James Petras

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James Petras at an Axis for Peace event

James Petras is a retired Bartle Professor (Emeritus) of Sociology at Binghamton University, SUNY, New York, U.S., and adjunct professor at Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada who has published prolifically on Latin American and Middle Eastern political issues.

1 Life and Work
2 Books on Israel Lobby
3 Selected Bibliography
4 References
5 External links

Life and Work

Petras received his B.A. from Boston University and Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.^[1] His initial appointment at Binghamton was in 1972 at the Sociology Department and his field is listed as: Development, Latin America, the Caribbean, revolutionary movements, class analysis.^[2] During his life he received the Western Political Science Association's the Best Dissertation award (1968), the Career of Distinguished Service Award from the American Sociological Association's Marxist Sociology Section and the Robert Kenny Award for Best Book of 2002.^[1]

Petras is the author of more than 62 books published in 29 languages, and over 600 articles in professional journals, including the American Sociological Review, British Journal of Sociology, Social Research, and Journal of Peasant Studies. He has published over 2000 articles in publications such as the New York Times, The Guardian, The Nation, Christian Science Monitor, Foreign Policy, New Left Review, Partisan Review and Le Monde Diplomatique. Currently he writes a monthly column for the Mexican newspaper, La Jornada, and previously, for the Spanish daily, El Mundo.^[1]

Petras is currently a member of the editorial collective of Canadian Dimension and contributes to Counterpunch.^{[citation needed]}

Petras describes himself as a "revolutionary and anti-imperialist" activist and writer.^{[citation needed]} He has worked with the Brazilian landless workers’ movement and the unemployed workers’ movement in Argentina. From 1973-76 Petras worked on the Bertrand Russell Tribunal on Repression in Latin America. ^[1]

In November 2006 the FARC in Colombia addressed a letter concerning three American hostages (Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalves and Thomas Howes) to American film stars, the Reverend Jesse Jackson and leftist intellectuals Noam Chomsky, Angela Davis, and James Petras.^[3]

In a 2006 article entitled "9/11 Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories Still Abound", the Anti-Defamation League noted Petras's assertion there was evidence that "Israelis" may have known about the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks but withheld the information from the United States government.^[4]

Books on Israel Lobby

'The Power of Israel in the United States' by Professor Dr. James Petras.

Petras' latest book, Rulers and Ruled in the U.S. Empire: Bankers, Zionists, Militants (2008) deals with what he considers to be the malign influence of American-born Jews over U.S. foreign policy. According to its publisher, Clarity Press, the book exposes the global hegemony exercised by "the financial ruling class, the Zionist power configuration and their collaborator client rulers."^{[citation needed]}

In The Power of Israel in the United States, Petras puts forth the thesis that American Jews are less than 2% of the population, yet represent 25-30% of U.S.'s wealthiest families (citing Forbes). He asserts that they wield their wealth effectively. As an example (citing Richard Cohen in the Washington Post) -- supplying 60% and 35% of the total contributions respectively of the American Democratic and Republican political parties.^{[citation needed]}

Selected Bibliography

Rulers and Ruled in the US Empire: Bankers, Zionists and Militants, Clarity Press, Inc. (2007). ISBN-13: 978-0932863546
The Power of Israel in the United States, Clarity Press, Inc. (2006). ISBN 0-932863-51-5
Empire with Imperialism: The Globalizing Dynamics of Neoliberal Capitalism, Luciano Vasapollo, Zed Books (2006).
Social Movements and State Power: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, with Henry Veltmeyer, Pluto Press (2005).
Globalization Unmasked: Imperialism in the 21st Century, with Henry Veltmeyer, Zed Books (2001).
The Dynamics of Social Change in Latin America, with Henry Veltmeyer, Palgrave Macmillan (2000).
Empire or Republic: Global Power or Domestic Decay in the US, with Morris Morley, Routledge (1994).
Latin America in the Time of Cholera: Electoral Politics, Market Economics, and Permanent Crisis, Routlege (1992).