Anatole Anton teaches in the philosophy department (which he formerly chaired) at San Francisco State University (SFSU). He is also the general editor of the SFSU Series in Philosophy.

Anton is a co-coordinator of the Radical Philosophy Association (RPA), a pro-Marxist group of professors whose 300 members claim to “continue a variety of radical traditions including (but not limited to) feminism, phenomenology, Marxism, anarchism, post-structuralism, post-colonial theory, and environmentalism.” They “believe that fundamental change requires broad social upheavals but also opposition to intellectual support for exploitative and dehumanizing social structures,” those being “capitalism, racism, sexism, homophobia, disability discrimination, environmental ruin, and all other forms of domination.”

Anton and RPA support the Communist dictator Fidel Castro; oppose U.S. economic and military aid to Israel; ascribe the terrorist threat facing the U.S. today to America’s ill-advised support of “corrupt and repressive regimes”; urge Americans to stop being “hostile” to the United Nations and to “become better world citizens” by ending all CIA covert operations; advise the United States to “actively support the UN and put our whole energy into bettering the lives of the world’s poor” through UN agencies; and declare that “[i]t is no longer possible for us [Americans] to use the bulk of the earth’s resources … without sharing it with the rest of the world.”

Since 9/11, Anton has called for “concerned academics” to “defend dissent and critical thinking on campus.” On May 10, 2005, he circulated an “Open Letter” exhorting students to mobilize on behalf of academic freedom for leftist, anti-war professors. The letter stated, in all capital letters:

“STUDENTS! YOUR EDUCATION IS IN DANGER! DEFEND RADICAL AND PROGRESSIVE FACULTY WHO PROMOTE CRITICAL THINKING AND DISSENT!”

Anton warned that the “academic community is witnessing a chilling turn in American political and intellectual life,” and that tenured faculty, such as University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill and Columbia University professor Joseph Massad, are “under attack for expressing views [in the classroom] that are critical of the current and historical role of the U.S. at home and abroad.”

“Apparently,” Anton elaborated, “9/11 is now the third rail of American intellectual life: to critically probe into its causes and to interrogate the international role of the United States is treated as heresy. … Left unopposed, this trajectory will lead to a situation of uncontested indoctrination enforced by the state [in order] to purge the universities of more radical thinkers and oppositional thought generally, and to create a climate of intimidation. … What is needed is an outpouring of faculty resolutions condemning this witch-hunt. Teach-ins. Protests.”

Anton has also expressed his concern that the “fog of war could be exploited by the Israeli government to commit further crimes against the Palestinian people, up to full-fledged ethnic cleansing.” “To combat anti-Semitism effectively,” says Anton (who is Jewish), “we must stand together with others — particularly Palestinians. That is the answer to anti-Semitism.” Anton has signed petitions calling for an end to U.S. aid to Israel and for the removal of Jews from their “illegal settlements.”

Professor Anton’s books have become a cornerstone of required reading for many college students nationwide. His major works include: Law and Philosophy Subversive of Democracy (2003); Not for Sale- – In Defense of Public Goods (2000); and Socialism for a New Generation (forthcoming).

In 2004 Anton spoke at the Socialist Scholars Conference. He has vocally defended convicted death-row cop-killer Mumia Abu Jamal‘s “rights to free speech.”

In 2007, Anton and Dr. Richard Schmitt co-authored a book titled Toward a New Socialism, which according to the publisher, “offers a critical analysis of capitalism’s failings and the imminent need for socialism as an alternative form of government.” “This book,” the publisher added, “demonstrates that capitalism is destructive and limiting to the many ongoing campaigns to increase freedom, equality, and security.”

In 2012, Anton and Schmitt co-edited a book titled Taking Socialism Seriously.