In Appreciation of Leo Panitch
The sudden death our friend and comrade Leo Panitch has led to an extraordinary outpouring of sadness and appreciation across the world. Very few intellectuals on the left have had the intellectual impact on progressive thinkers and activists that Leo has had, as the flood of testimonials shows; and fewer still have in addition personally trained a comparable network of scholars of the highest calibre who are now carrying forward his distinctive project of critical – and self-critical – research and teaching in dozens of countries. Leo also combined research and teaching with engagement with activists in parties, trade unions and social movements: he knew and was consulted by leaders on the left in several continents, but was also known and admired by the rank and file who flocked to meetings whenever he showed up in Johannesburg, Athens, Frankfurt, London, Rio, New Delhi and elsewhere.
Leo Panitch, 1945-2020
Author: Martin Thomas
Leo Panitch, an assiduous and important Marxist writer on political economy and an active socialist, died on 19 December 2020, from Covid-19 contracted after being admitted to hospital with cancer.
His biggest book,
The Making of Global Capitalism, written with Sam Gindin, is essential reading, and summarised a vigorous programme of research into post-1945 capitalism.
I first met Leo Panitch, I think, at an International Marx Congress at Nanterre University, near Paris, in 2004. He was off-hand, and I guessed he had the typical attitude of a famous university professor (at York University, Toronto) to Marxist activists without similar academic credentials.
by Yanis Iqbal / December 17th, 2020
The world-system is slowly changing. For the first time in capitalism’s history, the global economy’s centre of gravity is shifting away from the west – a process which is a result of Uneven and Combined Development (UCD). On the one hand, dominant states utilize imperialism to preserve existing uneven configurations of capitalist development which favour them. On the other, contender states accelerate development to contest imperial projects of dominant states. Such hot-house development is called combined development because it compresses multiple stages into shorter and more intense bursts.
Combined Development
Today, China is leading a process of combined development as part of a long transition to socialism. This consists of the two tasks of “catching up” and “doing something else”. While the former relates to the development of productive forces, the latter denotes its conscious subordination to socialist goals.
by Shawgi Tell / December 16th, 2020
While technology has been encroaching on more spheres of life over the past 25 years, the ruling elite and their representatives are now zealously promoting a new and dramatic digital-technological upheaval the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution that will supposedly transform everything under the sun, open amazing vistas, increase government and business transparency and accountability, and put humanity on a bright new footing. Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum is the main spokesperson of this capital-centered agenda.
The super-rich tell us that the “velocity, scope, and systems impact” of this “historically unprecedented” and “disruptive” digital-technological revolution full of “endless innovations” sets it apart from other revolutions and that everyone should be euphoric about the future.
by C.J. Hopkins / December 16th, 2020
2020 was GloboCap Year Zero. The year when the global capitalist ruling classes did away with the illusion of democracy and reminded everyone who is actually in charge, and exactly what happens when anyone challenges them.
In the relatively short span of the last ten months, societies throughout the world have been transformed beyond recognition. Constitutional rights have been suspended. Protest has been banned. Dissent is being censored. Government officials are issuing edicts restricting the most basic aspects of our lives … where we can go, when we can go there, how long we are allowed to spend there, how many friends we are allowed to meet there, whether and when we can spend time with our families, what we are allowed to say to each other, who we can have sex with, where we have to stand, how we are allowed to eat and drink, etc. The list goes on and on.