Why We Fight: Essays on Fascism, Resistance, and Surviving the Apocalypse

Dear Colleagues,

Whilst there is never enough time to read the vast wealth of relevant, topical material out there, I like to keep an eye for particularly valuable new books to promote.

And so, I came across Shane Burley's new book, Why we Fight, when reading reading the transcript of this podcast from Truthout: https://truthout.org/audio/activists-are-building-a-counterculture-of-care-in-apocalyptic-times/?fbclid=IwAR1veozzduf6NCBG4C44--RtpPfxQ5neE2V33B8OBbW9dFk7O6LtUka6PGE

Whilst 'the fight' for progressive social change is so important to pick apart and understand, why we fight, and particularly in the face of relentless assault, is just as important to stop and reflect upon.

And for left activists in the UK this fight is so difficult and not least in the Trump aftermath - a dominant theme of Burley's book.

You can buy the book here, and here is some promotional blurb.

These essays, many published here for the first time, cover the shifts in rhetoric and tactics of the Alt Right since their disastrous Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, and the explosion of antifascist, antiracist, and revolutionary organizing that has risen to fight it. Burley unpacks the moment we live in, confronting the apocalyptic feelings brought on by nationalism, climate collapse, and the crisis of capitalism, but also delivering the clear message that a new world is possible through the struggles communities are leveraging today. Burley reminds us what we're fighting for not simply what we're fighting against.

“No writer is more knowledgeable about the recent politics and culture of fascism and antifascism in the U.S. than Shane Burley. As a journalist, Burley has closely followed local and national struggles against white supremacy. As a theorist, he has helped us to situate the Alt Right and anti-fascism within broader conceptual dynamics. Finally the broad range of his work making sense out of this era of struggle has been gathered together in Why We Fight—an invaluable resource for fighting fascism and imagining a new world in the 21st century.” —Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook

“From the streets of Charlottesville to the bleachers of Major League Soccer, Burley’s Why We Fight is a clear-sighted and utterly compelling collection of stories of fascist creep and organized resistance. Beyond its chronicling of the bumbling and violent rise of white-supremacist groups during the last few years, Burley’s most important lesson is this: Fascism will come for us all if we let it, but we are neither alone nor powerless to fight it. Read this book then give it to a friend and then organize.” —Vegas Tenold, author of Everything You Love Will Burn

In Solidarity

Ian

Eric Hobsbawm Memorial Lecture: Racial Capitalism. What's in a Name?

Dear Colleagues,

One of the (few) benefits of the pandemic is the increased volume of events and activity that you can engage with online. And with this in mind I am keen to promote your attendance at this year's Eric Hobsbawn Memorial Lecture. 

I first came across Hobsbawn at Ruskin College when, as a feckless student, I read The Forward March of Labour ( halted as part of reading list introducing catalysts for the decline of organised labour. I had no grasp before then of the degree to which the movement had, to a degree at least, wrought its demise and, at that point at least, appeared incapable of conjuring its own rejuvenation. That book was a revelation and led me to read what has become my essential reading on the subject of profound change in the composition of the working class and of the institutions arising from it, Farewell to the Working Class by Andre Gorz: https://www.plutobooks.com/9780861043644/farewell-to-the-working-class/

Thereafter, I would often look out for Hobsbawm's other books, and was highly chuffed to find that he was a lover of jazz and had written on this subject also: https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571320103-the-jazz-scene/ And so, I was pleased to see some year's ago that his old academic institution Birkbeck hosts an annual memorial lecture.

This year's theme, of racial capitalism, is a great opportunity to step back from events that have unfolded since the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter Movement to better understand the organic relationship between capitalism, imperialism and racism.

You can register for the event here: https://www.bbk.ac.uk/events/remote_event_view?id=26110

And here is some promotional material for the event - I hope you sign up and enjoy the session.

Racial Capitalism. What’s in a Name? 
‘Racial capitalism’ is a term that is being increasingly used in an effort to capture the organic connections between these two interrelated but different systems that continue to dominate the modern world. This talk will argue for the need for temporal and spatial specificities in trying to untangle what constitutes the workings of ‘racial capitalism’. Taking the example of C18 Jamaica it will explore the relation between the plantation economy, the imperial framework within which it operated, constructions of whiteness and hereditary racial slavery. Where, how, and by whom was wealth created?  Who accumulated it? 

Catherine Hall is Emerita Professor of History and Chair of the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery at University College London. Her recent work has focused on the relation between Britain and its empire: Civilising Subjects (2002), Macaulay and Son (2012) and Hall et al, Legacies of British Slave-ownership (2014). Between 2009-2015 she was the Principal Investigator on the ESRC/AHRC projects Legacies of British Slave-ownership which aimed to put slavery back into British history. Her new book will be Making Racial Capitalism: Edward Long’s History of Jamaica.  

In Solidarity

Ian