THE NEW REVOLUTIONARIES: A Handbook of the International Radical Left

Nineteen short articles intended to suggest the lines of thought developing to the left of traditional Soviet-oriented Communist parties. The editor notes a ""streak of Trotskyism"" in the contributions, which his own essay expands. The contributors, however, are quite diverse. The U.S. is represented by Paul Rockwell, an SDSer and accomplished writer. Others range from the gingerly fellow-traveling Stokeley Carmichael to the Belgian theorist Ernest Mandel. Leaders include Castro (on Guevara), Eldridge Cleaver (from jail), a French Trotskyist and an Italian student. Documents include Regis Debray's testimony at his Bolivian trial and a Bolivian guerrilla manifesto. There are overviews of students in Japan and China, and Fritz Teufel's ironic, erotic account of a Berlin demonstration. Other topics: the Mideast, Indonesia, Africa--and student-worker alliance. Of particular note is an excerpt from the ultra-Marxist writings of Juron and Modzelewski, now in jail, outlining their revolutionary socialist alternative to both Gomulka and the liberals. In sum the book exhibits the past decade's emphasis on ""Third World"" revolutionary potential, and the growing attempt to conceive strategies for a socialist movement in advanced nations. It also reflects the need for a further grasp of economic developments in both sectors. As a primary source, it has longterm value and, depending on your constituency, immediate interest.