Cosmopod

To commemorate the anniversary of Salvador Allende’s death and the fall of Chile’s Popular Unity government, we present this analysis of reactionary military governments in Latin America by Ruy Mauro Marini in honor of all who have died fighting for socialism in the hands of Pinochet’s counter-revolutionary military regime. Translation by Jorge M and introduction by Renato Flores. Mick Labas reads the article aloud.

Josh and Rudy join Michael Fischbach, author of Black Power and Palestine: Transnational Communities of Color and The Movement and the Middle East: How the Arab-Israeli Conflict Divided the American Left for a discussion on the history how the Left and the black liberation  movements have historically related to the Israel-Palestine conflict,  exploring the distinct factions of these movements which were  pro-Zionism and pro-Palestinian. We discuss the initial reaction of the  left parties to the '48 war and to the Suez invasion of '56, how Malcolm  X reacted to, and influenced pro-Palestine solidarity before his  murder, how Zionism divided the black struggle, how the Andrew Young  affair solidified black mainstream attitudes towards Palestine and the  meetings between black leaders and Arafat in the late 70s-early 80s. We  then talk about how the Old and New left reacted to the '68 war, and how  Zionism generated a 'civil war' between Jewish leftists and helped form  a Jewish conservative base. We finish off by talking about the role of Zionism in the founding of DSA and how Palestinian solidarity today sees very similar faultlines.

This is a narration of Chapter Nine of Mike Macnair's groundbreaking book Revolutionary Strategy. Narration and editing by Lydia Apolinar. The free market triumphalism of the 1990s is over. Early 21st century capitalism looks like Karl Marx’s description: growing extremes of wealth and poverty, and irrepressible boom-bust cycles. But for the moment, rightwing religious and nationalist nostalgia politics is the main beneficiary of the opposition this has spawned. The political left remains in the shadow of its disastrous failures in the 20th century. The centre-left - where it has not joined forces with the neoliberal right - clings to nationalist and bureaucratic-statist nostalgia for the social-democratic Cold War era. The far left clings to the coat-tails of the centre-left. It cannot unite itself - let alone anyone else - because it is unwilling to reinterrogate the ideas of the early Communist International, especially on the ‘revolutionary party’. To move beyond this impasse we need to re-examine critically the strategic ideas of socialists since Marx and Engels’ time. This book begins the task. You can purchase a physical copy of the book itself at Lulu. To support the project, sign up for our Patreon.

Christian and Rudy join authors Chris Gilbert and Cira Pascual Marquina to discuss the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela. They cover the history of the revolution, the role of communes in the transition to socialism, economic problems, and differences between cities and countryside. They also talk about reestablishing credibility, engagement with the state, and the importance of learning from global political movements.

Annie talks with Art Francisco, a rank-and-file carpenter in the Seattle area and leader of the Peter J McGuire Group, a caucus in the United Brotherhood of Carpenters that fights for accountability and class struggle in the union. They discuss the origins of the recent carpenters  strike in the Pacific Northwest, corruption and bureaucracy in the UBC, City Councilor Kshama Sawant’s relationship to the strike, and the Peter J McGuire Group’s unique vision of unionism and how it compares to  other efforts of union reform. The Peter J McGuire Group's Gofundme for legal aid is linked.

This is a narration of the eighth chapter of Mike Macnair's groundbreaking book Revolutionary Strategy. Narration and editing by Lydia Apolinar. The free market triumphalism of the 1990s is over. Early 21st century capitalism looks like Karl Marx’s description: growing extremes of wealth and poverty, and irrepressible boom-bust cycles. But for the moment, rightwing religious and nationalist nostalgia politics is the main beneficiary of the opposition this has spawned. The political left remains in the shadow of its disastrous failures in the 20th century. The centre-left - where it has not joined forces with the neoliberal right - clings to nationalist and bureaucratic-statist nostalgia for the social-democratic Cold War era. The far left clings to the coat-tails of the centre-left. It cannot unite itself - let alone anyone else - because it is unwilling to reinterrogate the ideas of the early Communist International, especially on the ‘revolutionary party’. To move beyond this impasse we need to re-examine critically the strategic ideas of socialists since Marx and Engels’ time. This book begins the task. You can purchase a physical copy of the book itself at Lulu. To support the project, sign up for our Patreon.

Rudy joins Hilary Klein, author of Compañeras: Zapatista Women Stories for a discussion on the history of the Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional (EZLN) from its foundation in the 1980s through their 1994 uprising and their continued existence as a social movement that holds power in areas of Chiapas. We focus on the alternative government structures of the movement: participatory democracy, economic cooperatives, transformative justice and Juntas de Buen Gobierno. Other things we discuss are : the rise and fall of Zapatismo as a north star for the American left, how Zapatismo built a mass base, the dynamics of women's liberation within the Zapatista movement and the broader population, as well as their multiple efforts to win the local population, the local splits between pro-Government and pro-Zapatistas and the future of the movement. 

This is a narration of the introduction to Mike Macnair's groundbreaking book Revolutionary Strategy. Narration and editing by Lydia Apolinar. The free market triumphalism of the 1990s is over. Early 21st century capitalism looks like Karl Marx’s description: growing extremes of wealth and poverty, and irrepressible boom-bust cycles. But for the moment, rightwing religious and nationalist nostalgia politics is the main beneficiary of the opposition this has spawned. The political left remains in the shadow of its disastrous failures in the 20th century. The centre-left - where it has not joined forces with the neoliberal right - clings to nationalist and bureaucratic-statist nostalgia for the social-democratic Cold War era. The far left clings to the coat-tails of the centre-left. It cannot unite itself - let alone anyone else - because it is unwilling to reinterrogate the ideas of the early Communist International, especially on the ‘revolutionary party’. To move beyond this impasse we need to re-examine critically the strategic ideas of socialists since Marx and Engels’ time. This book begins the task. You can purchase a physical copy of the book itself at Lulu. To support the project, sign up for our Patreon.

Rudy sits down with Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro, author of Socialist States and the Environment, for a discussion on environmental history of socialist states, as well as on doing science from a socialist standpoint. We cover what studying soils reveals, why they had an impact on Marx, and what the history of soils shows about economic transitions in Hungary. We talk about the unfairness of comparisons done in current scholarship,  the environmental record of the USSR and what happened after the collapse of the Soviet union, the effects of the economic transition of China on its environment, and the heroic achievements in Cuba to overcome the legacies of colonialism in the environment. We apologize for the lower than usual quality on this audio. We had sound issues which are unfortunately reflected throughout the episode.

This is a narration of the introduction to Mike Macnair's groundbreaking book Revolutionary Strategy. Narration and editing by Lydia Apolinar.   The free market triumphalism of the 1990s is over. Early 21st century capitalism looks like Karl Marx’s description: growing extremes of wealth and poverty, and irrepressible boom-bust cycles. But for the moment, rightwing religious and nationalist nostalgia politics is the main beneficiary of the opposition this has spawned. The political left remains in the shadow of its disastrous failures in the 20th century. The centre-left - where it has not joined forces with the neoliberal right - clings to nationalist and bureaucratic-statist nostalgia for the social-democratic Cold War era. The far left clings to the coat-tails of the centre-left. It cannot unite itself - let alone anyone else - because it is unwilling to reinterrogate the ideas of the early Communist International, especially on the ‘revolutionary party’. To move beyond this impasse we need to re-examine critically the strategic ideas of socialists since Marx and Engels’ time. This book begins the task.   You can purchase a physical copy of the book itself at Lulu. To support the project, sign up for our Patreon.