Revolutionary Socialism in the 21st Century
 
Revolutionary
Socialism in the
21st Century
BY THEME:
Revolutionary strategy Education, healthcare, housing, transport Borders, migration and race Anti-fascism and the far right Imperialism and international politics Climate and environment Feminism and LGBTQ liberation Work, unions and strikes Electoral Politics in Britain Culture

COVID Omicron: The case for vaccine justice

The new Omicron variant is the result of the racist and profiteering vaccine policy of the Tory government, writes rs21 member Graham Checkley.

A picture of seaglass washed up on the beach.

Patient Humans and other poems

Leila Platt writes on experiences of mental health treatment, Covid and power in ‘Patient Humans’ and other poems.

Cartoon shows Boris Johnson as emperor Nero playing the lyre while the world burns

From Nero to Net Zero

Boris Johnson’s classical references are a window onto how he will deal with climate breakdown, writes Gareth Dale.

Placards. Chalk on wall reads: staff deserve fair pay & pensions

Strikes coming in Higher Education?

Grant Buttars discusses the UCU ballot results and prospects for action.

Banner reads: Workers of the world, unite! #System Change Not Climate Change

Climate protesters hit the streets across Britain

Reports from climate protests around Britain as part of the global day of action around COP26

Cover image: We only want the earth: Anti-capitalism against the climate crisis

We only want the earth: a new pamphlet from rs21

rs21 has published a new pamphlet by Gus Woody ‘We only want the earth: Anti-capitalism against the climate crisis’

Tweet by Kathleen Stock @Docstockk reads 'My former union branch @sussexucu has just effectively ended my career at Sussex University. This just sent to all members. 'Statement in support of Trans and Nonbinary communities at Sussex'. Screengrab of tweet overlaid with trans pride flag colours.

When is it right for a union to support dismissal?

Kathleen Stock has blamed UCU for her decision to resign from her position.

The power to change the system

With COP26 just around the corner, a wave of industrial action in Scotland is demonstrating the huge opportunity of linking workers’ struggle with climate organising.

Protestors demonstrate in solidarity with the uprisings in Sudan against the military coup, October 2021

Stand with the people of Sudan!

‘We ask the working class worldwide to stand in solidarity with the people of Sudan.’

Review | Anti-Gender Politics in the Populist Moment

We need a feminism integrated with struggles for economic justice and against racism, homophobia and transphobia.

Eileen Cook, 1950-2021, pictured here at Athens Social Forum.

Obituary: Eileen Cook, 1950-2021

Eileen Cook, who died on 6 October 2021, was a life-long trade unionist, feminist campaigner, and revolutionary socialist. She is much missed by many, including her comrades in Edinburgh rs21, who remember her in this obituary.

Review | Let the record show

‘Let The Record Show’ is a pathbreaking history of ACT UP founded to fight the AIDS/HIV crisis in New York in the late 1980s.

COP26 climate protests. Join a union/worker bloc. Sat 6 Nov: everywhere. www.wemaketomorrow/action

Unite Policy Conference backs climate action

Unite’s Policy Conference backed the COP26 protests, workplace action and climate strikes, but remains attached to technical fixes.

Refuse workers on strike picket their depot in Brighton with GMB flags - the Brighton refuse workers strike 2021

Brighton bin workers out on strike

Drivers are angry because changing rounds arbitrarily means more stress and a worse service to local residents. 

Metabolic rift - photo shows monoculture timber forest in background with freshly cut tree trunks in foreground.

What do we mean by metabolic rift?

rs21 member Greg Peakin explains the concept of metabolic rift, and why it is an important tool for climate organising today. 

Image from Liang Village, a woman pulls a trolley next to brick.

Review | China in One Village

Charlie Hore reviews China in One Village by Liang Hong, finding an informative and personal account of the contradictions of rapid urbanisation and societal change in China. Liang Hong, China in One Village, translated by Emily Goedde, (London: Verso, 2021) 316 pp, £16.99 China’s meteoric rise to becoming the world’s economic powerhouse was powered by […]

Protestors in support of Paul Holmes. Banner reads 'We stand with Paul'

An injury to Paul is an injury to us all

Sam O’Brien reports from a solidarity protest for UNISON President Paul Holmes.

Cover image of Revolutionary Rehearsals

Extracts from Revolutionary Rehearsals in the Neoliberal Age

On the possibility of socialist revolution and the tragedy of the Egyptian revolution.

A jet sits on a dry runway with the sun overhead.

Jet Zero: a one way ticket to climate hell

The package of plans to make the aviation industry ‘green’ is a charade driven by considerations of profit, economic growth and aviation’s corporate consumers.

Image shows four protesters outside Mencap protesting for justice for careworkers in March 2021. Photo credit: Care and Support Workers Organise.

What a way to make a living | Working in care for 16 years

In the latest instalment of our What a Way to Make a Living series, rs21 member discusses their experience of working in care and how wider changes to the care sector have affected the pay, conditions and experience of care workers over time.

Arise: Power, Strategy and Union Resurgence by Jane Holgate is available from Pluto Press from 20 August 2021.

How can unions rebuild power?

Ian Allinson reviews Jane Holgate’s new book, Arise! Power, Strategy and Union Resurgence, an exploration of why unions have failed to revitalise themselves.

Manchester protest in solidarity with Elbit protesters and against the use of British-made weapons in the occupation of Palestine

Palestine campaigning escalates in Greater Manchester

Kate Bradley reports on recent Palestine campaigning in Greater Manchester, where campaigners defeated the University of Manchester over censorship and occupied the Elbit arms factory in Oldham.

A London tower block featuring large graffiti proclaiming Fuck Boris

Review | Red Metropolis

Danny Schultz reviews Red Metropolis, the latest work by acclaimed political thinker and architectural critic Owen Hatherley. Schultz argues it provides an insightful history of radicalism within London, yet falls short in considering the importance of the working class struggles which make municipal socialism possible. Owen Hatherley, Red Metropolis: Socialism and the Government of London […]

Image of Sharon Graham with text 'let's get back to the workplace'

Sharon Graham wins stunning Unite victory

Graham recognises the need to focus on rebuilding workplace power to reverse union decline.

Kill The Bill: the day of action

rs21 members took part in a social media campaign as part of the #KillTheBill day of action against the new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill on Saturday 21 August 2021,

Ethiopian dried river bed

Lessons from the IPCC report for socialists

Gus Woody looks at the new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and discusses just how thoroughly it vindicates the basic principles revolutionary socialists have been arguing for years.

Afghanistan: the end of the occupation

The fall of Kabul marks a decisive defeat for American power around the world.

Colombian police officers. Keywords: Colombia police violence

Review | Revolutionary Rehearsals in the Neoliberal Age

Andy N reviews Revolutionary Rehearsals in the Neoliberal Age, a new collection discussing political upheavals since 1989. He finds a wide ranging and insightful work, which will deepen both the theory and practice of the modern left. Colin Barker, Gareth Dale, and Neil Davidson, Revolutionary Rehearsals in the Neoliberal Age (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2021) 410 […]

23/12/2020. London, United Kingdom. Boris Johnson Brexit Deal.The Prime Minister Boris Johnson in his office in Number 10 with his key members of staff as they wait for a response from President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen after they spoke on the phone a few minutes earlier with a possible Brexit deal in sight. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street

Johnson’s Tory party: how it started, how it’s going

Colin Wilson surveys the resignations, U-turns and scandals of Johnson’s two years in government, the position of the conservative party, and what this means for the left today.

Review | Working for the War Effort

Merilyn Moos reviews a recent work on German-speaking refugees and their role in British wartime propaganda.