Universal Basic Income (UBI) in its most common form is a proposal to issue a stipend at a set monetary value, provided unconditionally to every registered citizen, usually from an arbitrarily determined age. It has garnered support from a diverse [...]
Read moreThe return of the status-quo socialists
When she was a communist Sylvia Pankhurst wrote that “he only school we learn at is history” and since 1920 we have had a lot to learn. The Soviet Union and its satrapies fell into barbarism and were eventually dissolved [...]
Read moreNot losing our heads over Jeremy Corbyn
But Corbyn is such a nice man..... In contrast to most hard and soft left people's elation and enthusiasm for Corbyn, I can't shake both scepticism and cynicism at Corbyn and co's chances of 'reclaiming' the Labour Party. And I feel [...]
Read moreStalinism and historical responsibility
With the collapse of the eastern bloc over the years from 1985-1993 Stalinism ceased to be a factor in world politics. Trotskyism, as an attempt to critique Stalinism, and build an alternative to it, no longer has a specific meaning. [...]
Read moreBuilding a mass socialist party
This is an edited and revised version of a talk Nick Wrack gave at a meeting of the Independent Socialist Network in January of this year. This discussion is about building a mass socialist party. It is really trying to set [...]
Read moreTrade Unionist and Socialist Coalition: Moving towards a party?
The conference of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition on Saturday 24 January, called to prepare for May’s general election and the council elections on the same day, could easily have descended into a fairly routine rally with the audience [...]
Read moreReview: Renato Guttuso – Painter of Modern Life
Having faced outrageous neglect in the hands of the British art establishment before and after his death in 1987, Renato Guttuso: Painter of Modern Life at the Estorick Collection in London is a welcome retrospective of a fascinating figure of [...]
Read moreSyriza: a precarious victory for the left
“A train which is due to leave at eight will normally leave at any time between nine and ten, but perhaps once a week, thanks to some private whim of the engine-driver, it leaves at half past seven.” George Orwell, [...]
Read moreCharlie Hebdo – Unity in condemnation and solidarity
All socialists should join in the condemnation of the murderous attack on the Paris offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hedbo and the linked shootings that followed. Our condemnation should be unequivocal. Nothing can justify them. The attacks were carried [...]
Read moreReview: Critical Theory and the critique of Political Economy
Critiquing the Critiques – Werner Bonefeld’s new book analyses the relationship between Critical Theory and the Critique of Political Economy with a particular focus on the ‘New Reading’ of Marx, that arose in Germany in the aftermath of 1968 Introduction For those [...]
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