The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 71/No. 40      October 29, 2007

 
Marxist magazine in Swedish sells at book fair
 
BY DANIEL NORDSTRÖM  
GOTHENBURG, Sweden—A team of socialist workers and Young Socialists organized a booth with literature on revolutionary politics at the Gothenburg International Book Fair, held here September 27-30. The fair, Sweden’s main cultural event in the fall, drew more than 100,000 people.

At the fair, 66 books and pamphlets distributed by Pathfinder were sold, and 10 people subscribed to the Militant. There was considerable interest in the new issues of the Swedish-language Marxist magazine Ny International. Thirteen people purchased issue no. 4, with the feature article “Their Transformation and Ours,” or issue no. 5, with “Our Politics Starts With the World.”

Many who stopped by the Pathfinder booth wanted to talk about explanations for the instability in the world economy and its political consequences. Some were startled when they saw the photo of “Earth at Night” that illustrates “Our Politics Starts With the World.” The photo was blown up for display in the booth.

“You can really see the gap that exists in the world today” was a common response to the picture, which shows the difference in access to electricity between the semicolonial and the imperialist countries. One woman also noted that in economically developed countries like Sweden the question of energy affects different classes differently. She pointed to rising energy prices and the drawn-out blackouts after some major storms that have a disproportionate effect on working people.

Many people were interested in the pamphlet Revolution in the Congo. Several knew about Swedish imperialism’s role in suppressing the anticolonial revolts in the Congo in the 1960s. Other titles that sold well were collections of speeches by Malcolm X and by African revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara, as well as books on the fight for women’s liberation and on the Cuban Revolution.

Amanda Naesman contributed to this article.  
 
 
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