Category Archives: Politics

“In the struggle, of which we have noted only a few phrases, this mass becomes united, and constitutes itself as a class for itself. The interests it defends become class interests. But the struggle of class against class is a political struggle.” — Karl Marx, The Poverty of Philosophy

The Party and the Ballot Box

Posted on 14/07/2019 by Gavin Mendel-Gleason

The role of elections in socialist strategy The Legacy of the Republican Congress In 1934, in the shadow of a rising fascist threat in Europe, the Republican Congress was convened. This congress brought together the main elements of socialists, communists … Continue reading →

Posted in Proletarian politics | Comments Off

Fake News: The Epistemology of Media

Posted on 07/06/2017 by Gavin Mendel-Gleason

“What is truth?” said Pontius Pilate to Jesus. Or at least this is what we are told he said in the Gospel of John. Can we trust John to have related accurately the words of Pontius Pilate? Most scholars date … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Politics | Comments Off

Officials and Provisionals

Posted on 01/04/2017 by James O'Brien

Martin McGuinness, Political Strategy and the Civil Rights Movement The death of Martin McGuinness has inevitably prompted reflection on his career, with the reactions varying according to one’s political ideology. For the mainstream, McGuinness’s oeuvre is sharply divided into two … Continue reading →

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Centrism extremism: how horseshoe-politics silences brutality

Posted on 02/07/2016 by yeksmesh

Extremism as a concept is central to current popular political discourse. In its common definition, however, it is also a highly flawed. Its use shows a bias towards centrist politics that silences a history of extremism. Centrists are just as well … Continue reading →

Posted in Bourgeois politics, Critique of the Left, History, Politics, Uncategorized | Comments Off

Wailings about Left Unity

Posted on 13/02/2016 by James O'Brien

In yesterday’s Irish Independent and on Facebook, Julien Mercille asks why The Workers’ Party, Socialist Workers Party, and the Socialist Party do not form one party. The first answer a lot of people will reach for is simple inertia. Organisations have … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 5 Comments

The Bern Manifesto: Why I am Voting for Bernie Sanders

Posted on 27/01/2016 by Jerome Nikolai Warren

“A spectre is haunting America – the spectre of Bernie Sanders. All the powers of the political establishment have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre: David Brock and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Forbes magazine and the Wall Street Journal, … Continue reading →

Posted in Geopolitics, Politics | 3 Comments

How to do better things with words

Posted on 23/10/2015 by modulus

The left has historically concerned itself with language and its use, given the need to engage in agitation and propaganda. Some of our efforts in trying to improve our communication strategies are, deservedly or not, classics of the genre, such … Continue reading →

Posted in Critique of the Left, Politics, Proletarian politics | Comments Off

Syriza and Israel: Syriza’s response

Posted on 20/08/2015 by yeksmesh

A few weeks ago the story broke that the Syriza-led Greek government continued military cooperation with Israel. Since the party has advocated ceasing all military cooperation with Israel, commentators on the left quickly classified this behaviour as degeneration and betrayal. … Continue reading →

Posted in Critique of the Left, Politics, Uncategorized | Comments Off

What does a Corbyn victory mean?

Posted on 17/08/2015 by Sami El-Sayed

With Jeremy Corbyn’s grassroots campaign in full swing, we must decide how to best orientate towards the front runner for the Labour leadership position. There’s no doubting that his campaign has opened up the space for the left to break … Continue reading →

Posted in Bourgeois politics, Politics, Proletarian politics | Comments Off

SYRIZA: Was capitulation inevitable?

Posted on 17/07/2015 by Sami El-Sayed

With the events of January 25th, a shot rang out across Europe, which would reverberate across the world. The election of the first radical left government in decades, which threatened to challenge the rule of austerity in the European Union. … Continue reading →

Posted in Bourgeois politics, Critique of the Left, Politics, Proletarian politics | 1 Comment

The four contradictions of liberalism

Posted on 17/07/2015 by yeksmesh

Liberalism produced some of the greatest political advances of our age. As socialists we often obscure this, but civil and political rights combined with representative democracy make for one of the most potent and liberating achievements of the period following the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bourgeois politics, History, Politics, Proletarian politics | 3 Comments

Between Ideology and Public Discourse

Posted on 14/07/2015 by Gavin Mendel-Gleason

Our political and economic system is in crisis. There is a crisis of affordable housing, of decent jobs, of cuts to public services and cuts to social welfare provisions. There is a crisis of democracy which shows itself at every … Continue reading →

Posted in Proletarian politics | 3 Comments

Commentary and Discussion to the Syriza Victory in the Greek Referendum

Posted on 06/07/2015 by Jerome Nikolai Warren

The imminent victory of Syriza over the concerted efforts of European politicians and Greek media moguls — the former cutting off the country’s financial sources as punishment for it voting incorrectly, in the language of Wolfgang Schäuble, the latter spreading … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Geopolitics, Politics | Tagged democracy, Eurozone, Greek debt crisis | Comments Off

Trotsky and TTIP: how secret diplomacy serves elite interests

Posted on 09/06/2015 by yeksmesh

“Secret diplomacy shall not be tolerated for a single moment during the negotiations. Our flyers and our radio service will keep all the nations informed of every proposition we make, and of the answers they elicit from Germany. We shall … Continue reading →

Posted in Geopolitics, Politics | Comments Off