Tributes to Sherrl Yanowitz (1942-2016)
We are deeply saddened by the loss of our friend and comrade Sherrl Yanowitz, who passed away this week after a short battle with cancer. Sherrl was, and will continue to be, an inspiration for all of us fighting for a better world. She was an activist, trade unionist and a fighter against all forms […]
Long read: The Sanders Campaign – Could the Democratic Party split?
Shawn Whitney, Canadian writer, filmmaker, and socialist, continues our discussion of the US elections. He argues that Marxists should be playing an active role in Sanders’ campaign because of its potential to raise the general level of class-conciousness. Read previous contributions to the debate here. Presidential primary season is drawing to a close in the United […]
Fortress Europe: rs21 interviews Matt Carr
rs21’s Kate B interviews Matt Carr, author of Fortress Europe: Inside the War on Immigration.
Long Live Satie!
Alexander Billet assesses the life and impact of composer Erik Satie, 150 years after his birth. There are a great many fun and entertaining ways one could celebrate the 150th birthday of Erik Satie. The Velvet Gentleman seems to cast such an omniscient shadow over modern music that he is almost invisible. This of course […]
High Street robbery: workers pay as BHS finally crashes
Brian Parkin reports on the loss of over 11,000 jobs that will result from BHS going out of business, a story which has seen the former and current owners treat themselves to multi-million pound yachts, while workers’ pensions funds face a massive black hole. At last, after weeks of speculation, British Home Stores (BHS) has […]
France in crisis and struggle
Leon Crémieux provides background to the growing and multi-faceted protest movement in France. Leon is an activist of the Solidaires trade-union federation and of the New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA, France). He is a member of the Executive Bureau of the Fourth International. Translated and first published in English by International Viewpoint.
Marxism and LGBT politics: a new wave of discussion
Colin Wilson reviews Peter Drucker’s book Warped: Gay Normality and Queer Anti-Capitalism, recently published in paperback. The last few years have seen a thoroughly welcome trend: the publication of a series of academic books which aim to bring together radical LGBT politics – often in the form of queer theory – and Marxism. It’s a […]
‘Refugees Welcome Here: Racism out of the Referendum’ rally report
While some of the pro-remain arguments about the EU itself are naive, the rally showed the importance and the possibility of uniting around a strong anti-racist position, whatever the referendum result. Charlie Hore reports.
Revisiting Frantz Fanon: memories and moments of a militant philosopher
A new book by Leo Zeilig focuses on one of Africa and the modern era’s most celebrated revolutionaries, whose views remain influential long after his death. Many people spoke well that day. Delegates had come from across the African continent to independent Ghana for the All-African Peoples’ Conference in 1958. Most spoke of the continuing […]
The First Three Days? The 2016 Nigeria General Strike
A comrade in Nigeria reports: The ninth general strike in Nigeria since 1999 has just been ‘suspended’ by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) after four days. The strike was against the most recent rise in the price of petrol by almost 70% announced by the government. However, this was only the straw that broke the […]
Junior doctors strike: 5 reasons Hunt’s contract offer could be rejected
Following talks with the BMA, the government is presenting the recently offered contract as a done deal. But, argues Seb Cooke, it’s a bad one that the junior doctors would be justified in rejecting. If they do, we need to be ready to support them.
Finance, capitalism and imperial power – a review of Tony’s Norfield’s ‘The City’
Want to reform finance but maintain capitalism? Then you may have a problem. Tom Haines-Doran reviews ‘The City’ by Tony Norfield, recently published by Verso.
John Roan school successfully resists restructuring and redundancies
In this time of privatisation of schools and hospitals and with public service managers on the rampage it may seem odd to find so many teachers, pupils and parents at John Roan School feeling jubilant… but they are. Colin F, with Juliana J and Tony A, describe the latest developments in the campaign. Last September a new head […]
Topshop targeted for victimisation of union activists
Photos by Steve Eason. On 14 May United Voices of The World organised a national protest at Topshop stores around the UK, calling for a living wage and trade union recognition. Over 100 people demonstrated in central London’s Oxford Street. We were joined by the SOAS cleaners, Class War, Ian Hodson from the Bakers and […]
To the BMA: no more concessions, escalate the action
Nurse Mark Boothroyd on why now is the time for escalation, not negotiation.
US elections: “Bernie has suddenly given all of us a national stage”
Continuing our series of interviews with socialists in the US discussing the upcoming elections, we spoke to Nivedita Majumdar, Sanders supporter and secretary of the Professional Staff Congress, the faculty and Staff union of the City University of New York. This interview represents her personal views. Where now for the Sander’s campaign – will it […]
Junior doctors strike: away from the table, back to the streets
Jeremy Hunt and the Tories were on the ropes. Now is the time to press the advantage, not return to negotiations, writes Seb Cooke.
Reclaiming the future – new rs21 magazine out on Saturday
The Spring 2016 issue of the rs21 magazine will be out on Saturday. Order your copy or subscribe here*. Below, Rob Owen gives an overview of the new edition. Part of the union? What should socialists argue in the EU referendum? Our hot topic section lays out the different anti-capitalist arguments around how to approach the referendum. […]
London elections: good riddance to Goldsmith, but Khan not the answer
Duncan Thomas reflects on the election of Labour’s Sadiq Khan as mayor of London. “How do you feel about the election results?”, people asked me after Sadiq Khan’s landslide victory over Zac Goldsmith. “Not actively unhappy” was all I could really muster by way of response. It’s strange, from a radical left perspective, to write […]
Welsh Labour keep going, UKIP breakthrough
Seb Cooke reports on the results of the Welsh Assembly elections, which saw UKIP gain seven seats. He argues that the task for socialists has to be to build a stronger radical left that can relate effectively to issues such as steel, fight racism and utilise Corbyn over anti-austerity The Welsh Assembly is made up of […]
Bad comedy and bardolatry: on the politics of Shakespeare in the age of mechanical reproduction
It’s 400 years since Shakespeare died, and Kate Bradley doesn’t care.
A grudging vote for Labour in the London mayor elections
Anindya Bhattacharyya explains why to humiliate Zac Goldsmith in tomorrow’s London mayoral election, a grudging vote for Sadiq Khan is needed. There are elections across Britain tomorrow – for the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, various councils in England, among others. London will be voting for its mayor – with Labour candidate Sadiq Khan the favourite […]
#KidsStrike3rdMay: Let our kids be kids
Michal Nahman reports from Bristol Kids and parents in Bristol gathered at Baddock’s wood, to have fun and learn outdoors, marking #KidsStrike3rdMay. Many parents across the UK have been appalled by the government’s approach to educating our children, an approach that imagines testing as the ultimate way to prove intelligence. This approach is highly contestable. […]
US elections: Charlie Post on Sanders, Clinton, and the tasks of American socialists
Charlie Post, a long-time US socialist and active in his faculty union at the City University of New York, talks to rs21 about Sanders, the dangers of ‘lesser-evilism’, and the post-election challenges for American socialists. Also check out responses from Elizabeth Schulte and Alan Maass.
What we’re seeing is a return of struggle
The election of Malia Bouattia as President of the National Union of Students was a stunning victory for the left. Matt Collins interviews Sai Englert a member of Malia’s campaign team, a NUS national executive member and a long-time stalwart of the student left on the politics of the student movement, and the new opportunities for the […]
US elections: “Where the choice is between the greater evil and the lesser evil, you still get evil”
The primary races for presidential nominations in the US elections are now reaching their closing stages. That Bernie Sanders’ campaign has survived to such a late stage, and gained significant support has been a surprise to many. To understand what impact the primary race has had on American politics so far, and what we might […]
Chicago teachers join Manchester’s biggest May Day for years
Tara Stamps and Matt Luskin from the Chicago Teachers’ Union joined Manchester’s biggest International Workers’ Day festival for years. Ian Allinson reports. Manchester TUC had organised a huge festival for May Day this year. Despite hail, rain and sun we marched into the city centre to Sackville Gardens and the Mechanics Institute (the birthplace of […]
Antisemitism row – the real target is Jeremy Corbyn
The media is full of claims about antisemitism in the Labour Party. Jewish members of rs21 set out our view. Naz Shah and Ken Livingstone have been suspended from the Labour Party over accusations of antisemitism. Condemnation of Shah and Livingstone is part of a wider claim – that the Labour Party and the […]
Hillsborough verdict: the only ‘us against them’ that really matters
On a momentous day in the battle for justice for those killed at Hillsborough in 1989 Liverpool FC supporter Dan Swain, who was brought up in Liverpool, offers a personal view. This is what happened at Hillsborough on April 15 1989: 96 fans of Liverpool football club were unlawfully killed, as a result of a […]