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Whoever expects a ‘pure’ revolution will never live to see it: The UK riots...
Mark Duggan, whose killing by police sparked the riots Maybe it’s a sign of the times, but for mine the most depressing thing about the UK riots is how some on the Left feel the need to loudly...
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Intended or not, the consequences of riots are not always negative
Watts Riot of 1965 — how the rioters treated ‘their’ community then This is the original text of an article commissioned by ABC’s The Drum, which was published yesterday and can be found here. The...
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‘Mama said there’ll be days like this’ — The UK riots, the labour movement...
Special guest post by KEVIN OVENDEN* What did people expect? Just over a year ago, during the general election campaign in Britain, I remember George Galloway on the stump warning that the last time...
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Limits of liberal critique: Murdoch, the media & the Manne Quarterly Essay
Not so omnipotent anymore Cross-posted from Overland Journal‘s blog and ABC’s The Drum. The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i.e. the class which is the ruling...
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A Left Flank dispatch from Europe: The ‘descent into chaos’ begins
If the last week’s bizarre political contortions in Greece — first a referendum, then not, then a government of national unity, now more uncertainty — were not enough, the spread of contagion to Italy...
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Far Right’s new footholds in UK & Greece
London-based anti-fascist activist KEVIN OVENDEN reports on two aspects of the rise of the far Right in Europe. First, he analyses the high vote for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in the Eastleigh...
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Thatcher, the ALP & the dregs of neoliberalism
If there’s one thing the entire Australian Left agrees on right now it’s that “Thatcherism was a very bad thing”. But beyond that, it may be appropriate to ask what exactly it is that people think was...
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The political crisis over Syria & the anti-war movement
Protest in London on Thursday This piece was written for the UK Stop the War Coalition’s website. It may seem wearily familiar — a rush to war, disputed intelligence dossiers and a determined effort to...
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Athens anti-fascist conference: a milestone for the Left
By KEVIN OVENDEN This piece is a follow-up to “Greece, the state & anti-fascism”, which was subsequently also posted at Socialist Unity in the UK and Socialist Worker in the US. The anti-fascist...
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Russell Brand, let’s get this done.
OK Russell, let’s get this done. I’m in Europe and the crisis is everywhere. I landed in Greece and it hit me in the face: people trying to generate an income in any way they can; road works half...
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A funny thing happened on the way through Upton Park
I was inspired partly by an exchange of well-made points on my Facebook wall between two great friends Jay and Paddy. But the main reason for taking time out to write this on a sunny Sunday morning in...
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Left Flank at Historical Materialism in London
Historical Materialism’s 11th annual conference — How Capitalism Survives — begins tomorrow at SOAS, Vernon Square, in London. Four writers and contributors to Left Flank are speaking. On Friday...
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‘Abolishing the present state of things’
Paris Commune: the ‘reabsorption of the State power by society’ Communism is for us not a state of affairs which is to be established, an ideal to which reality [will] have to adjust itself. We call...
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Peter Pinkney: A Marxist running for the UK Greens
Pinkney at Philosophy Football’s Greatcoats for Goalposts event {photo: Simon Green} Some joined up thinking in Redcar Peter Pinkney, President of the RMT, Rail, Maritime and Transport, Trade Union,...
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Greece two months on: where is the hope?
“Hope is coming. Europe is changing. Greece is going forward.” Two months into Syriza taking office after the historic victory of the Left at the polls on 25 January, dare we hope for a breach in the...
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Brexit, Trump & why the rules of politics have changed
Not looking like a winner: Police escort Boris Johnson past protesters It seems pretty clear now that even the leaders of the Leave campaign in the UK’s referendum on the European Union didn’t believe...
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Thatcher, the ALP & the dregs of neoliberalism
If there’s one thing the entire Australian Left agrees on right now it’s that “Thatcherism was a very bad thing”. But beyond that, it may be appropriate to ask what exactly it is that people think was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The political crisis over Syria & the anti-war movement
Protest in London on Thursday This piece was written for the UK Stop the War Coalition’s website. It may seem wearily familiar — a rush to war, disputed intelligence dossiers and a determined effort to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Athens anti-fascist conference: a milestone for the Left
By KEVIN OVENDEN This piece is a follow-up to “Greece, the state & anti-fascism”, which was subsequently also posted at Socialist Unity in the UK and Socialist Worker in the US. The anti-fascist...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Russell Brand, let’s get this done.
OK Russell, let’s get this done. I’m in Europe and the crisis is everywhere. I landed in Greece and it hit me in the face: people trying to generate an income in any way they can; road works half...
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