Partisan • Patriotic • Internationalist
“Let us outdate my book”, Ståle Holgersen writes on the last page of his book, Against the Crisis: Economy and Ecology in a Burning World. “We must change reality so that librarians will be able to move this book from the political section to the historical one.” His critical optimism […]
Heinrich Mann, brother of Thomas Mann and in his own right one of the most significant German writers of the 20th century, died in exile in California 75 years ago, on March 11, 1950. His literary work, deeply concerned with social justice and political change, remains relevant today. Mann’s writing […]
How to fight while healing? Hannah Proctor spells out this, and other core questions of Burnout clearly as she engages with literature, historical examples, and her personal experiences. From the Paris Commune to Jeremy Corbyn, Proctor brings out illustrative examples of emotional experiences in left politics and revolutionary activity. In […]
Edited by Oisín Gilmore and David Landy, Pluto Press, 2024 Social movements and radical politics were largely marginal in Irish society when I was growing up in Donegal during the Celtic Tiger. Even the Shell To Sea campaign, important as it was, hadn’t really registered with me or anyone I […]
In her latest novel, Intermezzo, Sally Rooney continues her exploration of intimate relationships, albeit with a shift away from the clear political critique that characterised her earlier works. Its focus lies on what makes personal relationships successful, and, surprisingly, on unconditional love as something close to God. Rooney’s previous novel, […]
In the past few months, two important contributions to Irish sports history hit the shelves of bookshops around the country. Labelling these books as Irish sports history is potentially reductive, as both authors make it very clear that the history they write is a shadow of what we would call […]
On 10th December 2024, Han Kang will be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, making her the second South Korean and the first Asian woman to receive this honour. Known for her focus on South Korea’s complex history of violence, oppression, and resistance, Kang’s win resonates powerfully with progressives, as […]
For decades, New Books editions of Connolly’s writings were the main resource for readers seeking the word of James Connolly in print. The two volumes of Connolly’s Collected Works and pocket versions of Labour in Irish History remained bestsellers in New Books (later Connolly Books), but the story of Connolly […]
On Tuesday 24th September, the latest novel by Sally Rooney, Intermezzo, hit the shelves in bookshops nationwide. The launch day saw queues in front of bookshops before they opened, and Rooney was in the media spotlight for her reiterated, unequivocal support for Palestine in a recent public appearance. Now used […]
Hotel Lux: An Intimate History of Communism’s Forgotten, by Maurice J Casey – review Richard Mullen The blurb on the back cover of Hotel Lux reads: “A series of romances wrapped in a detective story, disguised as a narrative history of international communism, Hotel Lux uncovers a world of forgotten […]
Spy thrillers about and accounts of East-West spying during the cold war abound, are always written from a particular Western political standpoint. Autobiographies relating the stories of former “agents for peace” on the other hand are rare. Beatrice Altman-Schevitz’ The Shadow in the Shadow is the only such memoir to […]
East German Literature: Challenges and Triumphs in Cultural Recognition Germany’s minister of state for culture, the senior Green politician Claudia Roth, one of the almost exclusively West German-born government officials, voiced her surprise at a recent literary event upon discovering that there were other books on East German (GDR) bookshelves […]
Maya Wind’s Towers of Ivory and Steel: How Israeli Universities Deny Palestinian Freedom saw its Dublin launch at Trinity College, mere minutes after the Trinity students celebrated the end of their encampment. The book launch was a chance to contextualise the euphoria of one of the first wins for the […]
The M-C-C’-M’ circuit means Money (M) which is exchanged for Commodities (C) – including labor power which also becomes a commodity in a capitalist society – involved in the production process to produce a value-added commodity (C’) which is sold for more Money (M’), and thus the accumulation of capital […]
Until we Fall: Long Distance life on the left is a fascinating and sometimes inspiring account of decades of political engagement. The words Until We Fall distil the essence of six chapters into three words. Until We Fall suggests a commitment that is unwavering and a purpose all consuming. Anyone […]
“I live according to the rules ‘visit no one, do not receive anyone’—to which I once added ‘and do not open the peephole on the door for an old woman from Al-Bireh’—and ‘measures, precautions, requirements, and rules.’ Between this and that, I resist and I cook, I sleep, I dream, […]