Ukraine: The alternative road ahead (public meeting)
Ukraine is suffering from war and a deep social crisis that has implications for all of Europe. Many are asking what has happened in Ukraine. What is the role of Russia and the West? How should we respond? This forum is a unique opportunity to hear an alternative, first-hand analysis from leading socialists and trade […]
London: Thousands celebrate Algeria’s World Cup success
Across London, thousands celebrated Algeria’s victory against Russia during the World Cup, as Algeria progressed for the first time in its history to the top 16. Mona and Syed report: Crowds packed out Trafalgar Square on 26 June, celebrating into the night. Walthamstow, which has a strong Algerian community, erupted into a spontaneous street festival. Algeria supporters brought drums […]
Resistance in Rio
In the run up to the World Cup, strikes and protests swept across Brazil. Ali S, based in Brazil, looks at the background and character of the protests. This is an article from the Summer 2014 rs21 magazine During the explosion of protests in Brazil in June 2013, protesters held placards stating anything they wanted, […]
Protesters say ‘Syrian refugees welcome here’
Luke Cooper reports on a day of protests in solidarity with refugees from Syria. The original article appeared on Left Unity, with additional reports on International Socialist Network. Many thanks to Luke for the permission to re-blog. Protesters demonstrated in London, Liverpool, Leeds, Glasgow and Oxford on the 16th June over the government’s response […]
What capital won, and how we can win it back
[extended edit of a review in the launch issue of rs21 magazine] A Unite rep examines arguments put forward by labour researcher Kim Moody – and how they shed light on how bosses have reorganised the workplace to our detriment. For 30 years now the left has faced tremendous difficulties in coming to terms with changes that […]
Moroccan activists renegotiate power: a new stage in a forgotten uprising
Miriyam Aouragh reports from Morocco, where she is currently on fieldwork. She researches the role of new media in the (counter) revolutionary movements in Syria and Morocco.
Hundreds demand justice over gender and caste violence
Ruth Lorimer reports from a demonstration in London earlier this week demanding justice for women raped and murdered in India. Several hundred people, mostly Indian women from across the UK, demonstrated outside the Indian High Commission on Wednesday, demanding that the men who raped and hung two teenage girls in India last week be prosecuted. The demonstration […]
Candles in the night: Vigil in Hong Kong commemorates Tiananmen Square
Sue Sparks reports on the vigil held in Hong Kong 25 years after Tiananmen Square.
A view from Rio: “The World Cup now pervades every serious political dispute taking place today”
The World Cup kicks off in Brazil next week. Last year’s Confederations Cup saw huge protests and confrontations with the Police, directed at the corruption and vast public spending which surrounds the event. One year on, anger continues, but the picture is more complex. Mark Bergfeld interviewed Rio activist Miguel Borba de Sá last month to […]
What can the British left learn from Podemos?
Adria Porta Caballe asks how a change in language and approach took the fledgling Spanish party Podemos to be a surprise of the European elections In the Spanish left we had been saying for a long time that Podemos was going to be the surprise of the European elections. And, finally, on Sunday 25 May it became […]
Solidarity Call from Brazil Trade Union
rs21 has been approached by the Brazilian trade union federation CSP-Conlutas with the following message for solidarity on the eve of the World Cup, which we are happy to share. Please send solidarity messages and motions to didi@cspconlutas.org.br and dirceutravesso1@gmail.com. See below for a model motion. STATEMENT FROM CSP-Conlutas: ***On the Eve of the World Cup*** A […]
Thousands rally in Belfast and Derry to protest against rising tide of racism
(report by Matt Williamson, picture by Aisling Gallagher) Some 4,000 people gathered in Belfast city centre last Saturday to protest at escalating levels of hate crime and increasing racist rhetoric in mainstream politics. A similar event took place in Derry. The Belfast rally was organised at in two days and marks a sea change in […]
25 de Abril, Sempre! Portugal 40 years after the Revolution
Mark Bergfeld speaks on the legacy of Portugal’s revolution of 1974, and its relevance to today’s struggles against austerity.
Report on solidarity picket for Ukrainian miners
Jan LadziÅ„ski reports on a solidarity picket outside the London HQ of the oligarchs who are refusing to pay Ukrainian miners a decent wage. On Friday afternoon there was a solidarity picket outside the offices of EVRAZ, the company in charge of Kryvyi Rih coal mines. EVRAZ is owned by Russian oligarchs: Roman Abramovich, Alexander […]
The May of the masses: the Tiananmen Square movement 25 years on
4 June marks the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Charlie Hore looks back at the inspirational movement that went before, and repression that followed. Twenty-five years ago, a mass protest movement exploded across China’s cities, posing potentially the biggest challenge to China’s rulers since 1949. The Tiananmen Square movement, as it came to […]
Kicking off in Rio: popular protest and the politics of the World Cup (public meeting)
Brazil has seen huge attacks on its poor and a fightback from hundreds of thousands as two mega-events – the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016 – inflict themselves on a country of huge inequalities. Speakers: Writer Mike Marqusee and Rio resident Ali Sargent will talk about the politics of these “trojan horses […]
Immigrants are NOT the problem: rs21 North London public meeting (video)
rs21 North London hosts a public meeting with veteran anti-racist campaigner Darcus Howe, Mark Bergfeld, and Ezequiel, a representative of striking SOAS cleaners. Video interview with Darcus Howe available here. Follow rs21 North London on Twitter and Facebook.
Always a slip between cup and lip: a commentary on the Indian elections
The Great Quinquennial Cacophonic Political Symphony: some thoughts on the Indian elections letter from Chennai by PM Raman, economic historian India, the world’s largest democracy, holds parliamentary or general elections every five years. But this time round it has attracted considerable global media attention: there is a lot at stake for transnational capital as well […]
BDS is about justice, not antisemitism
Israel creates myths in order to perpetuate the occupation. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement can help bring about the end of the apartheid regime.
When will it end? More deaths of refugees in the Aegean
On 5th May 2014, two boats carrying migrants sunk off the coast of the Greek Island of Samos. At least 22 people drowned and another seven missing. They are just the latest victims of Fortress Europe. Sofiane Ait Chalalet and Chris Jones watched the tragedy unfold on Monday morning. On Samos Island we watched another […]
The Tragedy of Odessa
We must stand with the people of Ukraine against their own government and oligarchs, against the machinations of the West, against the growing threat of fascism, and against the rising tide of Russian imperialism.
Memoirs of a revolution: Portugal 1974
On the 25th April 1974, against every expectation, a revolution broke out in Portugal. On the 40th Anniversary, Brian Parkin recalls what it was like for a young British engineering worker, arriving in the midst of a city in the process of revolution, where momentarily everything seemed possible. Lisbon. An imperial city. A city as […]
May Day around the world
With photographs and short reports on demonstrations for International Workers’ Day from Moscow to La Paz. Ben (Moscow): There were about 150 people on this march. There were multiple marches: the Ukraine crisis has fragmented the left. Orthodox “Christian” provocateurs attacked the Moscow march. They were objecting to the LGBT contingent. They started by throwing […]
Indian elections: fears for the future
Voting continues in the Indian general elections, with Modi likely to come out on top. Patrick Ward, a writer for Project-India.com reports from India on the largest elections that the world has ever seen. Everyone has an opinion on the general elections currently underway in India. From the wealthy inhabitants of the luxurious, gleaming […]
Shoe strikes escalate as protests surge
Tens of thousands of Chinese workers employed by a Taiwanese firm Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings have been on strike for almost two weeks in a dispute that has now become news around the world. The workers make shoes for Nike, Adidas and Timberland and the company claims to be the world’s largest footwear maker. Charlie […]
The Left and Maidan: Interview with Ukrainian socialist Denis Pilas
Around 150 people gathered in Kiev recently to attend a conference organised by Ukrainian organisations including the Left Opposition, with support from the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. The conference, entitled ‘The Left and Maidan’, discussed perspectives for the left in Ukraine. There were visitors from Russia, France, Germany, Poland and Belarus, including left members of the […]
Gabriel García Márquez: magic and memory
Mike Gonzalez writes Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez, who has died aged 87, was a globally recognised name even before he won his Nobel Prize in literature on 8 December 1982. His greatest work One Hundred Years of Solitude was translated into 20 languages within a couple of years of its 1967 publication. His journalism, stories and novels captivated an international audience. Yet […]
Ukraine, Russia and the miners of the Donbass
Miners in the Donbass region have played a crucial role in Ukrainian politics since 1989, and are key today, argues Nick Evans The situation in eastern Ukraine is becoming more and more dangerous. It is over a week since pro-Russian forces seized government buildings in the region. Attempts by the Ukrainian government to retake control […]
Paris: united demo against austerity
Clément Mouhot reports from Paris: “Hollande ça suffit !” (Hollande this is enough) was one of the many slogans seen on banners at the demonstration against austerity in Paris last Saturday. Around 40,000 people marched from “République” to “Nation” against austerity and cuts policies put forward by the Socialist Party (PS) government. The protest was […]