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Publications of the sectarian left

Communism lives. You wouldn't know it by visiting a typical library or newsstand, or by reading daily papers. The Berlin Wall fell, the USSR disintegrated, and capitalism won. So goes common thinking.

Look carefully, though. Pockets of resistance survive, perhaps in your very neighborhood: barterers, gleaners, gift givers, people who live simply or act like anarchists and communists, whether or not they call themselves so. Envisioning the demise of oligarchy, the death of capitalism, and a world beyond electoral politics, some swear by self-rule alone. Others believe chiefly in the power of collective action and maybe even idealize a revolution in which workers seize control.

As evidence of the latter, dozens of small-circulation magazines, journals, and papers present the views of avowed socialists and Marxists, independent of any group. Others are published by parties whose origins and ideologies aren't always clear, and whose internecine turf battles, front groups, and schisms are also arcane. You might consult Wikipedia to learn about these groups, but to sort out the crackpots and ideologues from the heroes and visionaries (if any), read their own words and decide for yourself.

Against the Current is published bimonthly and sponsored by Solidarity, "a revolutionary, socialist, democratic, feminist, antiracist organization" founded in 1986 and working for "a society based on human need and democratic collective decision-making." Its goal: "to promote dialogue among the activists, organizers, and serious scholars of the left." The November/December 2005 issue includes a three-page review of a new biography of abolitionist John Brown and coverage of the Northwest Airlines mechanics strike. Generally intelligent, sane, and well written. $25/yr. (6 issues) from 7012 Michigan Ave., Detroit, MI 48210; www.solidarity-us.org.

Political Affairs, the 79-year-old monthly magazine of the Communist Party USA, offers substantial and generally jargon-free commentary and analysis in articles such as "Race, Class and Hurricane Katrina," "Chile's Privatized Pensions: No Model for US," and "New Directions in International Labor Solidarity." Each issue includes poetry and short fiction, as well as a Marxism quiz series that's not for beginners. CPUSA's goal: "a society with social ownership of the means of production." Nominal ideology: Marxism. (The CPUSA also publishes People's Weekly World newspaper, which features accessible news about topics not widely covered in commercial papers.) $22/yr. (11 issues) from 235 W. 23rd St., New York, NY 10011; www.politicalaffairs.net.

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