The union of women and the Paris Commune
An account of the Women’s union of the Paris Commune, extracted from Mark Winter’s forthcoming book ‘Turbulent Women’
Review: Stolen Moments
Mark Winter welcomes a new exhibition celebrating Namibia’s unsung musical heroes, and remembers the time when the artist Jackson Kaujewa came to stay with his family.
We have to overthrow the system that is eating the planet
Mark Winter was present at the climate change protests in London on 19 April and reports on the sentiments and strategies of Extinction Rebellion (XR) as the group seeks to keep concerns about climate change at the forefront of public discourse.
Review: The Young Karl Marx
How far is it possible for a film to bring to life the ideas, energy and humanity of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels? Mark Winter enjoys Raoul Peck’s new film. Raoul Peck, the director, studied Marx for four years as a student of economics, and says that the purpose of the film is as follows: “How do […]
Review: The Kaiser’s Holocaust
Mark Winter reviews David Olusoga and Casper W. Erichsen 2010 book The Kaiser’s Holocaust: Germany’s Forgotten Genocide and the Colonial Roots of Nazism David Olusoga is a British-Nigerian historian, writer and broadcaster who has championed the unearthing of black history in series such as the BBC’s “Black and British: a Forgotten History”. “My family’s history is part of a long, […]
Review: Captain Fantastic – beyond convention and conformity
Mark Winter looks back at his favourite film of the year, the counter-cultural Captain Fantastic. From the very first shot of this movie, we enter a world outside the city, beyond convention and conformity. A deer moves timidly through a clearing in the forest. The camera pans to reveal an eye, then another, and then […]
Stuart Hall on Gramsci – does it help us to understand the current period?
Mark Winter looks back at Stuart Hall’s article Gramsci and Us, first published in 1988, and finds a piece that we can usefully use to understand the current period First things first: Stuart Hall is a tremendous writer. Second: he wrote this prescient, intelligent and polished piece in 1988, but was not heard at the […]
The State, Power and the Democratic Road to Socialism – The ideas of Nicos Poulantzas
Nicos Poulantzas is frequently cited as one of the strongest influences on the new Syriza government in Greece. Mark Winter offers an introduction to his ideas in an article originally published in the Summer 2015 issue of the rs21 magazine. Alexander Clapp describes how close the Nicos Poulantzas Institute is to Syriza’s headquarters in Athens: Down the street […]
“FE means Free Education Further Education For Everyone”
Mark Winter reports 1200 lecturers and students marched on Saturday 25th against the 24% cut in adult education, on a national demonstration called by the UCU (University and Colleges Union). The cuts are massive – UCU estimates that they could lead to a loss of more than 400,000 places for adult students in 2015/16 alone. […]
Action against the 24% cut in Adult funding
Mark Winter, a lecturer at Tower Hamlets college, reports 200 lecturers and students marched on Downing Street on Wednesday (25 March) as part of a protest organised by UCU against a 24% cut to funding for adult education. As a result of the cuts 400,000 places will be lost, and these cuts could be a deathblow to […]
Lambeth College all out strike to win!
Mark Winter discusses the importance of the Lambeth College UCU strike against changes to their contracts and what can be learnt from the experiences of the Tower Hamlets College strike.
Lambeth College staff vote to ballot for strike action
At a packed branch meeting on Wednesday, members of UCU and Unison voted to ballot for indefinite strike action over proposed new contracts.