Call Centres: Understanding Casualised Labour
Jamie Woodcock’s new book Working the Phones: Control and Resistance in Call Centres is an insider’s account of work in a call centre. Jaswinder Blackwell-Pal spoke to him about the movitations for the book, opportunities for organising casualised employment, and the future of work. A million people in the UK alone now work in call […]
Take no heroes – only inspiration: the Redskins and me
Colin Revolting recalls how he became a revolutionary and the role in the process played by the music of the Redskins, a band who gained a notable amount of popularity in the 1980s for their blistering, punked-up version of unabashedly radical soul music. If you type ‘Neither Washington nor Moscow’ into a search engine the […]
Video: Redskins – A flame that can’t be dimmed
This ten minute film pays tribute to the revolutionary rock and soul band Redskins.
Being honest about Venezuela
Mike Gonzalez writes on the crisis in Venezuela and the implosion of the Bolivarian project. This article was first published by Jacobin Magazine. Venezuela descends deeper into a political and economic crisis every day. The death toll rises relentlessly, and the vicious street battles show no signs of abating. On June 27, looters trashed the city of Maracay; […]
Solidarity with Chicago Dyke March: it’s not antisemitic to oppose Israel
In the last few weeks, controversy has erupted about events on the Chicago Dyke March, held on 24 June. Colin Wilson argues that we should stand in solidarity with the march’s organisers. The Dyke March has taken place annually for over twenty years as an alternative to a Pride Parade as its founders believed was […]
Morocco: an interview with Hirak activist Yassmin B
Yassmin B is an activist who has been actively involved in The Popular Movement (al-Hirak) in Morocco since October, in al-Hoceima and elsewhere. A further interview with an al-Hirak militant can be read here. This interview was originally published at avalancheofdust. Al-Hirak involves women at the leadership and base levels, who have organised with and, on occasions, ‘besides’ their […]
Politicising Populism
As the neoliberal model of capitalism has been attacked from left and right, the notion of Populism has become increasingly the currency of mainstream political commentary. In this piece Cam Scott looks at what is driving this process, and whether we can draw on the ideas of populism as developed by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal […]
Pride not profit
The London Pride march takes place this coming weekend, on Saturday 8 July. Barclays, Tesco and Virgin Atlantic are all sponsors of an increasingly corporate event. But opposition to dominance of corporations and official state bodies is also emerging internationally. After Black Lives Matter, uniformed cops can’t march at Pride in Toronto, while on 10 […]
Major demo calls for an end to Tory government
The People’s Assembly demo reflected the level of anger against May – and the new hopes people are placing in Jeremy Corbyn. The Not One Day More march, called by the People’s Assembly for 1 July, was a major success. Some 50 to 60 thousand people marched through central London demanding an end to Theresa […]
Moving How? An interview with an al-Hirak activist (part two)
This is the second half of an interview with a left-wing activist in the The Popular Movement (al-Hirak al-Sh’abi; The Movement, or al-Hirak). In the first half, we talked about the genesis of al-Hirak, its demands and social composition. Here, we talk about separatism, about religion and political parties, and the Moroccan state. This interview was originally […]
“Riots are the language of the unheard”: reflections on the protests after the death of Edir Frederico Da Costa
Rosa Soros reflects on the protest after the death of Edir Frederico Da Costa. What a farce! There was a state-sanctioned murder of another young black man in police custody (and, inevitably, another cover-up), yet it is the protest against this killing that is accused of turning “violent”. The very moment Edir Frederico Da Costa […]
How we can finish off this rotten government
Thousands of people will join a major national demonstration tomorrow, Saturday 1 July, raising the slogans Not One Day More, #toriesout and No More Austerity. Here we publish the text of rs21’s leaflet for the demo – we’ll have a report from the march during the weekend. The general election has turned British politics on […]
The real cost of the Tory-DUP deal
Seb Cooke comments on the deal struck between the Tory party and the Democratic Unionists. The UK government’s attitude to Northern Ireland, which is revealing itself as the Tory-DUP deal takes shape, should concern us all. On Tuesday of this week, Secretary of State Damien Green was asked whether he thinks the DUP deal – […]
Housing and women’s protests join forces against May
A protest in central London unites two groups fighting the Tories
Manchester housing maintenance workers strike
Report from the ongoing Manchester strike for pay parity and against housing maintenance on the cheap
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.
Grenfell and the instrumentalisation of suffering
The traumatised Grenfell community is being treated as a security problem
#GE2017: Don’t Flinch
An original work by Caliban’s Revenge inspired by Jeremy Corbyn and the June 2017 general election.
Moving How? An interview with an al-Hirak activist (part one)
Here we present the first part of an interview with an activist in the Rif region of Morocco about the protest movement which has grown dramatically in the last few months. This interview was originally published on avalancheofdust. With 32 activists given ‘shameful’ sentences in al-Hoceima last Tuesday, with only more arrested and more tried since, […]
revolutionary reflections | A take on the political situation in France
In 2017 the sense of political crisis has deepened across much of the developed world. From the Trump presidency to Corbyn’s stunning march on the Tories, the centre ground is crumbling under forces to the left and right. In this piece Roderick C assesses the French presidential election in the light of this trend and […]
Anger at the scene of the Grenfell Tower fire
Residents, Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn respond to the horrific fire
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?’ […]
What do we need to do to defend the NHS?
Pete Gillard assesses the limitations of Labour’s manifesto promises on health and argues that enthusiasm for the NHS can be used to build unions among health workers.
The DUP – Last Refuge for Desperate Tories
Connor Kelly exposes the Ulster Democratic Unionist Party. The DUP are the largest unionist party in Northern Ireland. Led by the thoroughly corrupt and devious Arlene Foster, they are a deeply sectarian party who, when not stirring up hatred against Catholics and republicans, vilify gays, women, Muslims, and the poor. The party maintains links with the […]
Disaster for May, opportunity for the left
Amy Gilligan and Colin Wilson offer an initial analysis of the June 2017 election results.
#GE2017: “The future is back”
There are plenty of reasons to feel optimistic going into election day
#GE2017: Amber Rudd and the Magic Money Tree
Home Secretary Amber Rudd’s now-infamous retort to Jeremy Corbyn during last Thursday’s televised debate, that “there is no magic money tree” to solve the food bank crisis, suggests a well-developed sense of fiscal probity. Quite the opposite. Here, in an article first published in Leeds rs21’s Northern Star in October 2016, we look at the path […]
#GE2017: Immigration, Labour and the left
Any concession to restricting immigration necessarily involves the notion that immigrants are a problem, and contributes to hostility and racism against all immigrants.
#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.
revolutionary reflections | Climate Change and Migration in the age of Imperialism’s four horsemen
How can we trace the interconnections between war, famine, pestilence and conquest that are being unleashed in a new form as the climate crisis unfolds?