With Italian politics in turmoil, we publish here a recent article by Roberto Sarti of the Italian Marxists “Falce Martello” who explains the economic, social, and political background to this current turbulent period of crisis. Although written before the recent rebellion against Silvio Berculoni by MPs in his own party and the latest vote in favour of the ruling “grand coalition”, the article provides a thorough analysis of the deep instability that exists within Italian politics due to the ongoing economic crisis and its social impacts.

In the second of two recent articles by Stamatis Karayannopoulos of the Communist Tendency of SYRIZA and member of the party’s Central Committee, Stamatis comments on the arrest of the leadership of the Golden Dawn (GD) – a neo-fascist organisation in Greece – by the Greek state in response to the assassination by a GD member of Pavlos Fyssas, a well known anti-fascist rapper – an act which has led to mass demonstrations across Greece against the GD.

We are publishing here the first of two articles by Stamatis Karayannopoulos of the Communist Tendency of SYRIZA and member of the party’s Central Committee, in which the author looks at the parlous and crisis-ridden state of the Greek economy under capitalism and analyses the political and social ramifications of continued crisis, cuts, and class struggle, including the tasks required from the SYRIZA leadership.