Revolutionary Socialism in the 21st Century
 
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Socialism in the
21st Century

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Feminism and LGBTQ liberation

Three months of rebellion in Iran

After three months of rebellion in Iran, an Iranian socialist asks how it can win.

Trans+ Pride, London, 2020

Edinburgh fights transphobia

Staff, students and socialists stop the screening of a transphobic film at the University of Edinburgh.

Women's strike protest, London, 2019.

Revolutionary Reflections | Sexual violence, feminism and socialist organising

Discussion: how should socialists organise to stop sexual violence in our organisations?

Artwork of Kelly Loving, Daniel Aston and Derrick Rump

After the Club Q shooting: building a movement for liberation

The context of the attack, and the radical LGBTQ movement we need.

LGBT+ activists block out transphobic bigots

Gender Recognition Reform in Scotland

The de-medicalisation of Gender Recognition in Scotland appeared to have majority political support, but as rs21 members Graham Checkley and Leslie Cunningham describe it has revealed a vein of transphobia.

Image shows a row of men standing in the Qatari football stadium, with representatives from Qatar and Jair Bolsonaro.

Ideologues, apologists and the Qatar World Cup

Something ulterior is at work in the sudden outpouring of concern for queer fans at the Qatar World Cup, argues Lisa Leak.

photo of January 18, 2020 Women's March in Washington DC, USA. Placard says "When Injustice becomes law, Rebellion becomes duty."

The fight for abortion and reproductive justice after Roe

Camila Valle, Sherry Wolf, Emily Janakiram, and Holly Lewis discuss how socialists can organise to fight for reproductive justice.

Trans+ Pride, London, 2020

Fighting the US right and its anti-trans crusade

The US right has proposed over 200 bills attacking trans people. Why are they so obsessed? How can trans people and the left fight back?

Image shows a placard against blue sky reading Jin, Jiyan, Azadi - Woman, life, freedom!

‘Woman! Life! Freedom!’: the social revolution in Iran

As protests in Iran continue and deepen, an Iranian activist argues for greater solidarity from the left in Britain.

‘We are all Mahsa’: riots shake Iran

Protests and riots have spread across Iran after a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, was murdered by the morality police

Boycott Coors leaflet shown against Pride Progress flag

When unions and LGBT people fought together in the 1970s

San Francisco gay activists joined a boycott of a union-breaking, racist and homophobic beer company

LGSM members' die-in on the Pride route

Activists tell Pride in London: ‘no pride in cops or borders’

On Saturday 2 July, Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants halted the Pride in London march to protest against police presence at the event.

Marchers in the Resistance contingent of the 2017 San Francisco Pride Parade hold signs reading "Stop Police Terror" and "Black & Brown Lives Matter"

Queer liberation and socialism: learning from the stories of a movement

Dana Cloud writes about the history of queer liberation struggle in the United States, its socialist origins, and lessons for today’s queer politics.

A collage of abusive and derisive headlines from coverage of the Depp v Heard defamation trial

This is no time to stay silent

The Depp v Heard trial has unleashed a torrent of misogyny that feminists cannot ignore.

Ban conversion torture

The Tories’ attempt to exclude trans people from the ‘conversion therapy’ ban has triggered a massive backlash.

The union of women and the Paris Commune

An account of the Women’s union of the Paris Commune, extracted from Mark Winter’s forthcoming book ‘Turbulent Women’

The actuality of the revolution: exploitation and oppressions

In this extract from Revolutionary Rehearsals in the Neoliberal Age, Neil Davidson suggests ways to draw struggles against oppression and exploitation together.

Image shows a red-filtered photo of a laundrette, empty except for one woman in the background.

The double shift: talking childcare and gender in the pandemic

As many nations re-enter lockdown, Kate Bradley interviews two rs21 members on their experiences with childcare, work and gender during Covid lockdowns.

Image shows the cover of ABOLITION.FEMINSM.NOW by Angela Y. Davis, Gina Dent, Erica R. Meiners, and Beth E. Richie, plus background images of protestors.

Reimagining the relationship between care and power

Abu Leila reviews Abolition. Feminism. Now. in the context of radical politics in Britain.

Photo of protestors in the London demonstration as part of the Kill the bill day of action on 15 January 2022. Banners include Stop the War, the Revolutionary Communist Group, Extinction Rebellion, migrants welcome, and homemade placards.

Today’s #KilltheBill protests show that the fight against increased police powers will continue

Protests on the eve of the final House of Lords vote on the Police Crime and Sentencing bill are not a last-ditch effort but a warmup for the fight to come, writes Charlotte Powell.

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.

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.

Tweet by Kathleen Stock @Docstockk reads 'My former union branch @sussexucu has just effectively ended my career at Sussex University. This just sent to all members. 'Statement in support of Trans and Nonbinary communities at Sussex'. Screengrab of tweet overlaid with trans pride flag colours.

When is it right for a union to support dismissal?

Kathleen Stock has blamed UCU for her decision to resign from her position.

Review | Anti-Gender Politics in the Populist Moment

We need a feminism integrated with struggles for economic justice and against racism, homophobia and transphobia.

Review | Let the record show

‘Let The Record Show’ is a pathbreaking history of ACT UP founded to fight the AIDS/HIV crisis in New York in the late 1980s.

Gender and nationalism: Breivik’s ‘Western values’

Breivik’s political motivations for committing the massacre have been consistently side-lined. But when examined, his far-right politics demonstrate clear affinities with much more mainstream right-wing ideology.

graffiti in Holyrood Park, near the Scottish Parliament showing a heart transgender symbol

No more ‘delays’ to trans rights: reform the GRA now!

Scotland-based rs21 member Leslie Cunningham argues we should all be fighting in the struggle for trans rights, and asks: why the delays to reforming the Gender Recognition Act?

A black and white photograph of Angela Davis (right hand side) speaking to a large, assembled crowd into a microphone.

Reading Women, Race & Class 40 years on

Rose Whitehorn reflects on some of the key themes conveyed in Angela Davis’ Women, Race & Class, and this work’s significance during the resurgences in anti-racist and feminist organising.  

Sketch of a raised fist.

Alba is a dead end

None of the main pro-independence parliamentary parties are capable of delivering an independent Scotland that puts the needs of working-class people first.

Image shows a woman holding up a placard reading Power to the People Not the Police with a backdrop of other women in the crowd.

We Will Not Be Divided – Statement from Sisters Uncut

Sisters Uncut’s statement against police and state violence and the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill 2021, originally published on 23 March 2021. rs21 signed the statement alongside groups including Black Lives Matter UK, Jewish Solidarity Action and Docs Not Cops.