The struggle of the Kurdish forces that have been defending the town of Kobane against the onslaught of ISIS forces, which outnumber and outgun them, has been nothing short of heroic. These latest events, however, expose the cynical manoeuvres of the Ergodan government in Turkey and the hypocrisy of the Western imperialists.
At a recent meeting of the Sussex Marxists, Adam Booth – editor of www.socialist.net – discusses the events surrounding the Scottish referendum and analyses the question of independence and nationalism, putting forward a Marxist perspective on the way forward for workers and youth in Scotland, Britain, and internationally.
We publish here an analysis of the history and programme of the Black Panther Party – the militant organisation that was at the forefront of the Black Power movement in the USA in the 1960s and 70s – by John Peterson of Socialist Appeal USA. In the wake of the murder of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, now is an important time to ask: which way forward for the fight against racism and oppression?
Rosa Luxemburg was one of the most important figures in the history of the international workers’ movement.Reform or Revolution was one of the most important of her early writings. Written in 1899, it provides a devastating demolition of the theoretical and practical basis of reformism. It was completely valid at the time when it was written and it remains completely valid today.
British MPs have voted overwhelmingly to involve UK military forces in yet another imperialist adventure in Iraq. So successful have previous efforts at ‘stability’ and ‘democracy’ been, that the military is being sent in once again in a desperate attempt to prevent Iraq from spiralling out of the control of the Western imperialists. Rob Dransfield examines the hypocrisy and real motives of imperialism
Eighty years ago in the US, a branch of the Teamsters union, Local 574 lead a magnificent struggle against ruthless bosses and their backers in government. Critically, the branch had within its ranks a revolutionary leadership able to organise the fight at every stage. Bob Faulkes looks back at a strike that has inspired union militants over the decades.
Many in the West are justifiably horrified by the atrocities being perpetrated by the ISIS gangsters. But imperialist intervention, which led to this wreck in the first place, is no solution. There is no short-term way out. John Peterson of Socialist Appeal USA discusses the only genuine alternative: a socialist revolution that can transform the region and the world.
We publish here an open letter from Darrall Cozens, President of the Coventry TUC and lifelong member of the Labour Party, who responds to the Labour leader, Ed Miliband’s, justification for supporting the recent vote in Parliament backing military action in Iraq.
Following their vote for war against the Islamic State in Parliament, the Tories then headed off to their party conference last week to re-declare another war: a class war against the working class. Steve Jones looks at the latest promises of austerity that Cameron and co. have offered to workers and youth.
With the vote in Parliament last week overwhelmingly in favour of involving the Royal Air Force in attacking the ISIS in Iraq, Britain has once more become involved in an extraordinarily complex and increasingly out-of-control situation in the Middle East. Owen Walsh of the Leeds Marxists looks at the latest development in Iraq.
As the new academic term gets underway in many universities, Marxist students have been at yet more freshers fairs signing up hundreds of students who are interested in building an organisation capable of fighting for socialist policies within the student movement. We publish here reports from some of these freshers fairs.
In this audio from the first meeting of the new term for the UCLU Marxist Society, Fred Weston – editor of “In Defence of Marxism” – discusses the nature of the capitalist system, how it works, why it goes into crisis, and what the alternative is: the socialist transformation of society, based on a democratic and rational plan of production.