Vijay Prashad

IGL—This episode of India and Global Left features an in-depth conversation with historian and author Dr. VJ Prashad, focusing primarily on the recent political and geopolitical developments in Venezuela and broader reflections on imperialism, capitalism, and the global south. The discussion begins with the controversial US-led attempt to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, highlighting the blatant violations of international law and the fabricated nature of the US government’s indictment against Maduro. Dr. Prashad emphasizes the military sophistication behind the US operation, comparing it to past interventions but noting its unprecedented scale and audacity in Latin America.

This video is an insightful conversation with VJ Prashad, director of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, discussing China’s unique socialist development, its global role, and lessons for the Global South. Prashad emphasizes that China is still in the process of building socialism, highlighting that socialism is a complex, protracted endeavor rather than a binary state. Although China has capitalists, they do not form a capitalist class with political control, due to the Communist Party’s central role. He refutes the notion that China’s modern infrastructure and wealth disqualify it from being socialist, arguing that the elimination of poverty and social security are better indicators of socialism than skyscrapers or capitalist-style urbanization.

VIJAY PRASHAD—We are marching in Gyeongju, a conservative city. The march is led by leaders from the broad left: the Justice Party, the Green Party, and the Labor Party, as well as from social movements (the trade unions and the International Strategy Center). We are moving through the streets. A shopkeeper begins an altercation with the marchers. It is a minor disturbance. She is bothered by the presence of the left in her city. At an intersection, there are a small group of people with flags that interest me, and at that point, Kwon Yeong-guk (leader of the Justice Party) leans over and says to me that they are from a fascist movement; Lee Baek-yoon of the Labor Party says that there is a strain of religious right-wing politics that has been growing. There is still support for the deposed president Yoon, and in that line, for the United States and for Israel.

IGL—Prashad critiques Western imperial powers, particularly the U.S. and Europe, for their complicity in sustaining Israeli occupation through military, intelligence, and political support, despite growing grassroots opposition within these societies, including amongst Jewish communities. He elaborates on the complexity of the Israel-Palestine question, weighing the tactical necessity of maintaining the two-state solution internationally while acknowledging long-term debates around a one-state solution that challenges Zionism’s foundational premise.

Turning to the global south, Prashad contrasts the anti-colonial, socialist-leaning origins of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) with the more economically driven and politically diverse nature of BRICS, which has gained political coherence mainly due to Western economic pressures and conflicts such as the Ukraine war. He argues sovereignty is the unifying principle for BRICS rather than socialism or radical economic transformation, warning that financial dependence on imperial centers limits true autonomy.

VIJAY PRASHAD—The problem with the term Anthropocene (which began to be used first by scientists, then by social scientists) is that it implies that humans — as an undifferentiated whole — have created the ecological crisis we are facing. This subtly downplays the role of the capitalist system and its accompanying class and national divides.

However, data show that humanity is using the equivalent of about 1.7 Earths to sustain our current consumption levels. In other words, we are consuming natural resources 75 percent times faster than nature can regenerate them each year.

Unless we find another habitable planet, there is no arithmetic way to solve the problem. This is not a matter of the climate alone, but also of the environmental stress we have placed on the Earth (such as through deforestation, overfishing, overuse of fresh water, and soil degradation).