Class

Marxism and Class part six: the working class and revolution

In the final part of his series, Chris Nineham applies some of the lessons of the twentieth century to our current predicament
Marxism and Class part five: Southern storms – class in the developing world

In the fifth part of the series on class, Chris Nineham demonstrates the centrality of working-class struggle in the Global South
All out for 5 November: Unite against the Tories - Counterfire freesheet October 2022

Tories in meltdown, the movement we need, protests in Iran, NHS workers balloting to strike, why they don't want us to talk about class and more in this month's Counterfire freesheet
Battersea: a cathedral to consumerism

The luxury development of London’s famous power station is another monument to wealth and inequality in a divided city, argues Terina Hine
Marxism and Class part four: Capitalism and class consciousness

In the fourth part of the series on class, Chris Nineham explains how a revolutionary class consciousness can be developed
Marxism and Class part one: The Great Denial - why they don’t want us to talk about class

The first of a series of articles on class by Chris Nineham
In the long run, the class struggle is king - weekly briefing

Lindsey German on what the monarchy represents and the coming intensification of class struggle
Monarchs and myths

The working class movement has its own traditions we can draw from, argues Jonathan Shafi
King of the tax dodgers

One job for the future British republic will be to reveal the hidden loot of the Windsors, writes Sean Ledwith
The false promise of basic income in Wales

Basic income, despite its appeal, cuts against class struggle and lets capitalists off the hook, argues John Clarke
Where does women's oppression come from and how can we end it? - video

Elaine Graham-Leigh discusses Marxist view of the roots of women's oppression and how it can be overcome
Radical chains: Why class matters - video

Chris Nineham argues that class remains the fundamental division in society and for the need for Marxist class analysis as a means of understanding the world and changing it
Sexual Revolution: Modern Fascism and the Feminist Fightback - book review

Laurie Penny’s Sexual Revolution offers an eclectic argument full of inconsistencies, while omitting any understanding of how class underpins oppression, argues Elaine Graham-Leigh
No escape from pain through riches: Nightmare Alley review

Nightmare Alleyoffers a compelling account of the emptiness and amorality of material gain, writes Simon Duckett
Why Class Matters - video

Lindsey German explains the concept of class and its centrality to Marxist thought
Covid, corruption and class struggle: ten pointers for 2022 – weekly briefing

Lindsey German sets an agenda for the new year
Philosophers with No Clothes: A Review of The War Against Marxism

Tony McKenna’s new book is an important defence of Marxism, against thinkers who have confused and obscured its revolutionary core, argues Chris Nineham
The predictable failures of COP26 and the seeds of hope on the streets

Elaine Graham-Leigh assesses the first week of the COP26 summit and the coming together of a mass movement of working people
Socialist Explainers: Short Answers to Big Questions

In this collection of socialist explainers, we’re giving quick responses to the questions that loom largest for us today
Climate and Class Struggle

Climate chaos will hit the poor and the working class the hardest. A fighting movement is needed to demand climate justice, argues John Clarke
Stop the culture war against the old and unite against the Tories – weekly briefing

The Nasty Party’s assault on our class has to be defeated, argues Lindsey German
A question of class: ‘Grade inflation’ and statistical snobbery

The education system is built to preserve class society, that’s why the right are crying foul when working class kids do better than planned, argues John Westmoreland
Revolutionary ideas: Class and class conciousness - video

Introduced by Lindsey German at Counterfire's Revolution! festival
The Ratline and The Good Germans - book review

Lindsey German reviews two case studies of the Nazi period, which, from above and from below, reveal the class nature of the regime and the resistance to it
Don’t mention 2017: Labour, Brexit and last week’s elections

One referendum and one election continues to haunt Starmer’s Labour, argues Mike Wayne
Stop the Tory attack: Kill the bill - Counterfire freesheet April 2021

Democratic rights and the class struggle, the new normal to be won, resisting Myanmar's military, the latest on workplace struggles across Britain and more in this month's Counterfire freesheet
Who starts it? Violence, protest and what the police are really for

Attempts to defend the police in Bristol ignore the essential role of policing in society and the hostility to protests and pickets, argues Chris Nineham
Royal racism isn’t new, the whole monarchy’s got to go

More than Meghan Markle’s revelations, the monarchy is rotten to the core and it’s time it was abolished, argues Mona Kamal
The Women's Liberation Movement and the Politics of Class in Britain - book review

A study of the Women’s Liberation Movement in Britain of the 1970s shows how essential it is to grasp the relationship of class and oppression, argues Elaine Graham-Leigh
LGBTHM: Class, Sexuality and Liberation - 25 Feb, 7pm

For LGBT History Month, Counterfire is hosting this public meeting with Kevin Ovenden to discuss the radical history of the movement, how it won key arguments and the continuing fight for liberation
Unearthing class and conflict in Sutton Hoo – Netflix’s The Dig reviewed

The Dig corrects the erasure of working class archaeologist Basil Brown in the excavation of Sutton Hoo, but falls short on portraying the key women involved, finds Kevin Potter
Marxism and feminism - Marxism and Women's Liberation extract

Lindsey German discusses Marxism's contribution to analysing women's oppression in this extract from Marxism and Women's Liberation
Does technological innovation necessitate inequality? - Trotsky in the Bronze Age excerpt

An excerpt from the 'Differential development in the Neolithic' chapter in Trotsky in the Bronze Age by Dominic Alexander
Is technology the driver of history and what’s to come? - Trotsky in the Bronze Age excerpt

An excerpt from the Introduction of Trotsky in the Bronze Age by Dominic Alexander
Grenfell: blood on the hands of neoliberalism

As the Grenfell inquiry continues, the blame lies squarely with governments and profiteers who have put private wealth before human life, argues Caitlin Southern.
Covid disparities: race is a factor but so is class

Structural racism is why ethnic minorities are more vulnerable to the virus, and it's a feature of class society not separate from it, argues Yonas Makoni
Tory MPs vote to starve kids: this is what ‘scum’ really looks like

Tories’ refusal to extend free school meals into the school holidays tells us everything we need to know about the rottenness of the political elite, argues Kara Bryan
Democracy and class struggle: the mass demonstrations rocking Thailand

Demonstrations in Thailand calling for the Prime Minister’s resignation and democratic reforms are unrelenting and it’s terrifying those in power, writes Mick Wattam
Second time farce, but it will lead to tragedy - weekly briefing

Lindsey German on the spiralling Covid crisis and how class remains our compass point
No to the exam factory: what kind of education do we want? - video

Lindsey German discusses the state of education and what the alternatives could look like
The London Dream: Migration and the Mythology of the City - book review

Chris McMillan knows the London Dream all too well, and his book shows how the city exploits labour whatever the form of capitalism it has hosted, finds Morgan Daniels
The Tories still see us as expendable

As the infection rate remains high, the government continues to put the interests of its own class above the interests of the majority, argues Caitlin Southern.
Where does racism come from? - video

As part of a series on Marxism in the Modern World, Shabbir Lakha looks at the roots of racism and what that means for the struggle against it
Teach Britain's colonial past as part of the UK's compulsory curriculum

In light of the Black Lives Matter movement, a radical approach is needed to teaching the truth about Britain’s colonial past, argues Orlando da Rocha Hill.
What is the working class today? - video

As part of a series on Marxism in the Modern World, Lindsey German discusses what the working class is today and what that means for socialists
Exam fiasco: students and teachers take to the streets

Young students are fighting back after being unfairly downgraded by the government, reports Shabbir Lakha.
A-Levels fiasco reflects deeper problems with exam factory schooling

The government's shambolic handling of A-level results should prompt a rethink of how our education system works, writes Roy Wilkes
Is a society without oppression possible? - explainer

Elaine Graham-Leigh analyses where oppression comes from and if it can be overcome
Scottish students shouldn’t be downgraded for being working class

In a repost of his column from Conter, David Jamieson assesses the class inequalities that are being exposed in Scotland’s schools
Obesity: a class issue

The Tories are scapegoating ordinary people for obesity to deflect the blame from a system which fails to protect people’s health, argues Caitlin Southern
Why class matters - explainer

David McAllister explains what the working class is and why it's central to transforming society
BLM and the labour movement come together - Chris Smalls interview

Shabbir Lakha speaks to Chris Smalls in the US about the Strike for Black Lives, his organisation The Congress of Essential Workers and the possibilities for fundamental change
Five films on the black struggle

As Black Lives Matter continues to make gains, Counterfire writers discuss a personal selection of films concerning race and class in the US and UK
The message from London is clear: Black Lives Matter

For the third time this week, tens of thousands of people gathered in London to demand an end to police racism, reports Lucy Nichols
The Levellers, the labouring classes, and the poor

In an essay soon appearing in the Bunyan Studies journal, John Rees looks at the Leveller programme in relation to the social structure of 17th century England
It’s a big deal that the outrage expressed over George Floyd’s death was massive and multiracial

Class struggle doesn’t go away in a pandemic, writes August Nimtz
The Coronavirus Trilemma

We must push for the kind of transformative solutions that the government will do everything it can to avoid, argues Reuben Bard-Rosenberg
Engels was right, class society and women's oppression aren't inevitable or irreversible

As part of our series on the revolutionary Frederick Engels, on the 200th anniversary of his birth, Elaine Graham-Leigh looks at Engels' The Origins of the Family, Private Property and the State
Marxist Literary Criticism Today - book review

Barbara Foley’s introduction reflects the strengths but also some of the weaknesses of contemporary Marxist writing on literature, finds Dragan Plavšić
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
Coronavirus is exposing the gaping class divide in Britain

Working class people are the worst affected by the health crisis and the government's response is geared toward protecting the rich, writes Richard Allday
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
Coronavirus: the politics of Cummings’ cull

Not as stupid as was hoped, ordinary working people can resist Cummings and his super-weirdos, writes Sean Ledwith
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
Why St Mungo's workers are striking

Instead of being pressured and punished, staff must be supported and properly resourced
All power to the Bexley refuse and cleansing workers!

Reuben Bard-Rosenberg speaks with striking worker about the action and how we can support it
Why HS2 is on the wrong track

Opposing HS2 in the name of reduction damages the working-class green movement, argues Elaine Graham-Leigh
James Baldwin: Living in Fire - book review

Living in Fire is a pithy yet powerful introduction to James Baldwin’s political life as a street fighting intellectual, raging against the world’s racist and reactionary forces, finds Adam Tomes
Why Bernie matters

Sanders puts class warfare back on the agenda, writes Alex Kerner
Bergman’s Persona: a new stage adaptation - theatre review

Schoolman's staged version of Persona is a postmodern car crash, finds Tom Lock Griffiths
Now the real solidarity with Europe begins - weekly briefing

Lindsey German on class and internationalism
1860s: the red thread of working class internationalism

Rebecca Long-Bailey’s appeal to ‘progressive patriotism’ is misguided but the working class internationalism of the 1860s is inspiring, argues Alex Snowdon
The class war election

To fight the deliberate misrepresentation of Labour's radical policies, we must address the reasons underlying the systematic media bias, argues Des Freedman
Protect the right to strike

Workers are ready to fight the government's attack on their rights, reports Reuben Bard-Rosenberg
It's the class question, stupid - election briefing 25 November

Lindsey German on class, leadership and this week's strikes
Understanding Marxism - book review

Richard Wolff in Understanding Marxism concisely introduces Marx’s essential arguments on exploitation in capitalism, and workers’ democracy, finds Graham Kirkwood
Gold Digger - TV review

The oppression of family and class unite in this taboo-busting drama, writes Sofie Mason
Labour, the manifesto, and the rationalist error

Policy, however good, isn’t enough to win a general election, argues John Rees
Bolton fire: the Tories have learnt nothing from Grenfell

Ignored warnings show working-class lives mean nothing to the Tories, writes Lucy Nichols
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
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
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
Ibsen in Calcutta: A Doll's House reimagined through the lens of British colonialism

Tanika Gupta's reimagined Ibsen shines a light on the class-based oppression inherent to colonialism, finds Ellen Graubart
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
Glasgow strikes for climate justice

This is an issue that unites the class, writes UCU activist Vladimir Unkovski-Korica
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
We need a general election now, whether it’s in the ‘national interest’ or not

There is nothing for Labour to gain from putting the ‘national interest’ first and delaying a general election, argues Shabbir Lakha
The Mobilization and Demobilization of Middle-Class Revolt - book review

An analysis of hegemony and consciousness among the economically distressed middle class of Argentina provides lessons for activists everywhere, finds Orlando Hill
The poverty of anti-corruption politics

A politics based on anti-corruption obscures class and tends to benefit one side. It's not the left, argues Reuben Bard-Rosenberg
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?
A history of International Women's Day

In this article, originally published in 1998, Lindsey German traces the history of International Women's Day - initially a celebration of the struggle of working women fighting back over suffrage and conditions at work
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
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
Ten radical Christmas songs

Tis the season to be radical with Morgan Daniels' pick of Christmas songs
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
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
A march more about attacking Labour than challenging the Tories – weekly briefing

The Extreme Centre are never to be trusted especially when they mobilise under the banner of democracy, argues Lindsey German
Mistaken Identity: Race and Class in the Age of Trump - book review

Mistaken Identity reveals identity politics as the strategy of defeat, but solidarities are built through engagement in existing movements, argues Elaine Graham-Leigh
We must stop Universal Credit now: it's already wrecking lives

The government has pushed the full roll-out of Universal Credit further down the road, but we must stop it altogether, argues John Rees
Why summer holidays are a time of dread and not joy for many families

We are not a poor society, and should not be failing our children like this, argues Kelly Grahan
Trade is war - book review

Trade is Warcriticises globalisation, but does not distinguish national from class struggle, and fails to understand capitalist imperialism, finds Orlando Hill
Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States - book review

Against the Grain explodes traditional views of the origin of civilisation, but lacks an analysis of the formation of class, argues Elaine Graham-Leigh
Homelessness is rapidly rising - it's the product of a failed system

The Tories are responsible for the huge growth in homelessness and rough sleeping, it'll take systemic change pushed from below to solve it argues Daryl Peach
Town and country attitudes

Is there really the great divide? John Rees examines the changing landscape of the countryside
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 royal wedding: a grateful subject gives thanks

Never mind austerity, feast on the joy that is a royal wedding and stop moaning, says Jonathan Maunders
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
Why Paul Mason is wrong about Marx

On the bicentenary of Karl Marx's birth, Paul Mason writes about the relevance of Marx today. Dragan Plavšić explains where he gets it wrong
Paris and London: A Tale of Two Radical Cities

Chris Bambery on the history of two great capital cities, and the architecture of power.
Sylvia - theatre review

A sold-out annex theatre was treated to Jacqueline Mulhallen’s moving, informative and funny performance, Sylvia, the radical Suffragette leader
Toby Young: may contain offensive material

The views of Toby Young have no place in society, let alone education. Sack him now, argues Judy Cox
Obituary: A Sivanandan (1923-2018)

Siva’s understanding of race, class and imperialism, and of humanity in general, will continue to inspire resistance to injustice and hope for socialism
Another anti-establishment vote in Eastern Europe? A short analysis of the Czech elections

In a fracturing EU, we need class struggle and movement politics to fight for working people throughout Europe, argues Vladimir Unkovski-Korica
The politics of 2017 catch up with the economics of 2008

In a time of the rebirth of mass politics, the right is fighting back. The left must meet this challenge, argues Kevin Ovenden
Automation and Basic Income: beyond the hype

Basic Income is not a beyond left and right answer to automation, argues David Bush
The 24 hour day: women, work and class

Lindsey German argues for the development of a theory that can respond to changes in work organisation and the feminisation of the workforce
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
Beauty, a dark history, and class conflict

Alison Pennington found them all in a road trip through remote Tasmania
Now they've shafted the young, they try to blame it on the old - weekly briefing

When it comes to social division, socialists need to keep their eyes on the prize – class, argues Lindsey German
Break the wheel: the politics of Game of Thrones

The wildly popular series has attracted a number of interesting attempts to analyse what it tells us about the contemporary state of capitalist culture
Kensington and Chelsea: a tale of two boroughs

Doctor, activist and local resident Mona Kamal describes the genesis of a tragedy
Class is back - the Scottish Question must be recast

Class is back - for it to advance requires anti-capitalist politics, not the frontist politics of being to the left of whatever seems like a temporary solution to a fundamental dilemma, writes Kevin Ovenden
Sod the old, sod the young

The Tories will make life worse for us all, whatever our age
May the merciless

As shattering arbitrary cuts to bereavement payments come into force this week, Kara Bryan exposes the sheer barbarity of austerity ideology
Class in the drama class: actors and privilege

Deirdre O’Neill and Mike Wayne explain why they are making a new documentary, The Acting Class
Class: Money and Power in Neoliberal Britain

Buy online: A short, sharp analysis of class structure and combativity after forty years of neoliberal offensive
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
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
Escaping Bleak House: sex, class and power in neoliberal Britain

In this major new analysis, Lindsey German looks at resistance to neoliberalism, oppression's relationship to class, and how new forms of organising and the united front are central to a socialist transformation of Britain
How the Labour right disenfranchises young people

Tom Watson recently accused 'Trotskyist entryists' of 'twisting the arms' of young members of the Labour Party. A young left-wing activist responds
BHS collapse: Not just a case of a bad apple

Vladimir Unkovski-Korica looks at the context behind BHS' collapse
Why we voted leave: voices from northern England - documentary

A short look at why those in the north of England mainly voted to leave the EU - from Guerrera Films
Class struggle in France: a temporary stalemate

The government has been stunned by the strength of the strikes and protests, but what now for the movement? John Mullen investigates
Immigration, racism and class

While mainstream ideology repackages its old myths and lies, Kevin Ovenden argues for a radical re-assertion of class-based anti-racism
England always dreaming

For St George's Day Mark Perryman explores the connections between English football’s golden moment and national identity
Sheffield shines a light on Tory lies and hype

A 'Northern Powerhouse or Northern Poorhouse' demonstration converged on Sheffield last Saturday, Jon Moorcroft reports
Limpiadores: SOAS Cleaners' struggle - podcast

Yasmin Dahnoun speaks to Fernando González, whose documentary Limpiadores tells the story of the SOAS cleaners' fight for justice
Women's liberation: we think it's time

The anti-austerity movement is an opportunity to force women's liberation onto the political agenda says Yasmin Dahnoun
Tax credits: the latest front in the class war

This Wednesday's spending review will see the Tories wriggle their way out of the impasse created by the Lords' decision to delay the tax credits cuts, argues Joanne Land
The necessary gravedigger

Socialism is back on the agenda as an alternative social model in Lebowitz's Socialist Imperative, but we cannot do without the revolutionary party, argues Kit Klarenberg
Revolutionary Teamsters: The Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934

Brian Palmer’s Revolutionary Teamsters shows the contemporary relevance of a major episode of revolutionary trade-unionism from the 1930s, argues Richard Allday
Socialist Register 2015: Transforming Classes

Across the world, class remains central to understanding the way the society works, as the current issue of Socialist Register(2015) demonstrates with great thoroughness, argues Alex Snowden
They are coming here because we were there

In the wake of the wave of demonstrations to support refugees, the long history of anti-racist organisation is recalled in the current issue of Race and Class, finds Dominic Alexander
The Mythology of Work: How Capitalism Persists Despite Itself

The mounting burden of work in our lives is what fuels the rise in inequality. We work so they get rich, but the answer is collective resistance, argues Orlando Hill
New anti-union laws: Tory class hatred and hypocrisy

The latest anti-union proposals from Cameron’s cabinet show the naked class hatred of democracy that lies at the heart of the Tory party writes Richard Allday
Labour in the Global Digital Economy

Capitalism has used new technologies to fuel an intensified wave of commodification, but faces contradictions too, argues Mike Quille, reviewing Huws, Labour in the Global Digital Economy
A Diet of Austerity

A Diet of Austerityargues that to fight climate change, we need system change, and the blame must not be shifted onto individuals, finds Orlando Hill
Unite, Labour and the election

Labour's defeat has been followed by Blairite attacks on the union link and on Unite and Len McLuskey in particular. Richard Allday looks at how socialists should respond
E. P. Thompson and the Making of the New Left: Essays and Polemics

Enduring problems of class, class consciousness and political organisation are illuminated in this important new collection of E. P. Thompson’s essays, finds Dominic Alexander
Miliband's sectarianism

All sectarianism is damaging to the working class interest. But Miliband's threats to Scottish voters are dangerous, potentially mortal writes Brian Heron
Why one Guardian writer should be heading to Tesco’s this May Day

The Guardian May Day article misrepresents Marx and detracts from the critical lessons learned from his life and work argues Susan Newman
A Diet of Austerity: the war on weight

How the working class is blamed for the world’s ills: The final extract from Elaine Graham-Leigh's new book, A Diet of Austerity: Class Food and Climate Change
Work, Sex and Power

The entire human history of exploitation and oppression is vividly summarised in Willie Thompson’s Work, Sex, Power, finds Mike Quille
Silvertown: The Lost Story Of A Strike That Shook London And Helped Launch The Modern Labour Movement

John Tully’s history of the Silvertown strike reveals industrial and imperial connections, and the nature of the worker’s struggle against them at a crucial period, argues John Westmoreland
Welcome to dodgy Dave’s second-hand democracy sale!

Richard Allday responds to the latest Tory attacks on democracy, from curtailing trade union rights to eroding the powers of local authorities
London bus driver: why we're striking

London bus driver and senior Unite rep Preston Tabois spoke to Counterfire's Dan Poulton about the London-wide strike and its wider context
Scottish Nationalism: ambivalent about national independence?

The continued rise of the SNP has led to increased metropolitan suspicion and a growing backlash. What is the content of the SNP’s nationalism?
Dancing to Ukip's tune won't save Labour

Lindsey German: sacking Emily Thornberry over a tweet is another own goal - and after Scotland and the vote on air strikes in Iraq, Labour really can’t afford to score many more
A history of struggle: race and class in the East End

Kevin Ovenden looks at the history of race and class in London's East End and the current battle to beat back the Tory attack on Tower Hamlets
Who is Nigel Farage?

Nigel Farage should not be allowed to hijack the widespread disaffection with the Westminster elite argues John Westmorland
Scottish Labour: living on borrowed time

Following Yes majorities in party heartlands Chris Bambery examines a Scottish Labour under threat of annihilation
The People. The Rise and Fall of the Working Class 1910-2010

Selina Todd’s The People is a very welcome and successful assertion of the centrality of working-class experience and power in the history of the twentieth century
UK undead: 10 reasons democracy is dying

Alastair Stephens looks at how democracy in the UK is dying at the hands of the neoliberal ruling elite
Scotland's vote and the labour movement - 3 observations

Brian Heron: The new 'powers' granted to Holyrood do nothing to reduce poverty, to reign in inequality, to remove Trident or to save the health service
Scotland: ten things the vote signifies

Lindsey German looks at what impact the vote results will have on Britain and Scotland
Breaking the spell: Scotland's democratic revolt

The Scottish referendum has demonstrated the centrality of the demand for democracy to working-class struggle, writes Alastair Stephens. This is a democratic revolt against neoliberalism and despair
Learning from Scotland's radical independence movement

Chris Bambery: whatever the final result it’s worth looking at what the Radical Independence Campaign has achieved and how it might be emulated elsewhere in the world
Know your enemy: vote yes

Chris Bambery: the British elite see working class support for independence and hate and fear it at the same time
Existence is resistance: review of 'Two Days and One Night'‏

Chris Nineham reviews 'Two Days and One Night', a new film by the Dardenne Brothers
Hell’s Kitchen and the Battle for Urban Space: Class Struggles and Progressive Reform in New York City

The history of the working class of Hell’s Kitchen, New York, explored through the prism of subjectivities of space, is a project that promises more than it is able deliver, in Joseph Varga’s Hell’s Kitchen and the Battle for Urban Space
A People’s History of Scotland: The Radical Wars

In this second extract from A People’s History of Scotland, Chris Bambery discusses working-class movements of the early nineteenth century
Sylvia Pankhurst: Suffragette, Socialist and Scourge of Empire

The importance and coherence of Sylvia Pankhurst’s lifelong activism is revealed by Katherine Connelly’s grasp of her political commitments, making this book an important new account her life
1934: American workers in revolt

In 1934 three mighty strikes brought the bosses and bankers to their knees and ushered in a new era of labour-capital relations in the United States writes Sean Ledwith
Inequality and the working class today

Today I spoke at the Dangerous Times festival in London alongside Selina Todd, author of ‘The People: the rise and fall of the working class’. This article is based on the talk I gave
Socialist Register 2014: Registering Class - the working class

In the second part of the review of Socialist Register 2014, Alex Snowdon discusses the changing nature and position of the working class
Socialist Register 2014: Registering Class

In the first of a two-part review, Alex Snowdon looks at Socialist Register discussions on the nature of the ruling class
Floods reveal a system in deep water

To protect against climate change we need to replace a society based on accumulation for profit with one based on production for need writes Elaine Graham-Leigh
The class referendum

Ben Wray looks at the comments of the Ipsos-Mori Scotland Director who argued that class 'is the most important factor' in influencing the decision of voters the independence referendum
Clara Zetkin: oppression, class, and socialism

Lindsey German responds to John Riddell's article, 'Clara Zetkin in the Lion’s Den'
Miley Cyrus – race, class, and gender in the pop world

Tansy Hoskins explains why the outrage over Miley Cyrus's VMA appearance on Saturday night is significant
Labour needs a touch of class

Labour's weakness on class and immigration only helps the employers writes Richard Allday
Peake's reading of Shelley classic contains a message for today

‘Let a great assembly be, of the fearless and the free’ - Maxine Peake reads Masque of Anarchy in Manchester as a call for today
The class contempt behind Miliband's Falkirk hysteria

The outrage expressed by most pundits over events in Falkirk Labour Party demonstrates their belief that politics is the preserve of the elite and that the common people should stay out of it
Video: What class are you really in? Dangerous Ideas for Dangerous Times

Got your emerging service worker confused with your established middle class, your precariat with your lumpenproletariat? Let some socialists with work experience provide a real framework for understanding class in the 21st Century
Letter from Italy: race, class and Balotelli

Elle Gierre looks at what the treatment Balotelli's tells us about the deep seated racism of Italian society and the experience of the 'italiani di seconda generazione
Women's liberation: a class perspective

Lindsey German wrote this review for Historical Materialism over a decade ago but it wasn't published. We are posting it now as part of a series of contributions to the debate on women's oppression
Scroungers or scapegoats? The class war on welfare

George Osborne has announced real-terms cuts in benefits. The attack on welfare is an act of class war, argues Adam Tomes
The Old Price Riots of 1809: theatre, class and popular protest

In 1809 audiences at a major London theatre started a concerted campaign and won. Jacqueline Mulhallen, author of The Theatre of Shelley, tells their fascinating story
Gove Levels: the educational abyss

Michael Gove’s replacement for GCSEs is an all-out attack on working class kids, argues Adam Tomes
A Debt to History: Graeber and why class matters

David Graeber’s ambitious attempt to interpret the span of history through the prism of debt is flawed
Class act: Engels classic brought to the stage

In the 1840s Engels wrote ‘The Condition of the Working Class in England’, based upon his experiences in Manchester. Ben Metters reviews a contemporary theatrical take on this political classic
Workfare scandal exposes class nature of Jubilee

Private security firm Close Protection UK (CPUK), used unpaid labour and workers on sub-minimum wage pay to provide security for the Diamond Jubilee pageant on Sunday, the Guardian reported
Nepal: Whatever happened to the class struggle?

Protesters are back on the streets of Nepal again as politicians fail to reach consensus on the constitution, and parliament is dissolved
A Streetcar Named Desire: a classic renewed

Chris Walsh reviews the Scottish Ballet's production of a classic.

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Class

Class

In the final part of his series, Chris Nineham applies some of the lessons of the twentieth century to our current predicament

In the fifth part of the series on class, Chris Nineham demonstrates the centrality of working-class struggle in the Global South

Tories in meltdown, the movement we need, protests in Iran, NHS workers balloting to strike, why they don't want us to talk about class and more in this month's Counterfire freesheet

The luxury development of London’s famous power station is another monument to wealth and inequality in a divided city, argues Terina Hine

In the fourth part of the series on class, Chris Nineham explains how a revolutionary class consciousness can be developed

The first of a series of articles on class by Chris Nineham

Lindsey German on what the monarchy represents and the coming intensification of class struggle

The working class movement has its own traditions we can draw from, argues Jonathan Shafi

One job for the future British republic will be to reveal the hidden loot of the Windsors, writes Sean Ledwith

Basic income, despite its appeal, cuts against class struggle and lets capitalists off the hook, argues John Clarke

Elaine Graham-Leigh discusses Marxist view of the roots of women's oppression and how it can be overcome

Chris Nineham argues that class remains the fundamental division in society and for the need for Marxist class analysis as a means of understanding the world and changing it

Laurie Penny’s Sexual Revolution offers an eclectic argument full of inconsistencies, while omitting any understanding of how class underpins oppression, argues Elaine Graham-Leigh

Nightmare Alleyoffers a compelling account of the emptiness and amorality of material gain, writes Simon Duckett

Lindsey German explains the concept of class and its centrality to Marxist thought

Lindsey German sets an agenda for the new year

Tony McKenna’s new book is an important defence of Marxism, against thinkers who have confused and obscured its revolutionary core, argues Chris Nineham

Elaine Graham-Leigh assesses the first week of the COP26 summit and the coming together of a mass movement of working people

In this collection of socialist explainers, we’re giving quick responses to the questions that loom largest for us today

Climate chaos will hit the poor and the working class the hardest. A fighting movement is needed to demand climate justice, argues John Clarke

The Nasty Party’s assault on our class has to be defeated, argues Lindsey German

The education system is built to preserve class society, that’s why the right are crying foul when working class kids do better than planned, argues John Westmoreland

Introduced by Lindsey German at Counterfire's Revolution! festival

Lindsey German reviews two case studies of the Nazi period, which, from above and from below, reveal the class nature of the regime and the resistance to it

One referendum and one election continues to haunt Starmer’s Labour, argues Mike Wayne

Democratic rights and the class struggle, the new normal to be won, resisting Myanmar's military, the latest on workplace struggles across Britain and more in this month's Counterfire freesheet

Attempts to defend the police in Bristol ignore the essential role of policing in society and the hostility to protests and pickets, argues Chris Nineham

More than Meghan Markle’s revelations, the monarchy is rotten to the core and it’s time it was abolished, argues Mona Kamal

A study of the Women’s Liberation Movement in Britain of the 1970s shows how essential it is to grasp the relationship of class and oppression, argues Elaine Graham-Leigh

For LGBT History Month, Counterfire is hosting this public meeting with Kevin Ovenden to discuss the radical history of the movement, how it won key arguments and the continuing fight for liberation

The Dig corrects the erasure of working class archaeologist Basil Brown in the excavation of Sutton Hoo, but falls short on portraying the key women involved, finds Kevin Potter

Lindsey German discusses Marxism's contribution to analysing women's oppression in this extract from Marxism and Women's Liberation

An excerpt from the 'Differential development in the Neolithic' chapter in Trotsky in the Bronze Age by Dominic Alexander

An excerpt from the Introduction of Trotsky in the Bronze Age by Dominic Alexander

As the Grenfell inquiry continues, the blame lies squarely with governments and profiteers who have put private wealth before human life, argues Caitlin Southern.

Structural racism is why ethnic minorities are more vulnerable to the virus, and it's a feature of class society not separate from it, argues Yonas Makoni

Tories’ refusal to extend free school meals into the school holidays tells us everything we need to know about the rottenness of the political elite, argues Kara Bryan

Demonstrations in Thailand calling for the Prime Minister’s resignation and democratic reforms are unrelenting and it’s terrifying those in power, writes Mick Wattam

Lindsey German on the spiralling Covid crisis and how class remains our compass point

Lindsey German discusses the state of education and what the alternatives could look like

Chris McMillan knows the London Dream all too well, and his book shows how the city exploits labour whatever the form of capitalism it has hosted, finds Morgan Daniels

As the infection rate remains high, the government continues to put the interests of its own class above the interests of the majority, argues Caitlin Southern.

As part of a series on Marxism in the Modern World, Shabbir Lakha looks at the roots of racism and what that means for the struggle against it

In light of the Black Lives Matter movement, a radical approach is needed to teaching the truth about Britain’s colonial past, argues Orlando da Rocha Hill.

As part of a series on Marxism in the Modern World, Lindsey German discusses what the working class is today and what that means for socialists

Young students are fighting back after being unfairly downgraded by the government, reports Shabbir Lakha.

The government's shambolic handling of A-level results should prompt a rethink of how our education system works, writes Roy Wilkes

Elaine Graham-Leigh analyses where oppression comes from and if it can be overcome

In a repost of his column from Conter, David Jamieson assesses the class inequalities that are being exposed in Scotland’s schools

The Tories are scapegoating ordinary people for obesity to deflect the blame from a system which fails to protect people’s health, argues Caitlin Southern

David McAllister explains what the working class is and why it's central to transforming society

Shabbir Lakha speaks to Chris Smalls in the US about the Strike for Black Lives, his organisation The Congress of Essential Workers and the possibilities for fundamental change

As Black Lives Matter continues to make gains, Counterfire writers discuss a personal selection of films concerning race and class in the US and UK

For the third time this week, tens of thousands of people gathered in London to demand an end to police racism, reports Lucy Nichols

In an essay soon appearing in the Bunyan Studies journal, John Rees looks at the Leveller programme in relation to the social structure of 17th century England

Class struggle doesn’t go away in a pandemic, writes August Nimtz

We must push for the kind of transformative solutions that the government will do everything it can to avoid, argues Reuben Bard-Rosenberg

As part of our series on the revolutionary Frederick Engels, on the 200th anniversary of his birth, Elaine Graham-Leigh looks at Engels' The Origins of the Family, Private Property and the State

Barbara Foley’s introduction reflects the strengths but also some of the weaknesses of contemporary Marxist writing on literature, finds Dragan Plavšić

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

Working class people are the worst affected by the health crisis and the government's response is geared toward protecting the rich, writes Richard Allday

A classic work of social history chosen by Dominic Alexander

Not as stupid as was hoped, ordinary working people can resist Cummings and his super-weirdos, writes Sean Ledwith

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

Instead of being pressured and punished, staff must be supported and properly resourced

Reuben Bard-Rosenberg speaks with striking worker about the action and how we can support it

Opposing HS2 in the name of reduction damages the working-class green movement, argues Elaine Graham-Leigh

Living in Fire is a pithy yet powerful introduction to James Baldwin’s political life as a street fighting intellectual, raging against the world’s racist and reactionary forces, finds Adam Tomes

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

Schoolman's staged version of Persona is a postmodern car crash, finds Tom Lock Griffiths

Lindsey German on class and internationalism

Rebecca Long-Bailey’s appeal to ‘progressive patriotism’ is misguided but the working class internationalism of the 1860s is inspiring, argues Alex Snowdon

To fight the deliberate misrepresentation of Labour's radical policies, we must address the reasons underlying the systematic media bias, argues Des Freedman