Prologue: In 2004 I wrote Brazil and Lula: Year Zero (Edifurb: Blumenau, Sao Paolo 2005), in which I presented my analysis of the Lula-Workers Party (PT) regime in Brazil undergoing a Grand Transformation with the first stage represented by the PT’s incorporation into a government apparatus led by of bankers and exporters (the agro-mineral elite).... Read More

Introduction: Rightwing politics now dominate the globe. Broadly speaking, the Right can be divided into a US-centered rightwing bloc and a variety of anti-US rightwing regimes and social forces. The US-centered rightwing includes absolutist monarchies, like Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States and Jordan; neoliberal electoral regimes and opposition parties in the European Union and... Read More

Few, if any, corporations absorb the full cost of their operations. Corporations shove many of their costs onto the environment, the public sector, and distant third parties. For example, currently 3 million gallons of toxic waste water from a Colorado mine has escaped and is working its way down two rivers into Utah and Lake... Read More

On arrival in La Paz, Pope Francis was presented by Bolivian President Evo Morales with a wooden crucifix carved in the form of a hammer and sickle, the symbol of Lenin, Stalin, Mao and Fidel. Had Pope John Paul II been handed that crucifix, he might have cracked it over Evo's head. For John Paul... Read More

I admire David Ray Griffin for his wide-ranging intelligence, his research skills, and for his courage. Dr. Griffin is not afraid to take on the controversial topics. He gave us ten books on 9/11, and anyone who has read half of one of them knows that the official story is a lie. Now Griffin has... Read More

Introduction: The sweeping electoral victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India is the latest expression of the world-wide advance of a new power bloc which promises to impose a New World Order harnessing ethno-religious fanaticism and narrowly trained technocrats to capitalist absolutism. The far-right is no longer at the margins of western political... Read More

Introduction: An examination of the social science scholarship over the past 60 years reveals few, if any, publications discussing ‘the class struggle’ in anything but theoretical expositions. Numerous books and professional articles have been written about ‘class’ – inequalities, culture, internal differentiation (gender, ethnicity etc.). Labor specialists have discussed strikes, protests and collective bargaining. Few... Read More

Capitalism and its defenders maintain dominance through the ‘material resources’ at their command, especially the state apparatus, and their productive, financial and commercial enterprises, as well as through the manipulation of popular consciousness via ideologues, journalists, academics and publicists who fabricate the arguments and the language to frame the issues of the day. Today material... Read More

Introduction: The economic, political and social outlook for the second decade of the 21st century is profoundly negative. The almost universal consensus, even among mainstream orthodox economists, is pessimistic regarding the world economy. Although, even here, their predictions understate the scope and depth of the crises, there are powerful reasons to believe that beginning in... Read More

General Propositions: Reprimarization of economy (Rep E) involves a shift from diversified import substitution industrialization to increased dependence on agro-mineral export. RepE is especially pronounced and embraced by center-left regimes (CLR) resulting from popular movements which overthrew neo-liberal regimes. RepE is promoted under the banners of anti-neoliberalism and even anti-imperialism even as CLR sign long-term... Read More

Introduction: From the Financial Times to the far left, tons of ink has been spilt writing about some variant of the “Crises of Global Capitalism”. While writers differ in the causes, consequences and cures, according to their ideological lights, there is a common agreement that “the crises” threatens to end the capitalist system as we... Read More

The class struggle continues to play a central role in the process of capitalist accumulation, albeit it takes different forms depending on the socio-economic context. In order to map out the unfolding of the class struggle it is necessary to specify key concepts related to the (a) varied conditions and dominant sectors of capital in... Read More

Each time I doubt that the National Review’s mavens could surpass themselves, I discover fresh evidence of their invincible ignorance. Being a man of little faith, I didn’t believe that Rich Lowry could say anything dumber than his 2003 remarks about the Spanish Civil War which revealed he had no idea who fought whom in... Read More

Reading Fernand Braudel's The Wheels of Commerce recently, I was struck by how oddly dated its many, many references to "capitalism" now seem. I don't mean to be unfair to M. Braudel: the subtitle of his book (published in 1979) is, after all,Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century, and he is striving to describe and explain... Read More