Category: age of austerity

09 May

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Abbott & Hockey’s ‘age of (political) incoherence’

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It was great fun speaking alongside ACOSS policy officer Emily Hamilton and radical economist Steve Keen at the Northside Forum in the heart of Joe Hockey’s electorate last Saturday. Close to 100 people packed into the function room at the Union Hotel to hear us speak and participate in a Q&A. Thanks to the organisers for inviting us — the […]

17 Mar

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Whatever happened to the Indignados? 1: Radical struggle

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LUKE STOBART with the first instalment of a special three-part analysis of the radicalisation that has swept Spain since the 15-M protests of 2011.   *** Anti-politics and the 15-M movement On 15 May 2011 the new collectives Juventud Sin Futuro (Youth Without Future) and ¡Democracia Real Ya! (Real Democracy Now!), demonstrated in Madrid using […]

07 Nov

Comments Off on Internationalism, racism & the geo-political labyrinth

Internationalism, racism & the geo-political labyrinth

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About two hundred people took to the streets of St Petersburg, Russia, at the weekend for the annual ‘March Against Hatred’, which aims to ‘unite those who fight against intolerance, xenophobia, fascism and discrimination on grounds of race, nationality, religion and beliefs, sexual orientation etc.’ The following day, tens of thousands in about 100 cities […]

08 Oct

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Athens anti-fascist conference: a milestone for the Left

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By KEVIN OVENDEN This piece is a follow-up to “Greece, the state & anti-fascism”, which was subsequently also posted at Socialist Unity in the UK and Socialist Worker in the US. The anti-fascist conference in Athens last weekend hosted by the Greek anti-fascist/anti-racist coalition KEERFA was a major step forward. About 600 people, from a broad spectrum […]

20 Mar

Comments Off on Cyprus says ‘No!’ — a watershed vote against EU austerity

Cyprus says ‘No!’ — a watershed vote against EU austerity

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By KEVIN OVENDEN My previous post was written early on Monday morning, London time. Since then events have proceeded rapidly and dramatically. They will continue to do so. This update is meant to highlight the political significance of some of those developments in a fast moving crisis. 1) Despite desperate protestations it is now clear, […]

10 Mar

Comments Off on Europe: The persistence of racism & the fascist threat

Europe: The persistence of racism & the fascist threat

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  by KEVIN OVENDEN Below are the points, updated and a little amplified, I made in a contribution to the highly successful Unite Against Fascism conference in London on 2 March. The speech (and I’ve incorporated my summing up) was in a workshop with Petros Constantinou from Greece, Marwan Mohammed from France and Glyn Ford […]

27 Feb

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Some notes on Italy’s upheaval

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In the end the results of Italy’s general election were even more unsettling than the most pessimistic pro-Euro commentators had anticipated. As this post was being completed, the lower house counts were as follows: Pier Luigi Bersani’s centre-left coalition 29.5% Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right coalition 29.1% Beppe Grillo’s Five Star Movement 25.5% Mario Monti’s Civic Choice […]