feminists in Resistance, members of the National Front of Popular Resistance of Honduras, issue a cordial and sincere invitation to all feminists, women, democratic […]
Women’s Role in the Nepalese Movement: Making a People’s Constitution
At this very moment Nepal is making a constitution through the historic Constitutional Assembly (CA). It is important to note that up till now all prior constitutions handed over to the people of Nepal were through direct intervention of oligarchs or kings. It was the historic ten years of People’s War (PW) (1996-2006) complemented with […]
Palestinian Revolutionaries on International Women’s Day
Sukant Chandan interviews Palestinian revolutionary Leila Khaled and Palestinian Gaza resident and revolutionary Shireen Said for International Women’s Day 2010 Leila Khaled: “Palestinian women have a fundamental role in uniting Palestinians” The Palestinian people’s oppression continues due primarily to the financial, diplomatic, and military support that the Zionist state receives from the USA and […]
Don’t be BAMBOOZLED by the BudgetA University of Washington for the Elite and the Superwealthy? Not On Our Backs!
Democracy Insurgent is a majority people-of-color activist group animated by principles of democracy, anti-racism, anti-imperialism, queer liberation, Third World Feminism, and workers’ power. We are based in Seattle, Washington. We are a member group of the UW Student Worker Coalition. Find out more at <nobudgetcutsuw.blogspot.com> and <democracyinsurgent.org>. Contact us at <d.insurg@gmail.com>. | | Print […]
Feminism, Capitalism, and the Cunning of History
This is an exercise in historicization. This lecture concerns the relation between feminism, the movements of second-wave feminism, and the recent history of capitalism. My aim is to try to shed some light on where the feminist movement stands today in the current crisis of capitalism. So, I want to tell a story that has […]
Sexuality and the Law: An Uneasy Marriage
Matthew Waites. The Age of Consent: Young People, Sexuality, and Citizenship. Houndmills and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. viii + 285 pp. $95.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-4039-2173-4. $29.00 (paper), ISBN 978-0-230-23718-6. There are many “ages of consent.” But in common parlance, age of consent laws define the age at which a person can legally consent […]
Pederasts and Others
William A. Peniston, Pederasts and Others: Urban Culture and Sexual Identity in Nineteenth-Century Paris. New York: Harrington Park, 2004. xii + 258. Maps, tables, notes, bibliography, index. $49.95 US (hb). ISBN 1-56023-485-7; $24.95 U.S. (pb). ISBN 1-506023-486-5. As part of the burgeoning of the history of gender and sexuality, recent years have seen several […]
Mau Mau, Marx, & Coca Cola: 18th Annual Pan African Film & Arts Festival
The 18th annual Pan African Film and Arts Festival, which takes place yearly during Black History Month, is one of Los Angeles’ cultural jewels. Arguably America’s top Black movie venue, PAFF is a leading U.S. showcase for independent, studio, student, foreign (especially African) political and progressive pictures. Many movies have their U.S. debuts at this […]
Haiti: The Aid Racket
It’s now more than a month since the earthquake that laid waste to Port-au-Prince, killing more than 200,000 people and thrusting millions of people into the most desperate conditions. But according to the U.S. government, Haitians have a lot to be thankful for. On February 12, the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Ken Merten boasted: “In […]
Marx’s Ecology and The Ecological Revolution
Interview by Aleix Bombila, for En Lucha (Spain), of John Bellamy Foster, editor of Monthly Review, and author of Marx’s Ecology and The Ecological Revolution En Lucha: In your book Marx’s Ecology you argue that Marxism has a lot to offer to the ecologist movement. What kind of united work can be established between […]
A Socialist View of Sexuality and Liberation?
Sherry Wolf. Sexuality and Socialism: History, Politics, and Theory of LGBT Liberation. Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2009. 333 pp. $12. The cover photo on Sherry Wolf’s book shows a protest rally with a woman holding a highlighted rainbow flag. Radical gay and lesbian activists, one assumes. Look closely, though, and you’ll see that the woman is […]
Colonialism and Homosexuality
Robert Aldrich. Colonialism and Homosexuality. London and New York: Routledge, 2003. xii + 436 pp. Maps, notes, bibliography, and index. $104.95 US (cl.). ISBN 0-415-19615-9. $32.95 (pb.). ISBN 0-415-19616-7. It is generally seen as a sign of maturity when gay scholarship moves beyond a mere self-affirmative search for “ancestry” and develops a critical and […]
