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 […]
Hating capitalism more than The Communist Manifesto
The Communist Manifesto is one of the cornerstones of Marxism. Neil Rogall celebrates a compelling new account of its importance today by author and activist China Miéville. I first read the Communist Manifesto sometime in 1968, when I was still at school and involved in a School Students Union in Leeds. It was the first […]
‘Play for Today’: groundbreaking and still relevant
Simon Donohoe reflects on the groundbreaking TV series ‘Play for Today’, re-released this year.
London in revolt – revisiting the English Civil War
Andrew Stone looks at a new history of the origins of the English Civil Wars, finding an engaging account of the class character of the process which ultimately saw Charles I executed. London may not have the same revolutionary reputation of Paris or St Petersburg, but in this new account of the outbreak of the […]
The Marx family visits the Commune
Leslie Cunningham reviews a new piece of political fiction, imagining Karl and Jenny Marx visiting the Paris Commune. Marx in Paris provides a great introduction to both the Commune and its political significance for socialists today. This short work (100 pages) purports to be a “found document”, a blue notebook discovered in a trunk containing […]
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.
The deviant law student
In a piece originally published in Socialist Lawyer, Kate Bradley reviews the Critical Legal Pocketbook, and finds it a useful corrective to capitalist legal education, perfect for socialists who study and work in law. There are many reasons why socialists may be attracted to the legal profession. Though it is an embattled terrain dominated by […]
Review | Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire
Caroline Elkins’ compelling new book makes the barbarity of the British empire in the twentieth century absolutely clear.
Municipal politics and the revolutionary left
Danny Schultz reviews Paint Your Town Red, by Matthew Brown and Rhian E Jones, finding an interesting discussion of the possibilities of radical local politics.
Moving past the graveyard of Green New Deals
Gus Woody reviews ‘A People’s Green New Deal’ by Max Ajl
Reimagining the relationship between care and power
Abu Leila reviews Abolition. Feminism. Now. in the context of radical politics in Britain.
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 […]
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.
Review | China in One Village
Charlie Hore reviews China in One Village by Liang Hong, finding an informative and personal account of the contradictions of rapid urbanisation and societal change in China. Liang Hong, China in One Village, translated by Emily Goedde, (London: Verso, 2021) 316 pp, £16.99 China’s meteoric rise to becoming the world’s economic powerhouse was powered by […]
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.
Review | Red Metropolis
Danny Schultz reviews Red Metropolis, the latest work by acclaimed political thinker and architectural critic Owen Hatherley. Schultz argues it provides an insightful history of radicalism within London, yet falls short in considering the importance of the working class struggles which make municipal socialism possible. Owen Hatherley, Red Metropolis: Socialism and the Government of London […]
Review | Revolutionary Rehearsals in the Neoliberal Age
Andy N reviews Revolutionary Rehearsals in the Neoliberal Age, a new collection discussing political upheavals since 1989. He finds a wide ranging and insightful work, which will deepen both the theory and practice of the modern left. Colin Barker, Gareth Dale, and Neil Davidson, Revolutionary Rehearsals in the Neoliberal Age (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2021) 410 […]
Review | Working for the War Effort
Merilyn Moos reviews a recent work on German-speaking refugees and their role in British wartime propaganda.
Hummingbird Salamander – An idea that won’t go away
Reviewing Jeff Vandermeer’s latest novel, Hummingbird Salamander, Jack Pickering finds not only a thrilling and unsettling work of climate fiction, but also a genre bending critique of modern capitalism and its destruction of nature.
Review | Migration Beyond Capitalism
Baindu Kallon reviews Hannah Cross’ new book Migration Beyond Capitalism. Kallon celebrates a book that brings a new left-wing response to the narrative around migration. Cross, Kallon argues, effectively demonstrates why an internationalist working-class response is the key to defeating neoliberal power and creating a new world. This review was originally published by the Review of […]
Review | The world turned upside down
In Leo Zeilig’s recent novel, the global elite are targeted for murder amid a growing social upheaval that sweeps the central character around the world. Andrew Stone reviews this focused and ‘righteously angry’ book.
Review | Fight the Fire
Jonathan Neale’s new book calls for a global mass movement to confront the capitalist forces driving climate breakdown, linking analysis with real world action and what must be done to fight climate disaster.
Revolutionary Reflections | Antisemitism and the Russian Revolution
A new book by Brendan McGeever casts new light on the role of antisemitism in the 1917 Russian Revolution and illuminates the struggle against the rise of antisemitism today.
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.
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.