Nicholas Vrousalis (Louvain): Lamentation in the Face of Historical Necessity. Tearing Away the Veils: Marshall Berman on the Communist Manifesto. Terry Eagleton writes in praise of Marx (and more and more and more and more and more). Etienne Balibar on how Marx is considered now. The Un-Shock Doctrine: Despite everything, Slavoj Zizek still believes the idea of communism is the most appropriate for our end times of crises and monsters. Christopher Hitchens reviews The Letters of Rosa Luxemburg (and more by Scott McLemee at Bookforum). Marxism in the marketplace of ideas: How left wing forces can counter the influence of the dominant ideology in discourse, when engaged in action among others and in their publications. The emergence of a fresh current on Europe's political right is being widely discussed, but historically informed scrutiny suggests a different view. Europe and the end of politics: This is today the responsibility of the Left — to save democracy from its gradual decay into the neo-imperialism of terminally boring experts and the neo-evangelism of neo-liberal dystopia. From Social Europe Journal, an article on re-inventing social democracy and the threat of xenophobic attitudes; 10 definitions of the populist crisis in Western politics; forget redistribution: Why direct income distribution is key for equality and justice; and Martin Albers on taking social democratic history seriously. James David Bowen (SLU): The Right in “New Left” Latin America. What does it mean to be a leftist in Latin America? It's hard to identify common policies or even a common ideology among many Latin American leftists. The rebranding of the South American left: Can a Chavista become a Lulaista? (and more) Sandra Borda on grading Latin America’s Left. Left of centre governments have demonstrated that social democracy is possible in Latin America — their European cousins would do well to study and learn from their example.
