Translating and Publishing Torkil Lauesen’s The Global Perspective

Kersplebedeb Publishing is seeking to raise funds to translate and publish the book Det Globale Perspektiv (The Global Perspective), by former Danish political prisoner Torkil Lauesen.

In the 1970s and 80s, Torkil was a member of an underground communist cell which carried out a series of robberies in Denmark, netting very large sums which were then sent on to various national liberation movements in the Third World. Following their capture in 1989, Torkil would spend six years in prison. In 2016, Torkil’s book Det Globale Perspektiv was released in Denmark. In it, he explains how he sees the world political situation today, and his thoughts of the future.

Torkil’s books bridges the gap between Third Worldist theory, and the question of “What Is To Be Done?” in a First World context. It is an important contribution towards developing an effective political practice based on the realities of the global situation, avoiding the pitfalls of sugarcoating the situation with the First World populations, or of falling into pessimistic quietism. As Torkil says, “It is a book written by an activist, for activists. Global capitalism is heading into a deep structural crisis in the coming decades, so the objective conditions for radical change will be present, for better or for worse. The outcome will depend on us, the subjective forces.”

To make this book available in English, we will need funds to hire a translator and to help defray the printing costs. This is where your help can make a major difference — please consider donating via our Indiegogo fundraiser page here.

What We Need

We need $4,500 to publish this book. This money will pay for:

• The full translation costs ($3,000)
• Roughly one third of the printing costs ($1,500)

We are looking for $6,000, as the various costs associated with Indiegogo, and with providing gifts to donors, are expected to account for one quarter of the total donations we receive (i.e. if one gives $100, Indiegogo will take $5, and the cost of mailing you the thank-you gift you will receive will be at least $20).

So long as $3,000 is raised, we will proceed with translation. The amount raised in excess will help keep the sale price of this book as low as possible.

The Global Perspective: Ethics, Politics, and Action in an Unequal World

Never before has the world been so starkly divided between the “haves” and the “have nots”. Never before has the global situation been accelerating so quickly. The Third World national liberation movements of the 20th century very much triggered the liberatory movements that did manage to emerge in the First World, and seemed for an all-too-brief moment to point to an escape hatch from history’s downward spiral … but for many today that all seems like ancient history.

Torkil Lauesen was a participant in the communist and internationalist struggles during the tail end of the national liberation period, and today remains committed to the ideals that motivated him then.  The Global Perspective is an important contribution, bridging not only generations, but also the gap between theory and practice.

Kersplebedeb has published numerous books outlining the need for a global view, one that centers the struggles of the most oppressed, on a world scale. With your help, we will be able to add The Global Perspective to this list.

Other Ways You Can Help

Not everyone has money to donate to a project, even though they may want to. We understand that completely. But even if you can’t make a donation at this point, there’s lots you can do to help us in this campaign:

1. Please share our Indiegogo campaign and our related video on social media, i.e. facebook, twitter, and all those places. Consider reposting it on your website, in your newsletter, or anywhere else.
2.  As we share news stories about The Global Perspective over the next month, please consider reposting these in your own networks.
3. If you run a distro, work in a bookstore, or otherwise help disseminate literature, get in touch (info@kersplebedeb.com) and let’s see what we can do together to get our books out there.

The relevant website URLs are:

https://igg.me/at/globalperspective

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF88VYo-ZhQ

https://www.facebook.com/theglobalperspective/

Thanks for all your support!