REFORM, REVOLUTION, AND OPPORTUNISM
Debates in the Second International, 1900–1910
Edited by Mike Taber
Haymarket Books (September 5, 2023)
Trade paper • ISBN-13: 9781642599817 • US $17 • 6 in x 9 in • 272 pgs.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
An essential record from the Second International, expertly curated by Under the Socialist Banner editor Mike Taber.
At its height, the Second International (1889-1916) represented the majority of organized workers in the world, and the largest of its affiliated parties counted over a million members. Its congresses drew delegates from across the globe, and its major victories—like the eight-hour work day—have long outlasted the organization itself.
In this important collection of debates and resolutions from the Second International, Reform, Revolution, and Opportunism captures the International’s vibrancy and gives a snapshot of its strengths, weaknesses, and contradictions. Socialist militants turned to the Second International to deliberate on how best to combat the latest deprivations and excesses of capitalism, which was stretching beyond national boundaries for the first time. These new issues and the debates about how to respond to them—surging immigration; what to say about colonialism; how to relate to burgeoning struggles for women’s rights; the drive to intern-imperialist war—remain deeply contested over a hundred years later. Taken together with Under the Socialist Banner, Reform Revolution, and Opportunism offers a rounded view of the Second International and its legacy, showing it to be a living, breathing movement with crucial insights for contemporary radicals.
PRAISE:
“Dan “Sully” Sullivan’s O Body is a feat of tenderness, an act of profound, sweet wondering, the word I mean is care, not only for the home of one’s own body, but for the homes one’s body might offer other bodies. The shelter we might make of each other. He gets there by going deep with his sorrow and his shame. He gets there through humor and music and story. And when he emerges, he brings with him devotion. To a city, a home, a partner, a daughter, all of them with their own luminous and permanent rooms in this wondrous, this accidental, this precious, O body.”
Ross Gay, author of Be Holding: A Poem
“The voice in Sully’s book O Body is intimate and tender—these are tavern style poems to be shared with friends and strangers over beer and pizza. I could tell you about the voltas in these poems, how the language of images build in the poems and then throughout multiple poems, and it’s all true, but mostly, I want you to know I read O Body in one sitting. I laughed and gasped and cussed because of how good these poems are.”
José Olivarez, Author of CITIZEN ILLEGAL
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Mike Taber has edited and prepared numerous books on the history of the revolutionary and working-class movements—from collections of documents of the Communist International under Lenin to works by figures such as Leon Trotsky, Malcolm X, and Che Guevara. Most recent books include Under the Socialist Banner: Resolutions of the Second International, 1889–1912; The Communist Women’s Movement, 1920–1922; The Communist Movement at a Crossroads: Plenums of the Communist International’s Executive Committee, 1922–1923; and Clara Zetkin: Fighting Fascism: How to Struggle and How to Win.
RIGHTS INFORMATION:
Please contact subagents for the following languages and territories:
| Language/Territory | Subagent |
|---|---|
| China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam | Big Apple Agency |
| Dutch | Sebes & Bisseling Literary Agency |
| English outside North America | David Grossman Literary Agency |
| French | Deborah Druba Agency |
| German | Paul & Peter Fritz AG Literatur Agentur |
| Greek | Read n' Right Agency |
| Hebrew | The Deborah Harris Agency |
| Italian | Berla & Griffini Rights Agency |
| Japanese | The English Agency (Japan) Ltd |
| Korean | BC Agency, or Korea Copyright Center |
| Portuguese | RIFF Agency |
| Russia/Baltics/Eastern Europe | Prava I Prevodi |
| Scandinavia | Sebes & Bisseling Literary Agency |
| Spanish in Latin America | MB Agencia Literaria |
| Spanish in Spain | MB Agencia Literaria |
| Turkish | Anatolialit Agency |
For all other languages/territories, please contact Roam Agency.