In this episode, Professor Ken Hammond and I discussed the long history of the rise of the West and capitalism, and China’s role within it. We examined the central position of the Chinese economy in the world-system prior to Western dominance, looking at how its society and economy functioned. Furthermore, we discussed the concept of Chinese/socialist modernization – which is current in Chinese academic discourse – and how it differs from Western modernization theories rooted in colonial thinking. Finally, we considered what this socialist modernization trajectory signifies within the broader 500-year history of Western capitalism, alongside recent developments in China’s approach to global politics and the meaning of the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China within this broader historical context.

Ken Hammond is a Professor at the Department of History at New Mexico State University, he is an expert in Chinese and East Asian history, having worked and lived in China for several periods over the past 40 years. He is the author of several books including ‘From Yao to Mao: 5000 Years of Chinese History’ and ‘China’s Revolution and the Quest for a Socialist Future’.

'The Long Transition Toward Socialism' podcast episode with Torkil Lauesen: https://youtu.be/D84K0yH-Cuw?si=U6ORw_a-kKUfYS3b

'Building a New Development Theory from the Global South' (Wenhua Zongheng): https://thetricontinental.org/asia/wenhua-zongheng-2026-1-building-new-development-theory/

Journal of International Solidarity Links

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This is the second of a two-part series on the politics of Kashmir with Jalees Hyder as my guest.

If you haven’t already, please check out the first part, in which we discussed the civilizational and historical connections between Kashmir and Iran, and the outpour of support expressed in Kashmir in light of Ayatollah Khamenei’s martyrdom, the connections between Palestine and Kashmir, and the historical origins of the Indian occupation of Kashmir

In this second part, we discuss Pakistan’s role in Kashmir, why,, according to Jalees, Kashmir should become a sovereign and independent state rather than merely joining Pakistan, and how the politics of Kashmir looks like today following both the abrogation of Article 370 and the 2025 Pahalgam attack and the India-Pakistan war that followed shortly after it.

Check out Unlearn Capital, which is a completely free and helpful political education library and resource hub on a wide range of topics relating to anti-imperialism and socialism: https://unlearn.capital/

Journal of International Solidarity Links

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This is the first of a two-part series on the politics of Kashmir with Jalees Hyder as my guest. In this first part, we discussed the outburst of mass rallies and protests in Kashmir to the martyrdom of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and what it is about Kashmiri society and its civilizational and theological connections to Iran that produced such a reaction in the region. We then discussed the connected histories of Kashmir and Palestine as well as the growing India-Israel relationship; we looked at why the plight of Kashmiri Muslims cannot and should not be equated to that of the Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang, in spite of many wrongly making that comparison. Finally, we looked at some of the fundamental and historical origins for why Kashmir came to be occupied by India and why the occupation continues today.

Please keep an eye out for the second part of this conversation as well which discusses Pakistan’s role in Kashmir, why, according to Jalees, Kashmir should become a sovereign and independent state rather than merely joining Pakistan, and how the politics of Kashmir looks like today following both the abrogation of Article 370 and the 2025 Pahalgam attack and the India-Pakistan war that followed shortly after it.

Check out Unlearn Capital, which is a completely free and helpful political education library and resource hub on a wide range of topics relating to anti-imperialism and socialism: https://unlearn.capital/

Journal of International Solidarity Links

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In this episode, Ammar Ali Jan and I discuss his recent trip to Iran to attend the funeral of martyr Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and related reflections on how Palestine since 2023 has been shaping the fabric of Pakistan since then. We then discuss the first International Anti-Imperialist Conference held in Lahore this past May and some of its conclusions relating to the need for political and economic sovereignty in the global South, the role of the state and the necessity of taking state power to pursue development in the global South, how Haqooq-e-Khalq is building their party, developing new institutions, and training new cadre and the youth, as well as how the geopolitics of Pakistan being wedged between Iran and China are shaping the terrain of class struggle in the country.

Ammar Ali Jan is a historian and the General Secretary of the Haqooq-e-Khalq Party in Pakistan. He is also a cabinet member of the Progressive International.

PLEASE DONATE TO THE SAMEER PROJECT'S FOOD AND WATER CAMPAIGN: https://chuffed.org/project/help-us-deliver-vital-aid-to-gaza-families-in-need

Reportback from Lahore Anti-Imperialist Conference: https://voxummah.com/2026/05/the-struggle-to-build-a-new-internationalism/

Journal of International Solidarity Links

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In this episode, I speak with Steve Goldfield, who is an elder of the anti-imperialist and Marxist-Leninist left about the organization he was a part of in the 1970s and 80s called the Liberation Support Movement (LSM).

LSM (1968–1982) was a North American, Marxist-Leninist solidarity group whose main mission was to cultivate U.S. and Canadian support for African liberation movements, forging direct partnerships with revolutionary organizations in countries like Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. We discussed some of LSM’s cadre organization work in North America, which included raising funds for these revolutionary organizations, sending printing equipment, and sending medicines and clothes, alongside other theoretical and ideological work.

We also discussed comrade Steve’s solidarity trips to different parts of Africa and West Asia, where they did work interviewing African revolutionaries and publishing these interviews. We looked at how the LSM internally organized itself and what lessons can be drawn from their example in today’s context, as well as how Steve thinks about how the state of capitalism and imperialism has changed today from the time of the LSM, and how resistance to them is shaping up today.

Liberation Support Movement's digital archive (including pamphlets, transcripts of interviews with African revolutionaries, etc.): https://africanactivist.msu.edu/organization/210-813-777/

Journal of International Solidarity Links

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In this episode, I’m speaking with Momodou Taal about the role of Islam in anti-imperialist struggles in West Asia. We discuss how the Western left has typically oriented itself to spirituality and Islam and what it is about Islamic theology that lends itself to shaping anti-imperialist struggles. We asked what it would mean to analyze history through a ‘theological-geopolitical-economy’ lens, and we looked at how the ideology of anti-imperialism has evolved over time from being Marxist and Marxist-adjacent to an Islamic anti-imperialism in our current period. Finally, we discussed what the post-Oct 7 world means for Muslims politics.

Please donate to Shatha, my friend in Gaza and a nursing student supporting her younger siblings: https://whydonate.com/fundraising/a-hope-to-live

Check out Momodou's excellent podcast, The Malcolm Effect: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-malcolm-effect/id1532417345

Journal of International Solidarity Links

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In this episode, I have Lara Sheehi back on the podcast to discuss her new book on revolutionary psychology and psychic militancy. We discuss how the capitalist and imperialist ruling classes see our minds as a terrain on which to wage war, how this psychological warfare can confuse or pacify our resistance to the system, and most importantly, how we can tune ourselves to being uncompromising on our revolutionary politics and not succumb to pacification. We also look at the psychic militancy practiced by those at the vanguard of anti-imperialism – the Axis of Resistance – and what lessons we can take from their ‘resistance psychology’.

PLEASE DONATE to the Sameer Project's Food and Water Campaign: https://chuffed.org/project/help-us-deliver-vital-aid-to-gaza-families-in-need?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio

Get Lara's Book: https://www.plutobooks.com/product/from-the-clinic-to-the-streets/

Lara's Psychic Militancy podcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJvUPsxvEc7gn3BAsDG9I0w

Journal of International Solidarity Links

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In this episode, I’m joined by Jasmine Peardon and Garrett Halas to discuss their recent trip to China which was organized by Canada-China Focus. We discuss what they learned from how the state prioritizes ecology as a vital part of development; we discussed some of their experiences in urban versus rural China, the role of the tech sector and AI in China, as well as some of their personal reflections on China’s socialist path.

Garrett Halas is a PhD candidate in the sociology department at Carleton University with a specialization in Marxist political economy and Canada-China relations. He’s a member of the Communist Party of Canada, Peace Alliance Winnipeg and Canadians United Against Modern Exclusion. His YouTube channel, Red Pen, focuses on the history, theory, and biographies of socialist revolutions and revolutionaries.

Jasmine Peardon is a Masters student studying Indigenous international relations with China, and has spent several years working in public policy. She co-founded Montréal Anti-Apartheid and hosts weekly political education seminars with the organization Capitalism Can't be Fixed.

Journal of International Solidarity Links

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In this episode, Max Ajl returns to the podcast to discuss the ongoing anti-imperialist struggle in West Asia involving Iran and the Axis of Resistance. We discuss what this current war reveals about the state of imperialism today, the US-Israeli relationship and possible contradictions between them, Iran’s sovereign military technology, as well as how global South states can orient toward greater energy sovereignty, including with green productive forces from China, after Iran’s effective nationalization of the Strait of Hormuz. Finally, we discuss what this US-Israeli war on Iran signifies in these five centuries of global Western dominance. 

PLEASE DONATE to the Sameer Project's Food and Water Campaign: https://chuffed.org/project/help-us-deliver-vital-aid-to-gaza-families-in-need?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio

Journal of International Solidarity Links

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In this episode, I have a wide-ranging conversation with Ju-Hyun Park regarding the politics of the DPRK. We discuss the central role of the US’ economic warfare in structuring how development takes place; we looked at some of the recent innovations in the DPRK’s socialist development model, including a focus on rural development; finally, we looked at the DPRK’s record on international solidarity, particularly with Iran and in West Asia, as well as the current state of anti-imperialism in Asia.

Ju-Hyun is an organizer with Nodutdol, which is a Korean diasporic organization that advocates for Korea’s reunification and national liberation within a broader global horizon for anti-imperialism: https://nodutdol.org/  

Ju-Hyun’s article in People’s Dispatch: https://peoplesdispatch.org/2026/02/24/defying-sanctions-advancing-socialism-the-dprks-9th-party-congress-begins/  

Journal of International Solidarity Links

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