The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality

In this erudite call to action, Sunkara, publisher of Jacobin magazine, draws lessons from the history of various socialist movements to imagine how socialism could rise in the U.S. Sunkara begins by asking the reader to imagine life as a worker in a factory owned by Jon Bon Jovi, then lays out what life would look like if a peaceful uprising resulted in a socialist system. The whimsy fades away, however, in the second section: a history of socialist and communist movements in Germany, Russia, Sweden, China, and the U.S. Sunkara spends a chapter on the sudden popularity of Bernie Sanders and British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn before laying out a road map for today’s socialists to build a movement in the U.S. Ultimately, he argues, social democracy of the type seen in Scandinavia is not enough, for without avenues for people to make choices and hold their leaders accountable, “any postcapitalist society risks creating a new class of oppressors.” Sunkara does not attempt to seem unbiased; he draws more positives out of the socialist-turned-authoritarian movements in Russia and China than most history textbooks do. Still, his recommendations for today’s socialists are logical and well-informed. (Apr.)