USA: lessons of the Rutgers strike Joining the massive wave of labor action on campuses throughout the country, academic workers at New Jersey’s largest public university went on strike on April 10. Over 9,000 workers represented by three unions took to the picket lines in Camden, Newark, and New Brunswick. A first since the school’s founding in 1766, the strike lasted five days with energetic rallies and pickets, before a tentative framework, brokered by Democratic Governor Phil Murphy, put the strike on ice, diverting the struggle to the bargaining table. As of May 8, some 93% of members had voted to ratify their contracts. Enormous potential was on display during this inspiring strike and important lessons for the...
Indonesia: 25 years since the fall of Suharto – we need revolution, not reformation! A quarter of century ago, on 21 May 1998, the much-hated dictator of Indonesia, Suharto, was overthrown by a mass revolutionary uprising. Although this moment is widely known as Reformation (Reformasi), it was truly a revolution. The masses, held in deep slumber for decades, were suddenly awakened into political life and pounded against the door of the established power. The New Orderregime, which had ruled comfortably and confidently for 32 years, and appeared immovable, collapsed like a house of cards when faced with the mass uprising of the Indonesian youth and workers.
Vietnam: violent clashes over land grabs on the rise In recent times, land disputes and struggles over land seizures have intensified in Vietnam, as large corporations rake in huge profits building factories and homes on stolen land, assisted by local government officials. This in turn has led to intense riots, demonstrations, protests and conflict with the police.
Greek elections: unified struggle needed to defeat the right! The result of the May 21 national election saw victory for the traditional party of the Greek ruling class, New Democracy (ND), and a crushing defeat for SYRIZA, the main party of the left over the last decade.
2023 Fightback Congress steels Canadian Marxists for class war Around 250 revolutionaries gathered in Toronto on May 20-22 for the 2023 Congress of Fightback and La Riposte socialiste, the Canada and Quebec section of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT). The latest congress took place as global capitalism faces unprecedented crisis on all fronts, from rampant inflation and debt to the war in Ukraine to the...
[Podcast] Class struggle in Africa: part two This week’s episode of International Marxist Radio concludes our two-part series looking at the class struggle in Sub-Saharan Africa. This week, Ben Morken, a leading comrade of the International Marxist Tendency based in South Africa, discusses the broader context that has led to the current state of affairs across the continent.
Britain: Tory meltdown madness – two tribes prepare for civil war With the party’s electoral prospects languishing, the Tories are once again tearing themselves to pieces. The headbangers are looking to ‘take back control’, just as the establishment is seeking stability. Explosive events are being prepared.
Elections in Thailand: monarchy and military junta rejected – but which way forward? On 14 May, almost 40 million Thais stepped up to the ballot box. The result: a clear rejection of the ruling royalist-military junta. Unofficial figures from the election commission show the two main opposition parties, Pheu Thai and the Move Forward Party, collectively received 25 million votes. A royalist coalition of Palang Pracharath, Bhumjaithai, and Democrat parties, along with a handful of smaller parties, including the new United Thai Nation Party of incumbent Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, were soundly defeated.
Cuba: capitalist restoration by the ‘Russian road’? In recent days, a series of public announcements have been made about Russian investments in Cuba. "They are giving us preferential treatment, the path is clear," declared Boris Titov, the head of the Russian delegation at the closing of the Cuba-Russia Business Economic Forum. The conditions offered to Russian capitalists are very favourable to them: 30-year land concessions – longer than those that have been in place until now – tax exemptions on machinery imports, and the repatriation of profits.
US economy on collision course with debt ceiling The deadline for reaching a deal on the US debt ceiling is just days away, and Capitol Hill is deadlocked. On or around 1 June, the federal government will no longer have the money to continue paying its bills, potentially resulting in an unprecedented default that would send catastrophic shockwaves across the world economy.
The Enlightenment and Spinoza's revolutionary rationalism Born in 1632 in the Dutch Republic, the rationalist philosopher Baruch Spinoza was one of the great fathers of Enlightenment thinking. As Hamid Alizadeh explains, Spinoza’s philosophy – which contained a materialist and atheistic kernel – represented a revolutionary challenge to the authority of both Church and state.
Ecuador: banker-president Lasso carries out power grab Guillermo Lasso, Ecuador's banker-president, has used Article 148 of the Constitution – known as the “muerte cruzada”or “mutual death” – to shut down the National Congress just two hours before the vote on his impeachment trial for corruption was due to begin. Elections must now be called within six months to renew both the executive (the president) and the legislature (the Congress), but in the interim, the president remains in office and rules by decree without parliamentary oversight. It is therefore a power grab or, as some have described it, an autogolpe (a self-coup).
[Podcast] Class struggle in Africa: part one This week’s episode of International Marxist Radio is the first of a special two-part series looking at the class struggle in Sub-Saharan Africa. Ben Morken, a leading comrade of the International Marxist Tendency based in South Africa, discusses the current political situation in a number of African countries, which constitute a bubbling cauldron of class struggle.
USA: trouble in Hollywood – Writers Guild on strike Hollywood is known as a “dream factory,” but for film and television writers it’s become simply a factory like any other, with all the drudgery and exploitation that entails. Sea changes in the industry brought about by streaming and artificial intelligence (AI) technology have made writing all but untenable as a career. To confront what it calls an “existential crisis”, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) presented the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) with a list of demands including major changes to how writers are paid, staffing guarantees, and safeguards against being replaced by AI. After six weeks of negotiations, the AMPTP refused to even counter many of...
Turkey: the logic of the ‘lesser evil’ fails to defeat Erdogan The first round of the presidential elections in Turkey has not resulted in a clear winner. The current president Erdogan of the AKP (with 49.3 percent of the votes) will be forced into the second round for the first time. His rival will be Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu of the CHP, the Republican People's Party. This election was an uphill battle for the AKP, which has governed Turkey for 20 years, and yet Erdogan was not dislodged.