Polish government lend legitimacy to far-right speakers in Slough
Polish government’s promotion of “Cursed Soldiers” remembrance day in Slough gives legitimacy to far-right speakers among Poles in Britain and must be opposed, argues JL On Sunday, a day-long celebration of the Polish national remembrance day dedicated to the “Cursed Soldiers” will take place in Slough.1 The remembrance day, initiated in 2011, continues to cause controversy. The “Cursed […]
Some Thoughts Ahead of the Copeland By-election
The Copeland and Stoke by-elections on Thursday 23 February are drawing national media attention and speculation about what they mean for Corbyn, Brexit and UKIP.
The flight of the young eagles – art of the Russian revolution
Mike Thompson visits Revolution: Russian Art 1917-1932 at the Royal Academy and finds amazing art in an establishment exhibition. Photo: Tom Michaelson Artists under Russia’s Tsarist regime operated in a contradictory society. They had access to the most innovative ideas of the avant-garde, but within a context where the vast majority had no access to art. […]
What does Trump’s presidency mean for global climate change?
Bettina Trabant argues that Trump’s disregard of climate change is yet another reason to oppose his presidency.
For a rank-and-file strategy: supporting #ian4unite in the Unite GS election
Unite activist and former executive member Sara Bennett explains the politics behind Ian Allinson’s challenge to the Unite leadership Long-time Unite workplace activist, Ian Allinson, has thrown his hat into the ring in Unite the Union’s General Secretary election. The election was called at short notice and is the second time that current General Secretary, Len […]
Uneven and Combined Development: Modernity, Modernism, Revolution (3): Cartographies And Chronologies
In the third of his five pieces on Uneven but Combined Development, Neil Davidson looks at the application of the theory to England, Scotland, Germany and Japan before looking the Soviet transition to state capitalism.
Uneven and Combined Development: Modernity, Modernism, Revolution (2): Causes, Consequences, Constraints
In this second part to his series of five pieces for revolutionary reflections Neil Davidson explores the aesthetic and political dimensions of the theory of Uneven and Combined Development.
Review: Blacklisted
Brian Parkin reviews Blacklisted: the secret war between big business and union activists by Dave Smith and Phil Chamberlain When I was a young engineering draughtsman in the early 1970s I was involved in a shop stewards and union activist organisation in Leeds. The group comprised rank and file union members from factories across the city […]
Fortress UK, migration and Brexit: a briefing
Mike Haynes puts forward a briefing on some of the facts showing the difficult situation migrants already face trying to obtain legal permission to live in the UK Socialists argue for the free movement of people – it should be a human right for people to go anywhere; attempts to control movement are racist and divisive; […]
revolutionary reflections | On ‘The Crisis in German Politics’ – A Response
In December revolutionary reflections published a piece on the crisis in German politics today, which looked at the rise of the Alternativ für Deutschland and the challenges this poses for Die Linke. In this piece Loren Balhorn provides a response based on his experiences within Die Linke and German left politics. I welcome Adam Blanden’s […]
One Day Without Us – an interview with Laura Stringhetti
Steve Eason spoke to Laura Stringhetti from the One Day Without Us campaign about the migrant solidarity day of action on 20 February What is your campaign about and where did you get the idea from? Our campaign is called One Day Without Us. It was created after the Tory conference, as a reaction against the […]
May and Trump: Bringing us back to the streets
Joe Hayns discusses the spate of demonstrations in the UK instigated by Donald Trump taking office and the prospects they open up. Is a proto-protest movement forming? What are its prospects? On Friday 20 January, 1000 protested outside the US embassy; Saturday 21 saw the 100,000-strong Women’s March; on Monday 30, at least 40,000 were […]
Uneven and Combined Development: Modernity, Modernism, Revolution (1): The Classic Forms of Uneven and Combined Development
In this first of five pieces, Neil Davidson explores Trotsky’s history of combined and uneven development and how it helps us understand capitalist modernity.
Haringey, North London – the Front Line Against Gentrification.
Haringey council, a Labour stronghold in north London is planning to sell off huge swathes of council land and property to private developers.
#BanTrump – Thousands take to the streets across the UK – photos, reports and videos
Tens of thousands took to the streets around the country this evening to protest against Trump’s vile racist travel ban and Theresa May’s revolting invite to him for an official state visit. More reports as they come in! London Whitehall is standing room only from Trafalgar Square to Parliament. So many people it’s too big even […]
Demonstrate against Trump and May tonight – details of all the demonstrations that we know of
Tonight will see angry protests across Britain against Trump’s vile racist travel ban and Theresa May’s revolting invite to him for an official state visit. We list here all the demonstrations that we know of 10 days ago the Women’s Marches against the newly anointed Trump mobilised millions across the USA and the world. […]
Paris, 19 March 2017: A March for Justice and Dignity
We publish this statement in solidarity with those demonstrating on 19 March, on the eve of the French presidential election, against police brutality, murder and state racism in France. Translated by David Broder. https://blogs.mediapart.fr/marche19mars/blog/191216/le-19-mars-une-marche-pour-la-justice-et-la-dignite One a month. That is the average number of fathers, brothers and sons we lose because of the brutality of the forces […]
Keep it broad, keep it radical – building a movement to beat Trump
Sarah Levy, a member of the International Socialist Organization in the US, argues we need a broad movement to beat Trump. Those millions of people who took to the streets on Saturday – many chanting “We won’t go away! Welcome to your first day!” – they’re on our side. More importantly we’re going to need […]
The easiest rig to stop is the first one
The protectors in Kirby Misperton know they are on the frontline. They are determined to stop the frackers, using direct action if necessary.
Anti-Trump protests “will enrage and frighten our thin-skinned new president”
Sarah Grey, a writer and activist based in Philadelphia, writes on Trump’s inauguration and the protests that have followed As Donald Trump prepared to take the oath of office, the crowd on Washington’s Mall was unusually thin. Protestors sat down at one entrance to the ticketed seating area, blocking Trump supporters’ path. As dignitaries and former […]
Feeling hopeful on angry London march against Trump’s inauguration: report and photos
Amy Downham writes about why she attended the women’s march against Trump’s inauguration in London. Also see the report from Edinburgh by Eileen Cook For me today was about standing up for the rights that have been fought for by our ancestors that Trump has pompously disregarded and disrespected. It was about equality, equality for […]
Trump inauguration: Edinburgh protests
Eileen Cook reports on two demonstrations in Edinburgh in less than twenty-four hours. The first, on Friday evening, was called by Stand Up to Racism, UCU Scotland, Muslim Women’s Association, anti-war and peace groups and others. It was attended by nearly six hundred people. It was very crowded at the assembly point on the narrow […]
How do we push sexism back to the fringe?
Millions of women and men are disgusted by Trump’s casual misogyny, and they make up a not-so-silent majority that can drive a new resistance, writes Elizabeth Schulte. Originally published in the US Socialist Worker It’s the face of bigotry, of sexual assault, of xenophobia and of contempt for women. And it’s also the face of […]
Stressed out: Twenty One Pilots and teenage lives today
Teenager Tazmin Aldis looks at the important issues behind Twenty One Pilots’ songs which have been watched a billion of times on Youtube. Twenty One Pilots are the latest young American male duo to burst onto the music scene. Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun are perhaps unlikely suspects on today’s music charts which are typically flooded with the […]
Learning and unlearning: how does the radical left build its understanding?
How does the radical left build its understanding? Who are the theorists? Sølvi Qorda makes the case for Vygotskian pedagogy as a way of understanding our problems and also of finding better cultures to replace them. For many of us, school is a humiliating experience made worse by testing. Upon leaving compulsory education, this experience […]
revolutionary reflections | You can’t stop Wapping by marching past it: An Interview with Sherrl Yanowitz
Sherrl Yanowitz, who sadly died in June last year – Obituary Sherrl Yanowitz 1942-2016 – played an active role in the dispute at Wapping in 1986-87 when workers fought against Rupert Murdoch’s attempt to smash the print unions. As part of a research project, rs21 interviewed Sherrl a few months before she died about her […]
2016: a photo diary
Photojournalist Steve Eason presents his year in pictures. My 2016, in 38 chronological pictures, as a London-based lefty photographer contributing to rs21 and other websites. The year of the Junior doctors strike, Corbyn-mania, far-right marches, The Panama Papers, Another Europe is Possible, Brexit, protests at Byron, Topshop and wildcat strikes at Deliveroo and Uber Eats. It felt […]
Apocalypse postponed: the oil price crash two years on
The world of hydrocarbons is still driven by the same speculative greed and climate crisis disregard as ever.
Sonic boom: Kefaya’s Radio International
Neil Rogall finds Kefaya’s debut album ‘Radio International a fantastic listen When fusion albums work they can be astonishing. The intersections, the borderlands, the clashes, the moments of meeting between cultures, genres, city and country can produce the most sublime music. But so often they fail. When the artists are just tinkering with other sounds, […]
Mafia III – fighting white supremacy in ‘New Bordeaux’
Arjun Mahadevan reviews a new game, Mafia 3, with a black Vietnam vet hero and in the process takes down white supremacy Mafia III is an open-world action game set in 1968 in the town of ‘New Bordeaux’, a fictionalised version of New Orleans. The protagonist is a black Vietnam veteran, Lincoln Clay, trying to […]