There’s nothing so weird as a revolution
Ian Birchall reviews China Miéville’s October, a new history of the Russian Revolution. It seems an odd pairing: the Russian Revolution and China Miéville, whose reputation is based on fantasy fiction which he himself describes as “weird”. But one only needs to read a few pages to realise that this is not a forced marriage […]
Images of Russia from liberation to oppression
Steve Eason reviews Red Star Over Russia and Not Everyone will be Taken into the Future by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, both at Tate Modern.
How memories of Soviet repression turn Eastern Europe against the left
Hanna Gal offers some personal thoughts on anti-communist political culture in Eastern Europe and how to bridge the divide between Eastern European workers and Western Marxists.
Six Red Months in Russia: Louise Bryant’s view of the revolution
Louise Bryant’s Six Red Months in Russia, with its nuanced and enlightening discussion of women’s lives, is a vital eyewitness account of the Russian Revolution.
Reviewing BBC Radio 4’s coverage of the Russian revolution
Martin Crook analyses the presentation of the Russian revolution by the BBC, questioning the accuracy of a review that blames the revolution for the sins of Stalinism.
The Death of Stalin: first as tragedy, then as farce
Estelle Cooch reviews Armando Iannucci’s latest film, The Death of Stalin
Review: China Miéville’s October
Charlie Burton reviews China Miéville’s retelling of the story of the tumultuous months 100 years ago leading up to the October revolution. October is published by Verso and available now. In July 1914, deputies of the largely ineffective parliamentary body, the Russian Duma, voted in favour of war credits and confirmed Russia’s entry into the arena […]
Social histories of 1917
Estelle Cooch, a history teacher in South London, reflects on an unusual series of history lectures that have drawn a new generation into exploring the Russian Revolution. This article was first published in the summer 2017 edition of the rs21 magazine. ‘The percentage of freaks among people in general is very considerable, but it is […]
A united front against US aggression: difficult but necessary
Rob Owen argues that revolutionaries need to engage with the anti-war movement that exists to build the one we need On Tuesday 4 April two U.S. warships fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Al Shayrat airfield in Syria. The airport was the base from which the Assad regime had carried out the Sarin gas attack […]
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 […]
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.
Boris wants to team up with Assad and Putin to rain more bombs down on Syria
Ministers in the UK, France and Spain are now calling for the West to work with Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Anindya Bhattacharyya takes on Boris Johnson’s arguments Today’s Telegraph contains a thousand words from Boris Johnson about why Britain should ally with Bashar al-Assad and Vladimir Putin over Syria. Wade through his gollygosh prose if […]
Putin’s enemies within
Last Sunday, Nestor Bakunin joined a demonstration in Moscow in memory of the murdered opposition politician Boris Nemtsov. Here he discusses the politics of the demonstration – one of the largest in recent years – and what it reveals about the current state of opposition to Putin’s regime in Russia. At least 50,000 people marched […]
On the murder of Boris Nemtsov
Tens of thousands demonstrated in Moscow and other cities around Russia today against the murder of Boris Nemtsov on Friday night. Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister, was a prominent critic of president Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. He had been due to lead today’s demonstration in Moscow against the war, marking a year since […]
The spectre of social unrest is haunting Putin’s Russia
The Russian economy is in serious trouble. Gabriel Levy analyses the roots of the problem and what this means for ordinary Russians, Ukrainians, and the rest of us. This article was originally posted on the People and Nature blog. On Russia’s “Black Tuesday” this week (16 December), the Central Bank tried to stop the rouble’s […]
The Russian far right and its role in the Ukraine conflict
Moscow based socialist and rs21 member Nestor Bakunin has written an article at The Project detailing the state of Russia’s far right and its involvement in the Ukraine conflict. He writes: While those on the left who consider Kiev to have a fascist government depict the separatist movement as an “antifascist” resistance, there are others who […]
The changing face of imperialism
Ukraine and Syria have put imperialism back at the top of the political agenda. Rob Owen traces the theory of imperialism and charts the trajectory of US imperialism in recent years.
Malevich: new art for a new world
Lois JC (Brixton) reviews the Tate Modern’s new show Malevich: Revolutionary of Russian Art at the Tate Modern is the first retrospective of the Russian avant garde artist Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935) in 25 years. The exhibition illustrates, beautifully yet subtly, the contours of a time of revolutionary upheaval: from his early influences and the formation of […]
The Tragedy of Odessa
We must stand with the people of Ukraine against their own government and oligarchs, against the machinations of the West, against the growing threat of fascism, and against the rising tide of Russian imperialism.
May Day around the world
With photographs and short reports on demonstrations for International Workers’ Day from Moscow to La Paz. Ben (Moscow): There were about 150 people on this march. There were multiple marches: the Ukraine crisis has fragmented the left. Orthodox “Christian” provocateurs attacked the Moscow march. They were objecting to the LGBT contingent. They started by throwing […]
Ukraine: four points in response to Chris Nineham
Acknowledging Russia’s imperialism has consequences for our understanding of national liberation movements.
Moscow anti-war march says no to Russian imperialism
We should not forget the ordinary people of Ukraine and Russia who will pay the price for any conflict.
Ukraine on the brink of default – a shock doctrine in the making
In the middle of this battle between geopolitical superpowers are the interests of ordinary Ukrainians, which are unlikely to be served by either Russia or the West.
Ukraine: “We cannot hand the movement over to the right.”
Ilya Budraitskis, the Moscow-based socialist, was interviewed by marx21.de magazine earlier this month about the protests in Ukraine.
Hypocrisy, homophobia and the neoliberal ruling class
As the Sochi Olympics began, many politicians and multinationals have statements supporting LGBT rights and condemning Russia’s homophobic government, but there are doubts about these new friends of equality.