Marxist Left Review, a new journal published by Socialist Alternative,is launched as the most severe world economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s has entered its second phase.
Over the course of nearly 40 years, the Greens have been transformed from a tiny environmentalist organisation into a sizeable and serious party perceived to be to the left of the ALP. This article will look at the origins of the Greens and the class basis of their politics; examine the demographics of their voters and membership, and comment on their organisational and political dimensions before looking at their current political trajectory.
The idea that Aboriginal inequality is caused by the racist attitudes of ordinary people is widespread. Yet it was not working-class attitudes to Aborigines that drove the Australian government’s 2007 intervention into Northern Territory Aboriginal communities. Instead, elements of the middle class played a crucial role.
Friedrich Engels published his The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State in 1884. He argued that women’s oppression arose with the development of classes in society. Most feminists of the 1960s and 1970s recognised Engels’ work as a key text, whether inclined to agree with or oppose him. Yet for all the debates about the book, there is very little understanding of the actual content and importance of not just Engels’, but also Marx’s contribution to establishing the basics of a fight for women’s liberation.
The need for a socialist workers’ party that could rebuild rank and file union organisation and mount sustained resistance to every ruling class attack could not be more sharply posed. This is a task that Socialist Alternative has dedicated itself to over the last fifteen years. While we are still far from being the mass party we need to be – a party that could intervene in and attempt to lead every struggle by workers and the oppressed – we have, despite the generally difficult political climate, made modest steps forward and are now the largest organisation on the revolutionary left in Australia. This article is an attempt to sum up the lessons of the debates in the International Socialist Tendency (IST) about the assessment of the political situation and perspectives for building revolutionary organisations that led to the formation of Socialist Alternative in 1995.
Revolution is back on the agenda. Sandra Bloodworth argues that the Arab revolutions confirm the relevance of Marxism as a guide to the fight for human liberation.
One of the magnificent features of the Arab revolutions is the ruthless manner in which they have exposed the dirty, duplicitous, hypocritical, blood-soaked truth about the global political establishment. As the revolutionary wave spread to envelop almost the whole of North Africa and the Middle East, Western politicians, diplomats, university heads, business executives and government bureaucrats squirmed, as evidence of their ties with the despots of the Arab world circulated across the internet.
The rise of Islamophobia in the West needs a clear and principled response from the left. Mick Armstrong takes a critical look at the traditions of "secularism" and the failure of even some in the socialist left to oppose anti-Muslim racism.
Tom Bramble, using a wealth of data, refutes arguments which claim that the Australian working class no longer has the power to challenge capitalist rule.
The Labor Party is in crisis. Its branch structures continue to fracture, its active membership continues to shrink, its working class vote continues to decline and year after year the party shifts further to the right. Can it in any sense still be regarded as some form of workers’ party? Ben Hillier argues that the answer is a qualified “yes".
Louise O’Shea, an activist in Equal Love, argues that by years of steady campaigning,organisations committed to same-sex marriage rights have brought the issue from the margins onto the political agenda. She shows how it became a prominent election issue and is putting pressure on the ALP.
Tom Bramble looks at the rise of China and considers the conflicts for Australian imperialism: pulled between making the most of China’s booming growth and remaining loyal to the US, which sees China as a potential threat to their imperialist domination.
The Arab revolutions continue. Sandra Bloodworth looks at the danger of counter-revolution and discusses the political questions and challenges for the left posed by these momentous events.
Rick Kuhn looks at the history of the revolutionary strategy known as the united front, which aims to draw wide layers of workers away from the influence of their reformist leaders and into revolutionary struggle. Rick’s study draws out lessons for socialists from these experiences.
Jim Cairns was a sincere socialist. He was one of the most prominent campaigners against the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 70s. Mick Armstrong shows that, despite being far to the left of any of today’s politicians, Labor or Green, Cairns could not use parliament to bring about fundamental change as he hoped.
Allyson Hose exposes the racist core of arguments which blame “overpopulation” for environmental crisis and exposes the population panic as based on lies. She shows that the world could support many more billions of people and lays the blame for environmental degradation on the relentless drive for profit at the heart of capitalism.
Liz Ross shows that Labor’s carbon tax is just another plank in the capitalists’ neoliberal agenda to make workers pay for their crisis. Support by environment groups and some on the left for such anti-working class policies is moving the political climate to the right. The fight to deal with climate change needs to be part of a wider struggle to defend workers’ living standards.
Tess Lee Ack takes on the common assumption that racism among workers drives government policies and shows who actually promotes it.
Diane Fieldes looks at the dismal experience of the Gillard government. She argues that the formation of a minority Labor government with the backing of the Greens and populist independents did not create an opportunity for the left as many thought it would in 2010.
Corey Oakley looks at the rise and fall of the post-war ALP left in Victoria and NSW in the post-war period, and examines the reasons why the once radical Labor left degenerated to the sorry state it is in today.
Tom Bramble debunks the theory that there is an aristocracy of labour in Australia.
Mick Armstrong argues that socialists should recognise riots as an important part of working class struggle and shows the role they have often played in Australia.
Cecilia Judge and Adam Bottomley outline how Australian Services Union members won what has been described as the most significant victory for gender pay equity since the 1970s.
Marxist Left Review editor Sandra Bloodworth explains how MLR is changing.
Corey Oakley looks at the discussions about socialist organisation that have been thrown up by unity talks on the Australian left.
Sandra Bloodworth attacks the persistent myths and misconceptions about "Leninism with an examination of Lenin's writings and activities as he struggled to build a revolutionary party.
John Percy looks at the "broad party" experience.
Katie Wood looks at the 1969 Clarrie O'Shea strike.
Dougal McNeill looks at the changing political situation in Japan in the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Ben Hillier and Tom O'Lincoln chart the origins and development of capitalism in Australia.
In the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution, the newly formed Communist International attempted to develop a revolutionary approach to union work in the West. Mick Armstrong looks at the application of that strategy in Australia and Britain.
A response from Socialist Alliance to "What kind of organisation do socialists need?" published in the last issue of Marxist Left Review.
Diane Fieldes looks at the impact on the family of women's increased participation in the paid workforce.
Rebecca Barrigos explains how both the rise of the modern higher education system and the erosion of free education under the impact of neoliberalism have served capitalism.
Tom O'Lincoln argues that Australia's interventions in Asia after World War II were the hallmark of a developing imperialist country determined to dominate the surrounding region.
Vashti Kenway looks at why Australia is so close to Israel.
Roz Ward argues that "community policing" is just another form of coercion which does nothing to halt the brutalit of state police forces.
Louise O’Shea analyses the position of women today. Engaging with recent feminist and Marxist discussions of women’s oppression argues that Marxism offers the only satisfactory theory and strategy for women’s liberation.
Max Lane provides an overview of the "rebirth" of a powerful working class movement and the challenges posed for emerging forces of the Indonesian Marxist left.
Sandra Bloodworth reviews a new book by Clare Wright, Forgotten Rebels of Eureka. The historical material in Wright’s book not only confronts the masculinist narrative of Eureka which has dominated Australian historiography, but also confirms some key Marxist arguments about women and social struggles.
Allen Myers cuts through the debate on the so-called transitional method to expose how this important Marxist concept has been both used and abused by various currents on the left.
Mick Armstrong offers a critical assessment of Murray Smith’s approach to broad left parties – one of the key debates on the socialist left internationally over the last fifteen years.
With a wealth of empirical data, Tom Bramble explains how neoliberal policies at the centre of both major parties’ agendas have served the capitalist class well.
Sandra Bloodworth argues that Lenin and the other great revolutionaries of the early twentieth century provide us with a theory of revolution for advanced democracies.
Daniel Lopez argues that Georg Lukács made an indispensible contribution to a revolutionary Marxist understanding of revolution, consciousness, organisation and dialectics. This amounts to a philosophical defence of Lenin's theory and practice.
Sam King argues for a literalist interpretation of Lenin's work that denies the status of China as a growing imperial power.
Liz Ross shows that, in spite of brutal exploitation, women textile and garment workers from the industrial revolution in nineteenth century Britain to Bangladesh today have defied the stereotype of passive victims.
Rebecca Barrigos looks at the frequent government attacks on student unions since the 1970s.
Louise O’Shea explains why the Abbott government is the most unpopular first term government in Australian history.
Terry Irving’s book The Southern Tree of Liberty celebrates working people, their grievances, their organisations and the struggle for democracy before 1856 as revealed by working class newspapers, many never consulted by historians before.
Patrick Weiniger replies to Sam King’s article on imperialism in Marxist Left Review 8.
Corey Oakley analyses the counter-revolutions which have swept across the Arab world since the mass revolts of 2011.
Vashti Kenway argues that Australia has a long history of discrimination against Muslims, culminating in the rabid Islamophobia promoted by both Liberal and Labor governments to justify Australia’s involvement in a series of wars in the Middle East.
Mick Armstrong explores how World War I led to enormous class struggles in Australia, and led to a split in the Labor party, a general strike and a political radicalisation that shaped the next decades of working class politics.
Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s historical novel Bumi Manusia (This Earth of Mankind) was published by Penguin in 1983. Max Lane, argues it should be read by anyone wanting to understand the history of Indonesia in the late twentieth century.
Sandra Bloodworth examines the widespread sexual violence in our society: from intimate partner abuse, to paedophile priests, to attacks on the elderly, the disabled, the mentally ill and children in institutions which supposedly “care” for the oppressed and vulnerable.
Katie Wood draws together a rich history of working class struggle for equal pay for women. Unlike some historians who present equal pay as a "feminist" issue won by women's mobilisations against men's resistance, she shows that it has been a union issue since the nineteenth century.
Liam Ward has assembled a remarkable history of struggle by Chinese workers in Australia which has mostly been ignored or misrepresented.
Sam Pietsch looks at the response of Australian governments, both Liberal and Labor, to the challenge of Indonesian independence in what they regard as their "backyard".
Mick Armstrong revisits the question of broad left parties to draw some conclusions after the experience of Syriza in Greece.
Omar Hassan analyses why the promise of a radical, democratic alternative to bourgeois parliamentary politics has evolved into a hierarchical party which has abandoned any serious pretence of fighting austerity even before being tested in government.
There is a logic inherent in the humanism of Marxism that generates an overarching commitment to environmental conservation, writes Michael Kandelaars.
Ben Hillier shows how the economic ordering of Australian capitalism helps consolidate bourgeois hegemony.
Rebecca Barrigos brings together research by social and oral historians who have recorded a terrible history of Aboriginal oppression in Weipa, Aurukun and Mapoon on Cape York Peninsula.
Tess Lee Ack analyses the phenomenon of Pauline Hanson in the 1990s: her support base, how media promotion boosted her profile, and how she was stopped the last time around.
Ben Hillier outlines the role of the mining industry in the development of the Australian economy, situating the latter in the global division of labour, and outlines the challenges facing the Australian ruling class in the twenty-first century.
Sadia Schneider on Marx's theory of the state.
Mick Armstrong dismantles the romanticism surrounding Makhno in some anarchist circles today with a study of his activity during the Russian Civil War.
Darren Roso on the political activity and theoretical concerns of an important figure on the French far left from the mid-1960s until his death in January 2010.
The images of the 1960s which dominate in Australia are those from the Western countries. Justen Bellingham’s account of the 1968-69 uprising in Pakistan is an important corrective to the Eurocentric view of the upheavals of the time.
In the context of the rise of Jeremy Corbyn, Tom Bramble compares the history of splits and struggles in the Australian Labor Party with those of its British counterpart.
Ben Reid offers a detailed study of where and why support for Pauline Hanson is strongest.
Omar Hassan confronts the myth that the Assad dynasty in Syria was ever socialist or anti-imperialist.
Rather than a welcoming, multicultural society, Australia has a menacing history of serious fascist organisations involving figures treated with respect in our history books, as Louise O'Shea explains.
Vashti Kenway challenges the idea that the camps on Manus Island and Nauru are a departure from the norm in Australia, examining the use of concentration camps in Australia from the earliest days of invasion.
Viktoria Ivanova reviews the book Lenin: The Logic of Hegemony, a contribution to recent debates about Lenin by Alan Shandro.
Sandra Bloodworth looks at the impact of identity politics on some of the best feminist and social historians of the Russian revolution.
Rjurik Davidson, winner of the Ditmar Award, author of Unwrapped Sky, The Stars Askew and other fiction, examines Antonio Gramsci’s political practice in his early years.
Michael Karadjis answer the “comic-book view widely expressed in tabloid journals of the mainstream, left and right", that alleges the Syrian rebellion against the dictatorship of Bashar Assad is a conspiracy of incompatible forces.
Darren Roso contributes to debates about what kind of parties the revolutionary left needs and the role of Karl Kautsky, the leading theorist of the Second International before World War I.
Jordan Humphreys argues that Foucault’s explanation of sexuality under capitalism can be incorporated into a Marxist understanding of sexuality and serve to clarify and enrich it.
Joseph Daher's book is a breath of fresh air and provides a detailed picture of the most important party in Lebanese politics, says Omar Hassan.
Tom Bramble, drawing on decades of research and active involvement in the labour movement, argues that 35 years of passivity and class collaboration rather than an emphasis on militant, class struggle unionism is the core reason our unions are in crisis.
Rebecca Barrigos digs into the history of economic development, ruling class strategies and the labour movement of Queensland to explain why the state has its own distinct political traditions.
Duncan Hart contributes to an ongoing debate on the international left about the significance of the little known revolution in Finland in 1917-1918.
Justen Bellingham paints a picture of the life, times and work of the Bolshevik jurist Evgeny Pashukanis
Daniel Lopez responds to Sarah Garnham's article about Marxism and Oppression, drawing out some methodological disagreements for further discussion.
Tom Bramble discusses the multifaceted world crisis that exploded in 2008 following decades of neoliberalism.
Sarah Garnham critically examines theories on the left that have emerged in response to identity politics.
Palestinian intellectual and author Toufic Haddad speaks about the state of Palestinian politics in the context of an inspiring new round of popular resistance.
Tom Bramble analyses the changing dynamics of the Trump presidency.
Sandra Bloodworth revisits Engels’ arguments about the origin of women’s oppression.
Ben Reid draws on his extensive research into the history, economics and politics of the Philippines to explain the election of President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016 and its consequences for the working class and the left.
Michael Lazarus sketches a portrait of Marx’s life 200 years after his birth.
Kyla Cassells reviews an important new book by American Marxist Kim Moody which details both the substantial restructuring of capital andlabour through the neoliberal era, and the opportunities available for a new generation of socialist and union activists to rebuild a working class left.
Tom Bramble analyses the factors driving the terrifying growth of the police state in Australia.
Jordan Humphreys explores the nature of immigration to Australia. By highlighting its importance to ruling class strategies for economic growth he explains how and why the numbers and origins of immigrants have changed over time.
Omar Hassan outlines a materialist explanation of sectarian conflict in the Middle East, arguing that true social liberation is bound up with the abolition of capitalism in the region.
Tess Lee Ack draws together anecdotes and lessons from her involvement in the founding years of international socialism of 1970s Australia, from which Socialist Alternative was formed in 1995.
Alexis Vassiley reviews an excellent new book describing the brutal policing of Indigenous peoples in the Kimberley in the late 19th century.
Diane Fieldes reviews a fascinating new work that documents the early formation of working class consciousness in Australia.
Sandra Bloodworth revisits Engels’ arguments about the origin of women’s oppression. Translated by Hossein Rahmati.
Palestinian intellectual and author Toufic Haddad speaks about the state of Palestinian politics in the context of an inspiring new round of popular resistance. Translated by Panos Petrou.
Omar Hassan affronta il mito secondo cui la dinastia Assad in Siria fu sempre socialista o antimperialista. Translated by Ruggero Rogoni.
Omar Hassan analyses why the promise of a radical, democratic alternative to bourgeois parliamentary politics has evolved into a hierarchical party which has abandoned any serious pretence of fighting austerity even before being tested in government. Translated by Kristóf Nagy.
Australia and the US have initiated a new cold war with China. In this timely piece, Liam Ward explores the sordid history of anti-Chinese racism in Australia.
Tom Bramble surveys the election results and puts forward an explanation for Labor's surprising defeat that rests on the party's long-term shift to the right.
Liz Walsh reflects on the experience of launching the Victorian Socialists.
Mick Armstrong critically assesses the experience of the Workers' Party, concluding that a far more independent approach was required by revolutionaries who participated.
In this fascinating lecture given just a few years before he died, the late Colin Barker makes the case for a revolutionary overthrow of the bourgeois state and for further Marxist theorising about its complex dynamics.
Gavin Stanbrook and Diane Fieldes celebrate the life of a pioneering Indigenous activist and trade unionist.
As an emerging American left struggles with powerful strategic challenges, Daniel Taylor argues that this new book by the publisher of Jacobin promotes a distorted vision of the history of the socialist movement, leading to fundamentally conservative conclusions.
Stephanie Price reviews this excellent new book which documents in great detail the means by which unions and the ALP sold a corporatist version of neoliberalism to the working class.
Sagar Sanyal argues that post-colonial theory is an inadequate theoretical and political response to the horrors of colonialism.
Darren Roso reviews the first volume of a sweeping new biography of Marx's life.
In this wide-ranging interview, Gilbert Achcar explores the issues raised by the inspirational return of revolution to the Middle East and North Africa.
Nesta ampla entrevista, Gilbert Achcar explora as questões levantadas pelo retorno inspirador da revolução para o Oriente Médio e o Norte da África. Translated by Left on the Move.
Dans cette large interview, Gilbert Achcar explore les questions soulevées par le retour inspirant de la révolution au Moyen-Orient et en Afrique du Nord. Translated by A l’Encontre.
In questa intervista ad ampio raggio, Gilbert Achcar esplora le questioni sollevate dal ritorno ispiratore della rivoluzione in Medio Oriente e Nord Africa. Translated by rproject.it.
Omar Hassan surveys world politics at the turn of the decade, with a focus on the exhilarating return of mass revolutionary struggle.
Tom Bramble draws a snapshot of a stuttering world economy facing multiple constraints on future growth.
Sandra Bloodworth draws on the French experience to refute reformist calls for a revival of Popular Front strategies.
Nick Everett re-examines the Jesse Jackson experience, in the process casting light on debates regarding the candidature of Bernie Sanders.
Sarah Garnham assesses the new climate movement and makes a case for a revolutionary perspective.
Catarina Da Silva looks at the economic roots of Australia's bipartisan support for the fossil fuels industry, arguing that a timely transition is impossible within capitalism.
Isabelle Garo makes the case for a dynamic application of Marx's method to today's political problems via a critique of Alain Badiou and Laclau and Mouffe.
Shomi Yoon reviews a new work on the rich history of working class anti-war activism in Japan during World War 2.
Ben Reid reviews a newly published work on Indonesia's modern trade union movement.
In this wide-ranging interview, Gilbert Achcar explores the issues raised by the inspirational return of revolution to the Middle East and North Africa. Translated by Panos Petrou for rproject.rg.
David Lockwood analyses the social, political and economic factors that precipitated the heroic Tiananmen Square movement.
Robert Bollard looks at the history of the crisis in former Yugoslavia.
Mick Armstrong reviews The Making of the Labor Party in New South Wales 1880-1900 , a text which challenges the standard assumptions of most labour historians about the origins of the ALP.
Sandra Bloodworth explains the rationale for establishing the Socialist Review as a twice-yearly journal.
In this important piece, Sandra Bloodworth critiques feminist theories of women's oppression, focusing
David Glanz documents the sordid history of Australian imperialism in the South Pacific.
In this fascinating piece, Mick Armstrong explores the politics of the heroic Industrial Workers of the World, Australia's first mass revolutionary working class movement.
Tom Bramble assesses and rejects the argument that the end of 'fordism' means the end of working class power.
Tom O'Lincoln examines the politics of an influential Latin American revolutionary, Jose Mariátegui.
Tess Lee Ack surveys contemporary literature that can assist readers to understand the fall of the Berlin Wall and its broader significance.
Sandra Bloodworth introduces the contents of the third issue of the journal.
Phil Griffiths explores the origins and ongoing realities of anti-Japanese bigotry in Australia.
In part one of a two-part series, Tony Sullivan draws on Hegel and Lukacs to defend the crucial concepts of historical materialism, labour and truth against the post-structuralists.
Anne Picot debunks the commonly held idea that the USSR was an example of a planned economy.
Mick Armstrong dismantles the romanticism surrounding Makhno with a study of his activity during the Russian Civil War.
David Glanz responds critically to Tom O'Lincoln's piece on Mariategui in the previous edition of the Socialist Review.
In this fascinating survey of politics in Iran, Shiva Tabari and Darren Roso put forward a revolutionary perspective for class struggle and socialist organising in a highly charged and challenging situation.
Sandra Bloodworth introduces the contents of the fourth issue of the journal.
Diane Fields analyses the new contours of imperialism after the fall of the USSR.
Tom O'Lincoln surveys the history of Australian imperialism, arguing that Australia has independent reasons for maintaining the US alliance, which it uses to dominate and exploit peoples across our region.
In this fascinating piece, Janey Stone surveys the response of Israelis and Palestinians to the first Gulf war, and how it set the scene for the coming Oslo accords.
Sandra Bloodworth critiques the failures of Arab nationalism, putting a case for a socialist strategy for working class self-emancipation in the region.
Mick Armstrong looks at the impact of World War I on the class struggle in Australia.
Anne Picot provides a history of the Australian anti-war movement of the 1960s.
David Glanz summarises the debates in the movement against the first Gulf War.
In an important article later republished as a pamphlet, Tess Lee Ack outlines a Marxist theory of women's oppression and a strategy for liberation
Jordan Humphreys argues that the neoliberal model is history, based on the dramatic policies implemented by governments across the world in response to the health and economic crises triggered by the pandemic.
Sandra Bloodworth introduces the contents of the fourth issue of the journal.
In this groundbreaking piece, Sandra Bloodworth critiques bourgeois feminist approaches to understanding and combating rape and sexual violence.
Marxist historian Robert Bollard surveys a range of responses to Mikhail Gorbachev on the broad left, and finds them wanting.
In part two of this series on poststructuralism, Tony Sullivan critiques the ideas of Nietzsche, Foucault and Derrida, putting forward alternative views of power and social control.
Tony Belcher examines the Australian economy during the 1980s, arguing that the Australian capitalism was in a weak position going forward.
Tom O'Lincoln recounts the rise and fall of Australia's last reforming government, finding that the myths of Whitlam's radical policies do not reflect the more pragmatic reality.
Tom Bramble reviews the weakened state of workers' organisations in Australia after a decade of the Accord.
Róbert Nárai speaks to Jeffrey R. Webber on how the unfolding health crisis in Latin America is reshaping politics across the region. (This interview was conducted on 15 May 2020. In the meantime, figures for deaths and infections in Latin America have increased significantly.)
Veteran socialist Dan La Botz surveys the state of workers' organisations and politics in the US, and finds some signs of hope as a new generation begins to organise against economic enmiseration, a health crisis and racism.
In this wonderful piece, Janey Stone draws upon the outpouring of articles, pamphlets, books, songs and poems produced by participants and supporters, many of which are completely forgotten now, to explore the role of women in the British Miners' Strike of 1984/85.
Mick Armstrong recounts the rise and fall of the NSW Builders Labourers’ Federation, and assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the radical left that turned the union into one of the most impressive examples of socialist unionism in history.
Diane Fieldes and Jordan Humphreys look at how rank and file higher education workers rebelled against attempts by both university managements and their own union to impose job losses and attacks on their wages and conditions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ian Birchall examines how the Communist International engaged with syndicalists in an attempt to build an revolutionary working-class movement in the wake of the Russian Revolution.
April Holcombe writes an extended review of Laura Miles, “Transgender Resistance: Socialism and the fight for trans liberation”, Bookmarks 2020.
Jack Crawford reviews Liz Ross’ new book about workers’ resistance to the Prices and Incomes Accord.
Kate Doherty reviews an important new book on the ecological crisis and its roots in capitalism.
Sam Pietsch reviews an account of the struggle for independence in West Papua, and the history of Indonesia’s occupation.
Darren Roso reviews a new biography of Werner Scholem, a leading figure in the ultra-left faction of the German Communist Party during the tumultuous Weimar republic.
Omar Hassan analyses the economic, political and social dynamics unleashed by the pandemic.
Rick Kuhn explores the debates about crisis theory among Marxist economists, focusing in particular on the work of Henryk Grossman.
Mick Armstrong surveys the many debates that emerged during the founding of the CPA, drawing out lessons for contemporary revolutionaries.
Marxist historian Sandra Bloodworth commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Commune, recounting the breathtaking events and providing an assessment of their ongoing political significance.
Tess Lee Ack revisits some highlights of militant struggles by teacher unions in Australia.
Terry Irving looks at the life of Vere Gordon Childe, and explores the reasons for his suicide.
Jordan Humphreys offers a Marxist explanation of Indigenous oppression today.
Ryan Stanton reviews Alan Wood's recent book, a Marxist analysis of World War I.
Liz Ross reviews Terry Irving's new book on the life and thought of Vere Gordon Childe.
Diane Fieldes reviews Sam Oldham's book about radical Australian trade unionism in the 1970s.
Emma Norton reviews Brian Toohey's book about the making of Australia’s security state.
Ian Birchall reviews the final Notebooks of Victor Serge, written between 1936 and 1947.
"Rjurik Davidson, winner of the Ditmar Award, author of Unwrapped Sky, The Stars Askew and other fiction, examines Antonio Gramsci’s political practice in his early years."
Marxist historian Sandra Bloodworth commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Commune, retelling the breathtaking events as well as providing an assessment of their political significance.
Omar Hassan assesses the uneven social and political impact of the pandemic, and presents some explanations for the faster than expected economic recovery.
Tom Bramble analyses the approach the Biden administration is taking to the new cold war between the US and China.
Sarah Garnham presents a wide-ranging critique of identity politics and its toxic impact on the fight against oppression.
Darren Roso explores the foundation of the French Communist Party, outlining Trotsky's political approach to winning over leading syndicalists to the Marxist movement.
Luca Tavan reexamines the revolutionary upsurge in Italy following WW1, drawing out strategic errors made by Gramsci and the leadership of the Italian Communist Party.
Jordan Humphreys excavates the history of the early workers' movement and finds substantial evidence for Aboriginal involvement in the famous shearers' strikes and that the AWU made real efforts to support their struggles.
Nick Everett reviews a recent book documenting an inspiring history of Indigenous class struggle.
Sadia Schneider reviews a new collection of essays on the application of Lenin's ideas to the contemporary politics.
Panos Petrou examines the rise of the far right in Europe in its various forms, before discussing strategies to combat it.
Robert Narai recounts the inspiring struggle against the military coup in Myanmar and analyses the forces involved.
Sergio García and Mariano Rosa of the Workers’ Socialist Movement (MST) in Argentina analyse the electoral success of the Left Front (FIT-Unidad), and discuss the challenges and opportunities ahead.
Mick Armstrong critiques Proudhon's anarchism, and shows how his political weaknesses continue to shape anarchist ideas.
Duncan Hart critiques a new book that attempts to vindicate Kautskyism as a revolutionary theory.
Ben Reid reviews two books dealing with the turbulent political and economic situation in Brazil in recent years.
April Holcombe reviews a book that challenges the mainstream narrative about the emergence of the pandemic and the Chinese government's response to it.
Omar Hassan discusses the crisis resulting from the pandemic, the political possibilities this creates and the urgent need to build a revolutionary current.
Tom Bramble examines Australia's aggressive role in the growing imperialist competition in the Indo-Pacific and argues that the left must oppose Australia’s involvement in the US-led war drive.
Jordan Humphreys uncovers the forgotten history of the early Communist Party's role in the fight for Indigenous rights.
US socialist Joel Geier recounts how a debate on soviet imperialism and the Hitler-Stalin pact led to a crisis in Trotskyism and the birth of the International Socialist tradition.
The contemporary narrative of Jewish history is one of ghettos, pogroms, suffering, oppression – Jews as the eternal victims. In this study Janey Stone presents an alternative view which shows that Jews have repeatedly fought back against their oppression, and formed a core part of the socialist movement.
Omar Hassan surveys recent shifts in the global economy and warns that workers face escalating assaults on our living standards, while the ruling class prepares for war.
Mick Armstrong examines the record of Labor Prime Minister Ben Chifley, and demonstrates that, despite his working-class background, Chifley was no friend of the workers, either as a union official or as a politician.
Rick Kuhn critically reviews the economic strategies promoted by the left in Australia, in particular the left nationalist ideas popular in the 1970s and ’80s. He argues that such reformist strategies offer no threat to capitalism and no way forward for the working class.
Vashti Fox explains how Stalinism enabled and at times collaborated with fascist movements and states during the 1930s and ’40s, while the Stalinised Communist Parties undermined revolutionary working-class anti-fascism – a history that has important lessons for fighting the far right today.
Duncan Hart examines the concept of the “dictatorship of the proletariat” in its historical context, and argues that Hal Draper was wrong to argue that Lenin’s interpretation was an anti-democratic departure from that of Marx and Engels.
Jordan Humphreys reviews a book that critiques privilege theory politics and polemicises against those on the left who counterpose the rights of Indigenous people to those of migrants.
Liz Ross reviews a book on Britain’s atomic tests at Emu Field (SA) in the 1950s, which documents the secrecy and recklessness surrounding the tests, their terrible impact on local Indigenous groups and the Australian government’s complicity.
Alexis Vassiley reviews a book that draws on episodes of working-class resistance to situate technological change and automation in the context of class struggle and capitalist social relations.
Phoebe Kelloway surveys the development of the healthcare system in Australia in the post-war years. She recounts how capitalists and doctors fought against universal care, how Labor repeatedly walked away from its progressive commitments, and how nurses have struck to fight back.
Nick Everett reviews Labor’s abysmal record on Indigenous rights: a history of repeated betrayals and failure to challenge racism or achieve fundamental improvement.
Luca Tavan revisits the explosive period of working-class struggle in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and critiques the autonomist ideas that led to the defeat of the movement, and continue to shape the left today.
Mick Armstrong traces the development of Trotskyism in the context of the far left in Australia.
Omar Hassan explores the social and political ramifications of inflation and rising interest rates, growing geopolitical instability and the prospects for working-class resistance.
Tess Lee Ack looks back at the workers’ uprising in June 1953, the first challenge to the Stalinist monolith in Eastern Europe.
Sam Pietsch reviews a new book analysing Australia’s role as a junior partner of US imperialism and critiquing the “rules-based international order” that serves to legitimate the interests of the US and Australian ruling classes.
Duncan Hart reviews a useful book that exposes the systemic exploitation and shameful wage theft faced by workers in Australia.
Sage Jupe reviews a timely book analysing the impasse facing both the ruling class and the working class in the US.
Jordan Humphreys examines the political implications of the recent expansion of the Indigenous middle and capitalist classes.
Omar Hassan critiques the abysmal performance of the Albanese Labor government so far.
Mick Armstrong traces the development of debates on war and militarism in the socialist movement in the lead-up to World War I.
Vinil Kumar explores the little known history of class struggle in Fiji, the Solomon Islands, PNG and Bougainville.
Darren Roso enters the debate on Engels’ contribution to the Second International after the death of Marx.
Ánxel Testas of the Spanish organisation Anticapitalistas discusses recent developments in left-wing politics in Spain.
Luca Tavan reviews a book tracing the alarming rise of Giorgia Meloni and the Fratelli d’Italia, an organisation with links to Mussolini’s fascists.
Jasmine Duff reviews a book exposing Israel’s appalling record of selling arms and surveillance technology to right-wing regimes.
Anneke Demanuele reviews a book that explores the roots of racism in class society and poses a challenge to identity politics.
This 2002 article by Mostafa Omar provides important background for understanding Israel's genocidal war on Palestine, and the political limitations of the organisations that claimed to stand for Palestinian liberation.