Sunday, July 10, 2011

radical left - book - 1969 - The New Revolutionaries: A Handbook of the International Radical Left

The New Revolutionaries: A Handbook of the International Left
Tariq Ali (editor)
McClelland and Stewart Ltd.
1969
319 pages

    Tariq Ali is a notable historian and an editor of the New Left Review, one of the journals that established a new direction for leftist politics in the 1960s.  Ali has recently increased his status as a voice against empire through the publication of a number of books criticizing American and European foreign policy towards the Middle East.  The New Revolutionaries, one of Ali’s first books, is a survey of worldwide radical left thought dating from the mid to late 1960s.  

    This book is edited by Ali however it also contains two writings by the well known activist, written while he was a student at Oxford University.  The first of his pieces, titled 'The Extra-Parliamentary' Option, seeks alternative forms of social organization and governance to the parliamentary model.  His second piece, the final essay of the book, ‘The Age of Permanent Revolution’, takes a brief survey of the radical-left activity in the world during the 1960s and also takes a survey of the material conditions that inspire such activity.  Aside from Ali’s own pieces, there are eighteen other texts contained in this collection.  These other texts are of various forms, for example a transcript of the court martial testimony by French rebel of the Bolivian Civil War (and professor of philosophy) Regis Debray is featured.  Also featured is a letter by Black Panther Party leader Eldridge Cleaver, written from prison, and republished from Ramparts magazine.   Also included are brief pieces by Stokley Charmichael and Fidel Castro.  Additionally a number of other essays are included by authors who examine the situation of the radical left movement in a number of countries (Italy, Poland, China, Japan, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, and others).

Not much additional information is given regarding each written piece.  The book contains an ‘about the authors’ section which gives a few details about each contributor and their commitment to the left, although it would be preferable if these brief biographical statements appeared as preambles to each essay.  Futhermore Ali's introduction states that many of the pieces are republished from other journals and it would have improved the book to have listed each essay's original publication details.  These simple changes and additions would have helped the reader (me) contextualize these writings and situate their writers.  The book attempts to map out a global radical left and the inclusion of such information as the publication details may have underscored such a mapping by pointing to a global publication network of the left in addition to the global leftist will to action that these pieces describe. Despite such shortcomings, the book is, however, a handbook to a socio-political phenomena, and adequately notes the movement’s situation as of the late 1960s, during its peak.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Labels

united states (55) 1990s (25) history (21) 1980s (20) 1960s (19) 2000s (18) 1970s (17) Canada (16) anarchism (15) punk (15) memoir (14) outlaw bikers (14) documentary film (11) civil rights movement (10) new york city (10) film (9) zines (9) 19th century (8) 1950s (7) 20th century (7) black panther party (7) irish republican army (7) 1940s (6) 2010s (6) beats (6) essays (6) hells angels (6) hippies (6) journalism (6) science-fiction (6) street art (6) the troubles (6) England (5) United Kingdom (5) anti-globalization (5) communalism (5) computer hackers (5) exhibition catalog (5) graffiti (5) homeless (5) international (5) labour strike (5) occupy wall street (5) organized labour (5) quebec (5) 1930s (4) France (4) IWW (4) biographical drama (4) dada (4) david graeber (4) drama (4) interviews (4) malcolm x (4) novel (4) provisional IRA (4) psychedelia (4) sncc (4) sociology (4) street gangs (4) surrealism (4) survivalism (4) transcendentalism (4) white nationalism (4) 1920s (3) 4chan (3) BBSs (3) Emma Goldman (3) Europe (3) Karl Marx (3) Texas (3) Toronto (3) anarcho-primitivism (3) anarcho-syndicalism (3) anonymous (3) anthology (3) anti-civilization (3) autobiography (3) banksy (3) comedy (3) critique (3) direct action (3) ethnography (3) football hooligans (3) hacker groups (3) hacking (3) journalistic (3) ku klux klan (3) labour (3) martin luther king jr (3) mongols (3) philosophy (3) radical right (3) reader (3) situationism (3) student movement (3) vagabonds (3) white supremacy (3) william s burroughs (3) /b/ (2) 1910s (2) 1981 Hunger Strikes (2) AFL-CIO (2) Alexander Berkman (2) American South (2) American revolution (2) Andre Breton (2) Arab Spring (2) Australia (2) Baltimore (2) Cromwell (2) English Revolution (2) Fidel Castro (2) Germany (2) Greece (2) Levellers (2) Manchester (2) Marcel Duchamp (2) Max Ernst (2) Mikhail Bakunin (2) Montreal (2) NAACP (2) Peter Kropotkin (2) Portland Oregon (2) Ranters (2) Robin Hood (2) Salvador Dali (2) Southern Poverty Law Center (2) action film (2) animal liberation (2) anti-capitalism (2) anti-war (2) anti-war movements (2) article (2) aryan nations (2) avant-garde (2) bandidos motorcycle club (2) biography (2) black flag (2) black power (2) blek le rat (2) brook farm (2) crime drama (2) critical mass (2) cults (2) cultural criticism (2) david duke (2) design (2) diary (2) dishwasher pete (2) east bay dragons (2) eldridge cleaver (2) environmentalism (2) fan fiction (2) gerry adams (2) historical drama (2) historical survey (2) hobos (2) how to guide (2) indigenous struggle (2) internet memes (2) ireland (2) italy (2) jack kerouac (2) jared taylor (2) john waters (2) john zerzan (2) julian assange (2) keith haring (2) mail art (2) media criticism (2) mohawk warriors (2) mole people (2) murray bookchin (2) musical (2) mysticism (2) nativism (2) new age (2) nomadism (2) northern ireland (2) occupy movement (2) official IRA (2) oka crisis (2) operation black rain (2) oral history (2) paranoia (2) paul goodman (2) philip k dick (2) phone losers of america (2) photobook (2) phreaks (2) piracy (2) posse comitatus (2) prank phone calls (2) primary source (2) revolution (2) sabotage (2) self-publishing (2) shepard fairey (2) spain (2) student protest (2) terrorism (2) the order (2) travel (2) tristan tzara (2) true crime (2) txt files (2) ulrike meinhof (2) underground media (2) unorganized militias (2) 1%ers (1) 17th century (1) 1860s (1) 1900s (1) 1969 (1) 1970 (1) 1972 Bloody Sunday (1) 1980s. memoir (1) 2009 (1) 2011 (1) 2600 Magazine (1) Alberta (1) Alexandros Grigoropoulos (1) Amsterdam (1) Arthur Segal (1) Athens (1) Ben Reitman (1) Bethel (1) Bill Haywood (1) Boston (1) Brad Carter (1) Brendan Hughes (1) British Columbia (1) Burners (1) Burning Man (1) CLASSE (1) Captain Mission (1) Cass Pennant (1) Charles Fourier (1) Chartists (1) Che Guavara (1) Christopher Hill (1) Christopher Street Liberation Day (1) Columbia University (1) DOA (1) Darkthrone (1) David Ervine (1) Dead (1) December 2008 riots (1) Derrick Jensen (1) Dial (1) Diggers (1) Diggers (1650s) (1) Dorothea Tanning (1) Drop City (1) E.D. Nixon (1) East Side White Pride (1) Edward Winterhalder (1) Egypt (1) Emiliano Zapata (1) Emory Douglas (1) Emperor (1) Eric Hobsbawm (1) Eugene V. Debs (1) Exarchia (1) FLQ (1) Factory Records (1) Fenriz (1) French Revolution (1) GLBT rights (1) Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois (1) Gandhi (1) Gay Activist Alliance (1) Geert Lovink (1) George Washington (1) Georges Janco (1) Great Depression (1) Groote Keyser (1) Harlem (1) Haymarket Bombing (1) Henry David Thoreau (1) Henry Rollins (1) Hillel (1) Ho-Chi Minh (1) Hunter S Thompson (1) Hunter S. Thompson (1) Idaho (1) India (1) Indignados (1) Inter City Firm (1) Irish national liberation army (1) Isidore Isou (1) Jack Cade (1) Jeff Ferrell (1) John Humphrey Noyes (1) Joy Division (1) Kemal Ataturk (1) King Alfred (1) Konstantina Kuneva (1) LETS system (1) Labor Party (1) Lenin (1) Leonora Carrington (1) Lettrisme (1) Libertatia (1) Louis Aragorn (1) Luddites (1) Madagascar (1) Mafiaboy (1) Maine (1) Mao Tse-Tung (1) Maple Spring (1) Marcel Janco (1) Margaret Fuller (1) Mark Rudd (1) Martin McGuinnes (1) Mayhem (1) Michigan Milita (1) Moncton (1) Montgomery Bus Boycott (1) Morris Dees (1) Movement Resource Group (1) Mulugeta Seraw (1) National Film Board (1) Ned Kelly (1) Netherlands (1) New Brunswick (1) Norway (1) OK Crackers (1) Occupy Homes (1) Oklahoma (1) Oklehoma (1) Oneida Community (1) Ontario (1) Oscar Wilde (1) Oslo (1) Owen Sound (1) Pagans Motorcycle Club (1) Palestinian nationalism (1) Patrick Henry (1) Paul Eluard (1) People's Kitchen (1) Phalanx Communities (1) Philadelphia (1) Phillipe Soupault (1) Process Church (1) Quakers (1) Randy Weaver (1) Raoul Vaneigem (1) Raymond Pettibon (1) Rene Magritte (1) Robespierre (1) Robiespierre (1) Romania (1) Rome (1) Rosa Parks (1) Rubell Collection (1) Ruby Ridge (1) Russian Revolution (1) Sacco and Vanzetti (1) Samuel Gompers (1) Sinn Fein (1) Situationist International (1) Society for a Democratic Society (1) Sojourners for Truth and Justice (1) Staughton Lynd (1) Surrealists (1) Switzerland (1) T.A.Z. (1) The Rebels (Canada) (1) Thessaloniki (1) Thomas Paine (1) Timothy McVey (1) Tobie Gene Levingston (1) Tom Metzger (1) Toronto Video Activist Collective (1) Tunisia (1) UVF (1) Ulster Volunteer Force (1) Ultras (1) University of Moncton (1) Varg Vikernes (1) WWII (1) Walt Whitman (1) White Citizen's Council (1) Wisconsin (1) Woody Guthrie (1) Workers' Party of Ireland (1) Yes Men (1) Yolanda Lopez (1) Zurich (1) abbie hoffman (1) abolitionism (1) acadian nationalism (1) amana (1) american renaissance (1) anarchist black cross (1) anarcho-communism (1) andreas baader (1) anti-consumerism (1) anti-rent movement (1) arcades (1) arizona (1) art book (1) art history (1) art strike (1) assata shakur (1) atf (1) automatic writing (1) bandidos (1) bandits (1) bartering (1) bay area (1) bertrand russell (1) bicycles (1) biker church (1) bikies (1) black lives matter (1) black metal (1) black radicalism (1) bob black (1) bob flanagan (1) bobby seale (1) bryon gysin (1) business (1) caledonia conflict (1) cats (1) chicago (1) chicago 68 (1) chicago 8 trial (1) children's book (1) chris carlsson (1) chris kraus (1) church of life after shopping (1) church of stop shopping (1) civil disobedience (1) comic book (1) commentary (1) commune (1) communism (1) confidential informants (1) conscientious objectiors (1) contemporary (1) cope2 (1) core (1) correspondence (1) crimethinc ex-workers collective (1) critical race studies. (1) critque (1) crossmaglen (1) cult of the dead cow (1) cultural theory (1) culture jamming (1) cybercrime (1) cycling (1) daniel domscheit-berg (1) david dellinger (1) david watson (1) dead kennedys (1) debbie goad (1) decollage (1) dishwashing (1) donn teal (1) drag (1) drill (1) drugs (1) dumpster diving (1) dwelling portably (1) ed moloney (1) education (1) educational (1) elliot tiber (1) emmet grogan (1) environmental movement (1) errico malatesta (1) fanzines (1) fay stender (1) feminism (1) ferguson (1) folklore (1) front du liberation du quebec (1) gay pride (1) general strike (1) george jackson (1) georges bataille (1) gerard lebovici (1) gnostic (1) graffiti research lab (1) guerrilla filmmaking (1) guide (1) guy debord (1) guy fawkes (1) hakim bey (1) hans kok (1) harmonists (1) hiphop (1) huey newton (1) humour (1) icarians (1) illegal immigration (1) immigration movement (1) independence movement (1) industrial workers of the world (1) inspirationalists (1) insurrection (1) islamophobia (1) jay dobyns (1) jean baudrillard (1) jean-michel basquiat (1) jello biafra (1) jerry adams (1) jerry rubin (1) joe david (1) johann most (1) john birch movement (1) john cage (1) john lewis (1) journal (1) judith sulpine (1) juvenile literature (1) kathy acker (1) keffo (1) ken kesey (1) kenneth rexroth (1) know-nothings (1) lady pink (1) language rights (1) lifestyle anarchism (1) literature (1) london (1) london ont (1) long kesh (1) los angeles (1) manifesto (1) martha cooper (1) marxism (1) masculinity (1) matthew hale (1) max yasgur (1) may day (1) medgar evers (1) merry pranksters (1) mexican mafia (1) michael hart (1) michael lang (1) micro-currency (1) microcosm publishing (1) middle-east (1) mini-series (1) miss van (1) mlk (1) mockumentary (1) mods and rockers (1) moot (1) nation of islam (1) national vanguard (1) native american party (1) neal cassady (1) neo-confederacy (1) neoconservatism (1) neoism (1) new left (1) noam chomsky (1) nolympics (1) non-violence (1) nonsense (1) north africa (1) notes from nowhere (1) obey giant (1) occupy london (1) occupy oakland (1) october crisis (1) oral biography (1) pacifism (1) parecon (1) peasant rebellion (1) perfectionists (1) photomontage (1) pirate radio (1) pirate utopias (1) poachers (1) poetry (1) polemic (1) police brutality (1) political science (1) popular uprisings (1) portland (1) post-WWII (1) prank (1) protest (1) radical art (1) radical left (1) ralph waldo emmerson (1) real IRA (1) red army faction (1) regis debray (1) retort (periodical) (1) reverend billy (1) rock machine (1) ruben "doc" cavazos (1) san francisco (1) scavenging (1) script kiddies (1) scrounging (1) secession (1) second vermont republic (1) self-published (1) semiotext(e) (1) sexual politics (1) shakers (1) shedden massacre (1) short stories (1) simulation (1) slab murphy (1) slave revolt (1) snake mound occupation (1) social ecology (1) socialism (1) solo angeles (1) sonic youth (1) sonny barger (1) south armagh (1) spirituality (1) squatting (1) stage performance (1) stencil graffiti (1) stewart home (1) sticker art (1) stokley charmicael (1) stokley charmichael (1) stonewall riots (1) straight-edge (1) street theater (1) subgenius (1) survey (1) sylvere lotringer (1) tariq ali (1) teacher (1) ted kaczynski (1) television (1) tent city (1) terror (1) thermidor (1) timothy leary (1) train-hopping (1) tramps (1) trickster (1) trolling (1) tunnel dwellers (1) undercover (1) underground press (1) underground railroad (1) uprising (1) urban infrastructure (1) utopian (1) utopian communities (1) vegan (1) vermont (1) war measures act (1) warez scene (1) weather underground (1) white power skinheads (1) why? (newspaper) (1) wikileaks (1) winnipeg (1) woodstock (1) word salad (1) world church of the creator (1) yippies (1) youth culture (1) z communications (1)