New Faces, New Voices – left politics after the election
Eleven young people address the question, “after the election, what do you hope will be the response and what to you intend to do going forward?”
Hundreds attend general assembly of the left in London
Up to 1000 people attended the General Assembly of the Radical Left last night in Logan Hall in London. Called by the activist group Brick Lane Debates, the assembly brought together people from across the radical left to discuss building “a new joined-up radical left movement or network… something that is truly democratic, bottom-up, radical, and […]
The big lie: Some thoughts on ideology and the Tory victory
Joe Sabatini on ideology, fetishism, and 5 more years of Cameron. On Thursday 7 May, The English Tory Party won a shock victory that was utterly unpredicted and yet so predictable. Everything about the result feels like a consolidation of a power grab that took place in 2010, making 2015 the sequel. With the corpse […]
How should the left vote in the General Election?
Graham Campbell makes a case for how the left should vote tomorrow. Here I will argue for a policy of tactical, selective and conditional critical support for anti-austerity candidates and for parties that revolutionaries don’t normally advocate voting for. I want to start off by advocating a multi-layered approach to the UK general election before going onto the […]
They Don’t Represent Us
“They don’t represent us” is a day conference drawing together anti-capitalists who want to discuss how best we understand the current situation in order to change it.
Doing politics differently: Kingsley Abrams in Bermondsey and Old Southwark
Graham Campbell interviews Kingsley Abrams, who left the Labour party at the beginning of this year, about his departure from Labour and the history of autonomous Black sections movement of which he is and was a key figure. A shortened version of this interview appeared in Issue 3 of rs21 magazine. More people ought to […]
Doing politics differently: Glyn Robbins in Bethnal Green and Bow
Continuing our ‘Doing politics differently’ series of interviews with activists and candidates of the left, Sybil Cock interviews Glyn Robbins, who is standing as a Trade Union and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) and Left Unity candidate in Bethnal Green and Bow. Glyn is a well-known figure on the left in Tower Hamlets. He was Chair of […]
Politics in the age of austerity: from above or below?
Neil Davidson discusses the disintegration of social democracy and the impasse of the revolutionary left, and asks what attitude revolutionaries should take towards social democratic parties.
Laboratories Of Hope
An invitation to build a ‘laboratory of hope’… When things are difficult, and we all feel that twinge of desperation. When the Media is full of scaremongering about the imminent threat of ISIS, and you can’t see any way, or any time, to actually change anything. That’s when we need ‘Laboratories of Hope’. It’s what […]
Ferguson Spring
Shanice McBean discusses how the protests in Ferguson have been driven by the racism and injustice that permeates everyday life for black people in the USA. This article originally appeared in the Spring 2015 issue of the rs21 magazine. “Because of the way this society is organized, because of the violence that exists on the […]
The Syrian Revolution struggles on
Following a demonstration to mark the fourth anniversary of the Syrian Revolution, Mark Boothroyd argues the reputation of socialist organisations has been seriously damaged by their failure to stand alongside Syrians who have continued fighting for freedom in terrible conditions. Mark Boothroyd was a founder of the Syria Solidarity Movement. 15 March 2015 marked the fourth anniversary of the Syrian Revolution. On […]
Lenin, Rosa Luxemburg and Ernest Mandel
American socialist Paul Le Blanc responds to a recent article from Charlie Post as part of a continuing debate about Lenin and Leninism As the radicalisation process works its way through the diverse and recomposing working class of our planet, young activists (as well as the not-so-young) continue to wrestle with questions of how best […]
Scaffolding struggle: what is a revolutionary media?
Why do we write? And what for? Amy Gilligan thinks through why we use publications, and what a ‘revolutionary’ media could mean. Where there are people calling themselves revolutionaries, you can be reasonably sure that there’ll be some kind of publication. It might be a newspaper, magazine, journal, pamphlet, or these days a website. And […]
Interview: This Changes Everything
This Saturday 28 March a mass participatory gathering on climate change and the alternatives will be addressed by Naomi Klein, Russell Brand and many others. Dan Swain spoke to two of the organisers, Neil Faulkner and Marienna Pope-Weidemann. Dan: Can you explain what the plans are for This Changes Everything, what you hope for the […]
Leninism?
Charlie Post, a supporter of Solidarity, a US revolutionary socialist organisation, continues a discussion on what is meant by ‘Leninism’ today Two developments have sparked a renewed debate on revolutionary socialist organisation. On the one hand, the emergence of “new left parties” and the continued crisis of the self-identified revolutionary left, of which the recent […]
Climate change has revolutionary potential
Tabitha Spence discusses how the movements against climate change open up a space to wider radicalisation
From democracy to neoliberalism – from Poland to Ukraine
Following recent waves of labour struggles in Poland, Jan Ladzinski reflects on the contradictions of movements for democracy that result in neoliberal reforms and suggests possible lessons from the Polish experience for Ukraine. This is a year of strikes in Poland. From the very first days of January, 20% of GP practices in the country […]
Nancy Lindisfarne and Jonathan Neale reply to Colin Wilson’s comments on ‘What gender does’
Nancy Lindisfarne and Jonathan Neale continue a discussion on their article What gender does, responding to comments from Colin Wilson To situate our response to Colin, it is useful to see that there are now broadly three schools of approach to gender in rs21. We think it will be healthy for all three approaches to […]
A reponse to Nancy Lindisfarne and Jonathan Neale’s “What gender does”
Colin Wilson responds to Nancy Lindisfarne and Jonathan Neal’s discussion of What gender does in ISJ 139. Nancy and Jonathan’s response to Colin will be published tomorrow. The oppression of women has become a central political topic worldwide. Part of what revolutionaries have to say about women’s oppression is straightforward – that we oppose all […]
Precarious Work, ‘Compression’ and Class Struggle ‘Leaps’
Kim Moody, author of In Solidarity, continues the discussion begun by Ian A and continued by Kevin Crane about the nature of work and workplace struggle today In his response to Ian A, Kevin Crane raises a number of serious issues concerning the work of socialists in trade unions and the workplace. The heart of his […]
‘The rocky road ahead…’ The movement against Irish Water
Five activists from rs21 spent a weekend in Dublin and took part in a city-wide demonstration against the Irish Government’s recent Water Charges bill, and spoke to several activists on the Irish left.
On the deal between Syriza and ANEL
Greece has a new Government. After the euphoria of Syriza’s stunning victory yesterday, came the disappointing realisation that they had to form a coalition to govern, and that that coalition would be with the right-wing Independent Greeks (ANEL). Kevin Ovenden, who has covered the election in depth, offers some immediate thoughts. 1) Do not cry, […]
Report: rs21 national meeting
On the weekend of 10th-11th January, rs21 held its 4th national meeting, one year after its founding in January 2014. It was attended by over 100 members, and had around 20 observers from other organisations and campaigns. We discussed the political situation in both international and national terms, debated what was possible for the left, and […]
Greek elections: the strategic challenges for the left
The Greek elections are days away, and could see a victory for the radical left Syriza. As part of our discussion of the Greek elections, Panagiotis Sotiris, a supporter of the Greek anti-capitalist coalition Antarsya, considers the opportunities and challenges for the left. Greece is on the brink of a very important political change. It is […]
Statement of the Party of the Indigenous of the Republic
The Movement of the Indigenous of the Republic in France, PIR, began in 2005 in the context of the ludicrous calls for introducing a positive focus of colonial history in the French educational system and general rethinking of France’s colonial legacy. It was also a product of the mini-Intifadas that erupted in the banlieues in 2005 in response to police violence and systematic racism against […]
Understanding Podemos: “common sense” policy
In the final part of his analysis of Podemos, Luke Stobart examines the group’s response to Spain’s social crisis. This is the third part of a series exploring the rise of Podemos, originally published on the Australian Left Flank website. The first part looked at how the new organisations drew on the inspiration and power of […]
‘Shoot As Well As Cook’: the Black Panther Party, sexism and the struggle today
We need to remember the contributions of black women to past struggles if we’re to take forward the fight for justice today, writes Shanice McBean.
Germany 1918-23: A forgotten history of revolution
Joe Sabatini reviews a collection of articles about how the German Communist Party organised in the early 1920s – only a few years after revolution had swept through Germany – and translates two of the pieces. Best of KPD: Linke Organisierung Damals Und Heute – in English Left Organisation Then and Now – is a […]
The left and Anonymous
Roderick C argues that the organised left should be playing an active role in protests called by groups like Anonymous This year’s Anonymous protest in London, called to mark 5 November, the night of “gunpowder, treason and plot”, attracted twice as many participants as a similar affair last year. It was part of a global […]
Scotland and Spain: lessons from contemporary social movements
Scotland and Spain have both seen mainstream politics in crisis in recent months. Neil Davidson and Luke Stobart discussed the significance of recent events at a meeting organised by rs21 in London on 30 November 2014.