Charlottesville is a call to action against fascism
We republish a post from the American Socialist Worker on this weekend’s deadly confrontations between the far right and anti-racists in Charlottesville, Virginia . On the spot reports are provided by Katherine Nolde, Richard Capron and Scott McLemee The far-right demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12–probably the largest public gathering of the racist “alt-right” ever–was […]
Growing the grassroots in Unite
In April 2017, Ian Allinson stood in the Unite General Secretary election as a grassroots candidate. Recently, warnings have been raised about the long-term decline in trade union membership. At the same time, trade unions continue to show their worth. For instance, the cleaners and support workers at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) […]
Review: Struggle or Starve
Pat Stack reviews Struggle or Starve: Working-Class Unity in Belfast’s 1932 Outdoor Relief Riots by Seán Mitchell, arguing that this look into Northern Ireland’s forgotten past has much to teach activists looking to build anti-sectarian working-class movements today. Struggle or Starve is published by Haymarket Books and available now at a reduced price through rs21.
Things to read before you comment on the Gender Recognition Act
Following the announcement of reforms to the 2004 Gender Recognition Act, rs21 recommends reading to help socialists understand the key issues. This week, the government has announced reforms to the 2004 Gender Recognition Act to make legal processes for registering a change of gender less distressing. This has sparked debates across the media, including […]
Video: Jane McAlevey on unions, strikes and strategies for workplace organising
Jane McAlevey interviewed by Ian Allinson at a Manchester rs21 meeting in April 2017, discussing her new book No Shortcuts: Organizing for Power in the New Gilded Age, strategies for workplace organising today, the difference between ‘organising’ and ‘mobilising’, and how to build successful strikes, amongst many other things. We republish this video courtesy of RealMedia. […]
Agency cleaners score landmark victory over SOAS management
Outsourced cleaners at SOAS have scored a milestone win – and shown that precarious workers can fight and win
The challenges facing Corbyn
The possibility of Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister raises many questions about the challenges he would face both within the Labour Party, from the state machine and elsewhere.
Review: China Miéville’s October
Charlie Burton reviews China Miéville’s retelling of the story of the tumultuous months 100 years ago leading up to the October revolution. October is published by Verso and available now. In July 1914, deputies of the largely ineffective parliamentary body, the Russian Duma, voted in favour of war credits and confirmed Russia’s entry into the arena […]
Intolerants not welcome – The Battle of Lewisham 1977
13 August 2017 will be the 40th Anniversary of the “Battle of Lewisham” when thousands of local people and other anti-racists refused to allow the fascist National Front to intimidate them with a provocative march through the community. Lewisham poet Mark ‘Mr T’ Thompson has written this poem in remembrance and celebration of the historic event. […]
What chance of justice from an online court?
The government is developing plans to move many court hearings online. Dave Renton argues that that the proposals mean privatisation, job losses and exclusion from justice. While it is easy to think of Theresa May’s government as weak and incapable of changing people’s lives for the worse, major projects of privatisation are continuing, often with […]
Manchester housing workers to reballot after three months of strikes
On the last day of three months’ of strike action, culminating in a four-week continuous strike, Unite activist Ian Allinson interviewed Unite UCATT steward Bill Nugent about the dispute at Mears / Manchester Working Limited and comments on the dispute It’s not often that workers take this level of action. After striking three days’ a […]
Barts cleaners strike against SERCO for a fair pay rise
Rachel Eborall, a Mental Health worker at Mile End Hospital, and ex SERCO employee, writes in solidarity with the striking cleaning workers at Barts NHS trust. In April 2017 SERCO, one of the largest multinationals, took over the cleaning contract of Barts NHS trust. Barts NHS trust is made up of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, The […]
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 […]
Bank of England strike – “People have had enough of this public sector pay cap!”
Steve Eason reports as striking Bank of England workers were joined by staff from BA and Bart’s hospital on their third day of action. This week bank maintenance, parlours, and security workers who are members of Unite the Union, have been striking at The Bank of England in central London over a below inflation pay […]
“Buried alive by the National Coal Board”: the fiftieth anniversary of the Aberfan Disaster Tribunal
At 9:15am on Friday 21 October 1966, a colliery spoil tip collapsed, and slid down the mountainside onto the mining village of Aberfan in South Wales.
Social histories of 1917
Estelle Cooch, a history teacher in South London, reflects on an unusual series of history lectures that have drawn a new generation into exploring the Russian Revolution. This article was first published in the summer 2017 edition of the rs21 magazine. ‘The percentage of freaks among people in general is very considerable, but it is […]
Does migration undermine workers’ rights? A case study from waste management
Kate Bradley asks what labour stratification in the waste management industry tells us about British capitalism – and whether ‘managed migration’ would be the answer to the sector’s poor working conditions. Following Jeremy Corbyn’s speech last week on big companies’ abuse of migration, many media outlets including The Guardian have published critical responses. A New […]
The politics of mental health
Hazel Croft argues that, while reducing stigma is a good start, we also need a more radical approach to mental health
Video: the global rise of the far right
A political discussion hosted by rs21 with David Renton and Jairus Banaji
The passing of George A. Romero: king of political horror
Nick B looks back at the profoundly political zombie cinema of George A. Romero
Did the 1967 Act start acceptance of LGBT people?
Looking back on the1967 Sexual Offences Act, which partly decriminalised sex between men, we ask: what really started to change things for LGBT people?
We’re all off to Glasgow in the Green: in defence of the Green Brigade
Jamie Lewis comments on the two-match ban imposed on Celtic supporters the Green Brigade. I don’t think I have seen anything like the Celtic fans in all the stadiums I have played. – Xavi Parkhead, Celtic FC’s home ground, has a well-earned colloquial moniker: Paradise. The best players in international football regularly speak in awe […]
No caricatures: the new far right party in Brazil
Miguel Borba de Sá looks at the prospects for far right politics in Brazil. Miguel is an International Relations lecturer and radical socialist militant from the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL) based in Rio de Janeiro. He is a member of the Institute for Alternative Policies for the Southern Cone and the Jubilee South Americas network. […]
Convergence on the right
Sometimes distinctions between conservatives, right-wing populists and fascists are easy to make. But increasingly often, argues Dave Renton, there is some overlap – and we have to understand today’s right wing on its own terms, not by assuming it fits the categories of the past. One theme of the last twelve months has been the […]
“My son was killed in the hands of police”
The death of Rashan Charles in police custody has led to the largest anti-police protest in Hackney for some years, and the first large black protest since the riots of 2011, writes Charlie Hore. Several hundred people rallied outside Stoke Newington police station on Monday 24 July in an angry protest after the death of Rashan […]
Review: Soul of a Nation
Caliban’s Revenge finds the current exhibition at Tate Modern a great place for searching for answers in a time of crisis and opportunity. In 1968, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King was assassinated. In the immediate aftermath, a wave of riots broke across America. Known as the Holy Week Uprising, […]
Review: The Politics of Everybody
Bill Crane reviews Holly Lewis’ standout book on the relationship between capitalism and oppression. One of the most promising trends on the intellectual left in recent years is the emergence of a strong and sophisticated Marxist-feminist current of academics and activists. The identification of the social reproduction of the working class as the root of […]
A ‘total’ movement: what next for Morocco’s Hirak after 20 July?
Morocco, and in particular the serially repressed and neglected Rif region, has been rocked since late last year by a series of enormous, and almost entirely non-violent, protests. rs21 offers its unqualified support to the adherents of the Hirak (Popular Movement), and has done since the protests broke out. We also endorse the efforts of […]
Keep On Keeping On! – the Redskins and me (part 2)
In the second part of his recollections on the Redskins, Colin Revolting recalls being a revolutionary during the miners’ strike and its aftermath during the Redskins’ growing popularity, including TV appearances, being attacked by fascists and touring against apartheid with their radical rock and soul music. (To read the first part of Colin’s reflections, click […]
Petrocide: Hydrocarbons, Conflict and Climate Chaos
What lies at the deadly intersection of further imperialist carbon wars and the inexorable threat of catastrophic climate change?