Revolutionary Socialism in the 21st Century
 
Revolutionary
Socialism in the
21st Century

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nature of the period

Neil Davidson (1957-2020)

We are deeply saddened to announce the death of our comrade and friend, Neil Davidson. We send our condolences to his family, in particular to his partner Cathy Watkins. A full obituary will follow.

Kick Boris Out

The long Conservative decline

Labour still has a long way to go to win this election. But the Tory crisis won’t go away either, regardless of who wins on 12 December, argues Duncan Thomas.

Revolutionary organising in non-revolutionary periods #HM2018

Two sessions at Historical Materialism conference 2018 addressed questions of strategy for the left, each taking very different approaches.

Convergence on the right

Sometimes distinctions between conservatives, right-wing populists and fascists are easy to make. But increasingly often, argues Dave Renton, there is some overlap – and we have to understand today’s right wing on its own terms, not by assuming it fits the categories of the past. One theme of the last twelve months has been the […]

Office cubicles

Call Centres: Understanding Casualised Labour

Jamie Woodcock’s new book Working the Phones: Control and Resistance in Call Centres is an insider’s account of work in a call centre. Jaswinder Blackwell-Pal spoke to him about the movitations for the book, opportunities for organising casualised employment, and the future of work.   A million people in the UK alone now work in call […]

Striking workers outside the Ritzy cinema. Keywords: what is picketing strikes

revolutionary reflections | The Upturn/Downturn Debate: An Introduction

Ian Allinson summarises a debate on the development of capitalism since 1968, and how this has impacted the working class and its struggles, in an attempt to address the question of what revolutionaries should do. This summary was written early in 2015 and is published here for the first time. While pre-dating the failure of […]

Why is Donald Trump the president of the United States?

Amy Gilligan and Dominic Jones crunch the numbers to understand what happened in November’s election in the United States To the surprise of most observers, Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election in the United States. It is clear that an important task at the present time is to oppose his policies and the political […]

Video: Anti-Trump voices

Many people protesting and marching against Trump are doing so for the first time. Who are they? What are they saying? What motivates them? What do they want the revolt against Trump and May to look like? What should we all be doing? On the anti-Trump protest on 20 February, Colin Revolting and Tony Aldis […]

After fascism, what?

David Renton, author of Fascism: Theory and Practice,  discusses whether previous definitions of ‘fascism’ fit with the world we see today. The question of whether Donald’s Trump victory marks a triumph for fascism in the US depends, as always, on which definition of fascism you use. For most of the past fifty years, the principal way […]

#NoDAPL: How the water protectors won at Standing Rock

We republish eyewitness accounts from activists from New York who were at Standing Rock this weekend.

Unions: the poison of partnerships

Brian Parkin challenges the idea that there should be ‘partnership’ between workers and their bosses   In her first flush of leadership madness, Theresa May promised that from now on, the Tories would be ‘the workers party'(!) And as evidence of this conversion to the cause of the proletariat, she proposed forthcoming guidelines to advise […]

Lessons from Fawley: From ‘British jobs’ to migrant solidarity

In 2011 the ‘British jobs for British workers’ slogan sent shivers down the spine of anyone championing the rights of migrants. Brian Parkin assesses a recent watershed dispute at Fawley and discusses how – and why – the tide has turned On Wednesday 27 July at 10.00 am, just four hours before workers at the […]

Acting the part: emotional labour in the workplace

Jaswinder Blackwell-Pal explains how emotional labour at work is on the rise Konstantin Stanislavsky was a Russian actor and director who revolutionised theatre at the start of 20th century. Stanislavsky’s system of actor training, which drew on the actors own emotional memory to create a character, ushered in the psychological based form of acting that remains […]

US Election: Why Clinton lost and Trump won

Writing from the US, Bill Crane examines the reasons behind Trump’s victory in the US elections and what the future could hold.  “Do not weep, do not laugh, do not condemn, but understand.” – Baruch Spinoza Shock. That’s the only word that came to my mind as I numbly watched the returns come in and […]

revolutionary reflections | Rank and File Organising – Lessons from America Part 2

The International Socialist tradition has always believed in socialism from below – which means that socialism can only come about by the self-activity of the working class. In this interview Anindya Bhattacharyya and a Unite rep spoke to labour organiser Kim Moody about his experience of rank and file organising in the US since the 1960s, […]

Uber tribunal: Building unions and collective action among casualised workers

Nilu discusses why the ruling that Uber drivers are ‘workers’, rather than being ‘self-employed’ is a cause for celebration for all workers, especially others in the gig economy.   Workers and trade unionists in sectors renowned for low pay and insecurity have been celebrating a recent landmark court ruling that has effectively changed the status […]

revolutionary reflections | Rank and File Organising – Lessons from America 1

The International Socialist tradition has always believed in socialism from below – which means that socialism can only come about by the self-activity of the working class. In this interview Rob Owen spoke to labour organiser Jane McAlevey about her experience of rank and file organising in the US since the 1960s, and their views […]

revolutionary reflections | ‘The movement as a whole’ – Waves and Crisis of The Social Movement

Colin Barker provides a framework for revolutionaries to think about their engagement in the politics of social movements.

revolutionary reflections | Venezuela: for sale to the highest bidder?

The theory of state capitalism has played a critical role in the International Socialist tradition’s critique of regimes claiming to be socialist. In the first of the new Revolutionary Reflections articles, Mike Gonzalez presents an account of the latest developments in Venezuela which draw on that tradition to make sense of changes that are taking […]

Reviving the rank and file

Why aren’t we following the example set by the junior doctors? Rachel Eborall looks at the arguments we need to make to revive the rank and file movement and put militant action back on the agenda The fact that the working class is paying for a crisis they did not cause is clear for all to see. According to […]

Reclaiming the future

Sølvi Qorda argues the “millennial” generation needs to shoot up a flare and embrace the idea of human liberation if we are not to abandon the future to fear. My most enduring memory of the student movement was of the power and the creativity that it brought. At Millbank, on Day X, in the university […]

Deliveroo and the anatomy of the ‘gig’ economy

The victory of couriers in the recent Deliveroo strike tells us a lot about organising alongside new technology, both how it can be used to discipline workers, but also how they can resist that supervision. Charlie Jarsve reports: Yesterday the IWGB announced a victory. For six days Torrington Place had been filled with couriers and supporters from […]

The high stakes of the Deliveroo Strike

12 August saw Deliveroo couriers, on day two of their strike, protesting outside management’s offices. Joe Hayns asks what’s at stake. Thronging a street in central London – shouting together at a management that’s gone from smug to terrified in 72 hours – were around 150 Deliveroo couriers. During a sit-down discussion the most recent offer […]

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.

Fawley refinery: Solidarity wins equal pay for migrant workers

Brian Parkin reports that Fawley workers show that solidarity can triumph over scapegoating other workers, rather than fighting the bosses. Yesterday (27 July) at 10.00 am, just four hours before workers at the giant Exxon/Mobil petroleum refinery at Fawley in Hampshire were due to commence their second 24 hour strike, management conceded to their demands. Even in […]

What would a British revolution look like – and how would it happen?

Neil Davidson discusses the prospects for revolution in Britain in an article originally published on The Conversation.

Brexit and beyond: interview with Gareth Dale

Gareth Dale was interviewed by the Romanian left-wing site CriticAtac about the what Brexit will now mean in Britain and more widely in Europe. Here we republish their interview.  CriticAtac: So, Brexit has won. Nonetheless, it is not entirely clear what this entails and, indeed, if anything really major has happened so far. What are the […]

Austria: The rise of respectable fascism?

Joe Sabatini reflects on the social, demographic and ideological issues behind the Austrian Presidential Election, and considers strategies to oppose the far right. On 22 May the Austrian electorate came within a percentage point of electing Europe’s first fascist head of state since the 1930s. On 1 July, the results of the second round of […]

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Post #Brexit vote: taking on the challenge of ‘acceptable racism’

Kat Burdon-Manley analyses reasons behind the vote in last week’s EU referendum and discusses where now Racism in Britain has been on the rise since the start of the recession. We have witnessed the increasing popularity of UKIP, the shift to the right and acceptance of racism by the Labour Party and the structural racism […]

NUS Malia Bouattia

What we’re seeing is a return of struggle

The election of  Malia Bouattia as President of the National Union of Students was a stunning victory for the left. Matt Collins interviews Sai Englert a member of Malia’s campaign team, a NUS national executive member and a long-time stalwart of the student left on the politics of the student movement, and the new opportunities for the […]