Capitalism

Capitalism

• Null and void: sport in a time of Covid-19

  

  The Coronavirus crisis has revealed so much about sport-as-business that is bad, argues Mark Perryman of Philosophy Football

• Lockdown crisis in India: a people's perspective of Covid-19

  

  With no access to state support, healthcare or testing, India's working and poor people have been completely abandoned by the government during the lockdown

• The government is prioritising protecting profits - CounterBriefing 28 March

  

  The government should be reorienting production to the urgent needs during this crisis, but instead they’re interested in saving profits, argues Penny Hicks

• Dominic Cummings vs the people - podcast

  

  Following his article Coronavirus: the politics of Cummings' cull, Sean Ledwith speaks to Parallax Views

• Supply chains: a neoliberal crisis

  

  Alastair Cartwright explains how the current economic system is prone to failure and what needs to be done to change it

• The sociopathic calculus of capitalism in a crisis

  

  The ruling class is debating whether or not it's worth saving the lives of those it can no longer exploit; this is barbarism, writes Kevin Ovenden

• Pandemic basic income is not the solution

  

  UBI lets the bosses off the hook and does nothing to challenge a system in crisis, argues John Clarke

• Coronavirus, the market and the state

  

  The state and the market are opposite sides of the same capitalist coin, writes Dragan Plavšić

• Engels' Marxism

  

  In the second of our series on the revolutionary Frederick Engels, on the 200th anniversary of his birth, we are republishing this piece by John Rees which first appeared in the International Socialism Journal in 1994

• No more gambles, put people first - CounterBriefing 20 March

  

  Our pressure on the government is working and we must push harder, argues Shabbir Lakha

• Put people before profit to fight Coronavirus

  

  The government's response to the Coronavirus puts big business first, but we need real solutions that benefit the public instead, argues Richard Allday

• Teachers in New York forced schools to close; we need to do the same

  

  Don't play dice with people's lives. Close schools now, argues Shabbir Lakha

• Laugh through the lockdown

  

  Five of the best novels to keep you laughing while you sharpen your critical faculties from John Rees

• Branson's pickle

  

  Richard Branson tries to be a poster boy for capitalism's supposed humanity but in truth he respresents its worst depravity, argues Morgan Daniels

• Coronavirus is exposing capitalism - video

  

  Kevin Ovenden speaks to Double Down News on how the nature of capitalism is being shown for what it is in this crisis

• Coronavirus, climate, and capital: capitalism's destructive irrationality

  

  Capitalism is subjecting itself to great strain and we must be prepared to help it on its way, writes John Clarke

• Coronavirus: keep calm and carry on is not a policy but an abdication of responsibility

  

  Government response is a key factor in how the virus is affecting populations and we will all pay for the inertia of our own, argues Kevin Potter

• Coronavirus: market failure

  

  In his third note on the Covid-19 outbreak, Dr Yannis Gourtsoyannis examines the role of the market in the apparent crisis on our shelves

• Coronavirus: 8 demands we should make on the government

  

  Any effective response to the virus outbreak will require radical solutions that put human lives before profits and markets, argues Alistair Cartwright

• Coronavirus – the trigger for a slump?

  

  Michael Roberts explains why Coronavirus has destabilised the global economy

• Coronavirus: how effective are facemasks?

  

  In his second note on the political economy of the imminent Covid-19 pandemic, Dr Yannis Gourtsoyannis looks at the antinomies of facemasks

• A flood of anger

  

  Outrage at government inaction is growing in the country's flood-hit areas, reports John Westmoreland

• The socialist argument against the Tory anti-immigrant offensive

  

  The labour movement cannot give any credence to the Tories' arguments and must ferociously oppose this anti-immigration clampdown says Kevin Ovenden

• Coronavirus: an effect of global agribusiness

  

  Growing profit first and food second is the reason for the virus. Look to modern industrial farming for the culprit, argues Elaine Graham-Leigh

• In the Red Corner: the Marxism of José Carlos Mariátegui - book review

  

  Mike Gonzalez, In The Red Corner, recovers José Carlos Mariátegui’s Marxist understanding of Latin America in the context of the development of capitalism, finds Orlando Hill

• As Australia burns, climate strikes set for a new phase

  

  Lucy Nichols reports on twelve months of student-led protest

• Leaving the EU: this is about what sort of society we want – and it isn’t Johnson’s

  

  As Britain leaves the EU at 11pm tonight, the future is up for grabs, and the fight continues, argues Martin Hall

• How America Became Capitalist - book review

  

  James Parisot’s How America Became Capitalist uncovers the contested and contradictory history of capitalist development in the United States, finds Dominic Alexander

• Our world is burning

  

  As the wild fires rage, Laura Morales gives a personal view of the situation in Australia

• Capitalism and colonialism: hiding the past on stolen land

  

  John Clarke reflects on the legacy of capitalism and the genocidal dispossession of indigenous peoples in Canada

• The Age of Surveillance Capitalism - book review

  

  The Age of Surveillance Capitalism raises important questions about the authoritarian use of digital technologies, but the solution needs to be radical, argues Reece Goscinski

• The Coming Revolution: Capitalism in the 21st Century - book review

  

  The Coming Revolution is an impressive guide for Marxists looking for a way to approach contemporary capitalism, argues Josh Newman

• The Debt System - book review

  

  The Debt System argues that international debt is a system of exploitation of poorer countries, which should be regarded as illegitimate, finds Phil Armstrong

• Our NHS is not for sale - all out to tell Trump

  

  With proof that the NHS is ‘on the table’, we need to make next week’s anti-Trump demo massive, argues Tom Lock Griffiths

• Gold Digger - TV review

  

  The oppression of family and class unite in this taboo-busting drama, writes Sofie Mason

• Neoliberalism, the left and the Crisis of the British State - book extract

  

  In the first of two excerpts from ‘The British State: A Warning’, Chris Nineham examines how neoliberalism has shaped our state institutions 

• Labour's right, billionaires shouldn't exist

  

  Billionaires are evidence of the grotesque inequality in society and Labour is right to say a fair society wouldn't have them, writes Shabbir Lakha

• The British State: A Warning

  

  As the left prepares for the possibility of taking power, Chris Nineham's timely new book analyses the British state and what the left can expect

• Labour must be anti-Establishment not pro-Remain

  

  The buccaneer politics of Johnson’s deal has to be fought tooth-and-nail, argues Chris Nineham  

• Pensions: the system isn't working

  

  We need a radically different system based on needs that works for pensioners and young people alike, argues Reuben Bard-Rosenberg

• William Morris: father of socialist ecology

  

  William Morris is one of the greatest environmentalists of the socialist tradition and his work becomes more relevant by the day, writes Gabriel Polley

• Glasgow strikes for climate justice

  

  This is an issue that unites the class, writes UCU activist Vladimir Unkovski-Korica

• There are no jobs on a dead planet: we want system change not climate change

  

  The message from Newcastle is clear

• The Biofuels Deception: Going Hungry on the Green Carbon Diet - book review

  

  Biofuels turn out not to be a sustainable replacement for fossil-fuels, but just another way for agribusiness to maintain profits, finds Elaine Graham-Leigh

• Labour: these aren't clever tactics, they are the establishment's tactics

  

  The real trap is in playing the establishment's games, writes John Rees

• “Life-long member of the non-pretty working classes” - All Woman review

  

  In All Woman, Kathy Burke has tackled ‘beauty’ and ‘motherhood’ and next up is that big messy hot potato of ‘relationships’, writes Sofie Mason

• The Amazon fire: a neoliberal crime scene

  

  The destruction of the Amazon rainforest is no accident, it is the product of Bolsonaro's neoliberal policies, argues Nathan Street

• Amazon fire: our lungs are on fire

  

  Chrissy Brand joined the demonstrators outside the Brazilian Embassy in London on August 23rd. She is one of millions who realise that climate change can only be held at bay by a fundamental system change

• The caring capitalists of corporate America

  

  When American capitalists pretend to care we know they are afraid, argues John Clarke

• A new global recession is coming

  

  Capitalism expands in booms and slumps and we're due a slump, writes Michael Roberts

• Where is the love?

  

  An anti-arms trade campaigner explains what the DSEI arms fair is and why it is so important to join the protests against it when it comes to London in September

• Can the Working Class Change the World? - book review

  

  If the working class is to change the world, it needs serious strategies to find unity and overcome divisions, not woolly moralism, argues Richard Allday

• The Coming of the American Behemoth - book review

  

  Roberto’s The Coming of the American Behemoth argues that fascist-like processes arose from the essential workings of monopoly capitalism in 1930s America, finds Martin Hall

• What is Modern Monetary Theory, and can it work?

  

  Modern Monetary Theory will not offer us the full-blooded attack on capitalist economic organisation that we need, argues Susan Newman

• From Commune to Capitalism - book review

  

  A valuable analysis of China’s turn to neoliberalism since the late 1970s needs to be put in the longer context of Chinese state capitalism, argues Sean Ledwith

• Nasty but vulnerable: why we can get rid of Boris

  

  Boris Johnson is dangerous and it is imperative we build a movement to stop him, argues Katherine Connelly

• The problem with citizens’ assemblies

  

  As a citizens' assembly to deal with climate change is announced, Elaine Graham-Leigh looks at the idea’s limitations

• Stonewall 50

  

  Marking the half-centenary of the Stonewall riots, Morgan Daniels looks at the history of the Stonewall Inn and what it means for radical queer politics everywhere

• A Canadian genocide

  

  Challenging Canadian colonialism means challenging Canadian capitalism, argues John Clarke

• The London working class have not forgotten Grenfell

  

  The second demonstration in two days about the horrific disaster at Grenfell Tower shows that the anger and solidarity are still strong, reports Orlando Hill

• Grenfell: justice delayed is justice denied

  

  Two years on, the anger and the grief from this urban atrocity is still undimmed, reports Isabel Carr

• The Common Wind charts the black resistance movement that won - book review

  

  Scott’s classic The Common Wind shows the world-historic impact of the Haitian Revolution of 1791, the first successful slave revolt in history, finds Dominic Alexander

• Alastair Campbell isn’t a victim, he’s trying to destroy Corbyn’s leadership

  

  Alastair Campbell is trying to destroy Corbyn's leadership. The left cannot win by capitulating to him, argues Katherine Connelly

• Heineken In Africa: A Multinational Unleashed - book review

  

  Olivier van Beemen’s meticulous exposure of Heineken’s activities in Africa show the damage done by neo-colonial capitalism, argues Ellen Graubart

• Marxism in 30 minutes with John Rees - video

  

  John Rees gives a presentation explaining what Marxism is and why it's still relevant at a London Counterfire public meeting

• William Godwin: A political life - book review

  

  A new biography lauds William Godwin, but some contemporary radicals of the 1790s offer better inspiration for the modern left, argues Dominic Alexander

• Rebels for life: next steps for the climate justice movement

  

  Recent climate activism has shifted the debate but unless the system of profit-seeking is addressed then the ecological danger will remain, argues Bill Perry

• We need the labour movement to win the fight against climate change

  

  The fight for workers' rights and jobs goes hand in hand with the fight against climate change, so we need the environmental movement and trade unionists to work together, writes Richard Allday

• Thank God it's Friday: 300 years of Robinson Crusoe

  

  On the 300 year anniversary of the publishing of Robinson Crusoe, Morgan Daniels analyses what the book really tells us from a Marxist perspective

• Capitalism and climate change - can we avert disaster? - video

  

  At a London public meeting, Elaine Graham-Leigh explains why climate change is a product of capitalism and the solution has to be one that confronts the system

• World in Crisis: A Global Analysis of Marx’s Law of Profitability - book review

  

  Marx’s law of profitability is shown in World in Crisis to explain today’s long depression, but ending capitalism requires a political strategy, argues Dominic Alexander

• Seven demands for stopping climate change

  

  Environmental activist and author, Elaine Graham-Leigh, highlights seven key demands the movement against climate change needs to be making

• The Brexit crisis and the disintegration of Britain's political system

  

  Brexit is a crisis that cuts deep into the ruling class and Theresa May's failures have brought to the fore the cracks in Britain's political system, argues Sean Ledwith

• Why the EU is not internationalist

  

  Seeing the EU as internationalist is a fundamental error rooted in a misdiagnosis of its aims and effects, argues Chris Nineham

• Keywords: The New Language of Capitalism - book review

  

  Leary’s Keywords insightfully updates a classic critique of the use of language by power, to understand the vocabulary of neoliberal capitalism, finds Oliver Eagleton

• A Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank merger spells trouble

  

  The proposed merger of German banks is a disaster waiting to happen and exposes the weaknesses at the heart of European capitalism, argues Chris Bambery

• Climate Leviathan and A Foodie's Guide to Capitalism - book reviews

  

  Two books on environmental crisis say that anti-capitalist politics are needed, but mistakenly reject the existing revolutionary tradition, argues Elaine Graham-Leigh

• Old Gods, New Enigmas: Marx’s Lost Theory - book review

  

  Mike Davis punctures many myths about Marx and shows how important the history of working-class struggle remains for today, finds Dominic Alexander

• Better to overthrow the system than try to outsmart it: review of ITV's Cleaning Up

  

  What’s not to like about humble cleaners taking advantage of massive corporations and making money from insider trading in Sheridan Smith’s latest series Cleaning Up on ITV?

• Marxism and the Brexit crisis

  

  The Brexit crisis is best understood through a strong methodological framework, argues John Rees

• On new terrain - book review

  

  Kim Moody’s book on labour, unions and capitalism, is very valuable, but revolutionary organisation is essential, argues Richard Allday

• For a left populism - book review

  

  Mouffe’s elaboration of a left populist strategy contains some useful insights but ultimately rests on the centrist ideology that it appears to criticise, argues Josh Newman

• Rosa Luxemburg was a revolutionary socialist

  

  Written in 1983, Lindsey German's introduction to Tony Cliff's book on Rosa Luxemburg gives a brief snapshot of her revolutionary life and ideas

• Climate chaos is the most political issue of our time, to stop it we need systemic change

  

  Climate breakdown is a political issue, and to stop it we need to tackle it at the root, argues Jim Scott

• EastEnders at Christmas

  

  The producers may stop short at liberal individualism, but Sofie Mason argues that the viewers of EastEnders may reach other conclusions as to what is to be done

• The Apocolypse of Settler Colonialism - book review

  

  Gerald Horne exposes how the Three Horseman of the Apocalypse - Slavery, Capitalism and White Supremacy gave birth to the rise of the West, finds Adam Tomes

• The rise and fall of neoliberalism

  

  The neoliberal order established since the 70s is collapsing and what comes out of it is down to us, argues Chris Bambery

• England’s Discontents: Political Cultures and National Identities - book review

  

  Mike Wayne’s England’s Discontentsprovides a valuable analysis of how Britain is ruled and the ideology and culture of its elite, argues Chris Bambery

• A Marxist analysis of Eastenders

  

  More than just a sentimentalised view of working class life, Eastenders can often cut through some of the big issues facing working people argues Sofie Mason 

• Stop Tommy Robinson, All out for 17 November - Counterfire Freesheet November 2018

  

  Opposing the far right, people's vote, police racism, precarious workers, climate chaos, universal credit and more in this month's Counterfire freesheet

• Philip Green: an embodiment of the system not an anomaly

  

  Philip Green is a particularly odious example of the exploitation endemic to capitalism, and our response needs to confront the system that enables him, argues Mona Kamal

• The Cry: capitalism ruins families - TV review

  

  BBC One's drama The Cry paints a picture of shame and guilt associated with the family and specifically parenting under capitalism argues Sofie Mason

• Marx and the fight against climate change - Counterfire Media Podcast

  

  Elaine Graham-Leigh and Tom Lock Griffiths discuss the Marxist perspective on ecology and the fight against climate change in the third episode of Counterfire Media's Podcast

• Amazon's pay raise is a tactical retreat as workers fight back

  

  Corporate exploiters like the Jeff Bezos giant are feeling the heat as workers organise, but its pay announcement should be treated carefully, writes John Clarke

• Banksy: the shredding on the wall

  

  Banksy shredding his painting moments after it sold for over £1m at auction showed up the out-of-touch super-rich and everything wrong with modern art culture

• France in 1968: myths, realities and unanswered questions

  

  50 years on from the 1968 crisis, John Mullen gives an overview of events in France, the debates historians are having and the lessons today's anticapitalists should take

• Orange is the new black - analysis

  

  Beyond the sly humour and emotive character interactions lies a story of deep institutional repression and desire for radical new approaches to justice, argues Jago Corry

• The Battle for Paradise - book review

  

  Naomi Klein gives a stirring account of the struggle against disaster capitalism in Puerto Rico after 2017’s Hurricane Maria, finds Ellen Graubart

• No business as usual: Trump’s trade wars

  

  Trump’s trade war is another phase of capitalist crisis that could lead to a harsher world, argues Vladimir Unkovski-Korica

• Learnt nothing and forgotten everything: the next crash is coming - weekly briefing

  

  Finance capital is a game for the rich and when it goes wrong it's our side who are expected to pay the price, argues Lindsey German

• Taking back the city: direct action amid the Dublin housing emergency

  

  Homelessness is on the rise and the state is siding with the landlords. Josh Newman reports from Dublin

• UK wage stagnation is not a puzzle to solve, but an injustice to fight

  

  Wealth redistribution has to become the key priority in our fight against austerity, insists Susan Newman

• Dead-End Lives: Drugs and Violence in the City Shadows - book review

  

  A study of poverty and drug addiction in the slums outside Madrid reveals the callous and destructive nature of the neoliberal city, argues Chris Bambery

• The summer of climate chaos

  

  The heatwave seems to be over, but with floods in Kerala to wildfires in California making history, capitalism still can’t fix climate change, writes Elaine Graham-Leigh

• The dynamics of disaster

  

  Capitalism will destroy humanity. Only working class mass mobilisation and struggle can stop this, argues John Westmoreland

• The Cynical Educator - book review

  

  Today’s education system may be making professionals into Cynics, but the answer is collective struggle, not ancient philosophy, argues Dominic Alexander

• Interest rates, wages and the UK economy

  

  As he analyses the state of the economy, Michael Roberts finds that the capitalist sector of the British economy has failed to deliver for the needs of the people

• Bullshit Jobs: A Theory - book review

  

  David Graeber’s new book raises many questions about the function and worth of work, but doesn’t entirely explain why useless work persists, finds Clare Solomon

• Marxism and human nature

  

  Mainstream conceptions of human nature are rooted in the historical development of capitalism.  Elaine Graham-Leigh argues that we can only understand nature through the dialectic method

• The collapse of everything, and what to do about it - weekly briefing

  

  Two major demos in the next four weeks is a fantastic opportunity to hardwire our politics to the street, argues Lindsey German 

• The Storm Clouds Gather: Is there a future for the European Union?

  

  The gathering crisis in European Union should make it clear the EU provides no haven from racism or austerity

• Karl Marx: before all else a revolutionist

  

  200 years since Marx’s birth and 170 years after the 1848 revolutions, Katherine Connelly reflects on Marx’s revolutionary contribution

• Grenfell one year on - the Tories still don't care

  

  As we approach the anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire, the Tories have learnt no lessons and show only disregard and contempt argues Steph Pike

• Too rich to fail - weekly briefing

  

  “One rule for them and one rule for us” is a key mantra for neoliberalism and it has to be destroyed, argues Lindsey German 

• Two sides of a city: homelessness and the royal wedding

  

  We cannot turn a blind eye to the class cleansing where homeless people are moved on whilst royal wedding fans camp out unhindered

• The limits of Keynesianism part 4: the Keynesian attack on the labour theory of value

  

  In the fourth part of our series, Dominic Alexander looks at the problems with Keynesian critiques of Marx's labour theory of value 

• After Windrush: this racist government must go - Counterfire Freesheet May 2018

  

  Windrush, May 68, Palestine, UCU strike, Marx and more - Counterfire freesheet edition 025, May 2018

• Was Marx an economist? What was his contribution to economics?

  

  In her speech at 'Why Marx Was Right', Susan Newman argues that Marx's analysis of capitalism goes against everything modern economics stands for

• The limits of Keynesianism part three: Marx, Keynes and the analysis of the trade cycle

  

  In the third part of our series on Keynesianism, Dominic Alexander looks at cycles, crisis, and why Keynesianism always looks to fix capitalism 

• Marxism in 800 words

  

  As we approach Karl Marx's 200th birthday, Alex Snowdon summarises Marx's key ideas in as few words as possible

• Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Marx on his 200th birthday

  

  On 5 May, leading Marxists are getting together to celebrate Marx’s 200^th birthday. Chris Nineham argues why the event matters so much.

• The limits of Keynesianism part two: the assumptions Keynes makes

  

  In the second part of our series on Keynesianism, Dominic Alexander outlines the economic and philosophical underpinnings of Keynesian thought

• The limits of Keynesianism part one: John Maynard Keynes and orthodox economics

  

  In the first part of our series considering the merits and pitfalls of Keynesian economics, Dominic Alexander looks at the history of Keynes' contribution

• Basic Income: progressive cloak and neoliberal dagger

  

  BI is not an answer to inequality under neoliberalism. Social transformation will come through collective struggle, argues John Clarke

• A Redder Shade of Green - book review

  

  Ian Angus’ essays range across many issues at the intersection of politics and environmental science, illuminating the meaning of ecosocialism, finds Kevin Crane

• Paris and London: A Tale of Two Radical Cities

  

  Chris Bambery on the history of two great capital cities, and the architecture of power.

• Why we’re heading for another economic crash

  

  Our economy continues to be tied to the vagaries of speculative finance

• Environmental entropy is inescapable in capitalism

  

  No truly effective green politics can do without a coherent argument against the capitalist mode of production, argues Nathan Street

• You don't hate snow, you hate capitalism

  

  As a blast of cold Siberian air has frozen the UK over, Tim Hinson explains how increasing temperatures in the Arctic is to blame

• Studies in Pre-Capitalist Modes of Production - book review

  

  This collection of studies on pre-capitalist societies develops vital debates on the application of the Marxist method to history in general, argues Dominic Alexander

• Brexit: the need for independent working-class, anti-capitalist politics

  

  We build on the schism in capitalist politics resulting from Brexit divisions by putting anti-racism grounded in working class politics front and centre argues Kevin Ovenden

• Unco-operative capitalism - weekly briefing

  

  The showdown between public need and private greed will mean taking on the banks and the City from the get-go, argues Lindsey German

• Automation: the future, but what future?

  

  We cannot consider automation without taking into account the mode of production in which it's operating, argues Nathan Street 

• Carillion, Capita and the death of a dogma

  

  Private companies cannot be allowed to continue running public services. The consensus around this practice is thankfully crumbling, argues Sean Ledwith

• The Economic Struggle for Power in Tito's Yugoslavia - book review

  

  Vladimir Unkovski-Korica locates the roots of Yugoslavia’s bloody collapse in the ‘market socialism’ of the Tito years

• We need real solutions, not tickboxing and tokenism

  

  Jeremy Hunt saying that the NHS doesn't need more funding suggests his idea of a solution is more unpaid labour for working class women argues Kevin Ovenden

• Creating an Ecological Society: Towards a Revolutionary Transformation - book review

  

  Magdoff and Williams provide a powerful case that ecological disaster can be overcome by a revolutionary transformation of social relations

• Frankenstein at 200

  

  Frankenstein was published 200 years ago. It's a horror story but the horrors it described are rooted in capitalism as well as the imagination

• Capitalism and technology: are robots going to take over - video

  

  At a London meeting, Marxist economist Michael Roberts discusses whether or not the robot takeover is inevitable, and would advancement lead to living standards improving or further exploitation

• Marxism, Social Reproduction and Women’s Liberation with Lindsey German and Kate Connelly - video

  

  At an important Counterfire discussion, Lindsey German and Kate Connelly speak on women's oppression and how gender roles are played out within the structure of capitalism

• Trump - Year One

  

  Making sense of the Trump presidency is impossible without a systematic understanding of the forces of reaction and capitalism which paved his way, argues David Bush

• Istvan Meszaros and Marx's theory of alienation

  

  The late Hungarian philosopher explained how alienation can only be overcome by collective action which challenges capitalist relations of production

• On Marx’s account of the commodity

  

  Understanding Marx's Capital requires a clear grasp of his analysis of the commodity, writes Matthew McManus

• Post-modern Trumpism and loneliness: the rise of vulgar authoritarianism

  

  What is at the root of Trump's appeal?

• The Paradise Papers show us the true nature of the monarchy

  

  The Paradise Papers have exposed once more the deep inequalities that plight our country but they also show us a glimpse of the secretive and devious workings of the Crown argues Patricia Pino

• The return of the S-word in the US

  

  As market fundamentalism is falling out of favour, especially among the young, socialist ideas are gaining traction, writes Des Freedman

• Marx, Capital and the Madness of Economic Reason - book review

  

  David Harvey’s latest book, using all three volumes of Marx’s Capital, demonstrates the social irrationality of modern capitalism, finds Dominic Alexander

• The hype machine: employers and threats of automation

  

  The reality of automation and its impact on the labour market is a lot less dire for workers than it seems

• Robots and AI: utopia or dystopia? - part 3

  

  Michael Roberts suggests that robots will not be taking over the world of work any time soon

• May Day, May Day! The Tory ship is sinking

  

  John Rees on the reasons for the Tory debacle and what comes next

• Automation and Basic Income: beyond the hype

  

  Basic Income is not a beyond left and right answer to automation, argues David Bush

• Robots and AI: utopia or dystopia? – part two

  

  Michael Roberts explains why we would never get to a robotic society under capitalism

• Robots and AI: utopia or dystopia? part one

  

  Robots will not end the contradictions within capitalist accumulation, argues Michael Roberts

• Uber: not fit, not proper

  

  Unfettered capitalism begins to feel the leash, writes Lindsey German

• Night Thoughts - book review

  

  Night Thoughts is the subversive musings that Wallace Shawn cannot admit during the day; witty and involving, the book should be spread widely, finds Dominic Alexander

• It's capitalism that has flooded Houston

  

  Storm Harvey was as severe as it was because of climate change, but it is capitalism that made it a disaster, argues Elaine Graham-Leigh

• Facing the Anthropocene: Fossil Capitalism and the Crisis of the Earth System - review

  

  The Anthropocene is the result of post-1945 capitalism, according to Ian Angus, in a vital contribution to the ecosocialist argument, argues Elaine Graham-Leigh

• Lukács, alienation and class consciousness - video

  

  The work of Hungarian Marxist Georg Lukács, who developed one of the most powerful critiques of capitalist ideology, is introduced by Chris Nineham

• Trump sends for the Marines: what could possibly go wrong? - weekly briefing

  

  The Trump administration is like a cross between the declining Roman Empire and a reality show that has gone wrong

• What is Marxism Part 1 - video

  

  In the first of a series of meetings on Marxist theory Lindsey German introduces Marx's critique of capitalism

• Brexit: division and unity on the Left

  

  Brexit gives us a unique opportunity. Let's take it

• Sound System: The Political Power of Music

  

  Dave Randall’s Sound System is a wide ranging and highly engaging discussion of politics and music that you just can’t put down, finds Sofie Mason

• Multiracial, working class unity in the fight to get justice for Grenfell Tower residents

  

  The emergence of a united, multiracial working class has the power to deliver justice for Grenfell and get rid of the Tories, writes Tom Whittaker

• Grenfell Tower fire: anger rising

  

  With the death toll slowly rising but information still largely considered inaccurate, anger is growing. Julie Al-Hinai reports from the ground.

• Capitalism in the Web of Life: Ecology and the Accumulation of Capital

  

  Jason Moore shows that capitalism is innately destructive of its environment, but the solution is revolutionary socialist organisation, argues Elaine Graham-Leigh

• The Tory crisis is the crisis of neoliberalism

  

  The roots of their problem go deep, argues Dragan Plavšić

• A People’s History of Modern Europe

  

  Pelz’s People’s History of Modern Europe gives an illuminating history of the class struggles and revolts which accompanied the modernisation of Europe, finds Tom Whittaker

• The coming war in Labour

  

  A Corbyn-led government will provoke a determined backlash from the British establishment, including the Labour right. Radical social movements must be ready

• Trump: war on the climate, war on the working class

  

  Trump's attacks on environmental protection prove once again that he's only on the side of the capitalists, never the working class

• Excitement in the French elections: the meaning of Jean-Luc Mélenchon

  

  The leftwinger's inspiring campaign raises crucial questions about the potential and limits of state action in favour of the working class, writes John Mullen

• The Highland Clearances: a capitalist tragedy

  

  The history of the Highlands is steeped in the suffering of capitalism's victims, writes Chris Bambery

• Epidemics, multinationals and capitalism

  

  From Ebola to swine flu, multinationals and their capitalist production systems are the real causes of new epidemic diseases, argues Elaine Graham-Leigh

• Fake news: capitalism and ideology - video

  

  How can we tell fact from fiction? In this talk, Milly Williamson takes a look at how 'fake news' has always been a function of capitalism

• Marxism and Women's Liberation

  

  Judy Cox welcomes Marxism and Women’s Liberation as a timely and valuable discussion of the causes and consequences of women’s oppression

• Revolution 1917: then and now

  

  Society today may seem to be far from revolution, but the discontent because of inequality and war are bubbling under the surface argues Lindsey German

• Last Stand at Standing Rock

  

  Indigenous people and 'water protectors' were cleared out of the Oceti camp this week following Trump's go ahead to the DAPL reports Kara Bryan

• Five days to revolution

  

  This Saturday some of the world's greatest experts on the Russian Revolution are coming to London to discuss its significance today

• The Capitalist University: The Transformation of Higher Education in the United States since 1945

  

  Henry Heller’s The Capitalist University shows how higher education has served capitalism for over a hundred years, finds Orlando Hill

• Trump's new Horsemen of the Apocalypse

  

  As President-elect becomes President, Sean Ledwith takes a look at the Trump administration

• What PMQs told us about Brexit and the NHS

  

  In this week's Prime Minister's Questions, Corbyn and May battled on Brexit and the NHS. Cameron Panting takes a look at the reality behind the rhetoric

• The British state and The City - part 3

  

  The third in a three-part series, in which Chris Bambery takes a look at the intertwined history of the state and the City of London

• Their Brexit and ours

  

  The din of ruling class squabbling should not distract socialists from their own agendas, contends Lindsey German

• The British state and The City - part 2

  

  The second in a three-part series, in which Chris Bambery takes a look at the intertwined history of the state and the City of London

• The British state and The City - part 1

  

  The first in a three-part series, in which Chris Bambery takes a look at the intertwined history of the state and the City of London

• Standing Rock: the struggle continues

  

  The struggle at Standing Rock can only be overcome by challenging the system as a whole, argues George Mueller Waite

• A festival of re-distribution: the real spirit of Christmas

  

  In purging Christmas of any social meaning, capitalism creates its own gravediggers, argues Dominic Alexander

• Art, Literature and Culture from a Marxist Perspective

  

  Tony McKenna’s cultural essays show the rich possibilities of Marxist analysis for a range of art and literature, argues Sean Ledwith

• The centre cannot win

  

  Donald Trump should have been the dream opponent. A narcissistic blowhard opposed by his own party. He should have been a walk over

• Beneath the bonnet: capitalism and cars

  

  A clash of new and old forms of capitalism exposes the anarchy and wastefulness within our rotten system, writes Chris Bambery

• 'Brexit: what should the left be fighting for?' with Lindsey German - video

  

  What does Brexit mean? What should we be demanding? Lindsey German takes on these questions in the second talk of our new series, tackling the big issues of the day

• A dagger pointed at the heart of the Euro

  

  Italy is set to vote in a constitutional referendum, but this is about much more than Renzi's reforms, argues Alastair Stephens

• Royal Bank of Scotland: socialism for the rich

  

  The final reckoning of the 2007/8 crash will be played out in the realm of politics not economics, argues Chris Bambery  

• Unionising university workers - extract

  

  In the third extract from The Capitalist University, Henry Heller writes about growing resistance to the corporate university

• Universities and the Cold War - extract

  

  The second extract from Heller's The Capitalist University describes intellectual and political conformity that dominated academia during the Cold War

• The hidden spaces of struggle

  

  Space and place in the cityscape are battlegrounds, and we have to fight to hold them, argues Chris Bambery

• Universities, corporations and class - extract

  

  We republish the first of three extracts from Henry Heller's new book The Capitalist University, which resonates with the marketisation of HE in Britain

• Uber drivers win employment case

  

  Uber drivers win the right to be classed as workers as opposed to self-employed, in a huge step forward for the labour movement, reports Lindsey German

• Can neuroscience change our minds?

  

  Steven and Hilary Rose debunk the ideologically loaded claims of reductionist neuroscience in a short but clear book, finds Elaine Graham-Leigh

• Defend the Kinsley School cleaners

  

  The small disputes, which appear separate, are coming together to form a movement, argues says John Westmoreland

• Bubbles always go pop: capitalism and the Hanjin bankruptcy

  

  Chris Bambery takes a look at what happened to Hanjin shipping company and what it tells us about comptemporary capitalism