vijay prashad

Third World Quarterly and a False Case for Colonialism

Last week, Third World Quarterly, a development studies journal, published an article by Bruce Gilley titled ‘The case for Colonialism.' In his piece, Gilley not only claimed that Colonialism was good, but he went on to argue that we need a new program for colonialism. The publication of this article was followed by the protests against it by numerous scholars and members of the editorial board of the Third World Quarterly journal. A change.org petition asking for the retraction of the artic[...]

Letter to the Book Club Members

  Dear Book Club member, Greetings from LeftWord! Over the years, you've been our staunchest supporter. You've responded to our books with comments and feedback. You've promoted our books on social media, in educational institutions and libraries, and through word of mouth. You've also been a source of tremendous financial support for us, by buying directly from us, rather than through a bookseller. For all this, and more, we are truly grateful.   Many of you have expressed a desire for t[...]

Letter to Our LeftWord Community (May 2017)

Dear Comrades and Friends, We are now in the midst of 2017 – the centenary year of the Russian Revolution. The Soviet Union, which was built after the Revolution, lasted a mere seventy years. This is far too short a time in the span of human history to make any kind of judgment about either socialism or communism.  Great strides were made, certainly, but there were also grievous wrongs. Two of our new books offer a sense of the Revolution and of the USSR: Cecilia Bobrovskaya’s Rank and [...]

Syrian Kaleidoscope

On April 6th, the United States attacked the Syrian regime by launching a number of missile strikes against a military airfield. The US administration, in a statement later, said that the strikes were prompted by the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Assad government against its own population. After the alleged chemical attack and then the missile strikes which followed, Vijay Prashad, chief editor at Leftword Books, writing in alternet.org, argued that the idea of cracking Syria into pie[...]

The Reviews Are Coming In!

Teesta Setalvad’s memoir – Foot Soldier of the Constitution – is already in its second printing. We anticipate that we’re going to have to tax our printer with a great many orders for this book. There is a good reason why people are interested in Teesta’s story. The ruling party has so fundamentally vilified her at the same time as she has been an essential voice for the stifled justice in Gujarat. Finally, Teesta is able to tell her story in her own words without having to answer one [...]