A tribute to Jill Brassell
Jill Brassell, who died on November 30, was a stalwart of the Wellington left for many decades, a fine musician, a militant, a Woman’s Liberationist, an understated wit and a friend. We’re going to miss her and we’re so sad to learn of her death. On behalf of the International Socialist Organisation we send condolences […]
Guy Fawkes: Myth and Reality
Remember, remember, the fifth of November, Gunpowder Treason and Plot. I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot. We all know these words. For centuries they’ve been handed down through the generations, first as a nursery rhyme sung by English children, and more recently popularised by the film ‘V for Vendetta’. David […]
The defeat of the left, and the recomposition in Greece
The Greek ruling party, Syriza, won a convincing victory in the national election held on 20 September, winning 144 seats, down from the 149 seats won on 25 January. Prime minister Alexis Tsipras resigned last month to make way for the poll after he signed a third memorandum with the country’s creditors. That agreement will […]
A Short History of New Zealand Imperialism
From New Zealand’s earliest attempts at increasing its territories in the Pacific right through to today’s economic imperialism, the local capitalist ruling class has had imperial ambitions. It was New Zealand’s local leaders – the Governors, the Premiers, the Prime Ministers – who were calling for a New Zealand Empire in the Pacific. Likewise we […]
Ruth, Roger, and Me
Ruth Roger and Me, by Andrew Dean Published by Bridget Williams Books Ruth, Roger and Me was a bit of a left field media sensation when it came out earlier this year. Andrew Dean, Rhodes scholar at Oxford, is an unlikely voice for the struggling youth of 2015. However, his reflections on the challenges faced […]
Marketing Poverty: the Question of Fair Trade
Capitalism is a system based explicitly on the exploitation of the many by the few. Throughout its few short centuries of existence, it has extended massive inequality to every corner of the globe. The supposed “free market” has pushed that process to the extreme, especially between the exploited countries of the global “south” and the […]
Equal Pay for Women: the Long Struggle
Kristine Bartlett is a hero. Her case put the question of equal pay back at the centre of politics. Bartlett has been employed for twenty years doing socially vital work as a carer for the elderly, and yet she was paid an insulting $14.46 an hour. This, Bartlett and the SFWU argued, breached the Equal Pay […]
The Anzac Spectacle: Gallipoli, Peter Jackson and the politics of forgetting
This year New Zealand and Australia commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign. One hundred years ago thousands of Allied troops invaded what was then the Ottoman Empire on April 25th 1915. The ensuing eight month battle was a grim and bloody affair fought within a tiny section of the Mediterranean coastline. Casualties were […]
Māori and Communism in the 1930s
The miseries of the Great Depression hit Māori workers particularly hard. Mass unemployment, poverty, slave-labour like conditions in relief works, poor housing and slumlords profiteering from renting out hovels – this was the fate of many hundreds of thousands of workers across the country. Māori workers, still concentrated in rural areas and in some of […]
Socialists gather in Sydney
Socialists from across Australia gathered in Sydney last weekend for a conference promoting Marxism and radical change in Australia and around the world. Over 360 people attended speeches and discussions on range of topics, from Marxist philosophy to fighting back against racism and the far right, and the crisis in Europe. It was the first […]
