History
The Jacobin Enlightenment
Jacobinism was not a betrayal of the Radical Enlightenment and the French Revolution. It was a historically necessary effort to defend both.
Doug Enaa Greene
August 9, 2020Marx and the Communist Enlightenment
Marxism is the completion of the Radical Enlightenment project.
Doug Enaa Greene
August 2, 2020Hegel, Enlightenment, and Revolution
Hegel’s dialectical analysis of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution provides the groundwork for Marx’s theory of historical materialism.
Doug Enaa Greene
July 26, 2020Spinoza’s Radical Enlightenment
The Radical Enlightenment starts with Baruch Spinoza’s materialist philosophy. There is a direct line from Spinoza to Marx and Engels via the French Revolution.
Doug Enaa Greene
July 19, 2020The French Revolution In the Political Thought of Leon Trotsky
The Great French Revolution was of fundamental importance in Leon Trotsky’s political thinking. Here are some of its central aspects.
Ana Rivera
July 18, 2020Enlightenment Betrayed: Jonathan Israel, Marxism, and the Enlightenment Legacy
Jonathan Israel is one of the most important scholars of the radical legacy of the Enlightenment. But a look at Israel’s scholarship shows that his Radical Enlightenment is not radical enough.
Doug Enaa Greene
July 14, 2020Juneteenth: A Marxist Perspective
This year’s commemoration of Juneteenth --- the day the last of the enslaved Black people in the United States were formally emancipated --- is also a reminder that the job of ending all forms of slavery is not yet finished. As Karl Marx wrote, we have nothing to lose but our chains and a world to win!
Scott Cooper
June 19, 2020Free All Political Prisoners — Interview With a Black Panther Elder
Chip Fitzgerald is the longest-held Black Panther political prisoner in U.S. history. Here is an interview with Black Panther elder and former political prisoner, Arthur League, about the fight to free his comrades.
Julia Wallace
June 16, 2020We Had to Tear This Mothafucka Up: The Legacy of the L.A. Uprising
The mass demonstrations that have erupted since the police murdered George Floyd echo the fierce militancy and revolutionary art of the 1992 Los Angeles Uprising. While the rebellion was quickly suppressed, its legacy offers lessons and hope for the present wave of protests that are fighting back against police violence.
Doug Enaa Greene
June 11, 2020Capitalist Politicians Always Blame “Outside Agitators” — Examples from Mexico
After protests spread to hundreds of cities across the United States, politicians from both parties are blaming "outside agitators" from other states. This is an absurd lie — but capitalist politicians often repeat it. Two examples from Mexico.
Óscar Fernández
June 4, 2020