Kollontai 150

Ruth First held multiple roles during the struggles of her time as a communist militant, journalist, and leading intellectual in South Africa. She was born into a political family in Johannesburg in 1925 and, as a student in the 1940s, founded an important organisation, the Federation of Progressive Students with other anti-apartheid activists. Her cohort of fellow students and comrades included a broad swathe of activists, such as Nelson Mandela and Eduardo Mondlane, the first leader of the Liberation Front of Mozambique (FRELIMO). While in exile in Mozambique and the United Kingdom, First carried out pioneering research on the lives of migrant labourers in South African gold mines, critiquing the apartheid state’s imperialist ambitions and the impact of Western imperial nations on Africa. Tragically, on 17 August 1982, she was assassinated by a spy for the apartheid state who sent a deadly letter bomb to her office in Maputo. Ruth First: Selected Writings, the sixth joint book published by the International Union of Left Publishers, brings together five stirring essays on a range of topics including the landmark 1956 Women’s March, the workings of the apartheid state, and the history of armed struggle against this state, introduced by an essay on First’s life and legacy, written by Vashna Jagarnath, a labour activist who works in the office of the general secretary of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA).

D'Itri (American thought and language, Michigan State U.) discusses the individuals, organizations, and events that contributed to the development of the world movement for women's rights between 1848, the date of the first Women's Rights Convention in the United States, and 1948, by which time the movement was substantial enough to influence the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. This study traces the movement from its origins in the United States, through its subsequent international development. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Addressing the impact of the Russian Revolution and change and continuity in diplomacy during the transition from Empire to Soviet Union, this book examines how Russia's diplomacy was conducted, the diplomats behind it, the establishment of the Soviet diplomatic corps and the steps taken to integrate the Soviets into the diplomatic world.

The opulent St. Petersburg Imperial Theaters were subsidized and administered by the Russian court from the eighteenth century until the collapse of the tsarist order in 1917. This close association raises many questions about the uses of these theaters and where their loyalties lay in early twentieth century Russia. This history begins in 1900 with the theater flourishing but undergoing change, then chronicles the impact of war and revolution, as well as audience and administration, leading up to the effective re-establishment of state control over the theaters by the Bolsheviks in 1920. While the theaters were often allied with the forces of change, their grandeur harked back to the age of the tsars, creating an irony that is explored here in depth. Photographs and diagrams of the theaters are included, along with photographs of the central historical figures, and contemporary cartoons referring to the theaters.

This collection uncovers the wives, daughters, mothers, companions and female assistants who laboured in the shadows of famous men. Revealing the reality of uncredited female contributions throughout history, this book highlights the work of neglected and forgotten women associated with celebrated male writers, scholars, activists and politicians. As the #ThanksforTyping movement has shown, anonymous women working to support the work of their male relations and colleagues has been, and often still is, a universal phenomenon. These essays show just how long intelligent and determined women have been sidelined, ignored or forgotten throughout history. From a well-connected Roman matrician to the mother of the poet Philip Larkin, these women have their voices returned to them in twenty engaging chapters. Spanning ancient times to the modern day, they return agency to women who occupied crucial roles behind the scenes, but were always restricted to the supporting role they were obliged to play. The universal importance of these women take on new meaning in our modern era where women's voices are becoming ever-louder and increasingly recognised - including through such a movement as #ThanksforTyping.

The Death and Rebirth of American Radicalism differentiates the "Social Justice Left" from "Cultural Radicalism" and the various social movements for individual freedom. In The Death and Rebirth of American Radicalism, Stanley Aronowitz asks the question, "Is there anything left of the Left?" With the rise of Newt Gingrich and his "Contract With America," how is it that conservativism staged such a remarkable recovery after being discounted in the turbulent 1960s? Aronowitz addresses these and other burning issues of contemporary politics.