Monographs & Edited Collections (4,753 posts)

The fifty-second edition in the highly popular Socialist Register series focuses on the political forces and parties of the Right, seeking to shed light on their social base, organizational strength and range and influence on mainstream parties and opinions.

“Most Republicans and Democrats facilitated the process by endlessly promoting “free trade” and arguing that any constraints on free enterprises’ relocations were unthinkable, inefficient, and (other synonyms for) “really bad.” As more and more jobs left the United States, and formerly prosperous cities and states entered long-term declines, the two parties blamed their favorite targets: one another.

The idea that capitalism and capitalists were the problem was something neither Democrats nor Republicans allow into their debates and talking points. Yet it was precisely capitalists’ profit-driven, self-interested decisions to move that have caused our economic problems. And so they remain.”

Harris draws from extensive sentencing data, legal documents, observations of court hearings, and interviews with defendants, judges, prosecutors, and other court officials. She documents how low-income defendants are affected by monetary sanctions, which include fees for public defenders and a variety of processing charges. Until these debts are paid in full, individuals remain under judicial supervision, subject to court summons, warrants, and jail stays.