Major demo calls for an end to Tory government
The People’s Assembly demo reflected the level of anger against May – and the new hopes people are placing in Jeremy Corbyn. The Not One Day More march, called by the People’s Assembly for 1 July, was a major success. Some 50 to 60 thousand people marched through central London demanding an end to Theresa […]
#GE2017: Tories are ahead, but they’re not invulnerable
For all the attempts to make this election seem like a foregone conclusion, it is clear that Theresa May has called it out of both weakness and strength.
Uneven and Combined Development: Modernity, Modernism, Revolution (5): China: Where All Roads Meet
In this last of five pieces on Uneven and Combined Development, Neil Davidson looks at its applicability for China today and concludes on how we think about revolutionary conjunctures in the 21st Century.
Part of the Union? – What should socialists argue in the EU referendum?
Can socialists take a principled position in relation to the EU referendum on 23 June, or should we wish ‘a plague on both your houses’? Charlie Hore puts the case for a ‘remain’ vote, Christina Delistathi to ‘leave’ and Rob Owen for a ‘radical abstention’ Campaign to remain There’s no dispute that the EU is 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.
EU referendum: for an internationalist leave position
Recently rs21 members met to discuss and debate our attitudes towards the EU referendum and related issues, in particular migrant solidarity. Migrant solidarity work is central to rs21. Initiatives like London2Calais have illustrated the possibility of combining organising practical solidarity with migrants with a strong anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist politics, as well as reaching out to new […]
Remembering the riots of spring 1976 in China
It’s 40 years since workers, students and school-students broke the oppressive regime that had come out of the Cultural Revolution in China and forced a change of direction on their rulers with mass protests in the spring of 1976. Charlie Hore looks back. 1976 was a pivotal year for China. In September Mao Zedong, the […]
The unofficial cult of Mao: instability in modern China
Charlie Hore places the recent construction and destruction of a giant statue of Mao Zedong in the context of the instability facing the Chinese ruling class Blink and you may have missed it, but there is already a contender for the strangest news story of 2016. In early January, pictures began circulating of a massive […]
MPs vote for bombing – join the protests this weekend and the 12 December demo
Charlie Hore reports from the protest outside parliament on Wednesday night, as MPs voted to bomb Syria. “Tonight, as I put my seven year old to sleep, somewhere in Aleppo or Homs there is a seven year old, waking up to the sound of airplanes.” That Facebook comment from an American friend echoes the sense of […]
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 […]
Support John Burgess in Unison’s General Secretary election!
Charlie Hore discusses why rs21 members in Unison are supporting John Burgess in the upcoming Unison General Secretary election and the battles that the union faces. This autumn Unison will hold an election for its General Secretary. This is the highest position in the union, and the only directly elected national official, so the […]
Bubbles, bounces and soft landings – China’s stock-market implodes
Charlie Hore discusses the dramatic recent crash on the Chinese stock market Even by Chinese standards, the figures are eye-watering – from a high point in early June, Chinese stock markets have lost over 3.5 trillion dollars to date, almost fifteen times the value of Greece’s GDP, and there is no end in sight to […]
EU debate: “The road to defending the right to migrate cannot go through restricting migration rights”
Charlie Hore kicks off debate and analysis on the rs21 site in advance of the referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU, set to take place before the end of 2017. Charlie argues for support for a yes position in the referendum, and tomorrow we will be publishing an article that argues for supporting a […]
No nazis in Stamford Hill!
Charlie Hore reports On Saturday afternoon (18 April) a number of small nazi groups tried to hold an antisemitic rally in Stamford Hill, Hackney. They failed, managing nothing more than walking a couple of hundred metres along the pavement, and then back again to their starting point, barracked every step of the way by a […]
Thousands attend Hong Kong solidarity protest in London
Charlie Hore reports from the protest outside the Chinese embassy on Wednesday 1 October. The organisers hoped for three to four hundred people, I was told, but at its height, there were up to 3,000 people outside the Chinese embassy in London on Wednesday night, showing their solidarity with the struggle in Hong Kong. The demonstration […]
Six pointers for antifascists after the 21 June attacks in Tottenham
See also: Antifascist vigil attracts 200 in show of unity and defiance On Saturday night a free music festival in Tottenham, north London, was violently attacked by a racist gang targeting audience members in general and, judging from media reports, Jews in particular. North London Antifascists has details, including video and evidence pointing to […]
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 […]
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 […]
rs21 political weekend: Revolutionary organisation and the working class
Charlie Hore writes: Just over 80 people made it to the final session of the rs21 political weekend, a session that was as much about demonstrating the breadth of the weekend as an attempt to sum it up. Ian Birchall began by with a CLR James quote new to most of us: ‘Lenin – not […]
Open statement: Resignation from the SWP
The signatories to this statement can no longer remain members of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) following events at its annual conference on 13-15 December 2013.
Imperialism and British workers: moving past the labour aristocracy debates
Our history is shaped by the legacy of empire. Alfie Hancox takes a critical look at debates on Labour and Imperialism
Polarization and Paralysis: the U.S. after the midterm elections
Ashley Smith and Charlie Post draw a balance sheet of the midterm elections, and their lessons for the socialist Left in the United States.
Today’s #KilltheBill protests show that the fight against increased police powers will continue
Protests on the eve of the final House of Lords vote on the Police Crime and Sentencing bill are not a last-ditch effort but a warmup for the fight to come, writes Charlotte Powell.
The antisemitism of Sir Keir Starmer
The Labour leadership treats British Jews as pawns in its factional war against the left. Meanwhile, its so-called ‘Zero Tolerance’ approach contributes nothing to any serious attempt to tackle antisemitism.
Joker and the Mask of Poverty
Caliban’s Revenge asks who is behind the Joker’s mask and who should be scared.
Uneven and Combined Development: Modernity, Modernism, Revolution (4): Continuities and Changes
In part 4 of his series on Uneven and Combined Development Neil Davidson looks at its relevance in the contemporary world.
North Sea oil and gas strikes and the industry crisis
As offshore workers on oil rigs operated the Wood Group continue their 48 hour strike, Brian Parkin puts the strike in the context of the wider crisis facing the oil industry.
Troubled oil on troubled waters: First North Sea oil and gas strike in 30 years
400 workers are currently taking part in the first strike in 30 years on North Sea oil rigs. Brian Parkin reports Since the downward oil price shock of November 2014, oil and gas companies worldwide have been struggling to stay in business by any means possible. For some, this has meant abandoning marginal fields or selling-on […]
Historical Materialism 2014: Reversing the decline
In the third of three articles, UNITE union activist Ian Allinson reports from four very useful sessions[i] learning from the North American Labour movement at this year’s Historical Materialism conference. Several speakers presented evidence of the serious decline in union membership density (the proportion of workers in a union), collective bargaining coverage (the proportion of […]