Ten Years after the Arab Spring
Ten years ago today, a young fruit vendor in Tunisia, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire after being harassed by the police. Shortly thereafter, protests started in Tunisia and quickly spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa. What can socialists learn from the Arab Spring and its aftermath? Ten years ago, in a small […]
Chilean Plebiscite: Significance
Samuel Flewett, a socialist from New Zealand based in Chile, sends this report on the recent victory at the polls there. On Sunday, the 25th of October, 78% of us voted to send the Pinochet-era constitution to the dustbin. The masterpiece of Pinochet’s chief political theoretician Jaime Guzmán, admirer of Francisco Franco, and one-time activist […]
Defend the Hong Kong Democracy Movement!
In an act of retribution to the Hong Kong movement beginning last year, which has seen prolonged street clashes between the police and protestors, China has decided to unilaterally impose new national security laws to Hong Kong. These laws severely circumvent the city’s existing autonomy, mandating the establishment of Beijing-appointed security bureaus and more police to clamp […]
Marching for Black Lives
Yesterday upward of 10,000 people marched down Queen street in solidarity with the rebellions sweeping the United States in the wake of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police. The immense power of the unleashing of centuries of trauma has spread rapidly across cities all over the United States, and now […]
Thank you, rioters
Once again, Black America has surged to the front lines of the global struggle. This year, the United States has stood out primarily as a leading centre of right-wing lunacy, political breakdown and murderous incompetence in the pandemic. Now, it is showing the world something else: the potential for sudden eruptions of mass resistance that […]
Why We Need Revolution
Revolution is a necessary part of social change. During the English Civil War, the American Revolution, the French Revolution and the European revolutions of 1848 rising capitalist classes wrested power from the feudal aristocracies that had dominated Europe for a thousand years. Elsewhere in the globe, as in Latin America, China and Africa, revolution has been […]
2019: A Year of Global Rebellion
In 2019 we witnessed an inspiring wave of rebellions spanning four continents and two dozen countries. Significant rebellions of varying scales have happened in Sudan, Algeria, Hong Kong, Chile, Lebanon, Iraq, Haiti, Nicaragua, Catalunya, Guinea, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Zimbabwe, Ecuador, Honduras, Iran, Kashmir, West Papua, Indonesia, Egypt, Czech Republic. There have also been major strikes […]
Reaction and Resistance in the Middle East
For a while in January it looked as if the United States was about to plunge the Middle East into another dangerous round of war. First there was the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, an act of war, and clear violation of US and international law. The contempt the US ruling class – Democratic and […]
SR75 Editorial: Student Politics Matters
As another year opens, everyone trundles back to work or to study after well-deserved breaks and family gatherings. However, the world did not stop over the summer break. 2020 begins in prolonged crisis, with everyday bringing fresh news of financial, political and environmental issues that threaten our very existence. It can be so overwhelming not […]
Chile: The beginning of the end of neoliberalism?
Samuel F, a former member of the ISO now active in Chile, offers these reflections. After more than 40 days of almost non-stop demonstrations things are on the surface somewhat quieter on the streets of Chilean cities. Quieter does not mean “normal” in any sense of the word – the streets are filled with political […]
