Auckland Palestine Conference a Success: BDS movement gathers momentum
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement took a step towards building a united, nationwide campaign last weekend when Palestine solidarity activists from around the country gathered in Auckland for a “Conference on Palestine”. BDS is a global movement started in 2005 by Palestinian civil society organisations that calls for “international civil society organizations and […]
Book Review: Alison McCulloch, Fighting to Choose: The Abortion Rights Struggle in New Zealand
When an abortion service started in Invercargill last year, anti-abortionists quickly mobilized against it. An anonymous e-mail was to sent to the Abortion Law Reform Association NZ threatening ALRANZ and clinic staff: “People who work at the clinic are legitimate targets and so are you. You’ll be hearing from me again, that is if your […]
Istanbul to Brazil: neoliberalism, democracy and resistance
Three weeks ago, police moved in to clear a protest camp out of an inner-city park, to make way for a shopping mall. The protesters were a mixed bunch: leftists, environmentalists, even architects,who felt they had no other option than direct action to stop the destruction of another piece of history, another park, another shared […]
The Free Fare struggle rises up
Sean Purdy, a member of the Party of Socialism and Freedom (PSOL) and activist in the Free Fare movement in São Paulo, reports from Brazil on a police assault. SÃO PAULO was a war zone the night of June 13 as riot police viciously attacked a peaceful demonstration of the Free Fare movement, which is […]
Wellington region super-city plans: a watering-down of democracy
Wellington City councillors and mayor have come off the fence in favour of a regional super-city. This will please Key’s government. One outcome of the triumph of neo-liberalism over most of the globe has been attacks on local democracy. The death of Margaret Thatcher in April recalled to mind her hatred of local councils. The […]
Unmasking the Modern Surveillance State
THE SHADOWY and secretive National Security Agency (NSA) has been exposed to the light of day by revelations that show the vast extent of U.S. government spying, at home and around the globe. The truth about two outrageous surveillance programs–apparently run for years by the world’s biggest spying agency with the support of Democrats and […]
Public education under threat: What kind of university do we need?
The following was delivered as a branch talk in Wellington on June 4th, 2013. “Tertiary education in New Zealand is undergoing a slow and painful crucifixion – a painful death from a thousand small adjustments in policy, which are fundamentally changing our nation’s approach to tertiary education.” That was the response of Sandra Grey, Vice-President […]
Your Rights At Work Under Threat
The Employment Relations Act Amendment Bill had its First Reading in Parliament on 5th June and passed by 61 votes (National, ACT & Dunne) to 58. The Bill now goes to the committee stage and will come back at the end of the year for the critical Third Reading that will decide whether it will […]
Solidarity with Turkey’s Protesters!
15 people joined a symbolic picket of Turkey’s Embassy in Wellington on Friday, answering the call from demonstrators in Turkey for solidarity. The action was called by the International Socialists, but drew support and participation from local anarchists, other socialists and trade unionists. The protests in Turkey are fighting for democratic rights and the control […]
Interrogating capitalist democracy
BOOK REVIEW: Brian S. Roper, The History of Democracy: a Marxist Interpretation (Pluto Press, 2012) British historian Geoffrey Ste Croix described the struggle for political control over the state as “class struggle on the political plane”. It is a neat formulation that Brian S. Roper effectively deploys to explain the history of Western democracy. In […]
