[Marxism] Marxist analysis of modern Jamaica?
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Hello, Can anyone recommend a Marxist/left analysis of modern Jamaica? Either a book or (even better) something accessible online? Thanks SD Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Some memories of Gerry Foley
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == It's been several years since I communicated with Gerry Foley, but I was devastated to hear about his death. He was one of the most fascinating persons I ever met. He was a decent and generous soul. I first met him in the late 1990s when I was in high school. I had heard from some people about this peculiar guy who could read something like 70 or 80 languages. I remember finally meeting him, going back into his office at the Socialist Action building on Cesar Chavez St. The walls were literally stacked from floor to ceiling with his books, including a huge number of language dictionaries. Gerry was friendly. He lent me a biography of the Irish feminist and revolutionary Maud Gonne for a high school project I was doing. He was genuinely thrilled I was pursuing the topic. I remember that one of his burning focuses at this time was the international campaign to get Roisin McAlisky (daughter of Bernadette Devlin McAlisky) out of prison. After she was released, Roisin sent Gerry a thank you card, which he kept above his desk. Nothing got Gerry more passionate and emotional than the Irish struggle. I remember that he kept a box of James Connolly pamphlets under his desk which he sold for $2 (I bought one, which is how I know). I was in Socialist Action for a few years, and Gerry always gave the most fascinating talks and branch educationals. He wouldn't use any notes -- he'd just close his eyes, go into the recesses of his amazing mind, and narrate a detailed, fluent story about the topic at hand. The man was truly a walking encyclopedia, on a different level from anyone else I've ever met. I also remember him teaching himself Indonesian in the late 1990s. This was the time of the overthrow of Suharto. He wanted to be able to read the Indonesian press. Come to think of it, reading the international press was how he spent most of his days in the office. He'd sit in front of his old computer in a back room, squinting his eyes as he read everything from the Italian *Il Manifesto* (which he admired) to the Latin American press. He was pretty oblivious to his surroundings and appearance. His keyboard was covered in a cake of dirt. Everyday he wore a pair of slacks and a button-down collar shirt with a sweater over it. He lived a very routinized life when he was in San Francisco. But he was clearly also an extremely worldly person. I don't know enough about his FI experiences to say much, but I recall that he was in Portugal and Iran around the times of their revolutions. He often traveled to Mexico, whose history, politics, culture, and language seemed to be another love of his. I remember him getting excited when a new biography of Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata was published. One time I organized a talk for him on the Zapatistas when I was at college. He stayed at my place, and I remember telling him that I had a bunch of Lenin and Trotsky books if he wanted to read them (I was younger, still new to Marxism, so I guess I imagined this is what old revolutionaries like Gerry did to relax). He laughed a little and said he was fine, that he brought plenty of Gaelic poetry to entertain him (I recall him telling me that reading Gaelic poetry was one of his favorite past times and that he often read it in the evenings). I remember that Gerry was really excited about a nearby Armenian bookstore, and we parted ways with him hoping on a bus there. I'm sad that Gerry didn't get to spend more time in his last years in the hills of Chiapas reading his Gaelic poetry and living life to the fullest in his own way. He was an amazing person with integrity, a socialist who in his own life embodied our ideals of internationalism and universalism. Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Italy, 1860s-1920s
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == I'm doing some reading on the early years of the Italian Left. I haven't studied this history before. Would it be safe to say this: Italian unification was accomplished by a bunch of elites who then needed to tax the poor to pay for the infrastructure of nationhood. This created a lot of anger. The 1880s onward also saw decreasing living standards among peasants and workers. The latter searched for a political expression/vehicle for their disenchantment and interests, and the Socialists (PSI) tried to be just that. The PSI was divided internally between right, center, and left wings, the center wing led by Turati being dominant (Turati was a Bernsteinite who believed in the ultimate necessity of socialism but advocated interclass alliances to achieve reforms). The elites, threatened by farmers and workers linking up with the PSI, tried to repress and co-opt the Socialists (the 1890s were a repressive phase, and the Socialists’ efforts to fight against the state for democratic rights earned them clout). Ultimately, Italy faced a clash between its poor and rich since the 1860s, and this was only resolved in the 1920s with fascism. The significance of the victory of Mussolini must be seen in that light -- solving the class tensions that had existed since unification by decisively crushing the left. Broad strokes here, and I may be off, but I'm just hoping to hear peoples responses in order to learn more and clarify things. The history of the Italian left and Italian politics during this period is really interesting -- any thoughts whatsoever appreciated, comrades. Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Best political memoirs
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == I'm looking for some reading recommendations. What are the best political memoirs people have read? I am specifically curious about memoirs that shed light on different national experiences in the international communist movement during the 20th century. I'd also be interested in memoirs of the WWII anti-fascist resistance. But anything else you could recommend would also be appreciated. I'm reading Ngo Van's memoir on early Vietnamese communism right now -- very interesting. Thanks Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Best political memoirs
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == I strongly recommend Junius Scales's Cause at Heart. He was a CP leader from North Carolina who was imprisoned for a Smith Act violation. He has some great scenes describing his friendship with mafia boss Vincente Gigante in Sing Sing, the guy who used to feign senility by walking around Greenwich Village in a bathrobe. Thanks. I read a collection of oral histories with Scale's and his family. It was excellent -- especially his descriptions of communist organizing in the 1930s and his and his wife's explanations of their early politicization: http://aredfamily.com/ Scales' vivid description of poverty in Appalachia and the deep South during the Depression show why communism was so attractive. Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Battle for Chile online?
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Does anyone know if the three parts of the The Battle for Chile are anywhere online with english subtitles? I saw that it's on youtube, but without subtitles. Thanks! Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Richard Falk on Egypt
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == http://richardfalk.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/egypt%E2%80%99s-transformative-moment-revolution-counterrevolution-or-reform/ Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Causes of the collapse of USSR
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Can anyone point me toward reading material that surveys the causes of the fall of the USSR? Thanks. Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
