EU debate: “Leaving the EU won’t get rid of neoliberalism”
Bettina Trabant, originally from Germany, currently living in London, continues the discussion on which side to support in the vote on EU membership. We will be continuing this debate with another article from Brian Parkin tomorrow. Socialists have been debating the upcoming EU referendum ever since the general election in May and can be […]
London Pride: a chance to challenge the neoliberal LGBT agenda
London Pride is taking place this Saturday and in the run up has been hitting the headlines. Colin Wilson argues that the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners’ contingent on this year’s march provides a crucial opportunity for radical voices to be heard. As soon as the Pride Committee published the order in which groups […]
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 […]
‘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.
Historical Materialism 2014: Marxist-feminist challenges to neoliberalism
Lois JC reports on the session entitled “Marxist-feminist challenges to neoliberalism” that took place at the London Historical Materialism 2014 conference earlier this month, with Hester Eisenstein, Estelle Cooch and Catherine Rottenberg. The meeting on neoliberalism and feminism at the Historical Materialism conference was a timely and serious contribution towards analysing feminist movements today. Feminism seems […]
Book review: paramilitarism and neoliberalism in Colombia
Neoliberalism and extreme violence go hand in hand in Colombia – Olivia Arigho Stiles reviews an important contribution to debates about Latin America. Jasmin Hristov Paramilitarism and Neoliberalism: Violent Systems of Capital Accumulation in Colombia and Beyond Pluto Press, 2014 £45 In recent years Latin America has formed the locus of debates over neoliberalism, while also […]
Burkina Faso: African workers fighting neoliberalism
Drew Povey, a British socialist working in sub-Saharan Africa, currently in Nigeria, looks at the background to the recent ousting of Burkina Faso’s dictator Blaise Compaoré. This article was originally published on Pambazuka News. In the early 1980s, President Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso was a beacon of hope against the increased inequality and […]
Adam Hanieh on the Gulf states, neoliberalism and liberation in the Middle East
Adam Hanieh is a senior lecturer at and School of Oriental and African Studies and author of Lineages of Revolt: Issues of Contemporary Capitalism in the Middle East. He spoke to Bill Crane about his book and on the trajectories of the Arab revolutions since 2011. You talk in your book about how the IMF and the World Bank see […]
Things to be angry about and frightened of: A response to Ian A
Kevin Crane responds to Ian A‘s article ‘Anger, confidence, fear and hope in the workplace‘, arguing that the nature of precariousness at work needs to be taken seriously. Many of the things Ian has written are perfectly sensible and may, for some readers, be urgent matters. I think, however, that in stressing certain useful points, […]
Living Workers, Dead Wages
by Luke Evans “And, it must be confessed, that although the adoption of the enlarged machinery, in that state of our commerce which the country once boasted, might have been beneficial to the master without being detrimental to the servant; yet, in the present situation of our manufactures, rotting in warehouses without a prospect of exportation, […]
What capital won, and how we can win it back
[extended edit of a review in the launch issue of rs21 magazine] A Unite rep examines arguments put forward by labour researcher Kim Moody – and how they shed light on how bosses have reorganised the workplace to our detriment. For 30 years now the left has faced tremendous difficulties in coming to terms with changes that […]
The politics of depression: Mark Fisher on mental health and class confidence
Anindya Bhattacharyya spoke to Mark Fisher about the politics of mental health, magical voluntarism and the ideology of neoliberalism.
Having no job is a daily grind in itself – on unemployment.
Mary Turner writes about her son struggling to find work. My son is shy and does not always mix well with other people. He lacks certain social skills, but he is a lovely person and sensitive to other people’s needs. He has been unemployed for some time, and there is pressure on him from all […]
Racism, austerity and revolution: rs21 north London meeting
Watch the rs21 meeting in Tottenham featuring Estelle (rs21), Bianca (Left Unity), Jennifer (Justice for Mark Duggan) and Bat (rs21), including discussions and summary.
The upturn/downturn debate: an introduction
Ian A summarises a debate on the development of capitalism since 1968, and how this has impacted the working class and its struggles, in a attempt to address the question of what revolutionaries should do.
Social reproduction – what it is and why it matters
Reproduction involves more than just the creation of human beings – it involves the reproduction of the “capital relation” itself – the worker and the capitalist.
Ukraine: four points in response to Chris Nineham
Acknowledging Russia’s imperialism has consequences for our understanding of national liberation movements.
What is social reproduction theory?
In the first of a series of articles looking at and debating social reproduction theory, here we republish Tithi Bhattacharrya’s introductory piece on some of the basics.
rs21 IWD meeting: No More Blurred Lines
Watch the video from rs21’s event ‘No More Blurred Lines: sexism and exploitation in the neoliberal era’ organised for International Women’s Day 2014.
Blood on the streets in Ukraine
What is happening in Ukraine is clearly more than a simple protest movement. From day one it has had an insurrectionary character.
The UAW’s defeat in Tennessee
Bill Crane analyses the roots of the UAW’s defe at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga.
Participation, resistance and betrayal among car workers
A Unite rep reviews Militant Years, Alan Thornett’s political memoir of his life as a radical car plant worker in Oxford – and draws out some political warnings about ‘participation’ then and ‘partnership’ today.
ISJ: Neil Davidson on the neoliberal era in Britain
An analysis of the neoliberal period poses some crucial questions as to how revolutionaries move forward today.
#M2013: Judith Orr on the definition of class
Judith argued that capitalism is always in flux, constantly revolutionising the means of production, but that exploitation of the majority by the minority remains the core of the system.