Let them burn oil – Sunak and energy bills
Rishi Sunak’s latest U-turn in response to the cost of living crisis shows the Tories scrambling for a response.
Palestine solidarity and the future of the DSA – on the Bowman crisis
Arguments over Palestine solidarity have swept through the DSA in recent months – two American socialists explain the background.
Lowering expectations: misrepresentations of McAlevey
Trade unionists have been inspired by McAlevey’s work. But now sections of the union bureaucracy are co-opting her insights.
Growing strike solidarity networks in Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester has been home to an unusual number of major strikes in the last couple of years. Local activists and rs21 members Ian Allinson and Derek Fraser discuss what we can learn from these and the development of solidarity networks around them.
Prospects for the left after the French election
The results of the first round of the French presidential election make for grim reading. Ian Birchall looks at some of the lessons of the election, and the future prospects for the left.
Russia’s war and the West
Gareth Dale responds to an article by Tom Bramble exploring the reasons for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Inclusion and equality matter: Why are they missing from our approach to Covid?
Zero Covid Scotland activist Hannah Hassan outlines the many ways in which Covid policies discriminate against people with disabilities and intensifies existing inequalities.
Russia’s invasion and world imperialism
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shows that we have to understand imperialism as a world system.
The cost-of-living crisis
With high inflation and a sharp rise in energy prices on the way, Ian Allinson argues that the cost-of-living crisis will shape British politics over the coming months.
The Kellogg’s deal: not so grrrreat!
Joe Allen assesses the recent settlement of the eleven-week Kellogg’s strike in the US.
Revolutionary Reads – What books got us through 2021?
We asked rs21 members what they’ve been reading in 2021, whether new works of revolutionary theory, fiction, or old classics. These were some of the examples our members had. James B – Psychoanalysis and Revolution (2021) Pyschoanalysis and Revolution argues for the relevancy of psychoanalysis as a tool for those of us involved in liberatory […]
The Downing Street parties
rs21’s Graham Checkley argues that the fallout from the parties scandal is an opportunity for the left to turn up the pressure outside parliamentary politics.
Omicron – circuit breaker now!
Johnson and Javid must stop prevaricating and introduce an urgent set of measures to dramatically reduce contacts. Every day of delay in introducing a circuit breaker to cut transmission is magnifying the crisis ahead of us.
Strikes coming in Higher Education?
Grant Buttars discusses the UCU ballot results and prospects for action.
Review | Anti-Gender Politics in the Populist Moment
We need a feminism integrated with struggles for economic justice and against racism, homophobia and transphobia.
Review | China in One Village
Charlie Hore reviews China in One Village by Liang Hong, finding an informative and personal account of the contradictions of rapid urbanisation and societal change in China. Liang Hong, China in One Village, translated by Emily Goedde, (London: Verso, 2021) 316 pp, £16.99 China’s meteoric rise to becoming the world’s economic powerhouse was powered by […]
Extracts from Revolutionary Rehearsals in the Neoliberal Age
On the possibility of socialist revolution and the tragedy of the Egyptian revolution.
Sharon Graham wins stunning Unite victory
Graham recognises the need to focus on rebuilding workplace power to reverse union decline.
Kill The Bill: the day of action
rs21 members took part in a social media campaign as part of the #KillTheBill day of action against the new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill on Saturday 21 August 2021,
Lessons from the IPCC report for socialists
Gus Woody looks at the new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and discusses just how thoroughly it vindicates the basic principles revolutionary socialists have been arguing for years.
Afghanistan: the end of the occupation
The fall of Kabul marks a decisive defeat for American power around the world.
Review | Revolutionary Rehearsals in the Neoliberal Age
Andy N reviews Revolutionary Rehearsals in the Neoliberal Age, a new collection discussing political upheavals since 1989. He finds a wide ranging and insightful work, which will deepen both the theory and practice of the modern left. Colin Barker, Gareth Dale, and Neil Davidson, Revolutionary Rehearsals in the Neoliberal Age (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2021) 410 […]
Johnson’s Tory party: how it started, how it’s going
Colin Wilson surveys the resignations, U-turns and scandals of Johnson’s two years in government, the position of the conservative party, and what this means for the left today.
Germany’s Namibia Genocide Apology: the limits of decolonising the past
What are possible international ramifications of the Namibian-German agreement?
Labour: socialists and witch-hunters
Ian Allinson and Rachel Eborall take up the issue of Starmer’s purges in the Labour Party and respond to Conti and Woody’s claim that the party represents the progressive petty bourgeoisie.
Flooding in Germany is a man-made disaster
Trade unionist and climate organiser Mark Bergfeld discusses the economics and politics of the floods in Germany since mid-July which have killed over 180 people.
Starmer’s purges and the problem with Labour
Finlay Conti and Gus Woody look at the Labour Party’s history to understand the meaning of Starmer’s purge, what it tells us about Labour’s inability to represent the working class, and how Marxists go forward from here.
Remembering Utøya
We cannot allow the memory of the Utøya massacre ten years ago to be co-opted and depoliticised. Breivik’s murderous Islamophobia and his hatred of the Left display affinities with far more mainstream political ideology.
Gender and nationalism: Breivik’s ‘Western values’
Breivik’s political motivations for committing the massacre have been consistently side-lined. But when examined, his far-right politics demonstrate clear affinities with much more mainstream right-wing ideology.
What’s at stake in the Unite election?
We have to develop a strategy that challenges the status quo in Unite, and that means taking a different road to the official left.