Socialism

Sascha Staničić, national spokesperson of the Socialist Organisation Solidarity, Sol, the CWI in Germany, discusses the CWI’s analysis of the crisis and class struggle in Germany, with Sean Figg, from the CWI’s International Secretariat.

For a whole period German capitalism has been a bulwark of stability for capitalism on the European continent. Now it has entered a period of turmoil, unprecedented since reunification more than thirty years ago. In this podcast we cover the political crisis of the German ‘traffic light’ coalition, the rise of the right-populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the mass movement against it, the Sara Wagenknecht-led split from DIE LINKE (the Left Party), the protests of the small farmers and the important strike-wave involving workers from multiple sectors.

- Visit the CWI website for more Marxist analysis at socialistworld.net.

- Support the work of the CWI by donating via PayPal here.

- Contact us by emailing [email protected]

The crisis of world capitalism means war and conflicts, economic stagnation and crises, and political instability on every continent. The working class, young people, and the poor masses around the world are responding with uprisings, mass movements, strike waves and an increased searching for the forms of organisation and the political ideas necessary to challenge capitalism.

Tony Saunois, secretary of the CWI, and Sean Figg, from the CWI’s International Secretariat, discuss the CWI’s analysis of the world situation, developed at a five-day meeting of the CWI’s International Executive Committee in January, which brought together comrades from each of the 14 countries in which the CWI is organised. The brutal war of state-terror being waged by the Israeli state against the Palestinians took centre-stage…

Visit the CWI website for more Marxist analysis at www.socialistworld.net

Support the work of the CWI by donating via PayPal here.

Contact us by emailing [email protected]

Marion will build an industrial plan capable of winning, including national and selective action and overtime bans. Marion will ensure that PCS takes the lead to coordinate with other unions on pay, jobs and against Tory anti-union laws. Marion will give your reps and branches the tools they need to do the job you elected them to do.

Get involved: https://bln.org.uk/

Leaflet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Puuc3ZZ5L4cSGjyIqlxeqLGhgO9wbMYc/view?usp=sharing

To contact the Socialist Party about this podcast or to find out about becoming a member:

www.socialistparty.org.uk

Check out the CWI, for analysis of world events, and for those listening in other parts of the world, get in touch to join the fight for socialism in your country, that’s www.socialistworld.net

Socialism 2023

Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 November, Institute of Education, London WC1H 0AL

It will be an in-person weekend of discussion and debate on ideas to change the world hosted by the Socialist Party.

Marion will be a speaker at the main Saturday night rally at Socialism 2023.

At the event there will be around 40 workshops where you can ask those questions forming in your head as you listen to this, raise your own points, argue if you wish. You will be among hundreds of people who want to change the world. The topics covered will include a discussion on ‘Building Marxism in the trade unions and workplaces’ and ‘How can the anti-union Minimum Services legislation be defeated?’

You can buy a ticket that includes hostel accommodation, there’s a free creche throughout, and it will be brilliant. For tickets and info: www.socialism.org.uk

Further reading

Socialism Today October 2023 No.273

Drawing lessons from the strike wave

The current strike wave, which erupted more than a year ago with national strike action by railworkers in the RMT union, marks the beginning of a new era in the class struggle in Britain. Rob Williams gives an overview of the strike action so far and draws vital lessons for the workers’ movement for the battles to come, especially under, as looks likely, a future Starmer government.

https://socialismtoday.org/drawing-lessons-from-the-strike-wave

PCS: the real issues at stake

The dispute within the left of Britain’s largest civil service union raises key issues for the whole labour movement. Above all, the need for democratic, lay-member control of fighting trade unions. Hannah Sell and Rob Williams explain the background to the current situation.

https://socialismtoday.org/archive/221/pcs.html

Capitalism and its political representatives are totally incapable of meeting any of the needs of working-class and poor people anywhere on the globe. All that is on offer is a never-ending diet of war, poverty, oppression and repression.

Now the Israeli regime is on the verge of launching a brutal land offensive in Gaza, raising the possibility of war spilling over into a wider confrontation that could inflame the whole region, and adding to the multiple crises the capitalist system is already creating internationally.

The Israeli regime’s indiscriminate bombing and starving of 2.3 million people in Gaza, including 1 million children, of food, water, medicines and fuel – “a death sentence” according to the United Nations - has provoked mass protests around the world.

This podcast, recorded on 23 October, goes behind the headlines to examine the processes that have brought us to this point – and to offer socialist ideas to build the anti-war movement to end the conflict and deliver peace, security and a decent future for the masses of the region.

In this podcast we speak to Judy Beishon who is a member of the Socialist Party’s executive committee and of the International Secretariat of the Committee for a Workers’ International, which is the world socialist organisation to which the Socialist Party is affiliated.

Get in touch

To contact the Socialist Party about this podcast or to find out about becoming a member:

www.socialistparty.org.uk

We also recommend checking out the CWI, with analysis of world events, and for those listening in other parts of the world, get in touch to join the fight for socialism in your country, that’s www.socialistworld.net

Socialism 2023

Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 November, Institute of Education, London WC1H 0AL

It will be an in-person weekend of discussion and debate on ideas to change the world hosted by the Socialist Party.

The many workshops will include a discussion on ‘Gaza under siege: how can a Palestinian state be achieved?’

Judy will be among the many speakers introducing workshops where you will also have a chance to ask those questions forming in your head as you listen to this, to raise your own points, to argue if you wish. You will be among hundreds of people who want to change the world.

You can buy a ticket that includes hostel accommodation, there’s a free creche throughout, and it will be brilliant. For tickets and info: www.socialism.org.uk

Further reading

Socialism Today September 2023 No.272

Is a Palestinian state possible?

This article was written in September on the 30th anniversary of the first Oslo accord – and before the eruption of the war. Judy Beishon discusses what conditions would be necessary for achieving an independent state

The article will be posted here shortly, where you can find previous articles on the issue: https://socialismtoday.org

And can be read here: https://www.socialistworld.net/2023/10/07/israel-palestine-30-years-since-the-oslo-accord-will-there-ever-be-a-palestinian-state/

Website of the Socialist Party for up-to-date articles: www.socialistparty.org.uk

In this podcast with Hannah Sell, Socialist Party general secretary, we look at the world economy, how the capitalist system works – or doesn’t work - and draw conclusions for socialists.

It is the first time that, across much of the world, a surge in inflation has coexisted with widespread financial vulnerabilities. The longer the inflation persists, the stronger and longer the required policy tightening, and hence the bigger the financial stability risks”. The central banks are walking a tightrope, with little room for manoeuvre.

Hannah draws out how, whatever the immediate perspectives are for the world economy, there is no prospect of any new golden era of capitalist progress.

That does not mean, however, that the Great Recession is going to be precisely replicated. On the contrary, the capitalists will face crises in the next period that are likely to be even more devastating for their system, both economically and politically. None of the factors which led to the 2007-08 recession have been overcome, while the ‘solutions’ that were adopted to ameliorate its effects will not be possible in the same way next time.

Hannah explains how the capitalist classes of the world have no way out of the intractable problems facing their system – economic, political, environmental. Halting climate change would clearly only be possible on a global basis, and yet under twenty-first century capitalism it is a tool for protectionism.

Only planning, under the democratic control of the working class, will make it possible to develop production to a higher stage, organising it on a global basis to satisfy social needs and halt and reverse climate change, rather than being driven by the greed for profit. Replacing this rotten capitalist system with democratic socialist planning is the urgent task facing the working class worldwide.

Get in touch

To contact the Socialist Party about this podcast or to find out about becoming a member:

www.socialistparty.org.uk

We also recommend checking out the CWI, with analysis of world events, and for those listening in other parts of the world, get in touch to join the fight for socialism in your country, that’s www.socialistworld.net

Socialism 2023

Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 November, Institute of Education, London WC1H 0AL

It will be an in-person weekend of discussion and debate on ideas to change the world hosted by the Socialist Party.

Hannah will be a key note speaker at the Saturday night rally and will also be among the many speakers introducing workshops where you will also have a chance to ask those questions forming in your head as you listen to this, to raise your own points, to argue if you wish. You will be among hundreds of socialist fighters at this weekend event – so it will be brilliant.

Socialism 2023 takes place on 25 and 26 November in London. You can buy a ticket that includes hostel accommodation, there’s a free creche throughout, and it will be brilliant.

For tickets and info: www.socialism.org.uk

Further reading

Socialism Today September 2023 No.270

The end of Golden Eras

The new lease of life that world capitalism experienced after the collapse of the Stalinist states of Russia and Eastern Europe from the late 1980s has definitively run its course. Whatever the immediate perspectives are for the world economy, argues HANNAH SELL, there is no prospect of any new golden era of capitalist progress.

https://socialismtoday.org/the-end-of-golden-eras

Socialism Today July/August 2023 No.269

China, Mao and the markets

At a time of intensifying economic and geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China, HANNAH SELL reviews a book that stresses the role of the Communist Party-controlled state in China’s economy.

https://socialismtoday.org/china-mao-and-the-markets

Fifty years since it was crushed, the Chilean revolution of 1970-73 remains a reference point, not only in Chile, but internationally, for both the working class and its organisations - and the capitalist classes.

In Chile, in the wake of the 2019 mass movement, the legacy of the coup is again hotly contested.

The defenders of capitalism feel compelled to go further than ever before in justifying the bloody repression of the workers’ movement, insisting that, brutal as it was, it was necessary to “save” Chile from a “Marxist dictatorship”. In the English-speaking world too, many capitalist newspapers and magazines have devoted coverage to the anniversary, also repeating this line.

This reflects the ruling classes’ fear that in the crisis-ridden capitalism of the 2020s many Chiles potentially lie ahead. Therefore the burying of the real history of the Chilean revolution, and the justification of the horrors perpetrated against the heroic Chilean working class in the years after the coup, is an ideological front in today’s class struggle.

From the other side of the class barricades, the working class and radical youth, need to be armed with an understanding of the Chilean revolution, so that in the future, when the working class is again within reaching distance of a successful socialist revolution, it succeeds in conquering power and transforming society.

Get in touch

To contact the Socialist Party about this podcast or to find out about becoming a member:

www.socialistparty.org.uk

We also recommend checking out the CWI, with analysis of world events, and for those listening in other parts of the world, get in touch to join the fight for socialism in your country, that’s www.socialistworld.net

Further reading

Socialism Today September 2023 No.270

Chile 1973: Heroism was not enough. This article was first published in the September 1998 edition of Socialism Today, issue No.31, TONY SAUNOIS, secretary of the Committee for a Workers International (CWI), explains how this tragedy unfolded and the lessons that persist today.

https://socialismtoday.org/

NEW BOOK: Chile: The revolution - how and why it was crushed (pre-order)

The CWI is publishing a new book to bring the lessons of the Chilean revolution, and its crushing, to the new generation of working class and young activists. Written by Tony Saunois, CWI secretary, from 1984 Tony spent a number of years working in the underground opposition to the Pinochet dictatorship within Chile.

http://leftbooks.co.uk/Chile-The-revolution-how-and-why-it-was-crushed-pre-order

Also available at Socialism 2023

Socialism 2023

Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 November, Institute of Education, London WC1H 0AL

It will be an in-person weekend of discussion and debate on ideas to change the world hosted by the Socialist Party.

Tony will be among the many speakers introducing workshops where you will also have a chance to ask those questions forming in your head as you listen to this, to raise your own points, to argue if you wish. You will be among hundreds of socialist fighters – so it will be brilliant.

You will also be able to get your hands on copies of Tony’s book.

Socialism 2023 takes place on 25 and 26 November in London. You can buy a ticket that includes hostel accommodation, there’s a free creche throughout, and it will be brilliant.

For tickets and info: www.socialism.org.uk

We sat down with Socialist Party member Dave Nellist to discuss the latest Tory sleaze scandal, how he went about only taking a average worker's wage and how as a supporter of the Militant (now the Socialist Party) he used his position as a Labour MP to give a voice for working class people everywhere and fight for socialist change.

Dave was a ‘Militant’ Labour MP for Coventry South East 1983-92 before being explleed from the Labout Party in 1991 for refusing to pay the Poll Tax and was a Socialist Party Councillor in Coventry between 1998-2012.

Currently Dave is the chair of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), which the Socialist Party is a part of alongside the RMT trade union and others.

TUSC is preparing to stand candidates in the council elections in May against councillors - Labour, Tory or others - who continue to carry out austerity attacks on working-class communities.

We invite trade unionists and community campaigners, who are prepared to pledge to oppose the council cuts, to stand with us as part of TUSC.

We hope this can be a step towards building a new, mass working-class party to fight in our interests, not those of the bosses.

Interested in finding out more or Joining the Socialists?

Don't hesitate to get in touch.

Its easy to get involved!

https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/join/

Tory sleaze scandal continues, an ex-workers' MP responds

https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/33346/17-11-2021/tory-sleaze-scandal-continues-an-ex-workers-mp-responds

A political voice for the working class

https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/16844/05-06-2013/1983-a-political-voice-for-the-working-class

Terry Fields MP, Prisoner DV 3695 - The jailing of 'poll tax' rebel and Militant

https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/32785/07-07-2021/terry-fields-mp-prisoner-dv-3695-the-jailing-of-poll-tax-rebel-and-militant

Terry Fields: A socialist voice that rocked Whitehall

https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/6254/09-07-2008/terry-fields-a-socialist-voice-that-rocked-whitehall

Join the Socialists!

www.socialistparty.org.uk

November 5/6 in Glasgow saw some of the largest political mobilisations since the onslaught of the Covid pandemic. The catalyst was the bosses’ summit, COP26, a forum to find ‘solutions’ to limit global warming, but more importantly, to save the capitalist system.

The first protest on the Friday saw a march of up to 20,000 strong – which was an overwhelmingly youthful demonstration organised by Fridays for Future, with a huge openness to the ideas that a systemic change to the profit-driven rottenness of capitalism is necessary.

The Saturday demo, organised by the COP Coalition, was a larger demonstration of around 70,000 and not so youthful, but nevertheless the widespread lack of faith in COP to deliver a workable solution for the vast majority of humanity was clear to see.

This episode is a recording of the post demo meeting organised by the Socialist Party's sister organisation - Socialist Party Scotland and the CWI.

We hear from Matt Dobson from Socialist Party Scotland and Mark Best from the Socialist Party.

After tens of thousands marched and walked out in Glasgow and across the world in response to the failure of the UN COP26 summit, many are discussing what next for the climate strike movement.

The situation is critical. Major capitalist powers, despite all their rhetoric around the Glasgow Climate pact, are stepping up oil production and using reserves to combat an energy price hike. How is mass pressure going to be built to fight for the aspirations of the climate movement when the capitalists meet again in Egypt for COP27?

The environmental crisis wrought by unchecked capitalist greed is just one of the clearest examples of how the that system offers no future for the vast majority of humanity.

Workers and youth are increasingly drawing that conclusion. We would appeal to them to discuss with us, join us and fight for the socialist transformation of society.

Growing support for socialist ideas at COP26 protests

https://socialistpartyscotland.org.uk/2021/11/08/growing-support-for-socialist-ideas-at-cop26-protests/

After COP26: where next for the climate movement?

https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/33401/01-12-2021/after-cop26-where-next-for-the-climate-movement

COP26: Zero trust in capitalist class: Fight for socialism to end climate destruction

https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/33265/03-11-2021/fight-for-socialism-to-end-climate-destruction

COP26 begins - workers strike for pay

https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/33276/03-11-2021/cop26-begins-workers-strike-for-pay

Cuban protests – what do they represent?

On 11 July, Cuba was rocked by the largest protests to have taken place since the “Maleconazo” protests that erupted in 1994. The 1994 protests followed the collapse of the former USSR and the abrupt cutting off of aid to Cuba. It resulted in a staggering 30% decline in Cuban GDP and the introduction of what Fidel Castro dubbed at the time the “special period”.

The protests in July 2021 undoubtedly have been trumpeted by imperialism yet they may represent a decisive change in the situation in Cuba. They may have shocked some on the left who have looked towards Cuba as an alternative to capitalism and standing up against the might of US imperialism.

Many have looked to the impressive gains made in Cuba following the revolution in 1959/60 in health, education, literacy and other areas. The Socialist Party and CWI has consistently defended the conquests made by the revolution. At the same time, we have criticized the bureaucratic top-down methods of rule, and the absence of genuine workers’ democracy and democratic workers’ control and management of the nationalised economy.

Unfortunately, most of the gains of the revolution have been eroded over the last thirty years. It is, therefore, necessary for socialists to accurately assess what is unfolding in Cuba and draw crucial lessons from it.

What has sparked this latest crisis in the country?

What's the nature of the forces involved in the protests and counter protests?

Is there a threat of counter revolution?

What would that mean for the Cuban working class and poor?

What is the nature of the Cuban state that emerged for the 1959 revolution?

What is the international relevance of developments in Cuba and the future of the Cuban revolution?

What programme should socialists be fighting for in Cuba ?

All articles we have produced on Cuba https://www.socialistworld.net/category/international/americas/cuba/

Cuban protests – what do they represent?

https://www.socialistworld.net/2021/07/22/cuban-protests-what-do-they-represent/

Cuba: Covid-19 and the 60-year-old embargo

https://www.socialistworld.net/2020/08/13/cuba-covid-19-and-the-60-year-old-embargo/

60th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution

https://www.socialistworld.net/2019/01/02/60th-anniversary-of-the-cuban-revolution/

Che Guevara 50 years on – revolutionary socialist and fighter

https://www.socialistworld.net/2017/10/09/che-guevara-50-years-on-revolutionary-socialist-and-fighter/

Cuba: At a crossroads

https://www.socialistworld.net/2015/09/12/cuba-at-a-crossroads/

Afghanistan in crisis: A colossal failure of western capitalism.

After two decades of military occupation and trillions of dollars spent by western governments, millions of Afghans are now back to where they were in 2001 - under the brutal rule of the Taliban.

Yet the capitalist politicians responsible for this tragic debacle - Messrs Tony Blair, George Bush, and others - continue to defend this colossal failure. And today's crop of establishment politicians, including Johnson and Starmer, also defend the western invasion and occupation of Afghanistan in 2001.

It's clear from the experience of working-class and poor people in Afghanistan, and indeed in many other countries, past and present, that capitalism cannot guarantee democratic rights or decent living standards. That requires ordinary working-class people uniting behind a socialist banner and fighting for fundamental change.

We talk with Niall Mulholland from the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI) about the situation in Afghanistan.

What does it represent in terms of US and British influence internationally and in the region?

After 20 years of bloodshed, how did the Taliban take back control so quickly?

What and who are the Taliban and what does this mean now for the working class and poor in the region?

What position do socialists take and what did socialists argue at the time of the invasion?

What is the way forward for the working class and poor of the region?

Further reading

Afghanistan: The Taliban takeover - what are the lessons for the workers' movement internationally

https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/32926/25-08-2021/afghanistan-the-taliban-takeover-what-are-the-lessons-for-the-workers-movement-internationally

Afghanistan in crisis:

A colossal failure of western capitalism

Fight for a socialist alternative

https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/32951/25-08-2021/afghanistan-in-crisis

Editorial of the Socialist

Afghanistan disaster - Unite to fight for funding for refugees and local communities

https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/32927/25-08-2021/afghanistan-disaster-unite-to-fight-for-funding-for-refugees-and-local-communities

Historical reprint: The Russian defeat in Afghanistan

http://socialismtoday.org/archive/61/repreint.html

The Afghanistan disaster

The limits of US power

http://socialismtoday.org/archive/205/afghanistan.html

The consequences of 9/11

A world turned upside down

http://socialismtoday.org/archive/151/911.html

Afghanistan aftermath

http://socialismtoday.org/archive/65/Afghanistan.html

Taliban, Islam and Oil

http://socialismtoday.org/archive/59/taliban.html

Check out all our articles on Afghanistan going back to 2001 here

https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/keyword/Afghanistan,all,180