Articles by: Justin Theodra

Samir Amin on Cuba

Samir Amin on Cuba

Samir Amin was one of the great anti-imperialist Marxist intellectuals of the 20th century. I have elsewhere called him a ‘global organic intellectual’ because he drew his conclusions from a wealth of primary data little considered by mainstream academe; namely, the sincere theoretical/political reflections of ‘third-world’ radical intellectuals, with whom he engaged in constant discussions, on seven continents, for over five decades[Read More…]

by 25/07/2020 Comments are Disabled Life/Philosophy
Regarding Shukri Abdi

Regarding Shukri Abdi

The travesty of Shukri Abdi’s death is a tragedy of globalization; racialized, exploitative, inimical and finally untenable. It does not ‘provide the goods’ either for the Southern refugees who stream into cities seeking shelter from poverty, famine, fratricide and war; nor for the Northern citizens who bear the daily brunt of austerity which serves as a subsidy to the stockbrokers[Read More…]

by 28/06/2020 Comments are Disabled World
 Lenin: The Rock of Compassion

 Lenin: The Rock of Compassion

Marx was the first to criticize capitalism in a concerted way, but Lenin was the first to topple it. In the Tsarist snow, he planted the seed of socialism, and it grew into the enormous Eastern bloc; a canopy over a third of humanity that plunged some into eternal darkness, but many into the light of a new dawn. Now[Read More…]

by 21/04/2020 2 comments Life/Philosophy
 Romance of Fire: The life of Ernest Mandel

 Romance of Fire: The life of Ernest Mandel

Aside from Tony Cliff (and the ‘old man’ himself) few can claim intellectual leadership of the Trotskyist movement like Ernest Mandel can. He was not only the pillar of the Fourth Internationale but also the most widely published Belgian author since Georges Simenon. He gave the prestigious Alfred Marshall lectures at Cambridge in 1967, and produced books, articles, and pamphlets[Read More…]

by 05/04/2020 Comments are Disabled Life/Philosophy
Writings in the Northwest Wind: The Poems of Zhou En Lai

Writings in the Northwest Wind: The Poems of Zhou En Lai

Zhou En Lai was a man like any other; with hopes and dreams; failures and successes. In his heart beat the throb of humanity for a better world; under strain it tilted to temptation; in death-bed it mourned mistakes and milestones alike. On this, 122nd anniversary of his birth; it might behoove us to look into a little known side[Read More…]

by 07/03/2020 Comments are Disabled Life/Philosophy
The Life and Legacy of Samir Amin

The Life and Legacy of Samir Amin

August 12th 2018 marks the first anniversary of the death of Samir Amin, a man who, in my view, was the first, and perhaps the most prolific, global organic intellectual in history. He quite literally traversed the seven continents, meeting with local lefts wherever he could find landfall, participating in their discussions, and building from them some of the most[Read More…]

by 16/08/2019 Comments are Disabled Life/Philosophy
Review: Only People Make Their Own History by Samir Amin (2019) – With a Comprehensive Bibliography of Amin’s Work

Review: Only People Make Their Own History by Samir Amin (2019) – With a Comprehensive Bibliography of Amin’s Work

            Samir Amin (1931-2018) was one of the great organic intellectuals of our time. He synthesized theory and practice; Marxism and developmentalism; comradeship and critique, like no other. Only People Make Their Own History is the first ever posthumous publication of Amin’s work. It includes ten of Amin’s most important essays published in the 21st century, and an introduction by[Read More…]

by 14/03/2019 Comments are Disabled Book Review
A Tribute to Samir Amin

A Tribute to Samir Amin

200 years after Marx’s birth, 101 years after the October revolution, and 50 years after thetumult of 1968, Samir Amin is dead. To the torrent of tributes that is surely pouring in at this time, I would like to add my own reflections on my engagement with Amin’s life and work.Due to the timing with which I came into contact[Read More…]

by 20/08/2018 1 comment Life/Philosophy
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