Socialism

Socialism

• Ten years of Counterfire books: on sale now

  

  Celebrating a decade of books published by Counterfire

• Can socialism come through Parliament? - explainer

  

  In the sixth part of a series of socialist explainers, Morgan Daniels looks at the prospect of achieving socialism through Parliament

• Why class matters - explainer

  

  In the fifth part of a series of socialist explainers, David McAllister explains what the working class is and why it's central to transforming society

• The Starmer supremacy: Labour is now on the wrong side of the struggles that matter

  

  Starmer's stampede to the right means that socialists will need to reach beyond the Labour Party to build a fighting left, argues Chris Nineham

• The Starmer restoration is only just getting into stride

  

  Starmer's transformation of the Labour Party by attacking the left and pulling the party to the right is only just beginning, argues Kevin Ovenden

• Can economic planning work? - explainer

  

  In the third of a series of socialist explainers, Dominic Alexander takes on the idea that a planned economy cannot work

• Poland Elections 2020: a narrow but dangerous victory for the right

  

  The victory for the Trumpesque right in Poland is a dangerous development and the challenge for socialists is to create an opening for renewed struggle, argues Reece Goscinski

• Does human nature make socialism impossible? - explainer

  

  In the second of a series of socialist explainers, Lucy Nichols dissects the idea that humans are inherently selfish

• The NHS is 72: why we must fight to defend it

  

  As the NHS turns 72, it is under threat from the free-market dogma that has been underfunding and privatising it, writes John Westmoreland

• Starmer takes Labour right: It's time for an extra-parliamentary left

  

  The fight is on, but it isn't going to be fought in the Labour Party

• Ernie O'Malley's On Another Man's Wound: books that made me a socialist

  

  An anti-imperialist personal account chosen by Chris Bambery

• What is socialism? - explainer

  

  In the first of a series of socialist explainers, Chris Nineham looks at the concept of socialism itself

• Engels' contribution to Marxism

  

  As part of our series on the revolutionary Frederick Engels, on the 200th anniversary of his birth, we repost Tony Cliff's 1996 speech on Engels

• Starmer plays to the right: where now for the left?

  

  Starmer has signalled war on Labour's left with the sacking of Rebecca Long-Bailey. It is a deliberate attempt to root out Corbynism from positions of influence

• Black history you can’t be without: Nine books on the struggle

  

  A reading list of nine essential books on black history and the struggle against racism

• Socialist Register 2020: Beyond Market Dystopia - book review

  

  The wide range of essays in Socialist Register 2020 provide important reflections on the strengths and weaknesses of recent left movements, finds Sean Ledwith

• Black Lives Matter, the sixties and socialist organisation - video

  

  Lindsey German interviews Tariq Ali on the Black Lives Matter protests, their significance and the struggles ahead

• 'Are there no food banks?' The Poor Laws and Charles Dickens at 150

  

  Dickens’s acute observations of social inequality illuminate the cruelty of our government 150 years after his death, says Katherine Connelly

• Marxism and the trade unions: Strategy and Tactics

  

  An excerpt from John Rees' Strategy and Tactics: How the Left Can Organise To Transform Society

• If VE Day never came: It Happened Here - film review

  

  On the 75th anniversary of VE Day, Tom Griffiths finds Brownlow and Mollo's alternative vision of Nazi-led Britain in the 1940s still resonates powerfully

• Britain in World War Two: when workers wouldn't go back to normal

  

  The history of working-class struggle during the Second World War that transformed Britain for the better should be remembered on VE day, writes John Westmoreland

• Total War: realism and fantasy in British Cinema of the 1940s

  

  British Cinema during WW2 presents us with a more complex picture of an important historical period than we might expect, argues Martin Hall

• Reading the Labour Party: book recommendations by and for socialists

  

  How can we explain what has happened in the Labour Party? We asked eight Counterfire authors to tell us about the books that have helped them to understand what the Labour Party is and how socialists should engage with it

• The history of May Day: an unfinished struggle

  

  Out of the Chartist movement, the struggle against slavery and for international socialism, why the demands of May Day remain as vital as ever today

• Who pays? Socialists and state intervention part 2 – long read

  

  In the second part of his article, Chris Nineham examines the recent development of the state and how the Coronavirus will impact on government policy and the left

• Rebel Minds: Class War, Mass Suffering, and the Urgent Need for Socialism - book review

  

  A Marxist critique of psychiatry puts mental-health issues in the context of the social crises created by capitalism, and argues for socialist solutions, finds Adrian Cooley

• Who pays? Socialists and state intervention part 1 – long read

  

  State intervention is back. In part one of a two-part article, Chris Nineham looks at the myths and politics behind state involvement in the economy

• Did Lenin inevitably lead to Stalin?

  

  There was nothing inevitable about the grotesque transformation of Russia’s fledgeling workers’ state into Stalin’s Soviet Union, explains John Westmoreland in the third of his three-part series

• The hidden history of American radicalism: the campaign for the Workers' Unemployment Insurance Bill

  

  The little-known story of working class organising for a Communist-led initiative in 1930s America challenges assumptions about US workers’ conservatism, argues Chris Wright

• Socialists in a time of plague

  

  John Rees provides an overview of a landscape darkened by the establishments’ failure to deal with the coronavirus pandemic

• The Paris Commune: when workers ran a city

  

  The Paris Commune is an important milestone in our history in a number of ways, writes John Westmoreland

• Tony Cliff: revolutionary theory and practice

  

  John Rees remembers Tony Cliff’s unique contribution to the Marxist tradition

• Invasion of the Body Starmers

  

  Starmer's Labour Party is a bit like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, let's learn the right lessons, argues Ben Tunstall

• New horizons during Covid-19: beyond the limits of capitalist realism

  

  Through the Covid-19 crisis we glimpse the need for change and the possibility of change, argues Mike Wayne

• Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time: books that made me a socialist

  

  A startling fusion of science fiction and feminism selected by Dave Randall    

• Trotsky’s My Life: books that made me a socialist

  

  A magisterial autobiography chosen by Jacqueline Mulhallen  

• EP Thompson’s The Making of the English Working Class: books that made me a socialist

  

  A classic work of social history chosen by Dominic Alexander

• Where's Keir Starmer?

  

  Keir Starmer's failure to stand up for working class people during this crisis is a glimpse of what we can expect if he becomes Labour leader, writes Alyssa Cassata

• 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

• 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

• Laugh through the lockdown

  

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

• Counterfire during the Coronavirus: letter from the editor

  

  A letter to our readers from Counterfire's editor, Katherine Connelly

• A People’s History of the German Revolution 1918-19 - book review

  

  William Pelz’s People’s History of the German Revolution is a vivid and accessible introduction to socialism’s greatest lost revolution, finds Tom Whittaker

• Why the working-class, socialist history of International Women’s Day matters today

  

  On International Women's Day, Katherine Connelly looks at its origins in the socialist and feminist movements led by working class women

• 10 years of Counterfire

  

  Marking ten years since the launch of Counterfire, Alex Snowdon reflects on why the organisation was set up and some of what we have achieved in the last decade

• Frederick Engels: life of a revolutionary

  

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

• Ten books to shake 2020

  

  Want to turn the world upside down in 2020? Philosophy Football’sMark Perrymanhas found ten books to help us on the way

• Why Bernie matters

  

  Sanders puts class warfare back on the agenda, writes Alex Kerner 

• 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

• Why socialists oppose imperialist wars

  

  Smashing the link between militarism and the system is a fixed task for our side, argues Dominic Alexander

• Brazil: the 2013 June Days and the consolidation of the 2018 coup

  

  Leonardo Péricles looks at the character and context of the June Days protests in Brazil which he argues did not directly lead to the 2018 coup

• Retreat is a luxury the left cannot afford

  

  The left must turn to rebuilding dynamic extra-parliamentary resistance to the Tories 

• After a bruising election... What next for the left? - Counterfire Freesheet January 2020

  

  Labour leadership contest, general strike in France, growing protest movement in India, why socialists oppose imperialism, a year of climate strikes and more in this month's Counterfire freesheet

• Corbynism, socialists and the resistance – Counterfire’s conference

  

  Counterfire recently held its biggest annual conference yet. We report on the discussion and the decisions made

• Socialists and trade unionists chart the way forward after Brexit

  

  Our Brexit, or Theirs – the LeFT Campaign’s North West event on Saturday saw a big turnout by trade unionists and socialists from across the region and beyond

• Looking ahead: how the Left can win

  

  Looking at how we got to where we are, Tony Dowling argues that the left must pivot to the streets

• Another struggle is possible

  

  John Rees looks at what was lost and how to win again

• From New Labour to a second referendum: why the north turned blue

  

  As part of a series of opinion pieces on the election result, Heather Parry argues that it wasn't socialist policies but the view that Labour was ignoring voters that cost them the election

• Socialists don't do nukes

  

  Nuclear weapons are incompatible with socialist politics, argues Hilary Stephenson

• Tony Blair is completely wrong: Chris Nineham on Sky News - video

  

  Debating a representative from the Adam Smith Institute, Chris Nineham defends Jeremy Corbyn and the left on Sky News

• Labour's defeat: how it happened

  

  As part of a series of opinion pieces on the election result, Brian Heron looks at where it went wrong for Labour

• Rebuilding the resistance

  

  Boris Johnson has to be resisted, and that means we have to get organised

• What we should take from the election and what we do next

  

  Lindsey German gives her thoughts on the election and what it means for socialists

• The energy for Labour in Bristol has been projected across the South West - campaign report

  

  In the last election, Bristol saw a massive swing to Labour, so this time Bristolians have led an energetic campaign in nearby seats, reports Nathan Street

• Lindsey German: don't underestimate how far we've come - video

  

  Speaking at a public meeting, Lindsey German discusses some of the issues that have come up in the election and says whatever the outcome, extra-parliamentary organisation will be key

• Who needs enemies, with friends like Jon Ashworth?

  

  Labour can still win, but in spite of Labour MPs like Jon Ashworth, argues Vladimir Unkovski-Korica

• Jewish activists speak out: why we’re campaigning for Corbyn

  

  Counterfire’s Kate O’Neil caught up with three Jewish activists campaigning for Jeremy Corbyn this week to hear what they had to say

• How to read an election

  

  Philosophy Football’s Mark Perryman provides a handy reading guide for the 12^th December General Election

• 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 impact of the manifesto: canvassing for Labour in Glasgow North

  

  Labour’s radical policies are visibly popular on the doorstep, reports Vladimir Unkovski-Korica

• The Corbyn effect in Scotland - campaign report

  

  Jeremy Corbyn's Labour is offering hope in Scotland, reports Mark Porciani from the campaign trail in Glasgow North East

• Bolivia: call it a coup, support the resistance

  

  International solidarity is vital - the left must unite in condemning the coup against Morales, argues David Bush

• Get organised, and get out there - campaign report

  

  We can get Corbyn elected, but it will take sustained effort, writes Isabel Carr

• How Labour can win the election

  

  Mobilising the labour movement behind a radical anti-austerity programme is Corbyn's best bet to win, writes David McAllister

• Election 2019: the chance for a green industrial revolution

  

  Electing a Corbyn government that can implement a green industrial revolution is the essential next step to taking on climate change, argues Alex Snowdon

• It's going to be a tough battle, but Labour can win

  

  There is only one way to get a government which wants to improve working people's lives - and that's by voting for Corbyn, argues Lindsey German

• Lessons from the remarkable life of Paul Robeson – part 2

  

  Paul Robeson's extraordinary life is a lesson to us today, writes Tayo Aluko

• 7 black heroes that changed the world

  

  For Black History Month, Counterfire asked activists today to tell us about their black hero and how they provide inspiration in our struggles today

• 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

• Lessons from the remarkable life of Paul Robeson - part 1 

  

  Paul Robeson's extraordinary life holds many lessons for the present day, writes Tayo Aluko

• US workers strike back: General Motors and Chicago teachers

  

  A surge in strike action in the US shows a labour movement that’s fighting back, argues Kate O’Neil

• Bosses put the screws on the newly elected Portuguese government to avoid changes to employment laws

  

  At the meeting between the PS [Socialist Party] leader and the president of the CIP, the employer confederation argued that the next government should be supported by "agreements during each budget", which may include the PSD 

• A Socialist Defector: From Harvard to Karl-Marx-Allee - book review

  

  An American socialist’s memoir of his life in East Germany overturns many standard assumptions about the contrasts of West and East, finds Dominic Alexander

• Kick out the crooks - Counterfire freesheet October 2019

  

  Tory crisis, Corbynism, drive to war with Iran, austerity, climate strikes and more in this month's Counterfire freesheet

• Why join Counterfire?

  

  We need a bigger, stronger extra-parliamentary left.

• 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

• Class, Party, Revolution: A Socialist Register Reader - book review

  

  A collection of classic Socialist Register articles raise vital questions about Marx, Lenin, Gramsci and revolutionary organisation, argues Alex Snowdon

• Steer left to beat Johnson's phoney populism

  

  To get rid of the Tories, Labour must fight the status quo with radical class politics, argues Alex Snowdon

• Why we can win: the left and Boris Johnson's crisis

  

  The way out of this crisis is to keep left, fight for Corbyn and stay on the streets, argues Chris Nineham

• 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

• The outlaw government must go!

  

  John Rees on the next step to elect a socialist government

• Why we all have to support the climate strike

  

  On 20 September, it is essential that socialists and trade unionists support the climate strike, writes Richard Allday

• Power to the People

  

  Democratic rights don’t fall from the sky, they are fought for and won, insists Alex Snowdon

• Labour’s Brexit slide

  

  Labour must distance themselves from the status quo and instead fight for radical change in the interests of working people, argues Martin Hall

• Labour and a ‘national government’: how to dash the hopes of millions

  

  Looking back at the last time Labour joined a national government, John Westmoreland argues it would be a mistake for Labour to consider it now

• The Corbyn Project: Dreams and Dangers

  

  In this new timely book, John Rees analyses the Corbyn project from the moment Corbyn became Leader of the Labour Party in 2015 till today

• “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

• How socialists should commemorate Peterloo

  

  Peterloo presents us with unfinished business, argues John Westmoreland 

• 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

• Dirty tricks: the British State and the left

  

  Recent attacks on Corbyn are part of the British state's long history of undemining the left, writes Chris Nineham

• 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

• Trump hates the Squad’s politics as much as their colour

  

  Trump's appalling racist attacks on the four Congresswomen is just as much about their radical left wing politics, argues Kate O'Neil

• Socialists should be trying to unite working people, not divide them - a reply to Paul Mason

  

  Responding to Paul Mason's latest article, Shabbir Lakha argues that the left needs to be trying to unite working people against austerity, not divide them over Brexit

• 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

• Labour Country: Political Radicalism and Social Democracy in South Wales 1831-1985, and Stories of Solidarity - book review

  

  Two books on the working-class history of Wales provide valuable accounts of a rich tradition, but neglect some radical aspects, argues Chris Bambery

• A Suffragette in America: Reflections on Prisoners, Pickets and Political Change - book review

  

  Katherine Connelly’s edition of previously unpublished writing by Sylvia Pankhurst shows her deepening socialist politics, finds Lindsey German

• Take the fight to the Tories: they are unfit to govern - Counterfire freesheet June 2019

  

  Tory meltdown, the crisis in British Steel, how we should remember D-Day, a Marxist analysis of Game of Thrones and more in this month's Counterfire freesheet

• Marxism made easy

  

  Despite the nonsense that gets talked about it, Marxism is a clear, powerful, and relevant philosophy, argues Morgan Daniels

• 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

• Dump Trump: Protest the State Visit, June 3/4/5 - Counterfire freesheet May 2019

  

  Protest against Trump's state visit, austerity and record levels of inequality, Algeria in revolt, Marxism made easy, Palestine, eco-demands and more in this month's Counterfire Freesheet

• 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

• Limerick 1919: all power to the Irish soviets

  

  Marking the centenary of its emergence, Sean Ledwith looks at the history of the Limerick soviet 

• Bernie Sanders 2020: what difference can he make this time?

  

  Bernie Sanders is running for the Democratic nomination for the 2020 presidential election, what difference can he make this time?

• Creggan and the death of Lyra McKee

  

  The republican movement must not revert to futile militarism but build an alternative mass class-based politics fighting for a socialist Ireland, argues Vincent Doherty

• 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

• 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

• Tony Benn: socialist, comrade, friend

  

  An obituary written at the time of Tony Benn's passing by John Rees on a life well lived

• Marx and the meaning of private property

  

  Marx's stance on private property is far from the horror we're told it is, writes John Westmoreland 

• 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

• Counterfire media reaches 100k, now help us do better

  

  This is a time of great possibility for the left, but only if we are prepared to stand our ground

• How to deal with defectors – keep left

  

  We shouldn't be intimidated by the splitters, we need to work to make Labour decisively turn its back on its failed Blairite past, argues David Swanson

• 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

• The revolutionary life of Sylvia Pankhurst - Counterfire Media Podcast

  

  Tom Lock Griffiths talks to biographer and activist Kate Connelly about Sylvia Pankhurst and why the militant socialist and suffragette is still powerfully relevant today in this episode of Counterfire Media's Podcast

• What would a ‘Green New Deal’ look like in Britain?

  

  A Green New Deal, now a popular idea in Britain as well as the US, can help to merge environmental struggle with class struggle, argues Jago Corry

• Nostalgia for the future: Luigi Nono - book review

  

  This excellent edition of Luigi Nono’s writings offers an invaluable insight into the unity of thought of one of the twentieth century’s greatest musical minds, writes Richard Pratt

• Marx in Engels' words

  

  Following the attack on Marx's grave in Highgate, we reprint a transcript of Engels speaking at his graveside on why he is worth remembering

• 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

• Rosa Luxemburg, von Trotta's 1986 film, receives digital restoration - review

  

  In this moving biopic, Rosa Luxemburg emerges as a vibrant, sensual, intellectually brilliant, morally and physically courageous woman, whose legacy proves timeless, writes Tom Lock Griffiths

• 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: a revolutionary for our times

  

  Rosa's commitment to her class against the greatest of odds is an enduring inspiration, writes Dana Mills

• 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

• Standing on the shoulders of a giant: Rosa Luxemburg and The Mass Strike

  

  Marking the centenary of her assassination, Richard Allday looks at Rosa Luxemburg's The Mass Strike and the lessons it holds for revolutionary socialists today

• Rosa Luxemburg: reform or revolution?

  

  The life of the influential revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg provides inspiration and lessons for today, writes Judy Cox

• In India, epic worker mobilisations challenge the Modi government as never before

  

  In what is estimated to be the biggest strike in history, over 200 million workers in India took strike action, reports Susan Ram

• Obituary - Bruno da Ponte: 1932 - 2018

  

  Chris Bambery remembers the life of Portuguese revolutionary, Bruno da Ponte

• 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 limits of Keynesianism - Counterfire Media Podcast

  

  Tom Lock Griffiths talks to Dominic Alexander about his new book The Limits of Keynesianism in this episode of Counterfire Media's Podcast

• Ten radical Christmas songs

  

  Tis the season to be radical with Morgan Daniels' pick of Christmas songs

• Counterfire's books of the year - part two

  

  The second instalment of the books that have inspired leading activists on the left over the last twelve months

• Counterfire's books of the year - part one

  

  We asked a few leading campaigners and performers from the left what books have inspired them over the last twelve months

• Marxism and Feminism - Counterfire Media Podcast

  

  Feyzi Ismail talks to Hester Eisenstein on current trends in Feminism and Marxism, #MeToo, intersectionality and reformulating issues of class as central to feminist theory and practice in this episode of Counterfire Media's Podcast

• 5 things a Corbyn government can't do if we stay in the EU

  

  If a Corbyn-led government is bound by the EU's framework, then it will face big obstacles in delivering its socialist policies, argues Richard Pratt

• Beyond austerity: what should a radical economic policy look like?

  

  Let’s insist that future Labour policies confront inequality and material deprivation head on, argues Alex Snowdon

• About time to kick the Tories out

  

  This campaign by the People's Assembly will tour the country to unite those compaigning against the devastating effects of Austerity

• Stop bombing Yemen

  

  Our movement has set its sights on the UK's barbaric arms trade, reports Jonathan Maunders

• Marx, colonialism and the Global South - Counterfire Media Podcast

  

  Chris Nineham talks to American author and Marxist historian on Marx, colonialism and the Global South, and how Marx's ideas were ahead of their time in the fifth episode of Counterfire Media's Podcast

• The Unity demo: towards a united front against fascism

  

  Today saw the biggest response yet to the emergent far right. Jack Hazeldine reports on a hopeful day of protest and the tasks ahead for the left

• 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 

• Stick in the Wheel in Dublin - gig review

  

  Stick in the Wheel are an urban folk group rooted in the tradition but with a hard, forward-looking sound and attitude, reports Josh Newman

• Trump loses Congress, but the Democrats are not the winners

  

  Last night's results show increasing polarisation in US politics, with establishment politics the loser, argues Shabbir Lakha

• No platform for Alice Weidel in Oxford

  

  The cancellation of Alice Weidel's visit to the Oxford Union is a victory and should help to push for a mass, anti-racist movement, argues Josh Newman

• Germany after Merkel: how the right can be beaten

  

  With the departure of Angela Merkel, centrist hopes for maintaining the status quo are withering, while the left is at a strategic cross roads, argues Vladimir Unkovski-Korica

• Britain is broken: we can't afford the Tories

  

  Campaigners are preparing for a new wave of activity to match the mood on the streets, reports Steph Pike

• 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

• The Tories are destroying our schools, we need a socialist education policy

  

  The campaign against school funding cuts has attracted a lot of attention, but a socialist education policy can do much more than solve the funding crisis argues Judy Cox

• Decarbonisation, jobs and justice

  

  As the IPCC report stresses the urgent action needed to tackle climate change, we must challenge the narrative that an ecologically sound economy would be bad for workers

• 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

• The Brazilian elections and the fight against the far right

  

  The far right threatens to do well in Brazil's elections this weekend amid a polarised climate of reaction and resistence, reports Orlando Hill

• The dialectics of Doctor Who

  

  Although a part of the establishment media, Doctor Who has always had a subversive thread running through it and today is no different, argues Sean Ledwith

• Labour conference and how the left can win - Counterfire Media Podcast

  

  Chris Nineham and Tom Lock Griffiths discuss Labour Party conference and what it tells us about how the left can win in the first episode of Counterfire Media's new podcast

• Ontario becomes a testing ground for hyper austerity

  

  Creative organising and resistance are urgently needed as a rampant, austerity-bent Tory government carves its way through Ontario, reports John Clarke

• 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 socialist challenge to Trump

  

  The Trump nightmare has fired up left organisation in the US to electorally challenging the establishment, writes Sean Ledwith

• Corbyn makes defiant speech as thousands welcome him to Liverpool

  

  At a Labour rally at Liverpool's pier on the eve of Conference, Jeremy Corbyn gave a radical speech to rapturous applause and loud chanting

• Minding the depth and breadth - a Labour conference reading list

  

  As Labour gathers for its annual conference Mark Perryman welcomes the variety of thinking a range of authors, new and old, are offering the Left at this vital time

• Is the Labour Party a machine or a movement?

  

  Corbynism and the prospect of a Labour government are at risk if the NEC undermines the membership and democracy 

• A Party with Socialists in It - book review

  

  A history of the left in the Labour Party highlights the need for a strong extra-parliamentary movement, argues Chris Nineham

• 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

• The limits of Keynesianism

  

  A Marxist critique of Keynesian economics and what that means post-financial crisis

• It's time to fight back: help launch Counterfire Media

  

  We are launching Counterfire Media. We need your help to do so.

• Corbyn’s leadership in danger

  

  The defeat for the Palestinian cause at the hands of the Labour Party’s NEC should not be underestimated

• Labour's NEC votes on IHRA; members protest to defend Corbyn

  

  Protesters rallied outside Labour Party HQ to defend Jeremy Corbyn and oppose the IHRA definition, Shabbir Lakha reports

• UK councils invest over £9bn in fracking industry

  

  Newly released data shows that councils in the UK are investing billions in fracking, we need to keep pushing for divestment commitments

• A New Hope for Mexico - book review

  

  AMLO, the new Mexican president, represents a break from neoliberalism, despite the political limitations of his programme, argues Orlando Hill

• Take the fight to the right and make this time ours - national meeting

  

  It's time to fightback against the smears aimed at sabotaging Corbyn

• Rural activism: tales from the sticks – part two

  

  In the second part of tales from the sticks, Jim Scott explains the birth and growth of a movement in rural Wales over the last 5 years

• The fightback is on: hundreds rally behind Corbyn in London

  

  Hundreds of Londoners rallied against the attacks on Jeremy Corbyn and Palestine on Tuesday, Shabbir Lakha reports

• What's wrong with the IHRA definition? - video

  

  A short video explaining why adopting the full IHRA definition would be a mistake for Labour

• Beyond the veil: some context in the controversy over the burqa

  

  The right instrumentalise Islamophobia but use the liberal trope of universal values to cover up a variety of political contexts, argues Floyd Codlin

• Frida Kahlo: artist and revolutionary

  

  Frida Kahlo was a revolutionary and a politically-committed artist whose art condemned the society she revolted against argues Judy Cox

• How did socialists respond to the advent of fascism?

  

  As the far right gains energy across Europe, John Riddell reminds us of how the emergence of fascism was met by socialists

• Solidarity with Bookmarks shows a united left can take on the far right

  

  The huge show of solidarity with Bookmarks bookshop on Saturday shows that the left can unite to defeat the far right argues Isabel Carr

• Unclear and divisive: not the deal our NHS workers deserve

  

  NHS workers have been pressured into accepting a deliberately misleading deal, explains a health worker and union representative 

• The dynamics of disaster

  

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

• 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

• The attack on Bookmarks was an attack on us all

  

  The attack on Bookmarks shows how emboldened the far right are and why the debate on how to stop them is so urgent argues Pete Morgan

• Cleaners go on strike and win an early victory

  

  Cleaners have begun three days of coordinated strike action for a living wage and sick pay, and have won one victory already reports Jonathan Maunders

• Zimbabwe after Mugabe: his successor struggles to maintain grip on power

  

  What we are seeing in the first elections after Mugabe is the deep state clutching to power, but can it hold on? Asks Shabbir Lakha

• Dear Amber Rudd, we're not left behind, we're being held back

  

  The former Home Secretary's desperate attempt to defend Tory policies in Hastings only shows how clueless she is, reports Chrissy Brand

• Is Corbyn's Brexit policy really 'full Trump'?

  

  Describing Jeremy Corbyn's Brexit strategy as "economic nationalism" is adopting neoliberal arguments that defend the status quo argues Kevin Ovenden

• Now is the time to join Counterfire

  

  Be part of a socialist organisation committed to fundamental change

• PCS Ballot: the fight for decent pay is hotting up

  

  The labour struggle around a fair, real wage rise in the PCS union is gathering traction, reports Floyd Codlin

• Grenfell: First the injury, now the insults

  

  With survivors and FBU firefighters now in the firing line, Julie Al-Hinai detects echoes of Hillsborough 

• After the final days of May

  

  This is the start of a new phase of the crisis, not the end of it, writes John Rees

• Why Trump won't forget his visit

  

  Chris Nineham argues why it is important that the movements go on to the offensive against Donald Trump in the next few days