The revolutionary theatre of Bertolt Brecht
Australian socialist Tess Lee Ack celebrates the life and work of the revolutionary playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht.
Writing the future
Colin Wilson celebrates fantasy novel Babel, part of a growing trend for speculative fiction to include radical politics in work written by women, often women of colour.
The Neil Davidson Lecture 2023: Uneven and combined development in Neil Davidson’s work
Raquel Valera on Neil Davidson’s contribution to the theory of uneven and combined development and revolution.
Review | Shows at the Whitworth Gallery Manchester
Colonialism, art, the museum logistics chain. Gareth Dale reviews this month’s shows at the Whitworth.
Interview | Toussaint Louverture: The Story of the Only Successful Slave Revolt in History
Matthew Cookson interviews the authors of a new graphic novel on the Haitian Revolution.
Cricket in crisis: racism, sexism and elitism in the sport
Sport can be a site of struggle, a chance for us to organise collectively in the face of racism, sexism and elitism.
Review | Union
Grace Linden reviews a recent production of Max Wilkinson’s play Union, directed by Wiebke Green, at the Arcola Theatre in Hackney. Is it useful to construct narratives from individual moral responsibility when discussing gentrification? We all need a home; we’re all (too) willing to take on the options offered by a system that exploits our […]
This is a war against the studios – interviews with picketers in Hollywood
Interviews with striking actors and writers in Hollywood.
Leftist direct action thrillers: a new genre?
I’m a Virgo, How to Blow Up a Pipeline, Black 47 and Codename Jenny
Glass Onion – foolishly transparent
Maurice Ramboz reviews Glass Onion, asking what the film’s titular metaphor tells us about capitalist ideology.
Reflections on International Workers’ Memorial Day
To mark IWMD, the rs21 Art Group made a zine with Cut-Through Collective, which we distributed in Glasgow and London across the May Day weekend.
People Make Television: cultural production, socialism and the state
Tom Schofield on the People Make Television exhibition at Raven Row, London.
Review | Shake the City – Experiments in Space and Time, Music and Crisis
Kate Bradley reviews Shake the City by Alexander Billet, a well-written and thought-provoking book on the role of music in making political change.
Revolution in a galaxy far, far away
Andy Cunningham is inspired by the latest story from the Star Wars franchise.
Towards a truly radical Scottish independence movement
Jim Ritchie reviews Scotland After Britain, a new book on the Scottish independence movement.
The Overstory – eco-fiction and capitalism
In the first article of their new Substack Capture the Flag, Caliban’s Revenge considers eco-fiction award winner The Overstory. Whilst it is an impassioned plea for environmental consciousness, they find a novel trapped by individualistic and problematic understandings of capitalist society. This summer has been, I’m sure you’ve noticed, terrifying. The earth is broiling and the […]
‘Play for Today’: groundbreaking and still relevant
Simon Donohoe reflects on the groundbreaking TV series ‘Play for Today’, re-released this year.
Music of the streets, music of rebellion
The 1920s saw the emergence of new kinds of music around the world, sometimes with links to anti-colonial movements.
This is no time to stay silent
The Depp v Heard trial has unleashed a torrent of misogyny that feminists cannot ignore.
Capitalism, debt and feminism
Kate Bradley reviews A Feminist Reading of Debt, finding an insightful account of the relationship between debt, gender, and capitalism, as well as examples of how to fight back against debt.
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 […]
Patient Humans and other poems
Leila Platt writes on experiences of mental health treatment, Covid and power in ‘Patient Humans’ and other poems.
The Good Lord Bird: John Brown’s militant abolitionism
Bill Crane looks at the life of militant US abolitionist John Brown and his portrayal in a recent TV adaptation of James McBride’s novel The Good Lord Bird.
Cultural Marxism? A review of The Dialectics of Art
Ian Birchall reviews The Dialectics of Art, a new work by John Molyneux.
Agitating with Art: the Artivists at Work story so far
Artwork – not just ‘great art’ but cartoons and doodles – can add life and vibrancy to political messaging, and give people a mirror in which to recognise their own hopes and frustrations.
Cultural commodities that got us through 2020
From Netflix binges to a new theory of ‘alternative hedonism’, here are the shows, films, music, and books that kept us going in 2020.