Browsing: Politics
Cliff Slaughter, 1928-2021: a life for revolution and its challenging legacy
Terry Brotherstone writes: Cliff Slaughter, whose life was dedicated to revolutionary, working-class internationalism and Marxist critique, died at the home in Leeds where he lived with Vivien Mitchell, his comrade and wife of 55 years, on 3 May 2021, aged 92. His last published article – an appeal for the radical rethinking of how Marx’s materialism should be practised today – appeared in Critique at the end of 2020. That essay now looks like a Parthian shot, a posthumous challenge to serious socialists to shed shibboleths and engage without prejudice in theoretical work as an indispensable part of revolutionary practice.…
The crisis in the Labour Party and building an alternative
Thelma Walker writes: When did the destruction of the Labour Party I supported for nearly 40 years really begin? Could it be the ‘New Management’ of the current Labour front bench? They certainly believe their shift to the right will save us all from the ‘Trots’, the ‘Tankies’ and the ‘Corbyn cultists’. Yes, I’ve been labelled all those things – socialists who remain in Labour are seen as ‘barnacles on the boat’. Starmer and co are of course present at Labour’s deathbed, but those who know history realise that Labour has rarely offered true democratic socialism in its over 100…
The March of Folly Resumed: Russia, Ukraine and the West
Richard Sakwa writes: In his speech of 24 February 2022 justifying the invasion of Ukraine, Russian president Vladimir Putin singled out two key aims – the ‘demilitarisation’ of Ukraine and its ‘denazification’.1 These goals have been the subject of much ridicule, some of it deserved, yet the formulation of Russian war aims in these terms represents the culmination of a long period of conflict-gestation, which finally spilled over into a reckless and brutal conflict. The struggle quickly turned into a proxy war between Russia and the West, with the Ukrainian people suffering the brutal effects of the assault. The war…
COP26: why advanced countries must proportionately make the biggest cuts in carbon emissions
Europe should avoid being drawn into the US’s cold war on China
Fiona Edwards writes: The U.S. administration is attempting to draw Europe into its cold war policy against China, which so far the European Union, in particular, has refused to participate in. This makes the region a key focal point in world politics today. This threatening U.S agenda, which is completely against the interests of the people of Europe, China and the U.S., is unfortunately and persistently being advanced by the U.S. administration. But significant opposition to this dangerous cold war approach is also growing across the world, including in Europe. The opposing interest of the U.S. proponents of the new…
Mexico’s mid-term elections: a watershed moment
David Raby writes: At the beginning of April Mexico began the official two-month campaign period for the mid-term elections due on June 6th, which include 15 of the 32 state governorships, all 500 members of the lower house of Congress, all members of state assemblies in 30 of 32 states, and mayors and councillors in over 1,900 municipalities (roughly equivalent to US counties) throughout the country. These elections are of vital importance for the future of AMLO’s 4T Transformation of the country’s affairs, and opinion polls indicate that his Morena party is likely to win a large majority of the…