socialist
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'Left reformism' and socialist strategy By Ed Rooksby
There has been a significant revival of interest among the radical left in “big picture” questions of socialist strategy that, as Mark L. Thomas has pointed out, represents a return to “important debates of the left largely absent over the last three decades”. Continue reading
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Contested Reproduction and the Contradictions of Socialism By Michael A. Lebowitz
Why did ‘real socialism’ and, in particular the Soviet Union, fall? Let me note a few explanations that have been offered. With respect to the Soviet Union, one very interesting explanation that has been suggested is that it’s all the fault of Mikhail Gorbachev. And not simply the errors of Gorbachev but the treachery. Those… Continue reading
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Zimbabwe: Why Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC 'lost' the election By Munyaradzi Gwisai
That there was intimidation, an uneven terrain and some manipulation or rigging through the voters roll may be true, but the massive scale of the MDC’s defeat points to other and deeper reasons. To recover and move forward working people need to have an honest analysis to understand such factors. Continue reading
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Which way for Left Unity? The case for the Left Party Platform
In only a few months, more than 9,000 people have signed up to an appeal by film director Ken Loach to set up a new party, and 90 local groups have been established in towns and cities across the country. But Loach – wanting, rightly, to be more a figurehead than a “leader” – did… Continue reading
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Socialist Platform Statement of Aims and Principles
The following Statement is presented by the Socialist Platform in Left Unity for discussion and debate in the branches in the period before the November conference. Continue reading
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A Socialist Programme for London? By Carl Rowlands
It is easily forgotten that the 1980s were nearly not the 1980s at all, politically speaking. At the decade’s outset, an aggressively organised, ideologically diverse Left insurgency was the ascendent force in a Labour Party hovering around 50% in opinion polls, as the British public recoiled from the initial, monetarist-brutalist phase of Thatcherism. Continue reading
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Paul Le Blanc: Revolutionary elements in London — Marxism 2013 and its context
In what follows, I want to offer a report on what I was able to observe while attending Marxism 2013 (July 11-15, 2013). I will also take up various issues having to do with discussions and debates having to do with the Leninist tradition and how it relates to realities and struggles of our time. Continue reading
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Video: Democracy Against Capitalism By Brian Roper
A presentation by Brian Roper, author of The History of Democracy – A Marxist Interpretation. Continue reading
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Video: Turkey: Unionised workers call general strike as mass protests reach more than 67 cities
5 June 2013 — Links International Journal of socialist Renewal June 4, 2013 — Real News Network — Today the uprisings witnessed a new development, when Turkey’s Confederation of Public Workers Unions, KESK, consisting of 11 unions and approximately 240,000 members, declared their decision to stage a massive two-day strike. The action, which was originally planned for Continue reading
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China Model Can Save Venezuela's Embattled Project By Heiko Khoo
The revolutionary movement must…take stock of the rise in support for Capriles and the opposition. The Venezuelan revolution is entering a dangerous period where fundamental decisions about the destiny of the revolution need to be taken. Inner demons, like crime and corruption, which undermine support for the revolution, must be contained and defeated. Continue reading
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Video: Two Visions of Venezuela Contend in April 14th Elections
Miguel Tinker Salas: The Presidential elections in Venezuela will decide if the socialist transformation will continue or a pro-US elite will return to power Continue reading
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International Corporate Media Campaigns for Venezuela’s Opposition Candidate Capriles By TAMARA PEARSON
With just a few days to go till Venezuela votes for a new president, the mainstream media has stepped up its campaign in support of opposition candidate Henrique Capriles. Continue reading
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A Return to Marx’s Ecological Critique By Simon Butler
Do oil spills make good economic sense? A witness called by Canadian firm Enbridge Inc. – which wants approval to build a $6.5-billion pipeline linking Alberta’s tar sands with the Pacific coast – told a recent hearing in British Columbia (BC) that the answer is yes. Continue reading
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It’s Time to Decide: The Left, Austerity, and the People’s Assembly By Chris Nineham
The Peoples’ Assembly will meet in London on June 22, where thousands of those opposing the Coalition’s cuts will gather to work out a strategy to defeat austerity, and by implication, the government. Waiting till a 2015 election is hardly an option. It would be to allow more irreparable damage to be done. And many… Continue reading
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Hugo Chávez and the Bolivarian Revolution: Legacy and Challenges By Manuel Larrabure
Literally millions have been lifted out of poverty and given new opportunities to improve their lives. Examples from daily life abound. I remember speaking to an upper class anti-Chavista once who was complaining about how, since Chávez came to power, it had become difficult to find maids. Many of the poor women she used to… Continue reading
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Haiti: HLLN mourns the loss and pays Tribute to Hugo Chavez | Notable Hugo Chazez quotes
“It is impossible within the framework of the capitalist system to solve the grave problems of poverty of the majority of the world’s population.” — Hugo Chavez Continue reading
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CHINA 2013: Samir Amin on Socialism and State Capitalism in the PRC Today & Yesterday By Samir Amin
The debates concerning the present and future of China—an “emerging” power—always leave me unconvinced. Some argue that China has chosen, once and for all, the “capitalist road” and intends even to accelerate its integration into contemporary capitalist globalization. They are quite pleased with this and hope only that this “return to normality” (capitalism being the… Continue reading
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A Ghost is Haunting Slovenia, the Ghost of Revolution! By Gal Kirn
At the moment that I am writing this text, the massive social uprising in Slovenia continues and enters, with even fiercer political determination, into a new stage of political maturity. What began as an isolated sparkle in late November 2012 in Maribor, the second biggest city of Slovenia, spread to other cities and weeks later… Continue reading
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At 21 Years Since 4 February 1992: Either Chavismo Is Socialist or It’s Not Chavismo By NICMER EVANS
In his regular column “A Critical Space for the Construction of Socialism”, leftist Venezuelan political scientist Nicmer Evans looks at the state of the Bolivarian project on the 21stanniversary of the Chavez-led civic-military coup attempt against the neoliberal government of Carlos Andres Perez, on 4 February 1992. Despite the coup’s failure, it was the event… Continue reading
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Non-market socialism: Life Without Money – An Interview with Anitra Nelson
For the contributors of the volume, socialism/communism is not just a state or goal which we have to achieve in some distant future; rather, it is built through immediate practices that reject capitalism and its key institutions – market and money. Continue reading
The New Dark Age 