The democratic wager: why the Left must support the Syrian Revolution
Nick Evans Reviews Jules Alford and Andy Wilson (eds.) Khiyana. Daesh, the Left and the Unmaking of the Syrian Revolution. Essays by Muhhamad Idrees Ahmad, Javaad Alipoor, Leila Al-Shami, Mark Boothroyd, Joseph Daher and Shiar Neyo, Sam Charles Hamad, Bodour Hassan, Michael Karadjis, Louis Proyect, Eyal Zisser. London: Unkant, 2016. 278 pp. £9.99. The title of this book means “betrayal”: […]
Long Live Satie!
Alexander Billet assesses the life and impact of composer Erik Satie, 150 years after his birth. There are a great many fun and entertaining ways one could celebrate the 150th birthday of Erik Satie. The Velvet Gentleman seems to cast such an omniscient shadow over modern music that he is almost invisible. This of course […]
Marxism and LGBT politics: a new wave of discussion
Colin Wilson reviews Peter Drucker’s book Warped: Gay Normality and Queer Anti-Capitalism, recently published in paperback. The last few years have seen a thoroughly welcome trend: the publication of a series of academic books which aim to bring together radical LGBT politics – often in the form of queer theory – and Marxism. It’s a […]
‘Refugees Welcome Here: Racism out of the Referendum’ rally report
While some of the pro-remain arguments about the EU itself are naive, the rally showed the importance and the possibility of uniting around a strong anti-racist position, whatever the referendum result. Charlie Hore reports.
Finance, capitalism and imperial power – a review of Tony’s Norfield’s ‘The City’
Want to reform finance but maintain capitalism? Then you may have a problem. Tom Haines-Doran reviews ‘The City’ by Tony Norfield, recently published by Verso.
Can we afford to laugh at ourselves in Broken Britain? A review of The Suicide
In the bleak years of Stalinist Russia Nikolai Erdman wrote a grim satire about a man planning to take his own life. In the bleak years of neoliberal Britain Suhayla El-Bushra has updated the play. Colin Revolting asks whether it survives the resurrection. Unemployed and now struck off benefits, Sam (Javone Prince) is stuck in […]
‘Your lunacy fits in nicely with my own’ (from ‘Sea Song’)
Starting out as drummer and singer for Soft Machine, Robert Wyatt has been making music for over 5 decades. Neil Rogall reviews ‘Different Every Time’, a new biography of him by Marcus O’Dair Robert Wyatt, now in his 70s is surely one of the most intriguing, distinctive and sometimes infuriating musicians born out of 1960s Britain. His […]
TV Review: The Aliens
The Aliens is E4’s new drama with direct parallels to the situation for migrants and refugees today says Tazmin Aldis. Aliens creator Fintan Ryan uses the premise of a future where Aliens arrived on Earth nearly 40 years ago and, despite their uncanny resemblance to the human kind, they are ruthlessly discriminated against – banished […]
TV Review: Follow The Money
If you want to know about corporate crime you should Follow the Money, says Tony Aldis. Follow the Money opens on the machinations of a large and established green energy company, Energreen, and their tragic results. From manipulation of the markets to government ministers, we are privy to corporate boardroom politics raw and bloody. Sander […]
Kes: a tale for our times. Remembering Barry Hines.
Barry Hines, the author of such books as A Kestrel for a Knave, which became the film Kes, has died aged 76. Colin Revolting offers an appreciation of his seminal work.
TV Review: Happy Valley
Violence against women is central to this popular quality crime series says Seb Cooke. Happy Valley burst onto the scene a couple of years ago. At the time, British crime drama was caught napping, largely unaware of what was going on in other parts of the world. Without the series, the genre would probably be […]
Social reproduction: from theory to practice
Sara Bennett discusses the relevance today of Lise Vogel’s understanding of women’s oppression and the dynamics of capitalism Lise Vogel’s 1983 book Marxism and the Oppression of Women is an attempt to bring women’s oppression into the realm of Marxist political economy. She theorises the role of women in the reproduction of labour power, and […]
‘Angry White People’, a review
David Renton reviews Hsiao-Hung Pai’s Angry White People: coming face-to-face with the British far right. He finds an ‘exemplary account’ of the rise of the English Defence League and bemoans the left’s failure to contest the same terrain.
Review: Making a Murderer – the stain of blood marks the white exterior.
Seb Cooke reviews the popular Netflix series, which raises questions that are uncomfortable for those in power and a call to arms for those who are not.
A review of Steve Silberman’s ‘Neurotribes’
Roderick C reviews Steve Silberman’s Neurotribes: the Legacy of Autism and How to Think Smarter About People Who Think Differently, finding a work rich in historical insight, but unfortunately lacking in political understanding.
Chanting crowds and flying shrapnel – The Night Manager reviewed
Radical former-spy John Le Carre’s The Night Manager started this week on BBC 1. Tony Aldis took a look. From its opening credits those responsible for The Night Manager seem determined to ditch much of the image of George Smiley, his huge glasses and smoke clouded, rain drizzled world. Slick CGI images of weapons mixed with the […]
Review: The Imperial Radch trilogy
Amy Gilligan reviews Ann Leckie’s series of SciFi novels, set in a post-gender galaxy. Recently I found myself racing through Anne Leckie’s excellent Imperial Radch trilogy: Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Mercy and Ancillary Sword. It’s a great SciFi series, but also quite political, addressing questions around imperialism, workers’ rights and especially gender. There is also a lot […]
A journey through utopian landscapes: Last Futures – review
Ruth Lorimer reviews Douglas Murphy’s new book Last Futures: Nature, Technology, and the End of Architecture Douglas Murphy’s Last Futures is a fascinating journey through the utopian landscapes of radical modernist architecture. Delving into plans for futuristic megastructures, plug-in cities and lunar colonies, he traces the connections between the hopes and fears of the late twentieth […]
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
With accusations of racism at the Oscars, the play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom about black experience in the entertainment industry is having a timely revival. Tazmin Aldis reviews. Reportedly one of August Wilson’s finest works, the play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is set in 1927’s Chicago. Fundamentally the plot centres itself around a black singer, […]
Critiquing empire through the white man’s gaze – a review of The Revenant
The Revenant has been widely praised, not least for its apparent critique of colonial expansion. However, while its de-romanticisation of the frontier is an improvement on recent cinematic glorification of imperialist violence, the colonised subjects remain largely silent. Joe Hayns reviews. The adverts punting The Revenant are now showing fifteen (or is it twenty?) five-star reviews, and sleeping in […]
Know Your Rights: the campaigns of Bob and Roberta Smith
James B reviews the latest exhibition of Bob and Roberta Smith, finding a powerful defence of art as a human right, source of self-empowerment and tool of protest. The show until January 31 in Walthamstow’s William Morris Gallery.
Pilfering, pranks and working-class pride – a review of the BBC’s ‘Cradle to Grave’
The BBC sitcom Cradle to Grave is a sympathetic and engaging portrait of working-class London, set at a key time for class struggle. Colin Revolting reviews.
Extract: Order reigns in Berlin
On the 97 anniversary of Rosa Luxemburg‘s murder, Jonas Liston introduces an extract from her final article “Order Reigns in Berlin“. In November 1918, a revolt of German sailors and soldiers sparked a mass workers’ revolution that would see the establishment of democratic workers’ councils, the end of World War One and the abdication […]
The radicalism of Shelley
Artists are creatures of their time, and Jacqueline Mulhallen’s new political biography of Percy Bysshe Shelley captures this. His poetry is a true expression and celebration of love, beauty and the human spirit.
rs21 Readers and Writers Recommend, Part2…
What to get a friend who’s committed to the revolutionary overthrow of the capitalist mode of production and its zombifying culture industry, but still deserves a present for Christmas (even if that friend is yourself)? Following on from the excellent suggestions in Part 1, there are a whole lot more great ideas below…
rs21 Readers and Writers Recommend, Part 1…
With 2015 near done and dusted, rs21 readers and writers share their favourite books, films and theatre performances. From old classics with renewed relevance to innovative and unorthodox work from contemporary artists, or just good telly: there should be something for everyone. If not, share your own highlights in the comments!
A tribute to the anonymous and unsanctioned creativity of the slums
Mike Gonzalez explains how Empty Lot, an installation at Tate Modern by Mexican artist Abraham Cruzvillegas, reflects the social realities of Latin American megacities. It begins at night; silent figures crouching in an empty lot. It will usually be on a hillside, on an abandoned piece of building land in a public space – fenced but […]
Dismantling the NHS is turbo-charged neoliberalism: Review of How to Dismantle the NHS in 10 Easy Steps
NHS activist Gill George reviews Youssef El-Gingihy’s book How to Dismantle the NHS in 10 Easy Steps The NHS is a milestone in history – the most civilised step any country has ever taken The quote above is what Aneurin Bevin told the first NHS patient ever to be treated, back in 1948; and that’s how Youssef […]
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).
Future shock for the left: Review of Paul Mason’s PostCapitalism
Rich Belbin reviews Paul Masons recent book, PostCapitalism: A Guide to our Future Paul Mason has become a familiar figure on our TV screens, from his reports on the collapse of Lehman Brothers through to his ’embedded’ interviews with those at the frontline of struggles, from China through Scotland to Greece. His enthusiastic reporting has […]