Blog
Peter Watkins (1935–2025)
In an interview given in 2011, Peter Watkins remarked ‘I don’t think I’ve made a particularly radical film in forty years, not really’,[1] a remark that might surprise those who regarded him as one of the most important left-wing film directors of the second-half of the twentieth century. Watkins’ caution seems here to point to his difficulty in working against the television and cinema apparatus in which his films were situated, and of generating the political effects on the audience that he desired. Still, even if Watkins found himself dissatisfied with his results, his attempts undoubtedly produced a compelling and highly unusual series of films.
In memoriam: Asad Haider (1987-2025)
‘Our subjective horizon is the optimism of the intellect; our objective, structuring condition is pessimism of the will. Without optimism of the intellect, we have the party without the people. Without pessimism of the will, we have the illusion of power. Until we recognize this there is no path for action.’[1]
A thank you note from the organisers of the 2025 Historical Materialism London Conference
A huge thanks to all the participants in the 2025 Historical Materialism London conference. The conference was a huge success with 1,043 presentations and over 1,400 participants. The biggest Historical Materialism London Conference ever!
Geert Reuten: a fond recollection
On 29 July, Geert Reuten passed away after a short illness with liver cancer. Geert was the youngest of twelve children and belonged to a prominent Catholic family. His grandfather, textile manufacturer Vincent van den Heuvel, had for many years been a member of parliament for the Catholic Party and played an important role in the establishment of the Boerenleenbank (now Rabobank). Geert himself would become the radical outlier of the family.
R.I.P. Geert Reuten (1946-2025)
The Historical Materialism journal and book series editorial boards are very sad to announce the death of Geert Reuten due to cancer.
Statement by the Editorial Board of Historical Materialism
As the editorial board of Historical Materialism, we would like to express our condemnation, indignation and anger regarding the unprecedented forms of censorship and ideological silencing with which the Historical Materialism Paris Conference had to deal.
30 May: FINAL DEADLINE for abstracts for the 2025 HM London Conference!
The deadline for abstracts for this year’s Historical Materialism London Conference has been extended one FINAL time to 30 May, midnight GMT.
The Age of Neofascism and Its Distinctive Features
With each passing day and at an accelerating pace in recent years, it becomes increasingly obvious that we are witnessing a new era of rise of the far right on a global scale, similar to the era of the rise of fascist forces between the two world wars of the twentieth century. The label “neofascism” has been used to designate the contemporary far right, which adapted to our time, out of its awareness that repeating the same fascist pattern witnessed in the past century was no longer possible, in the sense that it was no longer acceptable to the majority of people.
Overshoot and the 1.5-degree Celsius warming target
I wrote this shortly after participating in an historic HM Conference in London, only days after having heard the election result in the US while in the UK. We now face the increasing threat of reaching dangerous climatic tipping points simultaneously with an incoming climate-denialist Trump administration with virtual control of Congress. So, given this very sober outlook, should we assume, as media pundits tell us, that the 1.5-degree Celsius warming target is dead, or is there still a window of opportunity to avoid breaching it?
A thank you note from Historical Materialism
Dear comrades,
A huge thanks to all the participants in the 2024 Historical Materialism London conference. The conference was a huge success with over 800 presentations and 900 attendees that joined us over the four days.
