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.
Ukraine: “We cannot hand the movement over to the right.”
Ilya Budraitskis, the Moscow-based socialist, was interviewed by marx21.de magazine earlier this month about the protests in Ukraine.
What do we mean by… uneven and combined development?
Neil Davidson continues an rs21 series on the fundamentals of our political tradition by looking at uneven and combined development.
Fracking, corruption and poison
Fracking will poison the water, corruption is behind government support, it won’t bring down gas prices, and it has been banned in much of Europe.
Where next for Ukraine?
As the major news services shut down their live coverage of events in the Ukraine, the battle for the country’s future might be just beginning.
Is Venezuela burning? A letter from Caracas
Caracas is seeing an uprising of the middle classes and the rich. The working class neighbourhoods remain loyal to the government, but also deeply cynical about the extraordinary corruption of the heirs of Chavez.
Blood on the streets in Ukraine
What is happening in Ukraine is clearly more than a simple protest movement. From day one it has had an insurrectionary character.
What might constitute a Marxist philosophical canon?
Selective readings of Marxist theory that favour “guides to action” can lead to a skewed and unhelpful understanding of Marxist ideas
Poland’s Gender Trouble
Dan Swain examines the debate over gender issues that is dominating Polish politics.
Hypocrisy, homophobia and the neoliberal ruling class
As the Sochi Olympics began, many politicians and multinationals have statements supporting LGBT rights and condemning Russia’s homophobic government, but there are doubts about these new friends of equality.
What do we mean by… class?
Terry Wrigley takes a look at the Marxist concept of class, in the first of an rs21 series on the fundamentals of our political tradition.
Condemn reactionary violence in Venezuela
We need to fight against the coup attempts of the extreme right wing, but this should not translate into uncritical support for the existing state.
Scarlett, Soda Stream and shifting sands
The crisis over Soda Stream has been picked up by media across the world, with more people now aware of their illegal activities and about the BDS campaign in general.
Pakistan: Baloch families march as state kills and dumps
(picture via International Voice for Baloch Missing Persons) Yesterday a mass grave was discovered in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and poorest province. It is likely that the bodies within belong to “missing persons”, victims of a bloody campaign of repression carried out by Pakistan’s security forces since at least 2005. Now the relatives of the disappeared […]
Rennard and the culture of sexism
Estelle Cooch writes on the Rennard scandal and its lessons The Liberal Democrat party inquiry into allegations of sexual harassment against Lord Christopher Rennard – and how it ended – have been headline news for a week. The inquiry found there was credible evidence of “behaviour which violated the personal space and autonomy of the […]
Institutional racism and unsolved murders
Mitch Mitchell writes on the cases of Stephen Lawrence, the New Cross Gate fire, Kelso Cochrane, Rolan Adams and Ricky Reel.
Trayvon Martin and Mark Duggan
Bill Crane compares the workings of the justice system for Trayvon Martin in the US and Mark Duggan in the UK – and notes the role of “colourblind” ideology to prop up racism in both cases. As an American who moved to Britain four months ago, I saw similarities between the cases of Trayvon Martin […]
Patrice Lumumba’s legacy
Last Friday marked the 53rd anniversary of the assassination of Patrice Lumumba. Miriyam Aouragh looks at his legacy and western complicity in his murder. In Une Saison au Congo (A Season in the Congo) from 1966, Aimé Césaire tells an unapologetic story about brutal colonial exploitation and the subsequent transformation of the Belgian Congo into […]
Working lives: supermarkets and poverty wages
P, a supermarket worker, discusses their experiences at work: For a total of around 9 years I’ve worked in 3 of the of the ‘Big 4’ supermarkets – Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s. The disparity between those at top of these companies, and the majority of the people they employ is huge. CEOs receive seven […]
Sharon: biography of a war criminal
Sai Englert looks back at Ariel Sharon’s bloody legacy and his life of political and military service to the Zionist colonial project: The media’s attempted whitewashing of Sharon’s legacy is not just brushing the history of one man under the carpet; it is an attempt to hide the present reality of Israel as a violent […]
“I was unable to eat” : food banks in Tory Britain
From the Kent International Socialists The sight of Tory MPs laughing at stories of hungry families during a debate on the use of food banks in December was another demonstration of how out of touch the “Nasty Party” are with ordinary people. The Daily Mirror reported at the time: “In one of the most shameful […]
The three whales of Bolshevism
The militant slogans of the Bolsheviks after 1905 were colloquially known as the “three whales of Bolshevism”. Roderick Cobley puts forward his suggestions for 2013.
#M2013: Henrique Sanchez & Alfredo Filho on Brazil
Roderick Cobley reports on a session at Marxism 2013 on the protests against fare increases on public transport in São Paulo and elsewhere.
Notes on the balance of class forces
The decline in workplace organisation is more than falling membership.
On the Pop-Up Union at Sussex University
The Pop-up Union is a symptom of wider political radicalisation on campus.