#40 - March 2006
Socialism and Democracy, born in 1985, begins its 20th volume in 2006 (one year late because of a “regrouping” hiatus in the early 1990s). A founding editor of the journal, Frank Rosengarten, and its current managing editor,...
Socialism and Democracy at 20
The project of the Research Group on Socialism and Democracy (RGSD), as originally conceived by its co-founders, Mike Brown and myself, had a three-fold purpose: historical, theoretical, and methodological. We approached the project...
My first article for Socialism and Democracy, "Marxism in the Age of Gorbachev" (S&D #11, Fall 1990), written with the encouragement of Patrick Peppe in what turned out to be the last year of his life, was based on a...
A New World Order?
Few scholarly relationships are as fruitful and rewarding as the recent co-authorship of Antonio (Toni) Negri and Michael Hardt. Indeed, since the publication of their book Empire in 2000, they have attracted extraordinary media and...
Collective reinterpretation of Marxism is long overdue, especially after the end of what Paul Sweezy called the first wave of socialist experimentation. History has revealed the tragic miscalculations of Lenin, and verified Marx’s...
The Politics of Torture
Setting: Baghdad
Time: Present, with flashbacks
A minimal set may be used. At least two sections of the stage can be illuminated separately. A back wall or screen will be used for...
HOST
Welcome, sir, to Greet the Press, radio’s answer to – well, whatever. Before we start rolling, perhaps we could go over the Q&A, so there won’t be any surprises.
GUEST
...
"Predatory Democracy"
Introduction
Democracy has been traditionally defined in relation to the notions of political power and participation in the processes of governing. For the purpose of the present study I offer a broader...
Book Reviews
Alicia Herrera, 3rd Edition (Havana: Editorial Política, 2001) [1st Edition, Venezuela 1981]
A recent passenger on a Cubana airlines flight from Mexico to Havana was pleasantly surprised when she began her...
Victor Grossman (Stephen Wechsler), Crossing the River: A Memoir of the American Left, the Cold War, and Life in East Germany (Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, 2003).
Crossing the River...
Sean McMeekin, The Red Millionaire: A Political Biography of Willi Münzenberg, Moscow’s Secret Propaganda Tsar in the West (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003).
What, in this globalised and...
Dave Zirin. What’s My Name, Fool? Sports and Resistance in the United States (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2005).
[We present two reviews of this book; they complement one another. The duplication was...
Dave Zirin. What’s My Name, Fool? Sports and Resistance in the United States (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2005).
Of course there is exploitation but there is fun and beauty too. I mean, what’s more...
Marx-Engels Jahrbuch, Vols. 1-2 (Amsterdam: Marx-Engels Foundation; Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2004, 2005).
What can the reader expect from a yearbook which is published in connection with the all-...
“A Film Run Backwards”: Bukharin’s Voice from the Dead
Nikolai Bukharin, Philosophical Arabesques, translated by Renfrey Clarke with editorial assistance by George Shriver...
Louis Kontos, David Brotherton and Luis Barrios, eds., Gangs and Society: Alternative Perspectives (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003).
This collection of fifteen articles examines the question...
Kathy Kelly, Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison (Petrolia, CA: CounterPunch Books; Oakland: AK Press, 2005).
In a civilized nation, Kathy Kelly’s peacemaking activities would make her...
William M. Kunstler, The Emerging Police State. Edited by Michael Steven Smith, Karin Kunstler Goldman, and Sarah Kunstler (New York: Ocean Press, 2004).
...Salim Lamarani, ed., Superpower Principles: U.S. Terrorism Against Cuba (Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 2005).
This slim volume is packed full of information about US aggression against Cuba, but...
Ben Agger, Speeding up Fast Capitalism: Cultures, Jobs, Families, Schools, Bodies (Boulder: Paradigm Publishers, 2004).
Another specter is haunting capitalism – this time, fast acceleration and its...
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Marcella Bencivenni was born in Italy but moved to New York City in 1995 to undertake graduate studies in American history. She is currently Assistant Professor at Hostos Community College of the City University of New...