Amid the unprecedented recent wave of protests that has swept the world, nowhere has experienced more widespread turmoil than the South American sub-continent. Recent months have witnessed a general strike and uprising in Colombia; demonstrations throughout Chile and Brazil including well over a million in Santiago and a million in Sao Paolo; in Bolivia the return to power of the Movement For … [Read more...]
Will the World Economy Bounce Back?
Speaker - Michael Roberts author of The Long Depression: Marxism and the Global Crisis of Capitalism.The major capitalist economies seem now to be recovering fast from the catastrophic slump into which they were plunged by the COVID pandemic. Will this revival continue? Or is it just a short-term bounce back, as businesses re-open and vaccinations roll out? Meanwhile the countries of Latin … [Read more...]
Disability – a socialist perspective
One billion people around the world live with some form of disability, making up around 15% of the global population. The total number is rising fast, due both to chronic health conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and mental illness, and to wars, civil wars and environmental catastrophes – all manifestations in different ways of the devastating crisis of capitalism, which together … [Read more...]
France: The Deepening Crisis
Since 2016 (the year of the massive movement against the employment laws of Francois Holland’s minister of employment, El Khomry), there has been no let-up in the struggle. There has been furious resistance by the workers against attempts by the Holland and Macron governments to push ahead with neo-liberal reforms, destroying living standards and employment rights.After a lull at the start of … [Read more...]
Israel’s War on Palestine
As Israel continues its ferocious bombardment of Gaza, the last few days have witnessed massive solidarity demonstrations worldwide in support of the Palestinian people.These protests are reminiscent of the international campaign against South African apartheid in the past.Our speaker, Ronnie Kasrils, was a popular minister in South Africa’s first post-apartheid government and formerly a leading … [Read more...]
Where is Britain Going
John Dunn, veteran of the historic miners’ strike and socialist campaigner, introduces a discussion on Britain. What future does Britain face today? Will Brexit open up new prospects for British capitalism, or does it mark a new stage in its decline? Can the “United Kingdom” of “Great Britain” hold together, or will it disintegrate into separate statelets? Will the … [Read more...]
Germany at a Turning Point
Germany is holding parliamentary elections this autumn which could mark the sharpest turning point in decades.How have sixteen years of Angela Merkel’s government shaped Germany, and what will follow after her departure?What is the explanation for the sharp decline in support for the Christian Democrats in current opinion polls?Will the decline in support for the Social Democrats over the last … [Read more...]
Northern Ireland: Partition and Beyond
by Joe Duffy Introduction At present, the debate around a Border Poll to determine the status of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is gathering momentum. A clause in the Good Friday Agreement, which set up devolved government for Northern Ireland some 23 years ago, allows for such a poll. If a majority (over 50%) vote to end the political partition … [Read more...]
The Lessons of Greece
In the years 2010-2015, Greece was the epicentre of a global revolt against the bankers’ “troika”. For months on end, parliament was besieged as tens of thousands occupied Athens' Syntagma Square and city squares throughout Greece. There were at least 42 general strikes. 35% of the total population physically participated in street demonstrations, and in opinion polls 33% called in so many words … [Read more...]
Northern Ireland: A Return to “The Troubles” ?
23 years after the signing of the Good Friday agreement to end IRA and loyalist violence and establish political structures, street violence in the form of serious attacks on the Northern Ireland police, mainly from working class “protestant” communities, has been promoted in the world media.The failure of the in-built sectarian-based political structures to represent the Northern Ireland working … [Read more...]