Britain’s vanishing nightlife
What the loss of night clubs mean, for community, for queer freedom and for the right to collective joy
The case for abolishing mass media
Far-right movements are driven not just by ideology but by the media itself
Death to the IDF! Long live punk!
Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury set signals a revival of punk’s radical political roots.
Queer joy and support for Palestine face police harassment
The annual George Michael Memorial Party faced a police crackdown last month, after its support for Palestine last year.
Review | Andor, Season 2
Rebellion against an empire complicit in genocide – in Star Wars, now a Disney brand. On the complexities of Andor.
Review | The Penguin Lessons
A review of Steve Coogan’s new film which is set in the context of 1970s Argentina under the repression of the military junta
Review | Mickey 17
Boon Jong-Ho’s new film Mickey 17 uses science fiction to shine a light on our world
Review | Hard Graft
Kika Hendry reviews the Wellcome Collection’s exhibition Hard Graft, which explores the relationship between work and health tracing through histories of exploitation, oppression and resistance.
The cultural problem of ‘treatlerism’
Treatlerism describes a reactionary entitlement rooted in exploitation. But what if we reclaimed entitlement?
Review | Forest of Noise
A review of a new collection of poetry by Palestinian poet and writer Mosab Abu Toha.
Review | Burnout
Samuel Kelly reviews Hannah Proctor’s Burnout, a timely exploration of the emotional toll of political struggle, offering ways to navigate despair and sustain hope in our movements.
Review | Mixing Pop and Politics
A review of Mixing Pop and Politics by Toby Manning, a Marxist history of popular music that analyses the relationship between society’s economic base and its cultural superstructure.
Interview | Toussaint Louverture: The Story of the Only Successful Slave Revolt in History
Matthew Cookson interviews the authors of a new graphic novel on the Haitian Revolution.
Leftist direct action thrillers: a new genre?
I’m a Virgo, How to Blow Up a Pipeline, Black 47 and Codename Jenny
Reflections on International Workers’ Memorial Day
To mark IWMD, the rs21 Art Group made a zine with Cut-Through Collective, which we distributed in Glasgow and London across the May Day weekend.
People Make Television: cultural production, socialism and the state
Tom Schofield on the People Make Television exhibition at Raven Row, London.
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.
Cultural Marxism? A review of The Dialectics of Art
Ian Birchall reviews The Dialectics of Art, a new work by John Molyneux.
Agitating with Art: the Artivists at Work story so far
Artwork – not just ‘great art’ but cartoons and doodles – can add life and vibrancy to political messaging, and give people a mirror in which to recognise their own hopes and frustrations.
Cultural commodities that got us through 2020
From Netflix binges to a new theory of ‘alternative hedonism’, here are the shows, films, music, and books that kept us going in 2020.
Artistic platforms and political art
Allan Struthers explores the relationship of artwork and the platforms on which they are presented.
Artivists at Work 2
More from Artivists at Work: resisting NHS cuts, unsafe school reopenings and the gendered impacts of Covid-19.
Hearts and stomachs
Last week’s vote on the Trade Bill showed how the callous disregard for human life and food safety that Upton Sinclair exposed in his classic novel The Jungle is as relevant as ever.
Artivists at Work
Artivists at Work was formed in response to the government’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis. Here’s a round-up of highlights from June and details of how to get involved.