IMHO INTERNATIONAL MARXIST HUMANIST ORG

Support the Work of the International Marxist-Humanist Organization   “In a higher phase of communist society, after the enslaving subordination of the individual to the division of labor, and thereby also the antithesis between mental and physical labor, has vanished; after labor has become not only a means of life but life's prime want; after the productive forces have also increased with the all-round development of the individual, and all the springs of cooperative wealth flow more abundantly, only then can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be completely transcended and society inscribe on its banners: From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs!” - Karl Marx, Critique of the Gotha Program, 1875 2019 marks the end of a decade characterized by the growth of rightwing populist and neo-fascist tendencies that have dropped neoliberalism’s mask of civility. The fact that these tendencies aggressively dismisses the facts about climate change as fake news means that the world’s ecosystems are in danger of total collapse in the near future. At the same time, the last decade was also characterized by, and will be remembered for, remarkable uprisings and new development in thought. The Arab Spring, the Occupy movement, #BlackLivesMatter, the #MeToo Movement, and the US teachers’ strikes, all contributed to significant social change. These movements comprised a new generation of activists that worked out a critique of existing conditions by themselves. Today, they are continuing in a whole series of uprisings that began a year ago in Africa, in Sudan and Algeria, and have since spread to South America and the Middle East, Hong Kong, and with an important strike ongoing in France as well. Notably, youth, women, and oppressed minorities stand at the forefront of virtually all of these movements, alongside large sectors of the working people. 2019 also marks the 10th anniversary of the IMHO, which is also the year we are finalizing a project of publishing a new translation of Marx’s Critique of the Gotha Program together with a new introduction. We have done this as part of our central task of developing a philosophically grounded concept of an alternative to capitalism that meets the needs of our time. We argue that a positive vision of an alternative society is immanent in Marx’s negative critique of capitalism. Moreover, his vision of an alternative goes far beyond mere redistribution of value. But since Marx’s writings do not deal with all the issues facing us today, we need to work out, concretely, what a philosophy of liberation that is adequate for our times means. By writing and publishing articles on our website, participating in demonstrations and protests, by organizing study groups and public meetings, and by taking part in public forums and conferences, we stay devoted to the task of trying to develop the concept of a humanist alternative to capitalism, one that can help to give direction to today’s social movements. Support us in all of these tasks by considering a donation. We have access to no funding other than what our members and readers can provide. To make a contribution, click on this link or go to the “Donate” tab at the top of the homepage of our website. If you want to join us in the task of developing an alternative to capitalism you are more than welcome to send us a message by clicking on the “Contact” tab on the homepage, or by proposing an article for our journal, or by attending one of our events and talking to some of us.   For a revolutionary New Year, The International Marxist-Humanist Organization Consider a donation (tax deductible in USA) to the IMHO to support our work bit.ly/IMHO-DONATE Web:  https://www.imhojournal.org/ Email: arise@imhojournal.org Follow us on Twitter (upper right on IMHO homepage) for immediate notice of new posts. Join our Facebook page: "International Marxist-Humanist Organization," https://www.facebook.com/groups/imhorg/ We would love to hear your thoughts on our webzine or our organization, either through the "arise" email account above or as a comment in our (moderated) comments pages.

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Help Continue the Work of the International Marxist-Humanist Organization

We need your help to continue the work of the IMHO

2021 started with the attempted fascist coup on Capitol Hill in the US. Over the world, similar tendencies with growing fascist movements, and a serious developing fascist threat, is now a reality. Moreover, during the year, capitalism’s destructive consequences for the climate have increased quicker than what most predictions suggested, and the climate crisis comes closer every day. At the same time, there are many groups and movements, from #BlackLivesMatter and #FridaysForFuture to Indian peasant organizations, which are responding to these new facts and are evolving theory and practice in new and creative ways to point forward toward a humane society free from all forms of oppressive structures.

Developing a notion of what a humanist society freed from all oppressive structures is, a viable alternative to capitalism, is what has been guiding the activities of the International Marxist-Humanist Organization since it was founded in 2009. We are a leftwing organization that bases itself in a specific body of thought, that of Karl Marx and of Marxist-Humanism as it was first worked out by Raya Dunayevskaya, which has since undergone continuous development by numerous workers, activists, and scholars in the Marxist-Humanist tradition. A notion of a viable alternative to capitalism is needed in order to give direction to today’s freedom movements, and developing it needs theoretical as well as practical labor. In a book called Rosa Luxemburg, Women’s Liberation, and Marx’s Philosophy of Revolution (1982), Dunayevskaya wrote:

The myriad crises in our age have shown, over and over again, from Russia to China, from Cuba to Iran, from Africa to Pol Pot’s Cambodia, that without a philosophy of revolution, activism spends itself in mere anti-imperialism and anti-capitalism, without ever revealing what it is for… What is needed is a new unifying principle, on Marx’s ground of humanism, that truly alters both human thought and human experience.

Every new generation must work out anew what such an alternative to capitalism means, so it fits their reality. During 2021 we who are active in the IMHO have, so far, organized a little more than 40 public meetings where we discussed theoretical and political issues. We arranged a major conference in July with speakers from many different countries, and we have maintained and developed our webzine, The International Marxist-Humanist, as a site of reflection and reportage on the movements for human emancipation and on the theoretical development of Marxism and of Marxist-Humanism for today. Many of our articles have been translated and are now available in languages such as Arabic, Portuguese, German, Turkish, Spanish, Chinese, Dutch, and more. We have also gained several new members and many new subscribers to our monthly newsletter. A major accomplishment during 2021 was also the publication of the book Raya Dunayevskaya’s Intersectional Marxism: Race, Class, Gender, and the Dialectics of Liberation, to which several of our members contributed vastly.

Looking ahead we are currently planning lots of new activities. If you want to join us in the task of developing a viable alternative to capitalism you are more than welcome to send us a message by clicking on the “Contact” tab on the homepage, writing to one of our social media accounts, or by attending one of our Zoom events and talking to some of us.

We devote ourselves to working out a philosophy of liberation adequate to our times, but we can’t do this completely on our own, or without financial support. We receive no funding other than what our members and readers can provide. To make a contribution, click on this link or go to the “Donate” tab at the top of the homepage of our website.

For a revolutionary New Year!
The International Marxist-Humanist Organization


Email: arise@imhojournal.org
Website: www.imhojournal.org


UPCOMING EVENTS SPONSORED BY THE INTERNATIONAL MARXIST-HUMANIST ORGANIZATION

A Planet at Risk: Capital’s Drive for Infinite Expansion in a World of Finite Limits
Monday December 20, 2021, 6:30 PM, Central Time

Opening the discussion: Hector Salazar

Capital’s drive to increase wealth in monetary form is placing the future of life on this planet in jeopardy. We will explore this crisis in light of the recent discovery of Marx’s Notes on Ecology, which focuses on capital’s destruction of the metabolic relation between humanity and nature.

Readings: 1) Kohei Saito, Karl Marx’s Ecosocialism, chapter 6, “Marx’s Ecology after 1868;” 2) Heather Brown, “Capital’s Treadmill of Growth and Destruction” (2020).

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82445257785?pwd=b0gwVzFqM1luY0Y4Sm5PekdQb2UzUT09

Passcode: 362298

RECENT PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST (with reviews posted on our Publications pages)

DIALECTICS OF REVOLUTION: HEGEL, MARXISM, AND ITS CRITICS THROUGH A LENS OF RACE, CLASS, GENDER, AND COLONIALISM -- by Kevin B. Anderson, Daraja Press.

COMPLETE WORKS OF ROSA LUXEMBURG, VOL. III: POLITICAL WRITINGS, ed. Peter Hudis, Axel Fair-Schulz and William A Pelz, Verso Books (hardcover only at this point).

THE TRANSITION FROM CAPITALISM: MARXIST PERSPECTIVES -- ed. by Saeed Rahnema, Palgrave-Macmillan: conversations with Marxist scholars including Peter Hudis and Kevin Anderson.

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We have also posted reviews of these and other of our books in a variety of journals, including ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY (India).

See also our dropdown menu for our LANGUAGES on our homepage for newly uploaded articles, reviews, interviews, and book announcements in Portuguese, Spanish, German, Chinese, Italian, Turkish, Arabic, and other languages.
THE INTERNATIONAL MARXIST-HUMANIST is the webzine of the INTERNATIONAL MARXIST-HUMANIST ORGANIZATION (IMHO)

Web: https://www.imhojournal.org/
Email: arise@imhojournal.org
Follow us on Twitter (upper right on IMHO homepage) for immediate notice of new posts.
Join our Facebook page: "International Marxist-Humanist Organization," https://www.facebook.com/groups/imhorg/

We would love to hear your thoughts on our webzine or our organization, either through the "arise" email account above or as a comment in our (moderated) comments pages.

Consider a donation (tax deductible in USA) to the IMHO to support our work bit.ly/IMHO-DONATE

 RECENT ARTICLES IN THE INTERNATIONAL MARXIST-HUMANIST WEBZINE (October 2023)

The Middle East and the World After October 7, and Israel’s War on Palestine by Kevin B. Anderson A global turning point has been reached, showing systemic fragility, but with genocidal repression looming over Gaza. Approved as a Statement of the Steering Committee of the International Marxist-Humanist Organization. Clarifying Our Perspectives on Palestine and Israel after October 7 by Alireza Kia On several tendencies on the left, especially in Iran and the diaspora. Front Commun: The Herculean Leap of the Working Class Quebecois by Kaveh Boveiri Quebec general strike has become a real possibility. Los Angeles Demonstration for Palestine Amidst Rising Fears of Israeli Invasion by Derek Lewis The demonstration of several thousand galvanized support for Palestine. The Uyghurs and the Palestinians by Chinese Student The oppression of Uyghurs in China compares to that of the Palestinians. Poems of the Living Dialectic by Sam Friedman A series of 7 poems on the dialectic. Ongoing Strikes Show Increasing U.S. Labor Militancy by Derek Lewis Increasing militancy of unions at the leadership and grassroots levels illustrates an increased resolve to resist capital. Review of Raya Dunayevskaya’s Intersectional Marxism: Race, Class, Gender, and the Dialectics of Liberation by Sevgi Doğan Review of “Raya Dunayevskaya’s Intersectional Marxism: Race, Class, Gender, and the Dialectics of Liberation,” Kevin B. Anderson, Kieran Durkin, Heather A. Brown (eds.), Palgrave 2021. Originally appeared in Science & Society, 2023, 87:3. How Green Was Karl Marx? – On Kohei Saito and the Anthropocene by David Black Review of Saito’s "Marx in the Anthropocene."

UPCOMING EVENTS SPONSORED BY THE IMHO [Chicago] The Regional and Global Impact of Israel’s War Against the  Palestinian People   Monday, October 30, 6:30 pm (Central time) Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84126516993?pwd=OHk4a3lNS25zM2N5RzVwRG53bk9vZz09 The growing opposition around the world to Israel’s genocidal assault on in Gaza has shattered the illusion of the U.S., Israel, and their allies in and beyond the Arab world that, after having been politically isolated, confined, and driven to despair, the Palestinian people would gradually disappear or acquiesce to the new “reality” of total Israeli domination. The past two weeks show, as in Poland, Ireland, or South Africa in earlier times, or the history of the Jews themselves, that oppressed peoples who have acquired a clear sense of identity and organization are capable of outlasting their oppressors, even in the face of decades and even centuries of setbacks. Join us for a discussion of the regional and global impact of Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel and the Israeli state’s ongoing effort to bomb and starve Gaza into submission. Opening the discussion: Peter Hudis, author of Frantz Fanon, Philosopher of the Barricades Ali Reza, Iranian revolutionary activist. Suggested Reading: “The Middle East and the World After October 7, and Israel’s War on Palestine,” by Kevin B. Anderson, in The International Marxist-Humanist     [London] Raya Dunayevskaya’s Intersectional Marxism   Wednesday, November 8, 2023, 19:00 (GMT) Bertrand Russell Room, Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL Chair: Sandra Rein, University of Alberta, Canada, scholar of Rosa Luxemburg Speakers: Kieran Durkin, University of York, UK, author of Erich Fromm’s Radical Humanism Heather Brown, Westfield State University, USA, author of Marx on Gender and the Family David Black, writer and cultural critic, UK, author of Helen Macfarlane Janaina de Faria, Federal University of Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri, Brazil and Journal of the Brazilian Society for Political Economy Kevin B. Anderson, University of California, USA, author of Marx at the Margins Sponsored by the International Marxist-Humanist Organisation Free admission Copies will be available at 50% discount of new paperback edition of Raya Dunayevskaya’s Intersectional Marxism: Race, Class, Gender, and the Dialectics of Liberation, ed. by Kevin B. Anderson, Kieran Durkin, and Heather Brown RECENT PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST (with reviews posted on our Publications pages) Raya Dunayevskaya's Intersectional Marxism: Race, Class, Gender, and the Dialectics of Liberation edited by Kevin B. Anderson, Kieran Durkin & Heather A. Brown (Palgrave Macmillan). A Precious Residue: Poems that ponder efforts to spark a working class socialism in the 1970s and after by Sam Friedman (International Marxist-Humanist). Marxist-Humanism in the Present Moment: Reflections on Theory and Practice in Light of the Covid-19 Pandemic and the Black Lives Matter Uprisings edited by Jens Johansson & Kristopher Baumgartner (The International Marxist-Humanist Organization). Critique of the Gotha Program (Revised Translation & New Introduction) by Karl Marx, Peter Hudis (Introduction), Peter Linebaugh (Foreword), translated by Kevin B. Anderson & Karel Ludenhoff (PM Press). A Revolutionary Subject: Pedagogy of Women of Color and Indigeneity by Lilia D. Monzó (Peter Lang Inc.). Dialectics of Revolution: Hegel, Marxism, and its Critics Through a Lens of Race, Class, Gender, and Colonialism by Kevin B. Anderson (Daraja Press). ******* We have also posted reviews of these and other of our books in a variety of journals, including ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY (India). See also our dropdown menu for our LANGUAGES on our homepage for newly uploaded articles, reviews, interviews, and book announcements in Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Persian, German, Turkish, Italian, Korean, French, Spanish, Czech, and other languages. THE INTERNATIONAL MARXIST-HUMANIST is the webzine of the INTERNATIONAL MARXIST-HUMANIST ORGANIZATION (IMHO) Web:  https://www.imhojournal.org/ Email: arise@imhojournal.org  Follow us on Twitter (upper right on IMHO homepage) for immediate notice of new posts. Join our Facebook page: "International Marxist-Humanist Organization," https://www.facebook.com/groups/imhorg/ We would love to hear your thoughts on our webzine or our organization, either through the "arise" email account above or as a comment in our (moderated) comments pages. Consider a donation (tax deductible in USA) to the IMHO to support our work bit.ly/IMHO-DONATE

Deepening Revolutionary Theory in a Time of Genocidal War and the Threat of Fascism     Now Online: Recording of talks at the online IMHO mini-conference on Saturday, September 13, 2025 Panel 1 Watch recording here: On the 100th Anniversary of Frantz Fanon’s Birth: Why His New Humanism Matters Now More Than Ever - YouTube (60 minutes) Speakers: Ndindi Kitonga, Kenyan-American revolutionary educator and activist in Los Angeles Peter Hudis, Oakton College, author of Frantz Fanon: Philosopher of the Barricades Alex Adamson, organizer in the Greater Boston area, writes on queer, trans, and feminist decolonial philosophy and Marxism Annie Olaloku-Teriba, is a columnist, podcast host and independent scholar of ‘Race’ and Imperialism   Panel 2 Watch Recording here: The Late Marx: Gender, Colonialism, Indigeneity - YouTube (46 minutes) Speakers: Kevin B. Anderson, UC-Santa Barbara, author of The Late Marx’s Revolutionary Roads Melda Yaman, Istanbul University, feminist philosopher, author of Pathways from the Grundrisse to Capital Wayne Wapeemukwa, University of British Columbia, writer on non-Western/Indigenous philosophy and Marxism   Panel 3 Watch recording here: Marx’s "Critique of the Gotha Program" 150 Years Later, and Today’s Organizational Challenges - YouTube (30 minutes) Speakers: Heather A. Brown, Westfield State University, author of Marx on Gender and the Family Tomas MacAilpein, Scottish libertarian communist     ***** Sponsored by the: International Marxist-Humanist Organization More information: arise@imhojournal.org  https://www.facebook.com/groups/imhorg/ Consider a donation to the IMHO to support our work: bit.ly/IMHO-DONATE

RECENT ARTICLES IN THE INTERNATIONAL MARXIST-HUMANIST WEBZINE (July 2025)


Reflections on the No Kings Demonstration in Los Angeles by Tim Casement
Large rally included radical elements, even as local authorities tried to contain it.

Trump’s Surprise Attack on Iran Deepens US Imperial Entanglements by Kevin B. Anderson
Trump’s reckless attack on Iran constitutes new stage of US imperial aggression and of support for Israel’s genocidal Gaza war.

The Trump-Putin Axis and Its Impact on Global Politics by Peter Hudis
On the ramifications in world politics introduced by Trump’s new-found alliance with Putin’s Russia at the expense of Ukraine.

Iran: A Proposal for Dialogue Among the Leftwing Forces by Hassan Motazavi
The situation facing Iran and the left after the US bombing.

Los Angeles Protests 6/19 by Jackson Aquino
Reflections on the community defense taking place in Los Angeles by a young Marxist-Humanist.

The Struggle Against a Police State in Los Angeles by Rocío Lopez
Firsthand report of the police repression and resistance from below as ICE raids continue across Los Angeles.

To Whom the Bells Toll? By Kaveh Boveiri
Israel’s attacks on Iran as a turning point that casts doubt on the dominant occidental and colonizing capitalist hegemony.

Oppose Apartheid Israel’s Attack on Iran! By Kevin B. Anderson
We need to oppose Israel’s attack in a clear anti-imperialist manner but without giving political support to the Iranian regime.

Trump Meets Intense Resistance as He Lawlessly Sends National Guard to LA in Anti-Immigrant Crackdown by Rocío Lopez
LA’s grassroots resistance to Trump and ICE has only grown in the face of increasing repression.

Continued Ramifications of the Trump-Putin Axis for Ukraine and the World by Tim Casement
Response to our Statement, “The Trump-Putin Axis and Its Impact on Global Politics.”

On the Race Riots in Northern Ireland by Seamus Connolly
Migrant communities come under attack, fueled by social media and growing anti-immigrant sentiment.

Trump Has Declared All-Out War on the People with His Incursion into LA by Dan Beltaigne
Trump has declared all-out war on all but his rich crony friends, but his path to absolute power is not assured.

Reviews of “The Late Marx’s Revolutionary Roads” by Sean K. Isaacs, Ciáran O’rourke & Charles Reitz
Three recent reviews of Kevin B. Anderson’s latest book.

On the Road to Fascism: Global Realignment and US Repression by Rocío Lopez
Warns of rising fascism under Trump, linking U.S. repression and imperialism to global instability and resistance in Los Angeles.

Turkey: Peace is Not Just the Silence of Guns by M. Tas
This analyses the significance of the PKK decision to end its 40-year armed insurgency against the Turkish government.

Fascism and the Crisis of Capitalism, Then and Now by Karel Ludenhoff
Examines the writings on fascism of Johannes Agnoli and Raya Dunayevskaya, in light of current capitalist crisis.

Swedish Dock Workers on Strike by Jens Johansson
Dock workers went on strike, not for wages but for recognition and conditions of work.

Do Not Lead the People Towards Paper Flowers, but Toward Real Roses by Lalan Kishor Singh
This is a translation of a flyer distributed in India for a nationwide strike of trade unions.

The Clash of Behemoths: Peter Hudis and the Reckoning with Empire by Peter McLaren
Response to our Statement by Peter Hudis.

Trump 2.0: Rebirth of Reaction by Lyndon Porter
On Trump’s second presidency and the growing opposition to his authoritarian policies and attacks on marginalized communities.

Growing Resistance to Trumpism in Rural Wisconsin by Dan Beltaigne
Demonstrations have emerged in defiance of Musk’s alleged voter bribery scheme and the Democratic Party’s failure to resist Trump.

The International Marxist-Humanist Organization invites you to a public meeting on:

[Chicago] Reading Group on “The Late Marx’s Revolutionary Roads”

This series of four open discussions on Kevin B. Anderson’s new book The Late Marx’s Revolutionary Roads: Colonialism, Gender, and Indigenous Communism will explore how Marx’s largely neglected writings from 1868 to 1883 on non-Western and precapitalist societies speak to ongoing debates over the relation of class, race, and gender, multilinear paths of social development, and an ecologically sustainable alternative to capitalism.

The reading group will consist of four discussions; the book is available from Verso Books.


Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84385352025?pwd=cWlIFIPN4CLxJyNcdlXXTNGr54hKO0.1

Meeting ID: 843 8535 2025

Passcode: 522061



Monday, July 7, 6:30 pm [Central time]:
Gender and the Resistance to Patriarchy

Reading: chapter 2: “Temporalities and Geographies of Gender, Kinship, and Women’s Empowerment”



Monday July 28, 6:30 pm [Central time]:
Unilinear Stages of Development or Revolutionary Forces as Reason?

Reading: chapter 3, “Multilinear Concepts of Historical and Social Development” and chapter 4, “Colonialism and Resistance”



Monday, August 18, 6:30 pm [Central time]:
The Late Marx’s Vision of Communism

Reading: chapter 5, “New Concepts of Revolutionary Change and of Alternatives to Capitalism”


Sponsored by the Chicago chapter

of the International Marxist-Humanist Organization

Email: arise@imhojournal.org






[Los Angeles] The Paris Commune and the Seeds of Revolutionary Change Today

Sunday July 20, 2025
5:00-7:00 PM, Los Angeles Time

[In first few minutes we’ll hear brief reports/analysis of current issues like the struggle against ICE, new developments in Trumpist fascism, etc.]

Marx’s “Civil War in France,” his epochal essay on the Paris Commune of 1871, showed how the takeover of the entire city by radically democratic, anti-state, and anti-capitalist revolutionaries was paving the way for the true liberation of humanity as never seen before, and seldom since. What can we take from Marx’s writings on the Commune for today, especially for our struggles against genocidal imperialism (Palestine, Ukraine), imperialist war (Iran), and anti-immigrant and anti-trans crackdowns (USA), as well as the labor struggles all around us? How can we see all this globally? Is a real alternative to capitalism possible? What steps can we take, both theoretically and practically, to define and to enhance that goal? How can we see all this globally?

Speakers:Jackson Aquino
Judy Zhang

Suggested readings:Excerpts from Marx, Civil War in France https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1871/civil-war-france/ch05.htm
Ch. 6 of Dunayevskaya, Marxism and Freedom https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vK9txskDht67NLtquDD5yhNClkxyKuT5/view
Jackson Aquino, “On Solidarity Protests for Palestine,” https://imhojournal.org/articles/on-solidarity-protests-for-palestine/
Jackson Aquino is a writer on critical and urban theory; has been active in the student labor struggles at UC, the Palestine encampments, and the recent anti-ICE mobilizations
Judy Zhang is a critical philosopher writing on Marx’s humanist, anti-colonial dialectics and its differences with Kant and the liberal Enlightenment

Remotely on Zoom

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82941823959?pwd=BixxdDccN81xXbFLxCXEmS450NO9hy.1

Sponsored by Los Angeles Chapter, International Marxist-Humanist Organization

More information: arise@imhojournal.org

http://www.imhojournal.org https://www.facebook.com/groups/imhorg/









RECENT PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST (with reviews posted on our Publications pages)

The Late Marx's Revolutionary Roads: Colonialism, Gender, and Indigenous Communism by Kevin B. Anderson (Verso).

A Political Sociology of Twenty-First Century Revolutions and Resistances by Kevin B. Anderson (Routledge).

Raya Dunayevskaya's Intersectional Marxism: Race, Class, Gender, and the Dialectics of Liberation edited by Kevin B. Anderson, Kieran Durkin & Heather A. Brown (Palgrave Macmillan).

A Precious Residue: Poems that ponder efforts to spark a working class socialism in the 1970s and after by Sam Friedman (International Marxist-Humanist).

Critique of the Gotha Program (Revised Translation & New Introduction) by Karl Marx, Peter Hudis (Introduction), Peter Linebaugh (Foreword), translated by Kevin B. Anderson & Karel Ludenhoff (PM Press).

A Revolutionary Subject: Pedagogy of Women of Color and Indigeneity by Lilia D. Monzó (Peter Lang Inc.).

Dialectics of Revolution: Hegel, Marxism, and its Critics Through a Lens of Race, Class, Gender, and Colonialism by Kevin B. Anderson (Daraja Press).


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We have also posted reviews of these and other of our books in a variety of journals, including ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY (India).

See also our dropdown menu for our LANGUAGES on our homepage for newly uploaded articles, reviews, interviews, and book announcements in Slovak, Spanish, Turkish, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Persian, German, Italian, Czech, Korean, and other languages.
THE INTERNATIONAL MARXIST-HUMANIST is the webzine of the INTERNATIONAL MARXIST-HUMANIST ORGANIZATION (IMHO)

Web: https://www.imhojournal.org/
Email: arise@imhojournal.org
Follow us on X (upper right on IMHO homepage) for immediate notice of new posts.
Join our Facebook page: "International Marxist-Humanist Organization," https://www.facebook.com/groups/imhorg/

We would love to hear your thoughts on our webzine or our organization, either through the "arise" email account above or as a comment in our (moderated) comments pages.

Consider a donation (tax deductible in USA) to the IMHO to support our work bit.ly/IMHO-DONATE

The Middle East and the World After October 7,  and Israel’s War on Palestine

Summary: A global turning point has been reached, showing systemic fragility, but with genocidal repression looming over Gaza -- Editors

-- Approved as a Statement of the Steering Committee of the International Marxist-Humanist Organization

The October 7 attack by Hamas militants from Gaza into Israel, across one of the most closely guarded borders in the world, constitutes nothing less than a global turning point. Some 1300 Israelis were killed, military bases overtaken, parts of the world’s most sophisticated surveillance apparatus expertly dismantled, and 150 hostages transported back into Gaza. Nor did Israel’s vaunted international intelligence agencies, whether Mossad, Shin Bet, or military intelligence, let alone their counterparts in the CIA or European intelligence agencies, catch wind of what was coming.

Never has the delusion of rulers that they have created “security” for themselves and their regimes through repression and walling people in been exposed in so stark a fashion. Surely, this pertains not only to the nuclear-armed, technologically advanced, and militarily hyper-organized Israeli state, but also to those everywhere who rule over subject peoples through vastly superior force and relentless surveillance, from China to Turkey, and from Russia to the U.S.

The grand illusion of the U.S., Israel, and their allies and client states was that, after having been politically isolated, confined, and driven to despair, the Palestinian people would gradually disappear or acquiesce to the new “reality” in which even Arab states were increasingly normalizing relations with Israel in agreements that no longer even pretended to help Palestine, what even King Abdullah of Jordan called agreements that “fly over” Palestine. October 7 shattered that myth, showing that, as in Poland, Ireland, or South Africa in earlier times, or the history of the Jews themselves, oppressed peoples who’ve acquired a clear sense of identity and organization are capable of outlasting their oppressors, even in the face of decades and even centuries of setbacks. This too is reality.

It is also clear that Israel, which is lurching toward authoritarianism, even fascism, in recent years, is not launching a “surgical” operation to free the hostages grabbed by Hamas fighters. In fact, it is showing absolutely no regard for them. Instead, with full acquiescence from the U.S., a genocidal crackdown on the entire Palestinian people of Gaza is occurring. At this writing, thousands of Palestinians have been killed by relentless airstrikes, with tens of thousands, or even more, sure to follow. The Israeli military has indiscriminately levelled schools, hospitals, and mosques.

Israeli government ministers have called the Palestinians “human animals,” also beginning a medieval-style siege reminiscent of Sarajevo in the 1990s, which has cut off electricity, food, fuel, other supplies, and even water. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated openly that Hamas members are “dead men,” signaling to his military that no prisoners need be taken. Most ominously, the Israeli state is forcing Palestinians in the northern half of Gaza, home of some one million people, to flee their homes or die. This includes large hospitals and their patients, another clear war crime. Is Gaza as a whole to be ethnically “cleansed,” its 2.5 million people to be driven into the Sinai desert?

As these horrors transpire, with more to come, the U.S. government and its political class have unified around a policy of giving Israel a free hand, even more so than in previous conflicts. While highlighting Israeli deaths, they have ignored events like the October 9 death from Israeli bombs of 14 members of a single family in Gaza, let alone the thousands killed in reprisal by Israeli bombs since October 7. The European Union has had a remarkably similar response, with not only Germany, but even France, a purported ally of Palestine, banning all pro-Palestine demonstrations. Sadly, the Ukrainian government has sided with the forces of colonial occupation too, even as it battles Russian colonialism inside its own borders. Inside the large capitalist countries, the October 7 attack is solidifying a conservative and reactionary politics of militarism, vengefulness, and Islamophobia. In the U.S. and elsewhere, McCarthyite witch hunts are targeting voices that support Palestine, not only ones did not highlight Hamas atrocities first and foremost, but even those who postulate an equivalency between Hamas and the Israeli state. Blacklists of pro-Palestine students are being assembled by U.S. employers, and some have already lost their jobs.

Another regional war is a possibility, with two U.S. aircraft carriers now off the coast of Israel and Lebanon to “protect” Israel. Will the war extend into northern Israel and Lebanon, with Israel and even the U.S. vs. Iranian-backed Hezbollah?

At a general level, we must proclaim as a clear principle the right of the oppressed and the colonized to rise up. According to Elias Sanbar, a Palestinian diplomat and writer, “Yes, some actions committed in the course of military operations are war crimes. But public opinion needs to understand that we are also faced with a legitimate war against an occupying army” (Interview with Benjamin Barthe, Le Monde, Oct. 13, 2023). Thus, if we can support Ukraine, we also should support Palestine.

But we need to ask another question too: What has Hamas actually achieved with its October 7 incursion, dramatic as it was? Did Hamas think it could defeat Israel in fighting on the streets of Gaza with its 35,000 disciplined fighters? Or did it think in the end that because its fighters were “godly” that they would win? Did it even weigh in its calculus the mass deaths of Palestinians sure to follow from a regime like that of Netanyahu? For another lesson of history is that one can assassinate leaders or stage small-scale dramatic attacks, but actually achieving national independence, let alone real liberation from colonialism or capitalism, requires a truly mass movement, rooted in the working people, not a secretive cadre of dedicated young men substituting themselves for those masses. (For some astute critiques of Hamas from the Left, see Gilbert Achcar, “Initial Comments on Hamas’s October Counter-Offensive,” International Viewpoint, Oct. 9, 2023). Ultimate victory also requires a positive, humanist vision that would inspire those masses, including some inside the oppressor countries themselves. Massacring and taking civilians as hostages, all the while espousing a narrowly nationalist, conservative ideology, does not fulfill that need.

That said, it must be reiterated that the fragility of global systems of oppression and exploitation has been laid bare by October 7. This has led to gigantic demonstrations in Jordan and other Arab and predominantly Muslim countries, where a sense of despair and disengagement had followed the defeat of the Arab Spring of 2011. The same kinds of forces that touched off 2011 are now back on the streets. Around the world, too, young people are hitting the streets or demonstrating on their campuses in support of Palestine and against the impending genocide in Gaza.

Unfortunately, such liberatory forces are not at present strong enough to compel powers like the U.S. to stay the hand of Netanyahu and his accomplices in what is now a genocidal “unity” government including top generals of all political persuasions. For as is well known, a single call from Biden to the U.S.’s client, the Israeli state, could save untold lives.

We and our friends and allies need to be part of the broader movement of resistance, always putting forth a revolutionary humanist alternative to the powers that be. At present, that means doing all we can to support Palestine and to stay the hand of genocide in Gaza.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST (with reviews posted on our Publications pages)


Raya Dunayevskaya's Intersectional Marxism: Race, Class, Gender, and the Dialectics of Liberation edited by Kevin B. Anderson, Kieran Durkin & Heather A. Brown (Palgrave Macmillan).

A Precious Residue: Poems that ponder efforts to spark a working class socialism in the 1970s and after by Sam Friedman (International Marxist-Humanist).

Marxist-Humanism in the Present Moment: Reflections on Theory and Practice in Light of the Covid-19 Pandemic and the Black Lives Matter Uprisings edited by Jens Johansson & Kristopher Baumgartner (The International Marxist-Humanist Organization).

Critique of the Gotha Program (New Translation & New Introduction) by Karl Marx, Peter Hudis (Introduction) , Peter Linebaugh (Foreword), translated by Kevin B. Anderson & Karel Ludenhoff (PM Press).

A Revolutionary Subject: Pedagogy of Women of Color and Indigeneity by Lilia D. Monzó (Peter Lang Inc.).

Dialectics of Revolution: Hegel, Marxism, and its Critics Through a Lens of Race, Class, Gender, and Colonialism by Kevin B. Anderson (Daraja Press).


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