Having no job is a daily grind in itself – on unemployment.
Mary Turner writes about her son struggling to find work. My son is shy and does not always mix well with other people. He lacks certain social skills, but he is a lovely person and sensitive to other people’s needs. He has been unemployed for some time, and there is pressure on him from all […]
UKIP – just another bunch of control freaks.
The recent successes of Nigel Farage and UKIP should leave anti-racists, anti-homophobes and workers concerned with their rights worried. However the ideological pillars of UKIP are rotten. Their claims to liberty and freedom are topsy-turvy, founded on the vilification of migrants and taking away their liberty. Luke Evans rips apart Farage’s hypocrisy, and the flawed thinking he relies on. […]
Big business and the NHS: Awkward bedfellows
Gill George discusses how drug company greed means the government has wasted millions on stockpiling medicine that doesn’t work Private companies exist to make a profit for their shareholders. The NHS exists to keep people healthy and look after us when we’re sick. When the two get entangled, the NHS tends to lose out. The […]
The dullness of work
A university admin worker writes about their job. My job is boring. I’m an admin worker at a popular university in Northeast England. I’ve done the same job for several years. There have been developments and things I do differently, but mostly the job is the same. I answer email queries, update spreadsheets, navigate clunky […]
A response from Venezeula
Dan Gent, writes from Venezuela having witnessed the events surrounding the opposition riots. It is offered as a comradely response to Mike Gonzalez’s Letters from Venezuela. This piece was originally published on the Comrade Markin blog where there are more photos that Dan has taken in Venezuela. Opposition protests have rocked Venezuela for over a […]
How I learnt about solidarity
An IT worker explains how she learnt about solidarity. In 2007 employees at my site were on strike. The company was attacking us on pay, union recognition, and any other agreements they wanted to bin. I hate public speaking. But fellow strikers twisted my arm and I grudgingly agreed to accompany a colleague to speak […]
Constructing Lads mags – Playboy to Nuts
Estelle Cooch looks at the demise of Nuts and asks what the competition of original porn mags Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler, can tell us about lads mags today. A decade on from its launch, the owners of sexist “lads mag” Nuts announced this week it was due to close, after sales plummeted from 300,000 at […]
The hanging of Derek Bentley: a miscarriage we shouldn’t forget
It took decades to win some sort of justice for Derek Bentley – but the fight eventually won.
Syria: March 2011 – March 2014 – Solidarity is essential
Jacques Babel and Joseph Daher report on the campaigns to mark the third anniversary of the start of the Syrian revolution, both within and outside Syria.
rs21 Political Weekend: What is revolutionary leadership?
Caliban’s Revenge discusses a session at the rs21 political weekend on the question of the role of ‘leadership’.
Surge in support for fascists in French elections
Iris Cohen analyses the background to the the recent gains made by the far right in France in advance of today’s second round of voting.
The upturn/downturn debate: an introduction
Ian A summarises a debate on the development of capitalism since 1968, and how this has impacted the working class and its struggles, in a attempt to address the question of what revolutionaries should do.
Interview: Spies, surveillance and Cambridgeshire police
Cambridgeshire police tried to recruit an activist to spy on Unite Against Fascism, UK Uncut and Cambridge Defend Education, according to video evidence which came to light in November last year.
Social reproduction – what it is and why it matters
Reproduction involves more than just the creation of human beings – it involves the reproduction of the “capital relation” itself – the worker and the capitalist.
Ukraine: four points in response to Chris Nineham
Acknowledging Russia’s imperialism has consequences for our understanding of national liberation movements.
The Kosovo War – 15 Years On
15 years ago today NATO forces began bombarding Serbia with high-tech bombs. For Blair and Clinton the Kosovo War was their ‘humanitarian’ intervention. However, as James B writes, the actuality of that conflict, and the legacy, is anything but. Fifteen years ago Europe was at war. The Kosovo conflict has been eclipsed in the popular […]
Policing the system: racism, violence and the crimes of the cops
Studies carried out in the aftermath of the riots confirmed that large numbers of rioters took to the streets for revenge – against a political system that marginalised them.
Fighting oppression is at the heart of socialism
The fight against oppression needs to be fully integrated into the fight against capitalism and for socialism.
Racism: old, new and neoliberal
Anindya Bhattacharyya reflects on the changing nature of racism under neoliberal austerity, and its lessons for activists today, UN anti-racism day, 22 March 2014.
The trouble with social reproduction theory
Nancy Lindisfarne and Jonathan Neale look at the shortcomings of Social Reproduction Theory and ask if there is an alternative that doesn’t rely so much on the biological differences between the sexes.
Moscow anti-war march says no to Russian imperialism
We should not forget the ordinary people of Ukraine and Russia who will pay the price for any conflict.
What is social reproduction theory?
In the first of a series of articles looking at and debating social reproduction theory, here we republish Tithi Bhattacharrya’s introductory piece on some of the basics.
Whatever happened to the indignados?
Luke Stobart has written the first column in a three part series tracking the radicalisation that has swept the Spanish state since the 15M protests of 2011.
Tony Benn (1925–2014)
Ian Birchall looks back at the life of a genuine socialist who fought to the end: Tony Benn, who died today.
The year that Goldsmiths’ students supported the miners strike: an activist’s account
On the 30th anniversary of the start of the 1984-85 miners strike, Colin Revolting remembers the support and solidarity he and other students offered towards those on strike.
Interview: “I won’t be blamed anymore”
Sara is an activist in the Egyptian group Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment (OpAntiSH).
The radical roots of International Women’s Day
Though celebration of IWD today is often dominated by governments and NGOs, the day has its origins in revolutionary struggle.
Joel Geier on Zinoviev v Lenin
Joel Geier from Chicago, in a piece originally written for the ISO, argues that the distortions inflicted upon the Bolsheviks by Zinoviev fatally weakened the party prior to Stalin’s coup de grace.
Unite halves affiliation to Labour
The move is a sign of the discontent within the unions caused by Labour’s failure to stand up for workers and a reaction to the attacks on the union links by the Labour leadership.
Atos: We’ve won the battle but not the war
As Atos is forced to rebrand and pull out of Work Capability Assessment, Gill George discusses the misery they have inflicted and argues we need to take on the Tories as well.