Session 8: Foreign policy and imperialism

With Vincent Bevins author of The Jakarta Method

Martin Luther King once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” That quote is also applicable to the United States Foreign Policy, as our sanctions, interventions, and wars abroad not only affect us here as Americans; but as humans. At this night school session, we will explore the ins and outs, what's and why’s about US foreign Policy and Imperialism, and what a socialist perspective looks like. Vincent Bevins, author of the powerful book, The Jakarta Method, joins us in this session.

Readings

• The Jakarta Method - Introduction + Chs. 1, 2, 9 & 12

• UN Charter—Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Further Resources

• AUDIO: Aziz Rana interview with Doug Henwood

• AUDIO: Vincent Bevins interview Doug Henwood

• “How Jakarta Became the Codeword for U.S.-backed Mass Killings” by Vincent Bevins

• Brewer, Marxist Theories of Imperialism, “Historical Outline” pp. 3-11 and “Theories of capitalism as a world system” pp. 16-25.

• “The Left’s Missing Foreign Policy” by Aziz Rana

• “Lenin and Bukharin on Imperialism” by Phil Gasper

• Karl Korsch, “Marxism and the First International”

• Mohandesi, “The Specificity of Imperialism”

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The North Brooklyn Night School aims to connect the history and theory of socialist struggle with the work of present day activists and organizers. It offers a rigorous but accessible curriculum for working adults to develop their political understanding and strategy. See our full syllabus here.

Our Night School sessions are comprised of a presentation and overview of the topic at hand, followed by smaller breakout sessions, to facilitate deeper conversation and understanding of the material, and to bring analysis to bear on present-day realities.