Osama Bin Laden: death of a ghost
Obama today reported to the American people that Osama Bin Laden had been killed in a US raid on a compound in Pakistan. Former soldier Joe Glenton - jailed for refusing to fight in Afghanistan - gives his take on the death of the former US asset. Read more
The student movement: results and prospects
James Meadway analyses the causes of the lull in the student movement, and argues that if the movement was to sustain itself beyond the activist minority, it had to maintain its relationship to the wider mass of students. Read more
Tunisia: an unfinished revolution
Since the departure of Ben Ali, the opposition movement in Tunisia is still active. But social and economic demands have not even begun to be addressed. Read more
Theory as History: Essays on Modes of Production and Exploitation
Dominic Alexander argues that Banaji provides an incisive analysis of pre-capitalist modes of production, demonstrating that no aspect of human history is irrelevant to the present. Read more
Counterforum: the politics of resistance | 7 May
Speakers, meetings and timetable for next Saturday's event Read more
News
Leeds: UK Uncut action follows May day march - videoFollowing one of Leeds' largest May Day demonstrations in years 30th April - 50 UK Uncut protesters demonstrated outside Vodafone demanding ... |
Inspired by Revolution, Egyptian Workers Occupy FactoryEgyptian workers say a profitable factory was privatized and stripped of its assets - so they took it over. Video by TRNN |
Alfie Meadows: victim of police violence faces charge – Solictor’s statementAlfie Meadows needed brain surgery after being hit by a truncheon. Today he was charged with violent disorder. Alfie’s solicitor, Sarah McS... |
Israel Denies Refugee Status to Sudanese - video reportShir Hever: Israel considering "work camps" to concentrate and hold Sudanese refugees as protesters call for expulsion. Video by TRNN |
Newcastle: uniting to stop racist EDL - New videoAnti-cuts activists and anti-fascists in Newcastle occupied the area around Grey's Monument in the center of the city after scores of racist... |
Scotland’s newly formed International Socialist Group - Founding StatementA group of revolutionary socialists have come together to form the International Socialist Group (Scotland). This is their founding statemen... |
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Features
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 Albion Rose: Susan Matthews on student resistanceSusan Matthews is the mother of Alfie Meadows, who was seriously injured on the student demonstration on 9th December, and who has recently been charged for violent disorder. This article is her contr... |
 The Struggle Continues! ExhibitionFrom the Jarrow Crusade to the Arab Revolutions and 26 March - Mark Tyers reviews this timely exhibition of resistance. |
 The Royal Wedding explained - AnimationThe rationale for why we are paying for a wedding, costing the nation billions in lost revenue, during the worst economic hardship since the 1930's |
 Tory muppets meet DickensCameron and Osborne satirised with the help of Waldorf and Stadler, Michael Caine and Charles Dickens - video by Sternchen |
 Libya: A History of InterventionThis programme examines the argument for intervention in Libya and asks what really motivates western involvement? |
 A Marxist History of the World part 33: The class struggle in medieval EuropeDespite dominating western Europe in the 11th century by the 14th century Feudalism was faced with a crisis that generated a wave of revolutionary struggle. Neil Faulkner looks at the causes and outco... |
 The Battle of Stokes Croft: an account of the riotA first hand account of last night's dramatic riots and police aggression in Stokes Croft, Bristol. |
 Hidden Histories: Palestine and the Eastern MediterraneanHidden Histories argues that the history of Palestine has been hidden, and that the struggle for Palestinian rights has also to encompass the struggle for their history and culture. |
 Syria: The revolution will go onThe Syrians will not go back to their houses. They will continue their revolution in spite of the government's decision to end the state of emergency and abolish the Higher State Security Court. |
 The AV referendum: what we sayOn 5 May, the referendum on voting reform will be held. At stake will be a proposed reform to the way in which elections are run. Instead of the current first-past-the-post (FPTP) system, we are being... |
 The Counterfire Organisation - what it is, and what it isn’tThe Counterfire organisation has grown dramatically in its first 12 months of existence. The following is a statement about some of our basic political perspectives. |
 Stagnation, austerity, and a changing worldUnable to address the structural flaws in the British economy, the government is desperately supporting the status quo of City speculation. Without serious restructuring, the financial system will fai... |
 Beyond Egypt: Ripples of RevolutionBritish-Egyptian journalist Nadine El-Hadi looks at the continuing impact Egypt has had on international expressions of solidarity from Wisconsin to London. |
 Banking on the NHS - cartoon by Leon Kuhn and Chris BirdMontage artists Leon Kuhn and Chris Bird give their take on the future of the NHS should Lansley get his way. |
 Reasons for joining CounterfireCounterfire has increased its membership fivefold over the past year, and continues to grow. A few people who have recently joined the organisation explain why. |
 A Marxist History of the World part 32: Lord, burgher, and peasant in medieval EuropeFeudalism is often portrayed as a stagnant system where little changed over centuries. The reality was a system that was more dynamic and productive than anything before it argues Neil Faulkner. |
 Ilan Pappé: The beginning of the end of free speech?As the prevailing tenor of the media becomes increasingly committed to the Israeli military’s point of view, so freedom of discourse in the Israeli academy firmly shuts down. |
 Ilan Pappé: The Second Intifada and the Israeli mediaThe limited public space available to question the Zionist narrative in the 1990s disappears as the Israeli media adopts an entirely uncritical perspective. |
 Marx at the Margins: A pioneer of anti-colonialismChris Nineham reviews Marx at the Margins, which reveals Marx and Engels as pioneers in the struggle against colonialism and racism. |
 Cynical rebranding - but no end to child detentionIn another broken promise, the coalition government is not ending child detention but simply giving it a new name. |
 Capitalism loses supportPublic support for the free market has declined sharply in the last year, most drastically in the United States. The Chinese are now more enthusiastic about capitalism than the Americans. |
 Ilan Pappé: Very political historiesThe third extract from Out of the Frame describes how Palestinian and Israeli historical dialogue breaks down almost as soon as it had begun. |
 Syria: the popular IntifadaThe Syrian regime has been able to portray itself as anti-imperialist in relation to Lebanon and Palestine, but is against the popular uprising calling for democratic change. |
 Ilan Pappé: A journey out of acceptable discourseAs a young academic in Israel, Pappé discovered that the politics of free speech in the academy was more compromised than it appeared. |
 Ilan Pappé: Denying the NakbahIlan Pappé’s research on the Nakbah uncovered difficult truths about the expulsion of Palestinians in 1948, including evidence of war crimes committed by Israeli forces, and he was eventually hounded ... |
 The American Civil War: the second US revolutionOne hundred and fifty years ago today North America saw the start of a revolutionary war fought between rival systems and opposing political ideologies. Neil Faulkner looks at The American Civil War.... |
 Egypt: is this what democracy looks like?The tension between the old state and the revolution is re-emerging. If the revolution is to be successful, the army will have to be won over, and popular committees created, argues John Rees. |
 France: Defying the burqa banUnder the rhetoric of emancipation, the oppression of Muslim women in France intensified today with the coming into force of the ban on facial coverings in public places. |
 A Marxist History of the World 31: Crusade and JihadThe Crusades lasted 200 years and represented the most extreme expression of the futile violence inherent in western feudalism - a murderous attack on the Middle East by western feudal thugs under th... |
 Springtime: The New Student Rebellions - He Who Cultivates Thorns Will Reap WoundsTunisia's revolutionary uprising is described by Leila Basmoudi, who argues that the revolutions that have been unleashed across the Middle East are not over. |
 Springtime: The New Student Rebellions - Occupied CaliforniaThis extract introduces the struggle across California against cuts and fee increases, and the meaning of solidarity in action. |
 Can trade unions stop the cuts?Mass demonstrations over political issues have become more common whilst union militancy is at an historical low. Alex Snowdon looks at how the unions can be moved to use their power in the workplace.... |
 Springtime: The New Student Rebellions - There is something new in the airThis extract focuses on Italy, and how precariousness has become a collective phenomenon. |
 Springtime: The New Student Rebellions - Lecturers, Defend Your Students!In this extract, Nina Power illustrates the potential power of lecturers and students fighting together against cuts to higher education. |
 Interview with Norman Finkelstein: ‘Israel has bigger problems than me’The American scholar Norman Finkelstein talks to Elias Stoakes about Hezbollah, Israeli fears of the Arab revolutions and the criticism he receives from various quarters. |
 A Marxist History of the World part 30: The rise of western feudalismFollowing the collapse of the Roman Empire Western Europe became a politically fragmented region of warring states from which a radically new social, military, and political order developed. |
 Springtime: The New Student Rebellions - We Felt LiberatedIn this extract, Clare Solomon describes how the student mobilisation in late 2010, ignited by the NUS demonstration on 10th November, exposed the myth of student apathy. |
 What does the West want in Libya?The west is intervening in Libya to overthrow a regime that it previously armed and supported. Khalil Habash and John Rees look at the implications for the Arab revolutions and the future of imperial ... |
 Manning Marable: unyeilding opponent of a racist systemManning Marable sadly died on Friday 1 April, aged 60. He was an authoritative and respected voice on the American left, a penetrating analyst of racism in modern capitalist society, and an expert on ... |
 Springtime: The New Student RebellionsClare Solomon has edited a book with Tania Palmieri on the students’ and young people’s uprisings that have shaken colleges and universities from Britain to Greece, Italy, France and beyond. Andrew ... |
Theory
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 Video: Slavoj Žižek - Living In The End TimesSlavoj Žižek speaking about his new book in this audience based video filmed at LSE. |
 Counterforum: Lenin & LukacsVideo from this month's Counterforum which examined the role of two leading Marxist revolutionaries. |
 Where next for the student revolt?The student revolt of the past few weeks has changed the face of British politics, creating tensions in the fragile Con-Dem coalition government, confronting police brutality and radicalising a new ge... |
 Peasant movements and political agencyWas the Peasants Revolt of 1381 the result of organised political action or a spontaneous response to the hated poll tax? |
 A Question of Class: How workers can change the worldWe are told by the media and politicians that the concept of class is no longer relevant. Lindsey German argues that we cannot understand the current crisis without it. |
 Alexandra Kollontai: Class and women’s oppressionWhen will someone make a film about the incredible life of Alexandra Kollontai? Born into a rich family, she rebelled with an 'unsuitable' marriage, was radicalised by visits to textile factories, ... |
 Strategy and tactics: how the left can organise to transform societyFree to download or read online this short book by John Rees draws on the experience of recent mass movements and past revolutions to suggest ways in which the left can maximize the effectiveness of a... |
 Lukács, Lenin, the vanguard party and the working classIt is the Russian Revolution and its achievements that gives Lenin his place in history. But it is also the degradation of the original revolutionary spirit under Stalinism that largely accounts for L... |
 Anti-capitalism ten years after SeattleIn 1999 thousands of activists fought with riot police to close down the WTO conference in Seattle. Ten years on Chris Nineham looks at the future of the anti-capitalist movement. |
 Brian Pearce: Some Past Rank-and-File MovementsAlex Snowdon introduces Brian Pearce's classic article about the history of rank and file movements in the trade unions and looks at the lessons for today. |
 System Change Not Climate ChangeThe recent international climate change talks and protests in Copenhagen have highlighted the issue of climate change. At the same time, leaked emails from the University of East Anglia and min... |
 International Socialists in the 1960sTo mark the 10th anniversary of Tony Cliff's death in April 2000 Alex Snowdon analyses the development of the radical Marxist's trailblazing organisation, the International Socialists. |
 Duncan Hallas: The Comintern and the united frontWriting in 1975, revolutionary socialist Duncan Hallas stressed the need for what is often called the united front method. |
 Gramsci, hegemony and the united frontAntonio Gramsci was one of the 20th century's most original Marxists. Chris Nineham reviews a new study that argues his ideas matter for anyone fighting for a better world today. |
 The Middle East at the Crossroads: Tony Cliff ClassicShortly after leaving Palestine in 1945, Tony Cliff wrote this seminal article about the foundations of Israel and Western imperial intervention in the Middle East. He locates hope for the future in t... |
 Lenin: Class Society and the StateThe violent centralised nature of the modern political state has been on display recently both on the streets of Arab cities and Britain. How should socialists view the state? Do we need a state at a... |
 Democratic revolution or socialist revolution?In this chapter from his book Marxism at the Millennium, Tony Cliff, writes about the relationship between the struggle for democratic freedoms and socialism. |
 Trotsky: The Lessons of October | 70th AnniversaryOn the 70th anniversary of the death of Leon Trotsky, a leading figure in the 1917 Russian revolution, Alex Snowdon introduces a key chapter from the radical book "The Lessons of October". |
 Sumit Sarkar - Marxian Social History of Modern IndiaSumit Sarkar is one of the foremost historians of modern India. In this video he introduces his paper Writing a Marxian Social History of Modern India: Problems and Prospects which is presented by his... |
 The student revolt, the cuts and the democratic deficitThe huge student protest on 10 November and the anger generated by the betrayal of election promises by the Liberal Democrats marks a new phase in British politics argues Neil Faulkner. |
 Lukács: Reification and the Class Consciousness of the ProletariatGeorg Lukács made a large contribution to Marxist theory, but especially significant are the series of essays he wrote under the title History and Class Consciousness. Of these the crowning achievem... |
 Another China risingAs a rising labour movement gains strength in China, the reprint of Harold Isaac's classic Marxist history of the Chinese revolution provides both inspiration and a warning from history, writes Chri... |
Lukacs after LeninismGeorg Lukacs was arguably the most important Marxist political philosopher since Marx. His theoretical work is a vital reference point in the 20th century revolutionary tradition. |
 The Tunisian Revolution in historical contextAll revolutions, said Frederick Engels, start as a ‘revolution of the flowers’ in which an isolated and unpopular regime faces a broad mass movement drawn from every corner and every class of society.... |
 Paths to Sustainability: the case of Deep EcologyThe urgency of creating an ecologically sustainable form of human economy is plain. While Deep Ecology may appear to be a radical alternative, it fails to focus on the key question of material social ... |
 The workers, the unions, and the crisisThe working class is central to any project for revolutionary change. Yet today strikes are at an historical low. How do we help transform the bitterness at the base of society into action? |
 Marxism and the crisis - a strategy for the LeftJohn Rees looks at the left's analysis of the crisis and outlines a strategy for resisting our rulers attempts to make us pay for it. |
 Nepal and Thailand: revolution postponed?The uprisings in Nepal and Thailand have radicalised millions in both countries, but unless social and economic questions are raised, their potential will be lost. |
Capitalism and Class Consciousness: the ideas of Georg LukácsChris Nineham's short book looks at the ideas of Georg Lukács the Hungarian revolutionary whose work explored the hold of capitalist ideas on workers' consciousness and how it could be broken. |
 Nakba: Tony Cliff on the roots of Israel’s violenceIn 1948 zionist militias launched a war that turned thousands of Palestinians into permanent refugees. Alex Snowdon introduces an account by Jewish socialist and anti-zionist Tony Cliff. |
 E P Thompson and The Making of the English Working ClassDominic Alexander defends E P Thompson’s The Making of the English Working Class - one the most debated and influential of all the books produced by British Marxist historians. |
 Leon Trotsky on the United Front - 1922Text of a speech delivered by Trotsky to French Communists during the debates in the Communist International on the question of the united front. |
 Global crisis and anti-capitalist revolutionFaced with the crisis in Greece and the imminent cuts in Britain, Neil Faulkner argues for mass struggle from below to place control over the planet and its resources in the hands of ordinary working ... |
 Iran: revolution, Islamism and the leftThe prophet and the proletariat, first published in International Socialism in 1994 and later issued as a pamphlet, was one of Chris Harman's most sophisticated works of political analysis. |
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Latest comments
- Osama Bin Laden: death of a gh...
www.youtube.com/.../ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UGXVic15ho&feature;=player_... - The Battle of Stokes Croft: an...
vimeo.com/22968797 (http://vimeo.com/22968797) This is a roughcut of a short fil... - The student movement: results ...
Hi Luke, I think you slightly miss the point on the demonstrations. Having two d... - The student movement: results ...
Interesting article. The critical focus on the piece though is far too narrow to... - Tunisia: an unfinished revolut...
An error in the article: " and a Constitutional Assembly has been formed to writ...
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 Counterforum: the politics of resistance | 7 MayDiscussions include: how mass protest can change the world; revolution and imperialism in the Middle East; tackling ... |
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