https://themilitant.com/2019/07/06/iran-book-fair-us-embargo-hits-pocket-cash-not-political-interest/
Iran book fair: US embargo hits pocket cash, not political interest
??By Tony Hunt
Vol. 83/No. 25
July 15, 2019
Some 3,200 publishers participated in Tehran book fair, attracting
hundreds of thousands from across Iran. Over 300 books by revolutionary
working-class leaders were sold at Pathfinder booth. Talaye Porsoo,
which displayed 53 Pathfinder titles in Farsi, sold over 700 books.
M. Hossein Movahedinejad
Some 3,200 publishers participated in Tehran book fair, attracting
hundreds of thousands from across Iran. Over 300 books by revolutionary
working-class leaders were sold at Pathfinder booth. Talaye Porsoo,
which displayed 53 Pathfinder titles in Farsi, sold over 700 books.
TEHRAN, Iran ??? The 32nd Tehran International Book Fair took place at the
large Mosalla mosque complex here April 24-May 4. Hundreds of thousands
from around the country attended amid rising U.S. imperialist military
threats, economic sanctions and a declining currency, which are
squeezing living standards of working people and the middle classes.
The largest section housed some 2,400 Iranian publishers of Farsi
titles. The international section, with around 800 publishers, displayed
books in Arabic and English as well as other languages. This year???s
country of honor was China.
Pathfinder Books from the United Kingdom, which has participated since
1992, sold more than 300 titles by revolutionary working-class leaders.
Its best-seller was Are They Rich Because They???re Smart? Class,
Privilege, and Learning Under Capitalism by Jack Barnes, national
secretary of the Socialist Workers Party in the U.S., with 61 copies
sold. Tribunes of the People and the Trade Unions, with an introduction
by Barnes, and In Defense of the US Working Class by SWP leader
Mary-Alice Waters were the newest titles on its shelves.
Fifty-three Pathfinder titles translated into Farsi, Iran???s most widely
used language, were on display by Talaye Porsoo publishers, which sold
over 700 books. Top sellers included The Communist Manifesto by Karl
Marx and Frederick Engels (104 copies) and Are They Rich Because They???re
Smart? (59 copies). Talaye Porsoo also featured two other books by
Barnes: The Clintons??? Anti-Working-Class Record and Malcolm X, Black
Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power.
A new title, Talaye Porsoo???s translation of In Defense of the US Working
Class, was launched at a book-fair event hosted by the Association of
Women Publishers. Other Iranian publishers displaying Farsi translations
of Pathfinder titles included Golazin, which publishes Problems of
Women???s Liberation and Woman???s Evolution, both by Evelyn Reed, as well
as Cosmetics, Fashions, and the Exploitation of Women by Reed, Waters,
and Joseph Hansen. Titles on the fight for women???s emancipation were
popular at both the Talaye Porsoo and Pathfinder booths.
???I wish I could buy all these books,??? said a student after browsing the
Pathfinder shelves, ???but I have to watch my pocket.??? She left with Che
Guevara and the Fight for Socialism Today, one of several titles on the
Cuban Revolution sold here. A young woman from a rural area in north
Iran bought Is Biology Woman???s Destiny? by Reed, Is Socialist Revolution
in the US Possible? by Waters, and Origin of the Family, Private
Property, and the State by Engels. She said she???d been unable to pursue
postgraduate studies abroad ???because of the sanctions.???
Several visitors to the fair said they were interested in socialism or
Marxism. Many asked if it was ???legal??? to sell these kinds of books in
the U.S. and U.K. Volunteers at the booth responded by showing them
photos in books of such titles being sold on the streets or at workers???
doorsteps.
The world capitalist crisis, and by early May the nearly three-quarters
fall of the rial, the local currency,?? have made a big dent in the
budgets of most Iranians, including fairgoers, since Washington
reimposed sanctions last year. One student came to the Pathfinder stand
carrying a bag of books he???d bought with the ???Bon??? card, a government
subsidy for students. ???Last year,??? he said, ???I was able to fill up three
bags.???
In This Issue
Front Page Articles ???Liberals??? Green New Deal is trap for working class
???UN committee backs Puerto Rico fight for independence
???Join ???Militant??? in fight against censorship in Florida prisons
???SWP candidates step up campaigning, demand ???US rulers??? hands off Iran!???
???Railroad workers need to fight for workers control over trains, safety
???G-20 summit reveals ???liberal world order??? is coming apart
Feature Articles ???Conference celebrates 100 years ???on the right side of
history???
Also In This Issue ???Iran book fair: US embargo hits pocket cash, not
political interest
???Calif. Fresh Express workers walk out, win wage raise
???Oberlin says its smears of bakery were just ???students free speech???
???1,000 in Australia rally for right to abortion
Editorials ???Join SWP on ???right side of history???
25, 50 and 75 years ago
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York, NY 10018?? -?? themilitant@xxxxxx
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Voltaire
??? Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.
???
??? Voltaire,
