Revolutionary Socialism in the 21st Century
 
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Photo shows protestors rallying round a speaker outside NHS england and Elephant and Castle underground station at the demonstration on 4 December 2021, called by transgender action block.

A huge step forward for trans protest in Britain

rs21’s Charlotte Powell reports on a demonstration outside NHS England and explains why it is a hugely important moment in the struggle for trans liberation in Britain.

Metabolic rift - photo shows monoculture timber forest in background with freshly cut tree trunks in foreground.

What do we mean by metabolic rift?

rs21 member Greg Peakin explains the concept of metabolic rift, and why it is an important tool for climate organising today. 

Cover image of Revolutionary Rehearsals

Extracts from Revolutionary Rehearsals in the Neoliberal Age

On the possibility of socialist revolution and the tragedy of the Egyptian revolution.

Arise: Power, Strategy and Union Resurgence by Jane Holgate is available from Pluto Press from 20 August 2021.

How can unions rebuild power?

Ian Allinson reviews Jane Holgate’s new book, Arise! Power, Strategy and Union Resurgence, an exploration of why unions have failed to revitalise themselves.

Image of Sharon Graham with text 'let's get back to the workplace'

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,

Ethiopian dried river bed

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.

23/12/2020. London, United Kingdom. Boris Johnson Brexit Deal.The Prime Minister Boris Johnson in his office in Number 10 with his key members of staff as they wait for a response from President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen after they spoke on the phone a few minutes earlier with a possible Brexit deal in sight. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street

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.

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.

Marx, the Paris Commune & socialism’s two souls: What liberation are we fighting for?

At the heart of the Communist Manifesto of 1848, recalled Engels, was the idea that “the emancipation of the workers must be the act of the working class itself.”

The Nakba never ended. Victory to the Intifada

For 73 years Palestinians have not only mourned the Nakba but refused to accept its continuation.

March with banners reading 'end fire & rehire' and 'Unite Queen's Road branch'

Ongoing Manchester bus strike defeats fire and rehire

The longest bus strike in British history is poised to win after a campaign involving an indefinite strike, community solidarity and a leverage strategy.

View from the city walls as Loyalists prepare a bonfire in the Fountain estate in Derry

What’s behind the riots in the North of Ireland?

The riots in the North of Ireland must be understood in the context of continued sectarian division and state repression.

Image of Kill the Bill protesters in Parliament Square

#KillTheBill – where it came from, where it’s going

Th Police Bill is an assault on us all and an attack on us all must be met by resistance from us all. Unity and solidarity must be the clarion call of this movement.

An engraving depicting the 1871 revolt against French rule in the Kabylia region of Algeria

1871: the Commune and the Kabylia

Rosa Moussaoui recalls the uprising that swept colonised Algeria at the same moment that a Universal Republic was proclaimed in Paris

Remembering the Paris Commune

On the 150th anniversary of the instigation of the Paris Commune, rs21’s Art Group presents a video project to commemorate the world’s first working-class revolutionary government.

A painting of Parisian National Guard gathered in the open air during the winter of 1870

The Paris Commune: Order Reigns in Paris

A new translation of an article from Le Cri du peuple, the leading newspaper of the Paris Commune

Flowers and a sign reading 'end violence against women'

We can’t rely on the police to protect women

In the aftermath of Sarah Everard’s murder, politicians immediately called for heavier policing. But more police will not end violence against women.

Photo from an action against Elbit Systems showing two protesters sitting in a doorway in front of the weapons factory's graffitied door, which reads 'Shut Elbit Down'. Fake blood is poured across the steps in front of them, as well as a sign that reads 'Ouch'.

‘That’s the power of direct action’: an interview with Palestine Action

On Feb 1 2021, Palestine Action and XR North shut down the Elbit Systems factory in Oldham. rs21 spoke with Huda and Richard from Palestine Action about Elbit, Palestine and direct action tactics.

A pro-independence rally in Glasgow, January 2020.

Scotland, the left and independence

If the British state breaks up, will Scottish independence be a serious progressive change, or just a neoliberal reshuffle?

Image is an aerial view of a pro-choice rally in Poland, showing thousands of people filling a crossroads, in 2020.

Poland’s feminist uprising

Women in Poland are making their own cause for hope by taking the streets. rs21 spoke with several feminist activists in Polish union Inicjatywa Pracownicza about the recent wave of feminist strikes and protests.

A squad of riot police march past the National Gallery in London.

What does abolition mean in modern Britain?

The Black Lives Matter movement has sown seeds of hope worldwide for the abolition of police. But policing in the UK goes far beyond the bodies of armed men in uniform.

Fortress Europe after Moria

After Moria burned to the ground, a new camp was quickly built to replace it. We interviewed Chloe Haralambous and Michalis Poulimas about events on the ground and what they mean for the EU border regime.

Wildfires in California in 2015

Global fever

The Covid-19 pandemic is a foretaste of the approaching climate catastrophe. Andreas Malm’s electrifying new book looks at both these crises and asks what we’ll need to do to face them down.

Protests in Minsk

Interview: Organised and disorganised labour in the Belarus uprising

Siarhei Biareishyk speaks to rs21 about the uprising in Belarus following the falsified re-election of Aliaksandr Lukashenka on 9 August 2020.

Beirut port destroyed

Interview: Beirut blast exposed a global system

Rima Majed spoke to rs21 about the blast that devastated Beirut in the context of an existing political and economic crisis.

Review | Fortunes of Feminism

Leslie Cunningham reviews Fortunes of Feminism by Nancy Fraser, a critical account of changes in feminist thought in the era of neo-liberalism.

Westferry printworks

Johnson’s bonanza for private capital

The Tories are increasing spending, but the money is going to the rich. Adam Blanden argues that this represents the acceleration of Britain’s transformation into a ‘speculator state’.

Defund the police. Disarm the state.

The demand to defund the police should extend beyond reallocating existing government spending. We also need to address the racist ways that the state polices all aspects of working-class life.