Uneven and Combined Development: Modernity, Modernism, Revolution (1): The Classic Forms of Uneven and Combined Development
In this first of five pieces, Neil Davidson explores Trotsky’s history of combined and uneven development and how it helps us understand capitalist modernity.
The counterrevolution crushes Aleppo
The Syrian regime and its Russian ally are in the last barbaric stages of an onslaught against Aleppo. Below we republish Ashley Smith’s analysis from the SocialistWorker.org website in the US. THE COMBINED forces of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Russian air power and Iranian-backed Shia death squads are reconquering Eastern Aleppo, according to reports–and with it, the […]
Revolutionary portrait: Claudia Jones (1915–1964)
An early proponent of intersectionality, Claudia Jones’ life and legacy deserves recognition and another look argues Samir Kinks. “I was deported from the USA because, as a Negro woman Communist of West Indian descent, I was a thorn in their side,” Claudia Jones told a 1956 Caribbean News interview after her deportation to Britain. As […]
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.
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 […]
Revolutionaries and the Labour Party: “fostering struggle from below is key”
Roddy Usher argues revolutionaries should concentrate on forging links between a new generation of Labour activists and real, concrete, struggles.
The story of a Bolshevik worker-intellectual: a review of Barbara Allen’s ‘Alexander Shlyapnikov’
Ian Birchall reviews Barbara C Allen’s Alexander Shlyapnikov 1885-1937: Life of an Old Bolshevik, published by Haymarket Books.
Revolutionaries and Labourism
Jonas Liston discusse the relationship between revolutionaries and the Labour Party.
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.
1936: revolution in Spain
Andy Durgan is author of The Spanish Civil War (Palgrave 2007) and Comunismo, revolución y movimiento obrero en Cataluña 1920-1936. Los orÃgenes del POUM (Laertes, 2016). In the latest of a series of articles marking the anniversary of General Franco’s military coup against the Republican government of Spain, he argues that the revolution was always up […]
Sherrl Yanowitz: 1942 – 2016
Jonny Jones looks back on the life of a tireless fighter against injustice and for a better world. Sherrl’s funeral will take place tomorrow, 1 July, at 2pm, Mortlake Crematorium, Richmond TW9 4EN Sherrl Yanowitz, who has died aged 74, was a lifelong revolutionary socialist and anti-racist fighter. Sherrl was born Shirley Grosse – she hated the name […]
The democratic wager: why the Left must support the Syrian Revolution
Nick Evans Reviews Jules Alford and Andy Wilson (eds.) Khiyana. Daesh, the Left and the Unmaking of the Syrian Revolution. Essays by Muhhamad Idrees Ahmad, Javaad Alipoor, Leila Al-Shami, Mark Boothroyd, Joseph Daher and Shiar Neyo, Sam Charles Hamad, Bodour Hassan, Michael Karadjis, Louis Proyect, Eyal Zisser. London: Unkant, 2016. 278 pp. £9.99. The title of this book means “betrayal”: […]
Tributes to Sherrl Yanowitz (1942-2016)
We are deeply saddened by the loss of our friend and comrade Sherrl Yanowitz, who passed away this week after a short battle with cancer. Sherrl was, and will continue to be, an inspiration for all of us fighting for a better world. She was an activist, trade unionist and a fighter against all forms […]
More radical than reality: A letter to a comrade of an earlier era
Jonas Liston writes about becoming a young revolutionary in the 21st century. Dear comrade, You asked me to talk you through how my generation of militants was radicalised, through what routes we came into struggle and why we found ourselves amongst that minuscule section of society that believed in what were, supposed to be, […]
‘I was a shop steward and I had a duplicator’ – IS in the 1970s
As the battles of the 1970s intensified Norman McLean became an electrician working in factories and on building sites. Norman spoke to us about his experiences of being a revolutionary activist in an exciting period of working class history. Part 1 can be found here Part 2 Getting Organised What did it mean to be […]
Extract: Order reigns in Berlin
On the 97 anniversary of Rosa Luxemburg‘s murder, Jonas Liston introduces an extract from her final article “Order Reigns in Berlin“. In November 1918, a revolt of German sailors and soldiers sparked a mass workers’ revolution that would see the establishment of democratic workers’ councils, the end of World War One and the abdication […]
Long read: What do Syrian and Lebanese activists think?
Miriyam Aouragh introduces interviews with activists Syrian and Lebanese that aim to cut through the confusion that has clouded much of the British left in recent months. The activists’ responses to questions about the nature of Daesh, the role of sectarianism and whether class can still be a source of analysis in the uprising, how we should regard the Kurdish […]
International statement: We fight dictatorships, imperialist aggression and Daesh. We reject the politics of “national security”, racism and austerity. It’s time to mobilise!
Over recent months, people across the Middle East have been hit by an intensification of conflict in Syria and Iraq. That escalation has been sponsored both by global imperialist powers – chiefly the USA, Russia and European countries – and regional imperialist actors including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Iran. These conflicts are the product […]
Ten Days That Shook The World
In celebration of the 98th anniversary of the Russian Revolution we are publishing this short extract from John Reed’s brilliant eye witness account, Ten Days That Shook The World. Reed was a socialist journalist from the USA, who described the revolution as: “Adventure it was, and one of the most marvellous mankind ever embarked upon.” […]
Arguments for revolution
Jack Farmer argues that we need revolutionary ideas more than ever now that Jeremy Corbyn is Labour leader The unthinkable has become real: a socialist is leader of the Labour Party. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Labour’s history is littered with right-wing leaders who have betrayed the hopes of those who voted for them. As I […]
Migration in the age of Imperialism’s four horsemen: part 3
For over three decades neoliberalism has run rampant at the expense of the working class and poorest of the world. But such a dismal interpretation of the world just will not do. The point is to change it. This requires us honestly to recognise the scale of the crisis while identifying those symptoms of resistance […]
The De-commissioned Army
Carlisle rs21 put forward a revolutionary perspective on the Corbyn victory Jeremy Corbyn’s victory is a milestone in the fight for a better society. It was a day when people who had been silenced by austerity found their voice and bellowed. We witnessed the death and burial of the Blair project. We got the conclusion […]
The Syrian Revolution and the crisis of the anti-war movement
Suddenly, everyone is talking about Syria. Saturday’s demonstration will be in solidarity with all refugees, but a Syrian refugee is one of the key organisers. Campaigners from the Syria Solidarity Movement UK and Stop the War Coalition are among those involved in the planning, along with many other organisations. Everyone should welcome this commitment to […]
Alfred Rosmer: A lifelong revolutionary
In the first of a series exploring the lives of some of history’s understated revolutionaries, Ian Birchall introduces French syndicalist and communist Alfred Rosmer The name Alfred Rosmer is little known today. Yet his life story sums up both the greatness and the tragic failure of the years after the Russian Revolution of 1917. The […]
The idea of revolution in the 21st century
Video of Neil Davidson and Colin Barker speaking on The Idea of Revolution in the 21st Century.
Strategies for the radical left: realistic, but visionary
‘Strategies for the radical left today’ is an excerpt from a talk given by Estelle Cooch at They Don’t Represent Us on 16 May 2015.
The revolting establishment
Pat Stack reviews two recent books trying to get to grips with changing the world: Russell Brand’s Revolution, and Owen Jones’ The Establishment
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 […]
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 […]