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

Panthéon occupation: Fear has changed sides

On 12 July, hundreds of Gilets Noires (black vests) occupied the Panthéon building in Paris to demand an end to the persecution, deportations and exploitation of migrants.

‘Soldier F’: the far right’s new rallying cry

As Jeremy Hunt pledges to block prosecution of British soldiers, Max L explores the role of the far right in a growing street campaign for immunity for soldiers who committed war crimes in the North of Ireland.

revolutionary reflections | Theatre of the Oppressed as a political method

Sophie Coudray introduces the work of the Brazilian theatre practitioner Augusto Boal and the potential of its method for revolutionary praxis.

SOAS in crisis: a year of struggles

Seth Uzman looks back over the struggles on campus at SOAS in the past academic year, and draws lessons for the higher education sector as a whole.

Tories in crisis: what comes next? Neil Davidson

Video: Tories in crisis – what comes next?

Watch Marxist historian and author Neil Davidson discuss the establishment’s triple crisis of strategy, party and state – and its potential outcomes.

Years and Years: An Inquiry into the Human Prospect

Russell T Davies’ new BBC drama Years and Years picks up on important themes, but struggles to fully develop them, writes Escee.

Revolt in Hong Kong

Charlie Hore provides some background on the magnificent protest movement in Hong Kong, and discusses the strategic dilemmas ahead.

Motion: Solidarity with the revolution in Sudan

Take this motion to your local union branch to build solidarity with the revolutionary movement in Sudan. This motion was initiated by members of The Sudanese Workers’ Alliance for the Restoration of Trades Unions.

Video: How to strike for climate in your workplace

Youth strikers who will be out again on Friday 21 June have asked adults to join them in a global general strike for the climate on 27 September. What can you do to take part?

George Gore at Colloids picket with #ReinstateGeorge

Reinstate George Gore

Workers at Colloids in Kirkby have been on indefinite strike since 20 May for the reinstatement of their Unite shop steward. Watch a video interview and find out how to support them.

Motion: Climate emergency (updated)

Bring this motion to your trade union branch to build support for the Youth Strike for Climate and organise towards the climate strike in September.

Greece: decline of Syriza sparks fresh elections

The poor performance of Syriza in the recent European elections may well sound the death-knell for Alexis Tsipras’s discredited government

Review: We Need To Talk About Putin

Mark Galeotti’s alternate perspective on Putin, as presented in his recent book We Need to Talk About Putin, provides an interesting read.

Grenfell: still mourning, still fighting

Friday 14 June 2019 marks the two-year anniversary of the Grenfell tower fire. The community will be marching in silence, as they have on the 14th day of every month since the fire.

Poland: the right holds fast

The European elections in Poland showed the Law and Justice Party staying firmly in the driving seat of Polish politics

France: nothing new under the Sun?

Despite the insurgent left potential of the Yellow Vests movement, the far-right were the winners in France’s European elections

EIS members in a combative mood

Teachers and lecturers in Scotland met at the EIS conference recently to review recent successes over pay and recruitment and to plan a strategy around the underfunding and overwork that still characterises the sector. Nick Cimini reports.

Scunthorpe steel: murder by market manipulation

The closure of the Scunthorpe steel-works is likely to spell disaster for the community. Following our earlier analysis of the state of the British steel industry, here we consider the social costs of cynical mismanagement.

Czechia: opposition stays weak amid government setbacks

Despite huge protests against him, the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’ party, ANO, still won the largest vote share of any party in the country’s European Elections.

Review: Fully Automated Luxury Communism

Colin Wilson reviews Aaron Bastani’s much-anticipated account of the potential for a future society of equality and abundance.

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.

revolutionary reflections | Value, force, many states and other problems: part 3

In the third and final part of his essay on violence and capitalist social relations, Colin Barker insists that capitalist states cannot be theorised without recognising their multiplicity.

Solidarity with the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement

A violent crackdown on the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) by state security forces is underway in Pakistan. International solidarity is crucial and the Left in Britain has a particular responsibility to play its part.

No Stone Unturned: Victory for press freedom

Journalists who reported on collusion between the British state and loyalist death squads have won a major victory for press freedom, reports Sam O’Brien.

Trump’s visit: fake photo round-up

Donald Trump claimed that the protests against his state visit to the UK this week were ‘fake news’. While the protests were on a smaller scale than his previous visit, we have still managed to collect a few fake photos of the demonstrations that didn’t happen.

Jo Grady, incoming General Secretary

Big changes at UCU congress 2019

UCU Congress 2019 saw a left rank and file General Secretary elected, the right and the bureaucracy in retreat and determination to pursue the USS pensions dispute.

Beyond 4 June

Last week we published reflections on the 30th anniversary of China’s ‘May of the Masses’. Here Charlie Hore reflects on the massacre of 4 June and its aftermath.

Declaration from the Forces of Freedom and Change in Sudan

A Declaration from the Forces of Freedom and Change in Sudan accuses the Transitional Military Council of staging a coup against the revolution and declares a general strike and civil disobedience until the regime falls.

Review: Capitalism and Theory

A collection of the writings of Mike Kidron casts light on the heterodox Marxist economist and the revolutionary socialist organisation he once belonged to, writes Brian Parkin.

May of the Masses: the Tiananmen Square movement 30 years on

While 4 June marks the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, the inspirational movement that went before also deserves to be remembered, writes Charlie Hore.