Protest against redundancies at Dulwich Picture Gallery
Arjun Mahadevan reports on the protest opposing redundancies at the Dulwich Picture Gallery. On a cold and windy afternoon at the front gates of Dulwich Picture Gallery in south London, around 50 protestors gathered to oppose redundancies that would see over half of the gallery’s visitor services team out of a job. Members of the […]
Je Suis Charlie Chaplin
Colin Revolting looks at the politics of Charlie Chaplin When millions of people held “Je Suis Charlie” signs in memory of the cartoonists killed in Paris last month, a different Charlie came to mind. Charlie Chaplin who made his first screen appearance, 100 years ago, as The Tramp. Why did I think of this other […]
The Magpie: Can we get a political voice?
In a new column, The Magpie discusses working class political representation The feeling that working class people in Britain have no effective political voice was everywhere even before Syriza won. It is shared by followers of Russell Brand; by those who back Labour out of fear of the Tories; and those who back smaller parties such […]
William Blake: Apprentice and Master
William Blake was a revolutionary in poetry, engraving and politics. John Walker reviews a new exhibition of his artwork in Oxford. William Blake was a revolutionary. One of the funniest things, for those in the know, is to hear Conservatives singling Parry’s hymn “Jerusalem”. The words to this are taken from the Introduction to Blake’s […]
March and rally against privatisation at the National Gallery
Bettina Trabant joined gallery staff and supporters braving the wind and cold for a demonstration against privatisation at the National Gallery. A group of around 200 angry gallery staff, trade unionists and regular gallery visitors marched from Trafalgar Square to the Department for Culture Media and Sport in Whitehall to hand in a petition containing […]
Standing up to media and management: London bus strike reports
27,000 bus drivers across London took another day of strike action today in their campaign for a single pay rate across the 18 different companies that operate London’s buses. There were reports of widespread disruption, and traffic analysis from TomTom Traffic said there were 1,511 miles of tailbacks across Greater London this morning, compared to […]
No platform for Marine Le Pen at the Oxford Union – join the protest tomorrow
A demonstration against French Front National leader Marine Le Pen will take place outside the Oxford Union, Frewin Court at 5pm tomorrow. Come and say “va te faire foutre” to fascists with us, argues Kate Bradley Tomorrow (Thursday 5th February), Marine Le Pen is coming to the Oxford Union, and a demonstration to protest her […]
Police ‘Shield’ scheme is not a solution
Kate Bradley writes that the government’s new proposals to combat gang crime will cause more miscarriages of justice. Two weeks ago, the London Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC) announced that it would provide £200,000 to pilot the new ‘Shield’ scheme in the London boroughs of Haringey, Westminster and Lambeth. Shield is being […]
‘The rocky road ahead…’ The movement against Irish Water
Five activists from rs21 spent a weekend in Dublin and took part in a city-wide demonstration against the Irish Government’s recent Water Charges bill, and spoke to several activists on the Irish left.
Homes for people — not for profit
Adam DC reports on the March for Homes Up to 4,000 people marched in the cold and wet from east and south London on Saturday (31 January) to demand decent homes for people living in the capital. Around 2,000 marched from Shoreditch, an area where rents have been rents ramped up massively over recent years. […]
Cambridge students boycott essays in campaign for reading week
Dan Swain reports on a new campaign by students at Cambridge University. Students at Cambridge University are campaigning for the introduction of a reading week, and committing to refuse to submit work during the fifth week of term in order to make it happen. The campaign reflects a growing awareness of the effect of stress […]
Cuba: coming in from the cold?
After 17 Cuban prisoners were freed by the US in December, Mike Gonzalez charts the recent deal between Washington and Havana and asks if this really is the end of an era with the lifting of the embargo As an internationally recognized artist, you would expect Leonardo Padura Fuentes, Cuba’s outstanding contemporary writer, to be aware […]
The struggle for housing
rs21 members and supporters will be joining the London March for Homes tomorrow. The march is assembling in Shoreditch and Elephant and Castle, and converging on City Hall. Below is the text of the leaflet we have produced in support of the demonstration, including a handy infographic, and an excerpt from an article by Ruth […]
Beyond the Holocaust – POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews
Jan Ladzinski discusses how POLIN’s attempt to place the Holocaust and subsequent emigration of Polish Jews in the wider context of the one thousand years of shared Polish-Jewish history is not only useful politically but also potentially subversive The ideas behind the project POLIN, meaning both “Poland” and “rest here” in Hebrew, opened its core exhibition […]
Reviews: The Pianist and Defiance
27 January is Holocaust Memorial Day. Colin Revolting reviews two films set during WW2 that chronicle Jewish resistance Defiance (2009) When the Nazis invade Belarus, three Jewish brothers escape into the woods and vow to resist. But as other Jews flee Nazi persecution, the Bielski brothers have to decide if offering sanctuary or resistance is the most […]
On the deal between Syriza and ANEL
Greece has a new Government. After the euphoria of Syriza’s stunning victory yesterday, came the disappointing realisation that they had to form a coalition to govern, and that that coalition would be with the right-wing Independent Greeks (ANEL). Kevin Ovenden, who has covered the election in depth, offers some immediate thoughts. 1) Do not cry, […]
Protect The Art, Save Our Jobs
Workers at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in South London are mounting a campaign to save their jobs after the announcement of 19 potential redundancies. Arjun Mahadevan reports. On Thursday 15 January, gallery assistants (GAs) at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in South London were notified that each of their jobs would be at risk of redundancy. […]
Greek elections: web round up #2
All signs point to a Syriza victory today, with the very real possibility of an overall majority, depending on the vote for smaller parties. Since our last round up, even more has been written about Greece, and what it means. Dan Swain continues the coverage. As the reality of a Syriza victory gets closer, the […]
Peace scarf “wraps up” MoD at anti-nuke protest
Amy Gilligan reports Thousands of people encircled the Ministry of Defence in London yesterday with a giant, pink knitted peace scarf. The “Wrap up Trident” protest was called by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) to send a message that Trident, Britain’s nuclear weapons system, must be scrapped, not replaced. MPs are set to vote on […]
Greek election: from New Democracy to ‘neo-democracy’?
A defeat of the radical left party Syriza in this weekend’s Greek elections would not only mean a win for the conservative ‘New Democracy’ party, writes Eva Nanopoulos. It would also testify to the growing prevalence of a ‘neo’ – and largely distorted – version of democracy. This article first appeared on New Left Project. It […]
Greek elections: web round up
The Greek election this weekend could mark a seismic moment in European politics. Dan Swain rounds up commentary from across the web to help you keep informed while eagerly awaiting the results.
Greek elections: live coverage from Athens
Kevin Ovenden will be providing live coverage of the Greek election from Athens. Kevin is a longstanding progressive journalist, writer and activist who has followed Greece’s politics and social movements for 25 years. A National Officer of the Stop the War Coalition and a leading activist in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle, he led five successful aid convoys […]
Report: rs21 national meeting
On the weekend of 10th-11th January, rs21 held its 4th national meeting, one year after its founding in January 2014. It was attended by over 100 members, and had around 20 observers from other organisations and campaigns. We discussed the political situation in both international and national terms, debated what was possible for the left, and […]
Greek elections: the strategic challenges for the left
The Greek elections are days away, and could see a victory for the radical left Syriza. As part of our discussion of the Greek elections, Panagiotis Sotiris, a supporter of the Greek anti-capitalist coalition Antarsya, considers the opportunities and challenges for the left. Greece is on the brink of a very important political change. It is […]
Greek elections: report from Greece Solidarity meeting
Roderick C reports from a meeting organised by the Greece Solidarity Campaign. The election briefing event organised by the Greece Solidarity Campaign covered two main themes: Firstly, an urgent appeal, hammered home by various speakers, for a massive campaign of international solidarity in support of a SYRIZA government. Second, a quite complex discussion about the challenges […]
The Ghetto uprising – resistance is never futile!
Jan Ladzinski introduces Wladyslaw Szlengel’s poem, Counterattack, on the 72nd anniversary of the start of revolt in the Warsaw Ghetto Exactly 72 years ago the Warsaw Ghetto saw an unexpected revolt. In the years of the Nazi occupation as many as 400,000 Jews were crowded into an area of 1.3 square miles, deprived of food and […]
“I’m going to kill a cow.”
by Anindya Bhattacharyya “I’m going to kill a cow,” he declared, scrutinising my face. I stared back blankly. There was a short awkward silence. “So are you offended by that? I bet you’re really offended by that.” He would then proceed to explain why I ought to be offended by him killing a cow – but […]
Statement of the Party of the Indigenous of the Republic
The Movement of the Indigenous of the Republic in France, PIR, began in 2005 in the context of the ludicrous calls for introducing a positive focus of colonial history in the French educational system and general rethinking of France’s colonial legacy. It was also a product of the mini-Intifadas that erupted in the banlieues in 2005 in response to police violence and systematic racism against […]
Mike Marqusee (1953-2015)
Talha Ahsan, poet and former political prisoner, pays tribute to Mike Marqusee, who died on January 13, 2015. Today at around 4.30pm I received a phone call that left me feeling numb all day. Someone I have never met had passed away. Mike Marqusee lived a life we can only envy. He was a journalist, […]
8 things you need to know about the oil crash
Kate Deer, Amy Gilligan and Brian Parkin answer some of the key questions surrounding the recent crash in oil prices. Why has my petrol got much cheaper? Anyone who drives, or has passed a filling station won’t have failed to notice that petrol prices have plummeted recently. The average price in the UK for a […]