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 el 2017 hasta el presente.
The Dialectics of Constituted and Communal Power: A Conversation with Ángel Prado
Progressive International, February 2024 (translated to 14 languages)
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, 2021-2024
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, 2017The Dialectics of Constituted and Communal Power: A Conversation with Ángel Prado