Cosmopod

The Spanish government has just sided with the Moroccan government on the issue of the Western Sahara. Djamil and Rudy join Garazi Hach Embarek for an introductory discussion on the history and present of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic of the Western Sahara. We discuss the pre-colonial and Spanish colonial history, the context and formation of the Polisario Front liberation organization. We follow up by talking about the liberation wars against Morocco and Mauritania, the place of the Polisario in the national liberation movement, as well as the occupation and repression of the Western Sahara, and the situation of the refugee camps in western Algeria. We continue by speaking on the ongoing process to colonize and settle the Western Sahara by Morocco and the role of the UN, the African Union, as well as Algeria and Libya in the situation. We finish by analyzing the present situation, Trump's declaration in 2020 to support Moroccan colonization as quid pro quo for Moroccan recognition of Israel, as well as the Spanish governments flip from "neutrality" to a blatantly Moroccan position.

Renato Flores responds to Cam W's argument for Maoism and the mass line. Gabriel Palcic reads aloud.

Annie and Cliff join Victor Devinatz, a management theorist and labor historian, to discuss the formation of the Trade Union Unity League (TUUL), its successes and failures, and the role it played in the development of the labor movement. We focus on its emergence from the end of the Trade Union Education League (TUEL), its relationship between bottom-up initiative and Comintern direction in the shift toward dual unionism; CPUSA's three-pronged strategy of constructing the TUUL, building an opposition within the American Federation of Labor, and working with independent unions; the united front from below policy; and the transition toward the Popular Front and the formation of the Congress of Industrial Unions (CIO) after the mass strikes of 1934.

Check out Victor's A reevaluation of the Trade Union Unity League 1929-1934.

Giacomo Bianchino and Rudy join Amal for an introductory discussion on New Zealand's (Aotearoa in the Maori language) political economy, with a focus on how the country was settled and connected to the world market. We discuss the nature of the first settlements, the dispossession of the Maori, the Treaty of Waitangi and why it is a cornerstone of the myth of biculturalism, why the colonization process of the Maori was different when compared to the one in Australia and why New Zealand is an independent country. We continue by discussing the Maritime Strike and the origins of arbitration, the birth of the Labour party, the formation of the welfare state, the Labour party's political degeneration and the 1951 Waterfront process. We finish by discussing New Zealand's (sub-)imperialism in the Pacific and the 1999 voting reform.

References: Rollo Arnold - The Farthest Promised Land: English villagers, New Zealand immigrants of the 1870s James Robb's series on the Origins of the Working Class in New Zealand (Pts 1, 2, 3), his history of the founding of the labour party, and the history of the Waihi strike (Pts 1, 2) Towards a Socialist Polynesia (Spartacist League of New Zealand program of 1982) Phillip Ferguson - New Zealand: Neo Colony or Junior Imperialist? D. Bedggood - Rich and Poor in New Zealand A Critique of Class, Politics and Ideology Te Ahu - The Evolution of Contemporary Maori Protest E.S. Te Ahu Poata-Smith - The Political Economy of Maori Protest Politics 1968-1995: A Marxist Analysis of the Roots of Maori Oppression and the Politics of Resistance Katjo Buissink - Socialists and Trade Unionists Led the Fight for Electoral Reform in New Zealand

Ian Wright defends Marx's theory of surplus-value and its claim that human labor is the ultimate cause of economic profit. Gabriel Palcic reads aloud.

Agata, Anne, Lydia and Rudy join to talk about the historic context of Engels' The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, and how we can apply it today. We discuss Engels' theories on the historically evolving family structure and the origin of the state, how the evolution of women's conditions in the 20th century changed from what he expected, how the economic base interacts with the family structure and women's liberation, how families today both help and oppress people, the issues of housework and domestic violence, the present image of 'perfect families' and the striving for a new culture. We also discuss some pitfalls of the book such as homosexuality and the absence of "third genders" and finish by reflecting on the issues women face when joining leftist groups.

Rudy joins Keith, author of The Ecocentrists: A History of Radical Environmentalism for a discussion on the history of the mainstream environmental movement in the US. We discuss the term ecocentrist, the philosophy behind the environmental movement, how it led to Neo-Malthusianism as well as the critics of this philosophy like Murray Bookchin. We also discuss the Sierra Club's origins as a promoter of Nature and how it turned into an organization for the defense of Nature, its defeat around Glen Canyon Dam and how that changed the strategies and the position of environmentalism in the mid-20th century, its complicated relationship to the New Left, and why Nixon became the greatest environmental president. We then turn to RARE II and how this led to the birth of Earth First! and the slogan of No Compromises, what Earth First! was, the differing class and geographical bases of Earth First, its relationship to the indigenous movement and the figure of Judi Bari and the debate around tree spiking. We finish by discussing the disappearance of Earth First!, the rise of the Earth Liberation Front, as well as the lobby-fication of the Sierra Club.

References: Book Roundtable Chad Montrie's webpage