The last decade has seen a sharp rise in profiteering from the building and maintenance of social housing. Although most building projects have concentrated on the upper-end of the market, there has also been some public funding made available for working-class accommodation – a source of easy profits for the private firms involved.
After years of stagnation and struggle under the “Socialist” government of Hollande in France, the establishment parties have been completely discredited and the situation has grown into a full-blown political crisis. The next presidential election, taking place in the next few months, is set to be the most unpredictable in generations.
Sarah Taylor of the Newcastle Marxists looks at a little known strike that took place in Washington, near Sunderland, a centenary ago, when over 1,000 school children took part in a strike to ensure they were provided with free school lunches. Today, school students are again on the front line in the fight against austerity and the broken capitalist system.
Rob Sewell replies to the slanders and distortions presented in the Evening Standard by liberal historian Victor Sebestyen about Lenin, the Bolsheviks and the Russian Revolution in relation to the exhibition Russian Art 1917-1932 at the Royal Academy.
With around 500,000 protesters on the streets, the ongoing anti-government protests in Romania have seen the largest number of people involved since the collapse of the Ceausescu regime in 1989. These protests come after a year of rising unrest and political crisis. A mood of anger and resentment has been on the rise. But what is the nature of this movement?
Last Saturday, 11th February, around 100 students and young workers from at least 20 schools, colleges, and universities across the country gathered in London for the annual national conference of the Marxist Student Federation. The number of attendees was a fitting figure to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution.
Nearly 3,000 members of the British Airways “mixed fleet” cabin crews have walked out as part of a six-day strike aimed at fighting what their union rightly describes as poverty pay. Unless a deal is reached, a fresh four-day strike will begin on 17th February. However, British Airways (BA) bosses are digging their heels in and refusing to negotiate.
In the second of a series of videos celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 1917 Russian Revolution, Alan Woods – editor of In Defence of Marxism, www.marxist.com – examines the lies and slanders used to attack the Revolution, the Bolsheviks, and the ideas of Lenin and Trotsky.
This year marks the centenary of the 1917 Russian Revolution and the 25th anniversary of the first ever publication of Socialist Appeal. To celebrate these historic milestones, we are moving forward to publishing Socialist Appeal as a fortnightly paper. Help us reach this landmark achievement by donating to our fighting fund – with a total target of £10,000.
We are surrounded by a plethora of new technology and automated processes. And yet, productivity growth is slowing and inequality is rising. It is clear that the system has broken. Adam Booth discusses the question of technology and innovation under capitalism, looking at how private property and production for profit have become an enormous barrier to society’s development.
The resignation of Clive Lewis from the Labour front bench has dealt yet another blow to Corbyn’s leadership, as Brexit continues to torment the Labour Party. The public resignation of one of Corbyn’s most well known supporters may prove to be a fatal blow for the Labour leader, as the party is torn apart amidst a crisis of social democracy.
Universal basic income (or UBI), an unconditional payment to all citizens, has become part of the economic zeitgeist in recent times, embraced by advocates on both the Left and the Right as a solution to the symptoms and sores of the crisis-ridden capitalist system. But who is actually raising the proposal – and in whose interest?