Whose security? Climate protests in France during the state of emergency
The French government has called a ‘State of Emergency’ and banned all demonstrations for 3 months following the tragic events in Paris. Nick Evans explains why, despite the bans, the protests during the Paris climate talks (COP21) must, and will, go ahead. Riot police in the Calais camp earlier this month. Photo: London2Calais The French government has announced […]
The right to water: an interview with Mike Gonzalez
Mike Gonzalez and Marienella Yanes are the authors of The Last Drop: The Politics of Water (Pluto: 2015). Mike talked to Nick Evans about the fight to put the world’s water back under democratic control, and the wider connections between climate change and class struggle. Water Protests in Cochabamba, Bolivia in 2000 How does looking at […]
What challenges does Cameron’s war drive face?
The government wants to bomb Syria. We need to understand the problems Cameron faces making that happen so as to oppose the push to war, argues Colin Wilson. Cameron wants to bomb Syria, but he faces problems doing so. The major problem in parliamentary terms is a report about British bombing of Syria produced by […]
HM 2015: How the West Came to Rule
Marxist scholars have long debated the origins of capitalism. Bill Crane reports on a fruitful debate at this year’s Historical Materialism conference about the recent book ‘How the West Came to Rule’. The question of how capitalism emerged and became the basis of the international system has generated a number of incredibly fruitful debates among […]
TTIP: capitalism on steroids
Mathilde Dahl is an activist in Students Against TTIP. Here she explains what TTIP is, why we should be worried about it, and how we can stop it. A new set of corporate power grabs are in preparation. These deals are negotiated in secrecy, wrapped up as trade agreements and sold to us with the promise of economic […]
After Paris: no to imperialist wars, no to Islamophobia, no to attacks on refugees
We are horrified by the attacks in Paris: we join in mourning the dead, and send our condolences to the loved ones of those who have died. These attacks are part of the war raging across the Middle East, including the deaths of 40 people killed in Beirut and 17 killed in Baghdad on Friday […]
Ten Days That Shook The World
In celebration of the 98th anniversary of the Russian Revolution we are publishing this short extract from John Reed’s brilliant eye witness account, Ten Days That Shook The World. Reed was a socialist journalist from the USA, who described the revolution as: “Adventure it was, and one of the most marvellous mankind ever embarked upon.” […]
Cat’s Credit Crunching: Has Grexit been averted?
Thoughtful Thanos asks: Has a Grexit been averted? Dear Thanos, When Tsipras caved in to Troika pressures and accepted the implementation of austerity measures, the impression policy makers wanted to create was that a Grexit had been averted. But the reality is a lot more complicated. The Greek state remains broke, and in this the […]
Gaza 2014: Israeli barbarity and Palestinian resistance
Sylvia Cooke reviews Max Blumenthal’s The 51 Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza (Verso, £14.99 – currently £10.49 including shipping from the Verso website).
Migration FAQ: why now?
Nick Evans answers some common questions around the migration crisis Why now? More people around the world were forcibly displaced in 2014 than ever before in recorded history. Of those 59.5 million people, 19.5 million were classed by the UN as refugees. The overwhelming majority of those refugees were hosted in developing regions, but unprecedented numbers have […]
Five books you should read on China
Charlie Hore offers some suggestions to help understand what is happening in the world’s largest country China has hardly been out of the headlines in the last few months. In August, the second stock market crash in two months sent shockwaves around the world financial system. China’s government had taken panic measures after the first […]
Understanding Ankara: why many see blood on the hands of the Turkish state
The bombing in Ankara was the deadliest in modern Turkish history. In a country where the state regularly uses violence against protesters, and with an election approaching, much of the left argue that the government bears much of the blame. Phil Buyum Jackson explains the background to the attack and describes events since the bombing. 106 people were […]
Making live and letting die: ‘refugees’, ‘migrants’ and Fortress Europe
Chloe Haralambous reports on the refugee crisis from the Greek island of Lesvos and examines the function of the division between ‘refugees’ and ‘economic migrants’.
Solidarity demo counters Zionist mobilisation at London Palestinian Mission
As the number of Palestinian deaths in recent weeks continues to rise, Sherrl Yanowitz reports from last night’s protest at the Palestinian Mission to counter a Zionist mobilisation. A Palestine solidarity demonstration has been called for this Saturday (17 October). Israeli armed forces have murdered at least 30 Palestinians in the last two weeks. The dead […]
Migration in the age of Imperialism’s four horsemen: part 3
For over three decades neoliberalism has run rampant at the expense of the working class and poorest of the world. But such a dismal interpretation of the world just will not do. The point is to change it. This requires us honestly to recognise the scale of the crisis while identifying those symptoms of resistance […]
Migration in the age of Imperialism’s four horsemen: part 2
The intensification of capitalist competition has created global markets and in the process has led to an imperialist period of capitalist development that has seen war, the uprooting of whole populations and environmental degradation push the fabric of societies and our planets intricate network of ecosystems to the point of crisis. This is the second […]
Ankara bombing: thousands protest for justice and peace, HDP condemns Turkish government
Thousands of people joined a demonstration in London on Sunday afternoon in protest at Saturday’s bombing in Ankara, the Turkish capital. Over 4,000 people gathered at Downing Street before marching up Whitehall and on to Piccadilly Circus, where they took part in a short sit-down protest. Thousands have joined a protest in Paris, and marches have also taken […]
Migration in the age of Imperialism’s four horsemen: Part 1
For the past year a growing refugee crisis on Europe’s borders has allowed the political right to capitalise on xenophobic and paranoid fears spread by racist politicians and media. Even those who have rejected the more outrageous expressions have often accepted the classification of those seeking resettlement along the lines of the ‘deserving’ refugees and […]
Report from Jerusalem: “Israeli mobs are attacking Palestinians in the streets”
Writing from Jerusalem, Sai Englert describes the situation there and calls for protests and increased BDS campaigns in solidarity with Palestine.
Greek elections are no victory for the left, as Tsipras opens the door to austerity
Should we be cheering Syriza’s recent electoral success? Leandros Fischer responds to six key questions about the election, arguing that Syriza has promised things it can’t deliver – demoralising many of its supporters while the Nazis continue to grow. 1. Why did Syriza get 35 percent of the votes, despite the fact that Alexis Tsipras has agreed […]
Turnout drops in Greek elections as Syriza is returned to government
Colin Wilson takes a look at the results of Sunday’s general election in Greece Greece held a general election on Sunday called by prime minister Alexis Tsipras in the wake of his Syriza government’s capitulation to the European Union’s demands for austerity. Syriza was returned to power with a slightly reduced number of seats on […]
Why Russia backs Assad: a view from Russia’s anti-imperialist left
The editors of the Russian socialist website openleft.ru analyse why Russia is now openly moving troops into Syria to support the Assad regime. A whole range of evidence [also here] indicates that Russia is activating its military aid for the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad up to the point of direct involvement of Russian troops in the […]
Taking a longer view
Pete Cannell is an active member of Edinburgh Stop the War Coalition. He responds here to Mark Boothroyd’s article on the Syrian Revolution and the anti-war movement. It was good to read Mark Boothroyd’s article on the Syrian Revolution and the anti-war movement. My hope is that it will trigger a debate on how the movement […]
South Korean Marxist Economics after Soohaeng Kim
Seongjin Jeong, who is Professor of Economics at Gyeongsang National University, pays tribute to Soohaeng Kim, the “Godfather of Marxist economics” in South Korea. Professor Soohaeng Kim, South Korea’s most well-known Marxist economist, died of a heart attack on 1 August at the age of 72. He is survived by his wife and two sons. […]
Indian workers resist Modi’s reforms
More than 150 million workers in India participated in a general strike on 2 September, in a nationwide day of protest called by 10 major unions to protest the anti-worker labour “reforms” of the right-wing BJP government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Kavita Krishnan, a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), reports on the […]
Turkey: Erdoğan’s Cynical New War Against the Kurds
Coordinated attacks took place on 8 September against the leftwing HDP in Turkey – attacks for which the stage has been set by the ruling AKP party. In an article written before 8 September and originally published by Marx21 in Germany, Erkin Erdoğan writes about the renewed escalation of the conflict between the Turkish state […]
The Syrian Revolution and the crisis of the anti-war movement
Suddenly, everyone is talking about Syria. Saturday’s demonstration will be in solidarity with all refugees, but a Syrian refugee is one of the key organisers. Campaigners from the Syria Solidarity Movement UK and Stop the War Coalition are among those involved in the planning, along with many other organisations. Everyone should welcome this commitment to […]
As Middle East goes nuclear, climate change goes critical. Part 3: Imperialism and climate
In the final part of Brian Parkin’s article, he shows that imperialist wars, arrested development and impending climate catastrophe are all linked through industrial capitalism’s continuing dependence on oil. He argues we need to replace capitalism before it causes any more irreparable damage to our societies and our world. (See parts 1 and 2. See […]
As Middle East goes nuclear, climate change goes critical. Part 2: Saudi Arabia
Here we publish the second part of Brian Parkin’s article, where he looks at Saudi Arabia’s own nuclear ambitions, and an emerging reconfiguration of imperial alliances in the Middle East. (See part one here.) The regional nuclear domino effect: Saudi Arabia and ‘friends’. To a large extent eclipsed by Iran’s more controversial bid for nuclear […]
Left solidarity: supporting grassroots movements in Syria
Last weekend, Syrian activists and their supporters around the world held demonstrations to mark the second anniversary of the Sarin gas attack in Ghouta. Many Syrians feel that they have been at best ignored by much of the mainstream international left and anti-war movements, who often focus on geopolitics rather than the demands of the […]