ARTICLES
SELECTION
A short selection of articles by (and written interviews with) Chris Gilbert from 2017 to the present.
Una selección de artículos y entrevistas con Chris Gilbert, desde 2017 hasta el presente.
José Carlos Mariátegui and Local Traditions of Struggle: The Vitality of Global South Marxism
Monthly Review, Septiembre 2026
The article examines Mariátegui’s approach to the relationship between Marxism and existing revolutionary traditions, arguing that Marxism is strengthened rather than diluted through engagement with the concrete struggles of the Global South.
Las luchas del Sur global por el socialismo y el lado obrero del marxismo
Rebelión, Agosto 2026
El artículo examina por qué las revoluciones socialistas han surgido principalmente en el Sur Global y recupera la perspectiva obrera del marxismo para comprender estas experiencias.
Communal Responses in the Aftermath of the Earthquake: Catia La Mar (Part I)
With Cira Pascual Marquina, Monthly Review Online, July 2026
The article documents the response of the Rómulo Gallegos Communal Circuit in Catia La Mar after the earthquake, showing how years of communal organization created capacities for collective action in a moment of crisis.
Respuestas comunales tras el terremoto: Catia La Mar (Parte I)
Con Cira Pascual Marquina, teleSUR, Rebelión, Julio 2026
El artículo documenta la respuesta del Circuito Comunal Rómulo Gallegos de Catia La Mar tras el terremoto y muestra cómo años de organización comunal permitieron responder colectivamente ante la crisis.
Against Amnesia: The Venezuelan Earthquake, the Historical Moment and the Continental Question
With Cira Pascual Marquina, Monthly Review Online, CounterPunch, July 2026
The article situates the Venezuelan earthquake within the broader struggle over sovereignty, U.S. imperialism, and the unfinished project of Latin American continental unity.
Contra la amnesia: el terremoto de Venezuela, el momento histórico y la cuestión continental
Con Cira Pascual Marquina, teleSUR, Rebelión, Julio 2026
El artículo sitúa el terremoto venezolano dentro de una lucha histórica más amplia por la soberanía, el antiimperialismo y la unidad continental latinoamericana.
Imperialism-Induced Fault Lines: The Venezuelan Earthquake
With Cira Pascual Marquina, Monthly Review Online, CounterPunch, Junio 2026
The article examines how imperialist aggression and sanctions have deepened Venezuela’s vulnerabilities while highlighting the communal, civic-military, and popular forms of organization that have shaped the country’s response to the earthquake.
Líneas de falla provocadas por el imperialismo: el terremoto de Venezuela
Con Cira Pascual Marquina, teleSUR, Rebelión, Julio 2026
El artículo analiza el terremoto venezolano en el contexto de las sanciones y la agresión imperialista, destacando la capacidad de respuesta construida por las comunas y el pueblo organizado.
A Great Leap into Reality: Venezuela Today
With Cira Pascual Marquina, Monthly Review Online, CounterPunch, June 2026
The article challenges premature declarations of the defeat of the Bolivarian Revolution and argues for a more concrete and historically grounded assessment of Venezuela’s current situation.
Un gran salto hacia la realidad: Venezuela hoy
Con Cira Pascual Marquina, teleSUR, Junio 2026
El artículo cuestiona las lecturas que dan por terminada la Revolución Bolivariana y plantea la necesidad de comprender el proceso desde las condiciones concretas de Venezuela y desde las luchas de sus bases.
Defending Venezuela: The Problems with ‘Brest-Litovsk’ and Cosmopolitanism
Monthly Review Online, Abril 2026
The article examines debates over Venezuela through the lens of Lenin’s Brest-Litovsk peace, questioning the use of tactical retreat as a shorthand for judging revolutionary processes.
Global South Struggles for Socialism and the Workers’ Side of Marxism
Monthly Review, March 2026
Karl Marx originally planned to complement Capital with an additional work exploring capitalism from the side of the workers, which he never completed. This article argues that the projected “workers’ side of Marxism” has a special relevance to the processes of anti-imperialist struggle in the Global South, explaining why they often turn to socialism despite underdeveloped productive forces and the relative scarcity of a classical proletariat.
Interview with Chris Gilbert: Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution as Part of the Worldwide Struggle Against US Imperialism
Centre for Arab Unity Studies, March 2026
Coffee and Cooperation: A Communal Economic Circuit in Times of Blockade (4 parts)
Monthly Review Online, February-April, 2026
This series examines a communal economic circuit centered on coffee production in Venezuela, highlighting cooperative practices and collective organization as responses to the economic blockade.
Interview with Chris Gilbert: Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution as Part of the Worldwide Struggle Against US Imperialism
Center for Arab Unity Studies (CAUS), March 2026
Gilbert discusses the Bolivarian Revolution both over the long term and in the current context of heightened imperialist aggression.
Socialist Communes and Anti-Imperialism: The Marxist Approach
Monthly Review, July-August 2025
The article analyzes when a commune or a communal project is anti-imperialist, relying on Marx’s theoretical corpus.
Comunas socialistas y antiimperialismo: la perspectiva marxista
Rebelión, Agosto 2025
El artículo analiza cuándo una comuna o un proyecto comunal es antiimperialista, apoyándose en el corpus teórico de Marx.
The Ayacucho Commune: A Fishing Community on the Orinoco
Venezuelanalysis, January 2025
Venezuelan communards on the Orinoco River talk about mutual aid and their organizing processes.
The Dialectics of Constituted and Communal Power: A Conversation with Ángel Prado
Progressive International, February 2024 (translated to 14 languages)
The main spokesperson of El Maizal Commune is trying to put institutional power at the service of the commune.
Burning Questions Put to Shaman Rufino of Venezuela
Counterpunch, September 2024
A Huottüja leader easily dispatches most of the major political issues the country is facing, including the electoral dispute.
Venezuela Today: Revolution and Elections
Venezuelanalysis, August 2024
In light of recent imperialist aggressions, Chris Gilbert reflects on the challenges and complexities of using elections as a tool for socialist construction.
The Commune Is a Comprehensive Reworking of Social Relations: A Conversation with Chris Gilbert
Venezuelanalysis, October 2023
A conversation about the book Commune or Nothing! exploring the theory, practice and history of socialist commune building in Venezuela.
How to be on the Right Side of History in a Semi-Fascist State
CounterPunch, October 2023
The genocide that Israel is perpetrating against the Palestinian people should serve as a wake-up call to everyone that US imperialism exists.
El Panal Commune: Rebirth from the Ashes of the Blockade
In A War Without Bombs: The Social, Political and Economic Impact of the Sanctions Against Venezuela
Venezuelanalysis, August 2023
El Panal is a commune in Caracas’ working-class 23 de Enero barrio that has an extraordinary political, educational, and economic muscle. The commune was built by the Alexis Vive Patriotic Force, a collective with a long trajectory of grassroots work in the barrio.
Worker Control in Times of Blockade: Voices from Indorca, a factory without bosses
In A War Without Bombs: The Social, Political and Economic Impact of the Sanctions Against Venezuela
Venezuelanalysis, August 2023
Indorca is a factory without bosses in the industrial city of Puerto Ordaz in Bolívar state. Since 2015, after a heroic three-year struggle to gain control of the factory, the enterprise has been democratically managed by the women and men who produce here day in and day out.
‘Where Danger Lies…’: The Communal Alternative in Venezuela
Monthly Review, July 2023
This article explores the ecological aspects of Venezuela’s project of communal socialism, a radical and comprehensive solution to capitalism’s destructive alienated social metabolism.
‘News from Nowhere’ – Building Communal Life in Venezuela
Progressive International, January 2023
Chris Gilbert and Cira Pascual Marquina look at the Venezuelan communes as a key force in an extended process of national liberation and social emancipation.
Noticias de ninguna parte: las comunas en Venezuela
Jacobin Lat, Febrero 2023
La construcción de comunas en Venezuela es una fuerza clave en un dilatado proceso de liberación nacional y emancipación social. Pero la dialéctica de las relaciones entre las comunas y el Estado venezolano no está exenta de contradicciones, tensiones y conflictos.
Communal and Working Class Resistance
Observatorio Venezolano Antibloqueo y Venezuelanalysis, 2021-ongoing
This collection gathers the testimonies of communards, campesinos, and workers who are building new social relations against all odds. Their projects are of great significance: they not only mitigate the impact of the imperialist blockade, but also demonstrate the capacity to overcome the capitalist crisis through the historical project of the left: socialism.
Luisa Cáceres: Commune-Building in Urban Venezuela
Monthly Review, December 2022
A visit to a Venezuelan commune reveals a fascinating look into the creative ways communards forge new ways of life in urban centers, and how these projects intersect with the much-needed transformations required for a grassroots and socially integrated environmentalism.
Mészáros and Chávez: The Philosopher and the Llanero
Monthly Review, June 2022
Both Istvan Mészáros and Hugo Chávez argued for a communal system that would replace the destructive, alienating, and dangerous capital system.
Super-exploitation from the Perspective of the Global Working Class
Science & Society, July 2022
Mészáros y Chávez: El filósofo y el llanero
Jacobin Lat, Junio 2022
Una historia de la relación entre Hugo Chávez e István Mészáros, factor clave para entender la decisión de apostar a la comuna como principal elemento estratégico en la construcción socialista en Venezuela.
A Commune Called ‘Che’: A Socialist Holdout in the Venezuelan Andes
Monthly Review, March 2022
An in-depth look into one of Venezuela’s flagship popular power organizations, the Che Guevara Commune.
Back to the Future: The Long Roots of Venezuela’s Communal Tradition
Venezuelanalysis, January 2022
Past and present come together in the construction of a new society in Venezuela’s communal project.
Red Current, Pink Tide: A Visit to El Maizal Commune in Venezuela
Monthly Review, December 2021
El Maizal’s communards, advancing in the creation of new social relations and increasing the commune’s productive forces, are among the reddest elements in the so-called Pink Tide.
Hugo Chávez and Maoism: A Conversation with Chris Gilbert
Venezuelanalysis, December 2020
A brief discussion addressing some points of contact and parallelisms between the Bolivarian Process and the Chinese Revolution.
Chávez and the Continent of Politics: a Conversation with Chris Gilbert
CounterPunch, January 2019
In this interview, Gilbert touches upon the importance of recovering a political discourse in Marxism, Chávez’s contribution to that effort, the battle over historical meanings, and how to confront the emerging fascist threat.
Forward! A Week of Protest in Catalonia
CounterPunch, October 2019
Defending Venezuela: Two Approaches
CounterPunch, April 2019
Venezuela’s 23F: A Collective Victory for a Collective Future
CounterPunch, February 2019
Biplav’s Communist Party of Nepal on the Move: Dispatch by a Far-Flung Bolivarian
CounterPunch, December 2018
Meeting Comrade Pasang, Nepal’s Vice President
CounterPunch, November 2018
In the Wake of Nepal’s Incomplete Revolution: Dispatch by a Far-Flung Bolivarian
CounterPunch, October 2018
How to Reactivate Chavismo
CounterPunch, August 2018
Venezuela’s Embarrassment of Riches? Socialism is Not in a Race Against Capitalism
CounterPunch, July 2018
Marx, viejo filósofo del mañana, cumple 200 años
Rebelión, Mayo 2018
Walter Benjamin in Venezuela
Monthly Review, October 2017
Benjamin’s philosophy presents problems best addressed not academically, but in dialogue with living and concrete political processes. It is in Latin America, particularly Venezuela, that Benjamin’s ideas have been most vividly illustrated and interrogated.
Un brote de lo nuevo
Brecha, Agosto 2017
Chavista vs. Chavista: Class Struggle on the Rise Following Venezuela’s Local Election
CounterPunch, July 2017
Strange Fruit: Venezuela Has an Opposition that Nobody Should Support
CounterPunch, July 2017
The Chávez Hypothesis: Vicissitudes of a Strategic Project
CounterPunch, May 2017
Retomando «¿Por qué socialismo?» de Albert Einstein
Rebelión, Febrero 2017
To Recover Strategic Thought and Political Practice
Monthly Review Online, 2017