On productivity, living standards and the British economic model – thoughts and reflections
In the wake of the Budget Statement, Joe Sabatini ponders Britain’s productivity puzzle.
COP21 – climate and capitalism
Joe Sabatini dissects the neoliberal mindset behind the Paris talks in December and what the COP21 Agreement means for saving the planet.
Anti-refugee demonstration in Carlisle – Nazis score a victory against divided opposition
Anti-fascists faced hurdles in mobilising against the first fascist demo to hit Carlisle in years.
revolutionary reflections | Class struggles in the 1989 revolution
For the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, we publish a translation of Volkhard Mosler’s analysis of the class composition of the East German regime and the opposition movement to it.
‘I was, I am, I will be’ – 100 years after the death of Rosa Luxemburg
The deaths of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht have haunted the imagination of the left for a century.
The total Marx and the total theory of literature
A lost gem of Marxist aesthetic theory, out of print for over forty years.
‘Quite an experience’, Blade Runner, Marxism and Postmodernity
With the theatre release of Blade Runner 2049, Red Wedge Magazine have given rs21 permission to republish an interview with Matthew Flisfeder author of Postmodern Theory and Blade Runner (2017). The original interview was carried out in September, and focuses solely on the ‘original’ film and its context. A review of the Blade Runner 2049 […]
Rethinking the Concept of Revolution Part 1
The centenary of the Russian Revolution provides an opportunity to reflect on what we mean by revolution, and reconsider its relevance today. In the first of a two-part exchange Chris Wright makes the case for a gradualist theory of revolution based on the emerging ‘solidarity economy’ and a repudiation of theories that focus on rupture and the taking of state […]
The Legacy of Antonio Gramsci
Key ideas and theories need revaluing and upgrading for our times. Gian Luigi Deiana from the Casa Gramsci institute discusses the life and legacy of Antonio Gramsci and the question of popular sovereignty today.
#GE2017: More police and prison officers won’t make us safer
Socialism requires a belief that building a world without punishment and incarceration is possible.
#GE2017: How radical are Labour’s economic policies?
The limitations of the manifesto are those we would expect to find facing any reformist government operating in the capitalist system today.
revolutionary reflections | The KPD and the United Front during the Weimar Republic
This article by Marcel Bois was originally published in a collection of essays in German by Marx21 on the German Communist Party (KPD). It sets out the history of the United Front in Germany from the years 1920 to 1926. The United Front was a tactic developed by the Communist International in the early 1920s and this […]
revolutionary reflections | Critical Theory in the Age of Trump Part 1: Organised Pessimism
The election of Trump has raised the stakes in terms of how the left should respond to the growing crises of economics, politics, ecology and geopolitics. Joe Sabatini explores the work of the Frankfurt School in this context. Photo courtesy of iamyouasheisme.wordpres.com Footnotes to this piece are included in the PDF. 20170330_Critical Theory Part 1 Methodological introduction […]
revolutionary reflections | For Another Europe (Part 1)
With Brexit the EU has never been a more controversial and critical issue for left political strategy. In the first of a two part piece A Unite Rep reviews Guglielmo Carchedi’s classic Marxist analysis of the EU. The second part looking at the incorporation of the labour movement within the EU project will appear in […]
Austria: The rise of respectable fascism?
Joe Sabatini reflects on the social, demographic and ideological issues behind the Austrian Presidential Election, and considers strategies to oppose the far right. On 22 May the Austrian electorate came within a percentage point of electing Europe’s first fascist head of state since the 1930s. On 1 July, the results of the second round of […]
Antisemitism row – the real target is Jeremy Corbyn
The media is full of claims about antisemitism in the Labour Party. Jewish members of rs21 set out our view. Naz Shah and Ken Livingstone have been suspended from the Labour Party over accusations of antisemitism. Condemnation of Shah and Livingstone is part of a wider claim – that the Labour Party and the […]
Biggest picket lines yet as junior doctors’ strike action escalates
Junior doctors’ continued their strike action today against the imposition of a new, damaging contract and in defence of the NHS, with a full walkout between 8am and 5pm. Despite continued attacks from Tory ministers, many picket lines today were much bigger than those on previous strike days. Here are a selection of reports, photos […]
The Panama Papers – From revelations to revolt and beyond
Joe Sabatini discusses how the Panama Papers have confirmed what we knew about the ruling class and looks at how they provide an opportunity to re-engage the public discussion over how our economies are being run, by whom and for whom. The leak of 11.5 million documents from Panamanian law firm Mosseck Fonseca is the […]
Save the Lukács Archive
The Hungarian government is threatening to close the Georg Lukács Archive. Anyone with an interest in the role that intellectuals have played in left-wing politics should be appalled at such a possibility, write Joe Sabatini. Sign the petition to keep it open here.
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 […]
The secret life of the NHS – new rs21 magazine out on Saturday
The January 2016 issue of the rs21 magazine will be out on Saturday. Order your copy or subscribe here. Below, Rob Owen gives an overview of the new edition. Issue includes: The secret life of the NHS, the life of a junior doctor, by Sophie Walton Joe Sabatini and Tabitha Spence looking at climate politics from […]
Cuts and climate change bring floods to Rochdale
If you want to know what a warming world and climate chaos looks like then take at look at the videos of Rochdale town centre.
Eyewitness: Carlisle floods mean learning what it is like to be on the front line of climate change
Joe Sabatini reports from Carlisle, where floods devastated the town. He discusses what it means to be on the front line of climate change. Climate change has just slapped into Cumbria. For the third time in 10 years the county has suffered from a major flood, leaving thousands devastated – many hit for the second time. […]
HM2015: Where is Britain going?
Joe Sabatini summarises three sessions about Britain at Historical Materialism conference. He concludes that there are opportunities for revolutionaries in the rest of Britain to follow those in Scotland, and shape debates about how we fight for reforms. This article is a report based on three sessions at this year’s Historical Materialism conference that covered the […]
Thousands rally in George Square – report from Glasgow anti-austerity protest
North and south of the border, last Saturday was an important day in the process of building a mass fight back against austerity. Pete Cannell, from Edinburgh, and Joe Sabatini from Carlisle report from the anti-austerity rally in Glasgow. Thousands rally in George Square Pete, from Edinburgh, reports: As tens of thousands marched against austerity […]
The big lie: Some thoughts on ideology and the Tory victory
Joe Sabatini on ideology, fetishism, and 5 more years of Cameron. On Thursday 7 May, The English Tory Party won a shock victory that was utterly unpredicted and yet so predictable. Everything about the result feels like a consolidation of a power grab that took place in 2010, making 2015 the sequel. With the corpse […]
Germany 1918-23: A forgotten history of revolution
Joe Sabatini reviews a collection of articles about how the German Communist Party organised in the early 1920s – only a few years after revolution had swept through Germany – and translates two of the pieces. Best of KPD: Linke Organisierung Damals Und Heute – in English Left Organisation Then and Now – is a […]
Behind Capital: A Review of Alex Callinicos’ “Deciphering Capital”
Joe Sabatini assesses an important new work of Marxist theory. Deciphering Capital is a long awaited work, which Alex Callinicos has been developing over a number of years. Although stimulated by the resurgence in Marxist political economy since 2008, the book essentially goes back to his PhD in the 1970s. Principally, Deciphering Capital could be described […]
Review: ‘Salt of the Earth’ 60th Anniversary release
Joe Sabatini re-examines the 1951 film ‘Salt of the Earth’ and argues for its contemporary relevance and importance. “Anything worth learning hurts, these changes come with pain.” 2014 marks the 60th anniversary of the release of the political classic: The Salt of the Earth. Salt dramatises a strike that took place in 1951 against the […]