In May 1949 Monthly Review began publication in New York City, as cold war hysteria gathered force in the United States. The first issue featured the lead article "Why Socialism?" by Albert Einstein. From the first Monthly Review spoke for socialism and against U.S. imperialism, and is still doing so today. From the first Monthly Review was independent of any political organization, and is still so today. The McCarthy era inquisition targeted Monthly Review's original editors Paul Sweezy and Leo Huberman, who fought back successfully. In the subsequent global upsurge against capitalism, imperialism and the commodification of life (in shorthand "1968") Monthly Review played a global role. A generation of activists received no small part of their education as subscribers to the magazine and readers of Monthly Review Press books. In the intervening years of counter-revolution, Monthly Review has kept a steady viewpoint. That point of view is the heartfelt attempt to frame the issues of the day with one set of interests foremost in mind: those of the great majority of humankind, the propertyless.
Monthly Review has had but 6 editors. The original editors were Paul Sweezy and Leo Huberman. Leo Huberman died in 1968, and Harry Magdoff became an editor in 1969. Ellen Meiksins Wood served ably as editor in the period 1997-2000. In May 2000 John Bellamy Foster and Robert W. McChesney, themselves of the "1968" generation and educated by Monthly Review, took over the primary editorial responsibilities. Founding editor Paul Sweezy died on February 27, 2004, and a special issue devoted to his work appeared in October 2004. On June 1, 2004 Robert McChesney ceased to be formally designated as an editor, while continuing as a contributor and a Director of the Monthly Review Foundation, the not-for-profit entity that operates both Monthly Review magazine and Monthly Review Press. Harry Magdoff died on New Year's Day, 2006. A special issue focused on his contribution to the understanding of capitalism and imperialism is planned for the fall of 2006. John Bellamy Foster, the current editor, continues the tradition of combining accounts of what is new (without falling for fads) with the equally vital task of seeing the longer process. That tradition, as summarized by Paul Sweezy, is to see the present as history. On July 14th, 2006 we began a daily web magazine MRZine.org featuring a broad range of articles, reviews and commentary. Revenues from subscriptions and the sales of books have always fallen short of the demands on Monthly Review's resources. This is inevitable; in today's world any anti-imperialist and socialist enterprise that finds its resources sufficient to the tasks we face must either be moribund or false. The contributions -- over and above subscriptions and book sales -- of a global community of several thousand people sustain Monthly Review. Monthly Review today places most of its articles on the web and our daily web magazine has attracted a substantial and growing readership. If you have found our website of value, please consider subscribing to the magazine or, better yet, becoming an Associate.
JOHN BELLAMY FOSTER has written widely on political economy and has established a reputation as a major environmental sociologist. He teaches at the University of Oregon in Eugene.
Books Published
Naked
Imperialism: The U.S. Pursuit of Global Dominance (2006)
Pox Americana: Exposing the American
Empire (co-edited with Robert W. McChesney, 2004)
Ecology Against Capitalism (2002)
The Vulnerable Planet: A Short Economic
History of the Environment (1999, 2nd Ed.)
Marx’s Ecology: Materialism and Nature
(2000)
In Defense of History: Marxism and the Postmodern
Agenda (co-edited with Ellen Meiksins Wood, 1996)
Capitalism and the Information Age: The Political
Economy of the Global Communication Revolution (co-edited with Ellen
Meiksins Wood and Robert W. McChesney, 1998)
The Faltering Economy: The Problem of Accumulation under Monopoly
Capitalism (1982)
Associate Editor
MICHAEL D. YATES, an expert on labor and economics, taught at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, PA.
Books Published
Why Unions Matter Second Edition (2009)
Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate: An Economist's Travelogue (2006)
Naming the System: Inequality and Work in the Global Economy (2003)
Why Unions Matter (1998)
Rising from the Ashes?: Labor in the Age of “Global Capitalism”(co-authored with Ellen Wood and Peter Meiksins, 1997)
Longer Hours, Fewer Jobs (1994)
HARRY MAGDOFF (1913-2006) directed studies of productivity for the WPA in the 1930s. Towards the end of the Second World War, he became chief economist in charge of the Current Business Analysis Division at the Department of Commerce where he oversaw publication of the Survey of Current Business. Later, he worked as special assistant to Secretary of Commerce Henry Wallace. He has also been employed as a financial analysis and insurance consultant. He is widely recognized for his economic analyses of imperialism and was co-editor of Monthly Review from 1969 until 2006.
Books Published:
Imperialism
Without Colonies (2003)
The Age of Imperialism (1969)
Imperialism from the Colonial Age to the Present (1977)
Books Co-authored with Paul M. Sweezy:
The Dynamics of U.S. Capitalism (1970)
The End of Prosperity (1977)
The Deepening Crisis of U.S. Capitalism (1980)
Stagnation and the Financial Explosion (1987)
The Irreversible Crisis (1988)
Pamphlet:
Globalization -- to What End (1993)
PAUL M. SWEEZY (1910-2004) was educated at Harvard University where he received his Ph.D. in 1937. His award-winning study on the English coal industry was published in 1938 and in 1942 his acclaimed Theory of Capitalist Development was published. In 1949 Sweezy founded Monthly Review (with the late Leo Huberman, 1903-1968).
Books Published:
Theory of Capitalist Development
(1942)
Socialism (1949)
Cuba: Anatomy of a Revolution (with Leo Huberman, 1960)
Monopoly Capital (with Paul Baran, 1966)
Socialism in Cuba (with Leo Huberman, 1969)
Books Co-authored with Harry Magdoff:
The Dynamics of U.S. Capitalism (1970)
The End of Prosperity (1977)
The Deepening Crisis of U.S. Capitalism (1980)
Stagnation and the Financial Explosion (1987)
The Irreversible Crisis (1988)
Articles and Lectures Published in Collections:
The Present as History (1953)
Modern Capitalism and Other Essays (1972)
Post-Revolutionary Society (1980)
Four Lectures on Marxism (1981)