Should Marxism be rooted in inter-species liberation? Or is it already, unbeknownst to most of us? Leigh Claire La Berge has delved into what she considers an unrecognized trove of evidence for Marxism’s deep engagement with the feline as a way of making sense of class society — and what would be necessary to leap … Continued
What is the relationship between things held in Common — from rivers and forests, to traditions of sharing and mutual aid — and communism? How should we understand the connection between the Commons within class society and life after capitalism? Historian Peter Linebaugh weighs in on the history of the idea of Communism, the very … Continued
State-ownership of the means of production and a planned economy appear to be the hallmarks of Marxist thought, along with the notion that revolution necessitates passing through socialist and communist stages. But, as Peter Hudis points out, these ideas don’t originate with Marx. He discusses his Critique of the Gotha Program, in which Marx most … Continued
The call to abolish the family and liberate its members has been one of the central pillars of the radical left historically. Yet today that venerable tradition is almost forgotten, abandoned with the ebbing of the Sixties. Sophie Lewis renews the argument for abolishing the family and replacing it with collective forms of care. Resources: … Continued
North Americans are sick, stressed, and alienated, a state of affairs accentuated in recent years by Covid. The Hungarian-Canadian physician Gabor Maté argues that capitalism engenders illness, while the medical system blindly ignores the lives of its patients. Maté discusses individual and collective change, while reflecting on human nature, alienation and rightwing politics, and the … Continued
Commodification is essential to capitalism: turning the necessities of life, including education, water, and healthcare, into products for sale. But even under capitalism there are periods when the drive to commodify is particularly intense and other periods when there is a push back against commodification. Political economist Christoph Hermann discusses the origins of the concept, … Continued
What does Karl Marx’s masterwork Capital have in common with Dante’s Inferno? And more importantly, what can the book — which was partly written in debate with the socialist movements of its time — teach us today? William Clare Roberts reflects on Capital, Marx, and the importance of the idea of freedom for him. (Encore … Continued
The ideas of French thinker and Situationist Guy Debord were crucial in shaping the politics of the Sixties and providing an understanding of everyday life under contemporary capitalism. Independent scholar Anselm Jappe discusses the Marxist influences on, and enduring legacy of, Guy Debord. Resources: Anselm Jappe, Guy Debord PM Press, 2018
Soil is essential for terrestrial life on earth. And like so many other parts of the environment, it’s under threat, degraded in a world where it’s being built on, contaminated, and eroded. Geographer Salvatore Engel-DiMauro argues that soil also highlights the many problems that the left has with understanding both the social and scientific, or … Continued
