Leo Panitch died recently of covid complications. A few months ago we discussed two issues which Panitch studied and wrote about for decades. First, whether the pandemic has fundamentally altered the geopolitical balance between the U.S. and other great powers, specifically China. And second, how socialists in the U.S. should approach the November elections. Panitch connected the two issues with his usual depth and historical rigor, qualities not always evident in the left discourse on these questions. He will be deeply missed.
Leo Panitch was Professor Emeritus of Politics at York University in Toronto. He was co-editor of the Socialist Register and author of several books, most recently Searching for Socialism: The Project of the Labour New Left from Benn to Corbyn, co-authored with Colin Leys and published by Verso.
Bernie Sanders' speech at DNC 2020
Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin, "Trumping the Empire," Socialist Register 2019.
Leo Panitch, "Class theory for our time," Catalyst 2020.
Robbie Nelson is a member of New York City DSA and a rank-and-file public school teacher. He has been organizing in the Democratic Socialists of America for more than 3 years and in the broader movement for almost a decade, largely focused on labor and political education. He is also a member of the Bread and Roses caucus within DSA. ...
To date there have been more than 200 documented strikes, walkouts and other types of labor protest in the U.S. by essential workers in warehouses, meat processing plants, hospitals and grocery stores. What might this wave of activity mean for the labor movement after the pandemic? Guest: Eric Blanc, author of Red State Revolt: The Teachers' Strike Wave and Working-Class Politics (Verso: 2019), and organizer with the Democratic Socialists of America's Emergency Worker Organizing Committee (EWOC) ...
To help us make sense of Marx’s Capital, and therefore capitalism, Hadas Thier has just published the book ‘A people’s guide to capitalism: An introduction to Marxist economics.’ Its fresh, contemporary prose makes Marx’s concepts more accessible without sacrificing their depth. In this episode we discuss the continued relevance of the concept of ‘surplus value,’ which occupies much of the first volume of Capital. Hadas Thier is a member of the New York City branch of DSA. She writes for Jacobin, In these Times and other publications. Like many New Yorkers, she is also a mother struggling with issues of child care and schooling during the pandemic. ...
