socialism Archives

The Total Beginner’s Book Review of Palestine: A Socialist Introduction

December 21, 2023December 21, 2023Rebekah Kohlhepp

Palestine: A Socialist Introduction by Sumaya Awad and Brian Bean was an easy choice for me when looking to begin reading about Palestine and the Israeli settler occupation. I’m new to both Palestine and socialism, and the road of social justice seems to lead inevitably to both.

A Revolutionary Feminist History: A Review of Women, Race & Class

May 28, 2023August 12, 2023Rebekah Kohlhepp

It is not uncommon in school to learn about women’s suffrage. Most of us are familiar with the names of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton because of it. As far as feminist history, this is often the beginning and the end of the story. If we want to know about the lives of women under slavery, the role that Black men and women played in achieving women’s suffrage, the treatment of working-class women by suffragists, and the stances that Black women took on the abortion and anti-rape movements, then we have to look elsewhere. Angela Davis’s 1981 masterpiece Women, Race & Class is where you can find all this and more. High school and college classrooms around the country would do well to add it to their syllabi.

Science in Low Places: A Review of A People’s History of Science

January 16, 2023January 16, 2023Rebekah Kohlhepp

I love to seek out science history books that tell the stories of unsung heroes. Anything that doesn’t begin and end with Newton, that doesn’t praise Darwin’s work of genius, that doesn’t repeat the somber myth of Galileo’s persecution, is what I want. Clifford Conner’s 2005 book A People’s History of Science: Miners, Midwives, and “Low Mechanicks” exemplifies this worthy retelling of the story of science better than anything I’ve ever read.

14 Ways to Advocate for Social Justice Without a Social Media Following

April 10, 2022October 24, 2022Rebekah Kohlhepp

If you’re like me, your eyes are opened to more and more of the injustices in our world every day. And if you’re like me, you wish that there was something that you can do about them. I read a lot of books on social justice, but the books always warn, “Just reading isn’t actually doing anything. You’ll have to take what you’ve learned and put it into action.” It’s always scary. I have no idea how to do that.