Eugenics 2.0: How Dialectical Materialism can end the Nature vs. Nurture debate
Nafis Hasan, January 1, 2019
Race "science" has not disappeared, and with the rise of xenophobic nationalist politics, it is making a comeback in the form of vulgar genetic determinism. The classic nature vs. nurture debate is returning, with right-wing ideologues firmly on the side of "nature". Nafis Hasan argues that through dialectical logic we can overcome the nature vs. nurture debate and understand the human species in a way that doesn't bow before genetic reductionism. Read Article.
Long, Queer Revolution
Nia Frome, December 29, 2018
Revolution won't follow a neat and clean schema, fitting easily into one stage or another, argues Nia Frome. Instead, revolution will be a long process, a process that cannot always be categorized with preconceived definitions. The ideal of revolutionary vision never fully survives contact with the messy and unpredictable realities of political change. Read Article.
Alienation and Social Reproduction among the Subaltern
Christian Noakes, December 22, 2018
Christian Noakes argues that the theoretical work of Antonio Gramsci, put in historical context, can help us understand the issues of sectarianism among oppressed groups that pit the oppressed against one another and the need to move beyond such sectarianism for a project of universal human emancipation. Read Article.
Shame and Misery: A Materialist History of Gay Politics
Gus Breslauer, December 16, 2018
With its origins in the onset of the free labor system, Gus Breslauer traces the history of gay politics from the development of capitalism, through WWII, Gay Liberation, AIDS, and Queer Theory. In conclusion, Breslauer argues for a return to Marx’s view of labor for a renewal of a viable gay politics, and ultimately locates gay liberation in a broader break with this world for a classless society. Read Article.
Critique of the Masculine Program
Cold and Dark Stars, December 11, 2018
How is masculinity socially constructed? Cold and Dark Stars looks at the "warrior program" of socializing men into warriors that begins in the earliest days of civilization and its crisis in an increasingly administrated world, leading to a form of alienation that is especially susceptible to reactionary politics. Read Article.
Building the Mass Party: The Merger Formula in the American Context
Rosa Janis, December 9, 2018
What will it take to build a mass socialist party in the United States? Rosa Janis argues that socialist think-tanks may be a necessary first step, as well as a movement to reform electoral and labor laws through "anti-entryist" candidates. Read Article.
On Women As A Class: Materialist Feminism and Mass Struggle
Alyson Escalante, December 4, 2018
The relationship between gender and capital is complex, but a materialist approach to both requires us to recognize the centrality of proletarian revolution for the liberation of women, writes Alyson Escalante. Read Article.
A Worker on Workers' Education
Rida Vaquas, November 29, 2018
Translation and introduction by Rida Vaquas. The original article can be found here. Read Article.
May 1968: The Birth of Neoliberalism?
Donald Parkinson, November 24, 2018
The May events in 1968 France are now remembered by some as merely a watershed for the rise of neo-liberalism. Donald Parkinson aims to complicate this narrative and looks at the role of the French Communist Party's historical legacy. Read Article.
Long Term Failures: A Short History of the CIA and Destabilization of Leftist Governments in Latin America
M. Earl Smith, November 20, 2018
M. Earl Smith’s extensive research into and historical expose of the CIA’s activity in South America displays a historical truth which is systematically and strenuously suppressed in the American mass media. The American public consequently has a disturbingly high approval of the CIA, with more citizens supporting than opposing ‘the Company’. M. E. Smith asserts correctly that many south and central American countries have seen successful leftist governments, despite many contrary efforts of the CIA. Yet the editors of Cosmonaut believe it necessary to clarify our views on this matter: The elected governments of South America, such as the Ecuadorian government under Correa, Morales’s government in Bolivia or Chile’s social-democratic policies, all do not leave the framework of capitalism and its state order. While they certainly have improved the lives for many millions, these are gains resting on the shaky foundations (and economic vulnerabilities) of liberal capitalism. Read Article.