SOAS is shut down in protest at union rep’s suspension, cuts and marketisation
Nilüfer Erdem and Will Searby report from SOAS where students and workers have shut down the campus in central London in response to management suspending Unison rep Sandy Nicoll and £6.5million of cuts. Valerie Amos, former advisor to Tony Blair and current interim director at SOAS, has accused students and staff of bullying and intimidating […]
Saving jobs at Dulwich Picture Gallery
Olivia Mansfield, describes the joys of a collective victory against redundancies Being told by your employer, most likely a person who earns substantially more than you, who has weight and seniority, who has their own job security and power, someone that you may have trusted to have your best interests at heart, who may be […]
Migration FAQ: why now?
Nick Evans answers some common questions around the migration crisis Why now? More people around the world were forcibly displaced in 2014 than ever before in recorded history. Of those 59.5 million people, 19.5 million were classed by the UN as refugees. The overwhelming majority of those refugees were hosted in developing regions, but unprecedented numbers have […]
Right to Strike: Infographic
Download this infographic as a pdf here Join the TUC lobby of parliament and the day of action against the Trade Union Bill on 2 November Infographic design by Arjun Mahadevan
Frantz Fanon: The Militant Philosopher of Third World Liberation
Leo Zeilig‘s biography of Frantz Fanon, The Militant Philosopher of Third World Liberation, is out on 5 November. Here are a few teasers from the book with introductions by the author. In 1953 Fanon moved to Algeria to work in the small town of Blida, about 50 miles from the capital Algiers. He applied for a […]
Will the NHS survive another winter?
Mark Boothroyd, co-ordinator of the Four-to-One campaign which is calling for the introduction of nurse-to-patient ratios in the NHS, discusses the crisis in the NHS and what might result without a campaign against cuts and demoralisation. This article was originally published on OpenDemocracy. Over fifteen thousands of doctors marched down Whitehall last weekend, in protest at the imposition […]
Five books you should read on China
Charlie Hore offers some suggestions to help understand what is happening in the world’s largest country China has hardly been out of the headlines in the last few months. In August, the second stock market crash in two months sent shockwaves around the world financial system. China’s government had taken panic measures after the first […]
Making live and letting die: ‘refugees’, ‘migrants’ and Fortress Europe
Chloe Haralambous reports on the refugee crisis from the Greek island of Lesvos and examines the function of the division between ‘refugees’ and ‘economic migrants’.
Migration in the age of Imperialism’s four horsemen: part 3
For over three decades neoliberalism has run rampant at the expense of the working class and poorest of the world. But such a dismal interpretation of the world just will not do. The point is to change it. This requires us honestly to recognise the scale of the crisis while identifying those symptoms of resistance […]
Migration in the age of Imperialism’s four horsemen: part 2
The intensification of capitalist competition has created global markets and in the process has led to an imperialist period of capitalist development that has seen war, the uprooting of whole populations and environmental degradation push the fabric of societies and our planets intricate network of ecosystems to the point of crisis. This is the second […]
Migration in the age of Imperialism’s four horsemen: Part 1
For the past year a growing refugee crisis on Europe’s borders has allowed the political right to capitalise on xenophobic and paranoid fears spread by racist politicians and media. Even those who have rejected the more outrageous expressions have often accepted the classification of those seeking resettlement along the lines of the ‘deserving’ refugees and […]
“Disruptive technologies”: lessons from Wapping
The idea that new technologies will replace the need for human labour is not a new one. However, it is currently receiving a lot of attention, following a recent Panorama documentary, and arguments made by figures on the left such as Paul Mason and Yanis Varoufakis. Sherrl Yanowitz remembers when Rupert Murdoch began his campaign to […]
PREVENT: protecting the vulnerable?
Emily Cousens looks at what’s behind the language of ‘vulnerability’ in the government’s PREVENT strategy. Spying and suspicion are now legally required as public sector workers are being trained to look for signs of vulnerability to radicalisation (such as a desire for adventure or political change) in those they work with. More and more of […]
We can defend jobs without supporting nuclear weapons
We reprint this article from last September in solidarity with everyone marching today for a missile free future In the wake of recent statements by Len McCluskey, a Unite rep, argues that unions should support those arguing for a future beyond nuclear weapons. The destruction of the world is not a job creation scheme Len McCluskey’s […]
Police intimidate, harass and attack refugees with rubber bullets at Calais camp
Mitch Mitchell was an eyewitness to police intimidation at ‘The Jungle’ in Calais last week where rubber bullets were used to attack refugees.
The De-commissioned Army
Carlisle rs21 put forward a revolutionary perspective on the Corbyn victory Jeremy Corbyn’s victory is a milestone in the fight for a better society. It was a day when people who had been silenced by austerity found their voice and bellowed. We witnessed the death and burial of the Blair project. We got the conclusion […]
Why Russia backs Assad: a view from Russia’s anti-imperialist left
The editors of the Russian socialist website openleft.ru analyse why Russia is now openly moving troops into Syria to support the Assad regime. A whole range of evidence [also here] indicates that Russia is activating its military aid for the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad up to the point of direct involvement of Russian troops in the […]
3 ways to build the social movement in Britain after Corbyn’s victory
Jonny Jones discusses how Jeremy and his supporters, whether they are inside or outside the Labour Party, could help to build a social movement that can challenge the Tories and point towards serious social transformation. Jeremy Corbyn’s election as Labour leader has been met with astonishment and celebration from many, ridicule and fearmongering from others. While […]
Taking a longer view
Pete Cannell is an active member of Edinburgh Stop the War Coalition. He responds here to Mark Boothroyd’s article on the Syrian Revolution and the anti-war movement. It was good to read Mark Boothroyd’s article on the Syrian Revolution and the anti-war movement. My hope is that it will trigger a debate on how the movement […]
Not doing a Jay-Z
Jonas Liston is delighted by Jeremy Corbyn’s victory. But he’s not going to join the Labour Party. Whilst on the one hand today, I became the dickhead working on a roof in this ghastly torrential rain, who every passer-by pities, on the other hand, I’m delighted by the space Corbyn’s leadership election victory has opened […]
Dover: what kind of anti fascist movement do we need?
A letter from Thanet anti-fascists. On Saturday 12 September, the National Front, South East Alliance and other Nazi outfits numbering around 200-250 were able to march in Dover, declaring ‘Refugees Not Welcome Here’. Around a dozen people from Thanet joined the call out by the Anti Fascist Network (AFN) to counter them. When we turned […]
South Korean Marxist Economics after Soohaeng Kim
Seongjin Jeong, who is Professor of Economics at Gyeongsang National University, pays tribute to Soohaeng Kim, the “Godfather of Marxist economics” in South Korea. Professor Soohaeng Kim, South Korea’s most well-known Marxist economist, died of a heart attack on 1 August at the age of 72. He is survived by his wife and two sons. […]
Letter from an agency worker
Agency work is exhausting, precarious and increasingly the norm but, as one former agency worker writes, recent campaigns around tips offer a glimmer of hope. As a history student I suppose I have a tendency to look at things from a historical perspective. It often used to occur to me on the way to work that […]
Turkey: Erdoğan’s Cynical New War Against the Kurds
Coordinated attacks took place on 8 September against the leftwing HDP in Turkey – attacks for which the stage has been set by the ruling AKP party. In an article written before 8 September and originally published by Marx21 in Germany, Erkin Erdoğan writes about the renewed escalation of the conflict between the Turkish state […]
The Syrian Revolution and the crisis of the anti-war movement
Suddenly, everyone is talking about Syria. Saturday’s demonstration will be in solidarity with all refugees, but a Syrian refugee is one of the key organisers. Campaigners from the Syria Solidarity Movement UK and Stop the War Coalition are among those involved in the planning, along with many other organisations. Everyone should welcome this commitment to […]
Support John Burgess in Unison’s General Secretary election!
Charlie Hore discusses why rs21 members in Unison are supporting John Burgess in the upcoming Unison General Secretary election and the battles that the union faces. This autumn Unison will hold an election for its General Secretary. This is the highest position in the union, and the only directly elected national official, so the […]
Bel Druce 1940-2015
We republish Ian Birchall’s obituary for his very close friend, and rs21 member Bel Druce, who died at the end of August. It was originally published on Ian’s personal website Grim and Dim. My dear friend Bel Druce died in August 2015. I had known her only in the last five years of her life; […]
Civil Rights and the Trade Union Bill
Ian Allinson discusses the Tories attempts to attack our right to organise in the context of civil rights Since the election the Tories have moved swiftly to attack civil rights. The is the centrepiece of measures restricting the right to resist. Despite our inadequate response to the first five years of austerity, the government is […]
LET – THEM – IN!
Miriyam Aouragh salutes solidarity initiatives from below that counter the racist border policies of our rulers. “I’m happy to look after children, take them to kindergarten, school and wherever they need. I can cook for people and show them friendship and warmth. I can pay the airfare for one small family. I can contribute with […]