We first posted this in 2009. Also see our section on Women and Marxism. What is now known as International Women's Day was initially called International Working Women's Day and was a key date in the communist calendar. Unfortunately over the years the connection between this day, on which we mark the fight for women's liberation, ...
Below is a letter which we emailed to both Another Education is Possible and Education Not for Sale on January 29. Dear comrades, we understand that Another Education is Possible and Education Not for Sale are in talks, along with Daf Adley (NUS LGBT Chair) and Bellavia Ribeiro-Addy (NUS Black students Chair), about the possiblity of standing ...
Uncanny detective story James Turley reviews China Miéville’s The city and the city London 2009, pp312, £17.99 China Miéville is one of the foremost writers in contemporary genre fiction. He is somewhat unique in that, unlike many others, his crossover success has not involved disavowing the generic in favour of the more conventionally ‘literary’ - on the ...
Once again, says James Turley, it has not been a good couple of weeks for Alastair Darling and Gordon Brown On October 23, to widespread surprise and consternation among the British ruling class, the first figures for third-quarter GDP growth were released by the office for national statistics. Expectations were high that the UK had pulled ...
Oxford Communist Students are hosting our first public meeting on Tuesday October 27, in the Judges room at Oxford Town Hall. The meeting will start at 7.30pm and will be addressed by Mike Macnair – a leading member of the Communist Party of Great Britain and author of the recent book Revolutionary strategy: Marxism and ...
Joining a rogues’ gallery Barack Obama is presiding over an escalation of military action in Afghanistan. Despite that, he is a hero for the liberal bourgeoisie, writes James Turley Fairly soon after Barack Obama’s victory in last year’s presidential elections, there appeared an amusing little website called Bad Paintings of Barack Obama,1 which randomly flashes up canvasses ...
Rhetoric, stunts, and divisions Chris Brandler assesses the left’s mobilisation in Manchester against the English Defence League The English Defence League managed to pull in around 700 supporters from across the country for its October 10 demonstration in Manchester. They appear to be an odd mix of politically disorientated, white, male workers, football firm hooligans, the sincerely ...
James Turley reviews Nigel Copsey’s Contemporary British fascism Palgrave Macmillan, 2007, pp264, £19.99 The rise and rise of the British National Party is a source of much consternation in contemporary Britain, among bourgeois society and the left alike. The BNP is viewed as a fascist interloper, sneaking into ‘mainstream’ politics with murderous intent. Yet there is remarkably ...
Many students are completely inexperienced politically, but are beginning to question the system, write Ted North and Dave Isaacson in Oxford Members of Communist Students and the Communist Party of Great Britain are currently involved in giving Marxist politics a much needed boost in Oxford. We began by organising a stall outside Oxford University freshers fairs ...
Honduras: Cracks in the ranks of the coup-makers The Soldiers and police of the coup regime in Honduras continue to attack demonstrators On Wednesday, September 30, more than 1,000 people demonstrated in Tegucigalpa for the right to free speech. They were protesting against the closure of the radio station Radio Globo and the television station ...
James Turley argues that the bourgeoisie is incapable of uniting Europe on any secure basis Ireland’s referendum on the European Union’s Lisbon treaty is surely the last major hurdle it will face. The Irish parliament still needs to formalise ratification, and the presidents of Poland and the Czech Republic have also yet to sign. The latter’s, ...
Communist Students have been winning supporters at freshers fairs Chris Brandler reports from Manchester Manchester Communist Students have gone from strength to strength over the past 12 months. At this year’s freshers fair we recruited three times as many students than the previous year, with nearly 170 signing up to the society. For three days comrades staffed ...
The left’s spluttering response to Nick Griffin’s invitation to appear on Question time reveals a floundering political strategy, argues James Turley On October 22, yet one more edition of the BBC’s long-running politics show Question time will, barring some act of god, be broadcast. On that date, joining toadyish and cynical members of the three main ...