|
By Alan Woods
|
|
Monday, 05 January 2009 |
![[Audio] The Spanish Revolution](images/stories/spain/poum1a.jpg "[Audio] The Spanish Revolution") The part played by the Bolsheviks in the history of the Russian
revolution of 1917 proves the importance of the role of leadership. The
history of the Spanish revolution proves the same thing, but in a
negative sense. In September Alan Woods spoke to the Socialist Appeal
Northern Weekend
School in Britain, which had as its general theme 'The Class, the Party and the
Leadership', on those events which took place in Spain 70 years ago.
|
|
By Juana Cobo
|
|
Monday, 05 January 2009 |
|
|
|
By Alan Woods
|
|
Friday, 02 January 2009 |
 The year 2009 is a year of many anniversaries. As they will soon be reminding us, this is also twenty years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. That was a time when the capitalists and their spokespersons felt triumphant. They announced the end of Communism, the end of Socialism, even the end of History. But now it is clear to all that their predictions were false. What collapsed 20 years ago was not socialism or communism but only a bureaucratic and totalitarian caricature of socialism. The collapse of Stalinism was a great historical drama, but in retrospect it will be seen by history as only the prelude to an even greater drama: the collapse of capitalism, which is already being prepared. Alan Woods looks at the prospects for 2009.
|
|
By David May & Paul Poposky in the U.S.
|
|
Friday, 02 January 2009 |
 On Thursday morning, December 11th, the 250 workers occupying the Republic Windows and Doors factory in Chicago had something to be proud of: they had fought back against one of the biggest banks in the U.S. and had won all of the severance pay owed to them. The workers unanimously agreed Wednesday evening to approve a deal reached between negotiators from their union and Republic's creditor, Bank of America, prompting an end to the six day occupation. While the struggle did not result in keeping the factory open and jobs in place, the UE workers were able to win an important partial victory by winning the money owed to them.
|
|
By Ted Grant in 1947
|
|
Friday, 02 January 2009 |
 In 1947 a group of Russian
workers over in Britain on a training programme were banned by the Soviet
authorities from joining a British trade union, leading to conflict
with the British workers who had fought for a closed shop. The Soviet
bureaucracy could not tolerate the fact that these Russian workers might
pick up a few ideas about basic trade union rights, which caused harsh
debates within the British Communist Party.
|
|
By Walter Leon
|
|
Wednesday, 31 December 2008 |
 Two years after
the Israeli ‘Defence’ Forces indiscriminately slaughtered over a
thousand Lebanese civilians in the quaintly-titled Operation Just
Reward, Israel has turned its attention to Gaza, in the form of
Operation Cast Lead. Stripped of its innocuous-sounding name, this
operation becomes a lot less palatable: according to Palestinian medical
sources, nearly 300 Palestinians have been killed, including numerous
women and children. Israel’s targets have included police stations
(which are unsurprisingly situated in densely-populated areas), the
headquarters of a Hamas-owned satellite television channel, and the
Islamic University, Gaza’s only higher education institution.
|
|
By Iranian Workers' Solidarity Network
|
|
Wednesday, 31 December 2008 |
During the past week the
Iranian regime has arrested several labour activists. They
join a long list of imprisoned Iranian labour activists who have
committed no crime other than try to form trade unions (or other labour
organisations) and to defend the pay and working conditions of workers. We
urge all trade unionists, socialists, and labour and human rights
activists to send protest emails/letters
to the Iranian authorities.
|
|
By Iranian Workers' Solidarity Network
|
|
Wednesday, 31 December 2008 |
|
Earlier this year the
Iranian regime's authorities announced that thousands of Afghan workers
who needed work permits to work in Iran, because they do not have
passports, will not be allowed to work from the beginning of the
Iranian month of Shahrivar.
It
is the duty of the Iranian working class to defend its Afghan brothers
and sisters, especially as the regime's shrinking oil revenue will make
it search for more scapegoats to let it off the hook.
|
|
By In Defence of Marxism
|
|
Tuesday, 23 December 2008 |
 With Christmas just around the corner we present the final meeting of the ULU Marxist Society, which
celebrated the end of a successful first term of meetings on December 4th by hosting a
debate on Marxism and Religion. Under the heading Christianity - Capitalist or Communist? Dr Peter Hatton, Methodist Minister, debated Fred Weston, co-editor of In Defence of Marxism and
leading member of the International Marxist Tendency.
|
|
By Bertolt Brecht
|
|
Tuesday, 23 December 2008 |
 “If sharks were people,” Mr K. was asked by his
landlady’s little girl, “would they be nicer to the little fishes?”
|
|
By Bertolt Brecht
|
|
Tuesday, 23 December 2008 |
 Who built Thebes of the seven gates?
In the books you will find the names of kings.
Did the kings haul up the lumps of rock?
|
|
By Alan Woods
|
|
Tuesday, 23 December 2008 |
 The Permanent Revolution by Leon Trotsky is one of the most important Marxist books of the last century. The International Marxist Tendency is producing an Indonesian edition of this book, scheduled to be published in January. We publish here the introduction written by Alan Woods.
|
|
By In Defence of Marxism
|
|
Tuesday, 23 December 2008 |
|
Last week Indonesian police brutally attacked peasants defending their land rights, even using napalm bombs to destroy their homes, leading to the death of one child and leaving many injured. We issue this Solidarity Statement with the People of Suluk Bongkal Village and call on others to do the same.
|
|
By Alan Woods
|
|
Monday, 22 December 2008 |
 In his The Mona
Lisa Curse, the Australian art critic Robert Hughes subjected present-day
commercialisation of art to a withering criticism. His programme was a damning
indictment of the general tendency of art to degenerate into flashy triviality
to the degree that it subordinates itself to money-making and capitalist market
economics. It condemned the British artist Hirst for "functioning like a
commercial brand" and destroying any true understanding of art in the
public's mind by placing importance on the price tag alone.
|
|
By Niklas Albin Svensson
|
|
Monday, 22 December 2008 |
 After 4 years of intense warfare, the German workers and
soldiers ended World War I in November 1918. The workers and soldiers had taken power into their hands but also
handed it over to the very same people who so shamefully supported the war in
1914. These Social Democratic leaders organized the first defeat of the German revolution.
|
|
By Patrick Larsen in Puerto Ordáz
|
|
Friday, 19 December 2008 |
 On Tuesday, December 16, a delegation of fifteen workers from the CMR
(Revolutionary Marxist Current) and FRETECO, visited the SIDOR steel
factory in Guayana, state of Bolívar, Venezuela. The visit was a spectacular success and marks yet another milestone in the
growing influence of the CMR in the Venezuelan workers movement.
|
|
By Revolutionary Marxist Current (Venezuela)
|
|
Friday, 19 December 2008 |
 This manifesto was published by the CMR in response to Chavez's proposed constitutional amendment. The amendment abolishes the limit on how many times the president can stand for re-election. The CMR argues that it is time to move from speeches to deeds when it comes to the building of socialism in Venezuela and calls for Venezuelan revolutionaries to take up the struggle in the Bolivarian movement.
|
|
|
By Hands Off Venezuela
|
|
Friday, 19 December 2008 |
|
The activities of HOV in Germany were highlighted last Sunday in
newspaper and online articles issued by the Frankfurter Allgemeine
(FAZ), a major mouthpiece and "central organ" of the ruling class and a
sort of equivalent of the The Times in Britain.
|
|
|
By Ted Grant in 1958
|
|
Friday, 19 December 2008 |
|
In 1958, after 7 years in
power, Tory rule was shaken by recession. The class character of Tory policies
was clear for all to see. At the same time the right-wing orientation of Labour
under Gaitskell was frustrating the ranks of the labour movement. Growing
criticism was revealed by a Gallup Poll. Ted Grant explained that workers were
prepared to fight the Tories but the Labour leaders were not willing to give a
lead. The most class-conscious elements should therefore organise in opposition
to Gaitskell's policies.
|
|
|
By Fred Weston
|
|
Thursday, 18 December 2008 |
 Just a few months ago all the
talk was of Nigeria avoiding the effects of the world crisis of capitalism, the
idea being that the local economy was not as integrated into the world
financial markets as the more advanced economies. Then suddenly things started
to change...
|
|
|
By Karl Belin in the U.S.
|
|
Thursday, 18 December 2008 |
 Yesterday a communique reached the Campus
Antiwar Network national discussion e-mail list announcing the
occupation of the New School University's cafeteria by students both
from the New School, as well as from other universities in the
surrounding area from New York and New Jersey. The students have
occupied the cafeteria, claiming it as an autonomous students center.
|
|
|
By Socialist Appeal (U.S.)
|
|
Thursday, 18 December 2008 |
![[Video] Spanish Revolution: 70 Years Later](images/stories/usa/jpspanrev.jpg "[Video] Spanish Revolution: 70 Years Later") John Peterson, National Secretary of the Workers International League in the U.S.,
presenting at a forum on the Spanish Revolution at May Day Books in
Minneapolis, MN on November 13th, 2008.
|
|
|
This month marks the 90th anniversary of the murder of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, two outstanding revolutionary leaders of the German working class. To commemorate that tragic day we are republishing Rosa Luxemburg's last article 
| Tiếng Việt
