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March 2004



» Newsletter
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Newsletter


» Commentary
NEW! Can the Working Class Change the World?
by Michael D. Yates

A Turn for the Worse in the United States: Criminalizing Dissent
by Lynne A. Williams, Esq.

Dr. Baburam Bhattarai on the Failure of the Peace Talks in Nepal

Remembering W.E.B. Du Bois
by Bill Fletcher, Jr.

David Barsamian interviews Gilbert Achcar, author of The Clash of Barbarisms: September 11 and the Making of the New World Disorder

Fidel Castro: May Day Rally Speech

Understanding the U.S. War State
by John McMurtry


Coffee Mug

If you missed the “Imperialism Today” conference (or not), you can still celebrate Harry's 90th with this great-looking commemorative mug

The Sage of Imperialism: At 90, Harry Magdoff has Made His Marx by Susan Green


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RECENT ESSAYS ON:
» Africa
» Asia
» Europe
» Feminism/Women
and Politics

» Globalization
» Iraq, U.S. Imperialism, and War
» Labor and
Working-Class Issues

» Latin America
» Media/
Communications

» 9/11–War on Terrorism
» Social/Political
Theory

» U.S. Politics/
Economics


BACK ISSUES:
February 2004
[ V.55, N.9 ]



January 2004
[ V.55, N.8 ]


December 2003
[ V.55, N.7 ]


November 2003
[ V.55, N.6 ]


October 2003
[ V.55, N.5 ]


September 2003
[ V.55, N.4 ]


July-August 2003
[ V.55, N.3 ]


June 2003
[ V.55, N.2 ]


May 2003
[ V.55, N.1 ]

April 2003
[ V.54, N.11 ]

March 2003
[ V.54, N.10 ]

February 2003
[ V.54, N.9 ]

January 2003
[ V.54, N.8 ]

December 2002
[ V.54, N.7 ]

November 2002
[ V.54, N.6 ]

October 2002
[ V.54, N.5 ]

September 2002
[ V.54, N.4 ]

July-August 2002
Cultures of the U.S. Left

[ V.54, N.3 ]

June 2002
[ V.54, N.2 ]

May 2002
[ V.54, N.1 ]

April 2002
[ V.53, N.11 ]

March 2002
[ V.53, N.10 ]

February 2002
[ V.53, N.9 ]

January 2002
[ V.53, N.8 ]

December 2001
[ V.53, N.7 ]

November 2001
[ V.53, N.6 ]

October 2001
[ V.53, N.5 ]

September 2001
[ V.53, N.4 ]

July-August 2001
Prisons & Executions

[ V.53, N.3 ]

June 2001
[ V.53, N.2 ]

May 2001
[ V.53, N.1 ]

April 2001
[ V.52, N.11 ]

March 2001
[ V.52, N.10 ]

February 2001
[ V.52, N.9 ]

Index to Back Issues
[ V.53 ][ V.52 ]
[ V.51 ] [ V.50 ]
[ V.49 ] [ V.48 ]



From the Archives
ESSAYS BY:
» Paul Baran
» Albert Einstein
» Leo Huberman
» Fritz Pappenheim

AN INTERVIEW WITH:
» Che Guevara
» Malcolm X



MONTHLY REVIEW’S
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vertical rule

March 2004, Volume 55 — Number 10

Paul Marlor Sweezy, 1910-2004

A memorial service for Paul Sweezy will be held in NYC on Saturday, April 17, 3-6pm at Landmark on the Park, 160 Central Park West (at 76th Street). No reservations necessary. If you require further information, please call (212) 691-2555.

Paul Sweezy died in Larchmont, New York on February 27, 2004. Not the least of his legacies is the model of intellectual independence that he has left behind. He demonstrated what Paul Baran called the courage as well as the commitment of an intellectual. And through the creation of Monthly Review he made it possible for many others to share in the same commitment and courage. His life is a marker to us all. | more |

c o n t e n t s

» Notes from the Editors

We were enormously pleased to publish in the November 2002 issue of MR Richard Lewontin and Richard Levins's "Stephen Jay Gould: What Does it Mean to Be a Radical?" commemorating the life of their great Harvard colleague who had died earlier that year. Gould, as Lewontin and Levins explained, was, in addition to being one of the foremost evolutionary biologists and paleontologists of his time, "by far, the most widely known and influential expositor of science who has ever written for a lay public." Their article has recently been reprinted as the concluding essay in Oliver Sacks, ed., The Best American Science Writing, 2003. This important series, with Jesse Cohen as the series editor, is published each year by HarperCollins, each time under the editorship of a different guest editor-in this instance Sacks, author of The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat and many other works. In preparing this year's volume Sacks chose to dedicate the book to Stephen Jay Gould, who he sees as the exemplary figure in modern science writing. | more |.

REVIEW OF THE MONTH
The Escalating War Against Corporate Media
Robert W. McChesney

A recurring issue for the left historically has been how to address the capitalist media. In recent years the problem has grown ever more severe, and no small amount of attention has been given to examining the problems of the commercial media and how closely they reinforce and accentuate problems within the broader social order. The logic of this criticism has become clear: progressives need to work on challenging the corporate domination of media as part of the broader struggle for social justice. If changing media is left until "after the revolution," there will be no revolution, not to mention fewer chances for social reform. But politicizing control over media has proven to be extraordinarily difficult for activists. That is why the massive and largely unanticipated 2003 campaign in the United States to stop further media concentration, which almost overnight reached a scale not seen in media reform struggles since the 1930s, is so important and instructive. This article chronicles that revolt.

The Right Not to Work: Power and Disability
Sunny Taylor

I have a confession to make: I do not work. I am on SSI. I have very little work value (if any), and I am a drain on our country's welfare system. I have another confession to make: I do not think this is wrong, and to be honest, I am very happy not working. Instead I spend the majority of my time doing the activity I find the most rewarding and valuable, painting.

South Africa’s Frustrating Decade of Freedom: From Racial to Class Apartheid
Patrick Bond

The end of the apartheid regime was a great human achievement. Yet the 1994 election of an African National Congress (ANC) majority-with Nelson Mandela as the new president-did not alter the enormous structural gap in wealth between the majority black and minority white populations. Indeed, it set in motion neoliberal policies that exacerbated class, race, and gender inequality. To promote a peaceful transition, the agreement negotiated between the racist white regime and the ANC allowed whites to keep the best land, the mines, manufacturing plants, and financial institutions. There were only two basic paths that the ANC could follow. One was to mobilize the people and all their enthusiasm, energy, and hard work, use a larger share of the economic surplus (through state-directed investments and higher taxes), and stop the flow of capital abroad, including the repayment of illegitimate apartheid-era debt. The other was to adopt a neoliberal capitalist path, with a small reform here or there, while posturing as if social democracy was on the horizon.

BOOK REVIEW
NAFTA’s Knife: Class Warfare Across the U.S.-Mexico Border
Bill Fletcher, Jr.

A review of The Children of NAFTA: Labor Wars on the U.S./Mexico Border by David Bacon.


Monthly Review Press


new
The Problem of the Media

f e a t u r e d
The Problem of the Media: U.S. Communication Politics in the 21st Century
by Robert W. McChesney
» BUY THIS BOOK


new
The Rosa Luxemburg Reader

f e a t u r e d
The Rosa Luxemburg Reader
edited by Peter Hudis
and Kevin B. Anderson

Socialist Register 2004

f e a t u r e d
The New Imperial Challenge: Socialist Register 2004
edited by Leo Panitch
and Colin Leys

The Making of a Cybertariat

f e a t u r e d
The Making of a Cybertariat: Virtual
Work in a Real World

by Ursula Huws

» Read Excerpt

Silent Revolution

f e a t u r e d
Silent Revolution:
The Rise and Crisis
of Market Economics

by Duncan Green

Naming the System

f e a t u r e d
Naming the System: Inequality and Work
in the Global Economy

by Michael D. Yates

» Listen to Interview
with Michael Yates on
KPFA Radio Program
“Living Room”

The Marxian Imagination

f e a t u r e d
The Marxian Imagination: Representing Class
in Literature

by Julian Markels

» Read Excerpt

Imperialism Without Colonies

f e a t u r e d
Imperialism Without Colonies
by Harry Magdoff



MRP Bestsellers

Behind the Invasion of Iraq

f e a t u r e d
Behind the Invasion of Iraq
by the Research Unit for Political Economy

A History of Capitalism

f e a t u r e d
A History of Capitalism: 1500-2000, New Edition
by Michel Beaud

new
Clash of Barbarisms

f e a t u r e d
The Clash of Barbarisms: September 11 and the Making of the New World Disorder
by Gilbert Achcar

» Read Excerpt

The New Crusade

f e a t u r e d
The New Crusade: America’s War on Terrorism
by Rahul Mahajan

Law and the Rise of Capitalism

f e a t u r e d
Law and the Rise
of Capitalism

by Michael E. Tigar

Read Excerpt

Censorship Inc.

f e a t u r e d
Censorship, Inc.: The Corporate Threat to Free Speech in the United States
by Lawrence Soley

We Are the Poors

f e a t u r e d
We Are the Poors: Community Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa
by Ashwin Desai

» Read Excerpt

Insurgent Images

f e a t u r e d
Insurgent Images
by Paul Buhle
with Mike Alewitz

» Read Excerpt

Ecology Against Capitalism

f e a t u r e d
Ecology Against Capitalism
by John Bellamy Foster



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John Bellamy Foster· Robert W. McChesney

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