Moving the centre: The Marxist squatters and the populist mayor
Joe Hayns interviews the organisers of a ‘House of the People’ who are facing similar questions in Naples.
Video: A new Arab spring?
East London rs21 held a meeting on the uprisings in Algeria, Sudan and Morocco, addressing the movements demanding change, the counter-revolutionary forces lining up against them, and the role of international solidarity.
Between Sartre and Cliff: Ian Birchall, a heterodox Marxist’s trajectory
Selim Nadi conducts a wide-ranging interview with long-standing revolutionary socialist Ian Birchall.
Pétain, Franco and chemical warfare in the Rif
While Macron has been trying to rehabilitate Pétain as a WWI hero, the latter’s role in a war against Africa’s first anti-colonial state is less well known.
How Rifian are the Rifian Protests?
Joe Hayns reports from Rabat on the protests that started in the Rif and are now spreading across Morocco. This piece was originally published on his blog. If you enjoy reading it, then please consider donating here to help to fund his continued documentation of the current situation in Morocco. ‘Are they Moroccans, or what?’ […]
Interview: The Fight for Fair Pay in Universities
‘Fractionals’ are hourly paid part-time teaching staff in universities who are paid a ‘fraction’ of a full-time salary. An increasing proportion of academics are on these precarious contracts. On 8 May, SOAS Fractionals for Fair Play (FFFP) announced via their Facebook page that, after threatening a mass marking boycott in late March, management had accepted all of […]
Breaking with the bureaucrats: how to reclaim Unite
Joe Hayns writes about the need to end the bureaucratic stasis at the top of Unite and support dynamic grassroots struggles led by rank-and-file members. On Monday (27 March) Unite members start to vote on who will be their next General Secretary – the centrist incumbent, Len McCluskey; the right-winger, Gerard Coyne; or the socialist, rank-and-file candidate, […]
May and Trump: Bringing us back to the streets
Joe Hayns discusses the spate of demonstrations in the UK instigated by Donald Trump taking office and the prospects they open up. Is a proto-protest movement forming? What are its prospects? On Friday 20 January, 1000 protested outside the US embassy; Saturday 21 saw the 100,000-strong Women’s March; on Monday 30, at least 40,000 were […]
The high stakes of the Deliveroo Strike
12 August saw Deliveroo couriers, on day two of their strike, protesting outside management’s offices. Joe Hayns asks what’s at stake. Thronging a street in central London – shouting together at a management that’s gone from smug to terrified in 72 hours – were around 150 Deliveroo couriers. During a sit-down discussion the most recent offer […]
After Byron Burgers: Everyone Who Is Here Is From Here
Joe Hayns looks at the context in which Byron Burgers collaborated in the deportation of its employees and the next steps for our movement. On Monday 1 August up to 400 people demonstrated outside the Holborn, central London, branch of Byron Burgers against management’s collaboration with the UK Border Agency (UKBA) in the deportation of […]
Critiquing empire through the white man’s gaze – a review of The Revenant
The Revenant has been widely praised, not least for its apparent critique of colonial expansion. However, while its de-romanticisation of the frontier is an improvement on recent cinematic glorification of imperialist violence, the colonised subjects remain largely silent. Joe Hayns reviews. The adverts punting The Revenant are now showing fifteen (or is it twenty?) five-star reviews, and sleeping in […]
Junior Doctors Strike: round-up from picket lines
Today Junior Doctors were on strike against changes to their contracts that will be bad for doctors, patients and the whole NHS. Despite the Tories trying to demonise the doctors, the majority of the public support their strike, and they’ve had a lots of solidarity on their picket lines. Here’s a round up from some of […]
Six pointers for antifascists after the 21 June attacks in Tottenham
See also: Antifascist vigil attracts 200 in show of unity and defiance On Saturday night a free music festival in Tottenham, north London, was violently attacked by a racist gang targeting audience members in general and, judging from media reports, Jews in particular. North London Antifascists has details, including video and evidence pointing to […]