London-based anti-fascist activist KEVIN OVENDEN reports on two aspects of the rise of the far Right in Europe. First, he analyses the high vote for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in the Eastleigh by-election, where they beat the Tories into third place. Following this, a short piece on how the mainstream Right is feeding the […]
10 Nov
Comments Off on A Left Flank dispatch from Europe: The ‘descent into chaos’ begins
If the last week’s bizarre political contortions in Greece — first a referendum, then not, then a government of national unity, now more uncertainty — were not enough, the spread of contagion to Italy threatens even greater turmoil. As we arrived in London we were greeted by the Financial Times informing us that Silvio Berlusconi had (finally) […]
20 Sep
Comments Off on Limits of liberal critique: Murdoch, the media & the Manne Quarterly Essay
Not so omnipotent anymore Cross-posted from Overland Journal‘s blog and ABC’s The Drum. The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i.e. the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force. The class which has the means of material production at its […]
14 Aug
Comments Off on ‘Mama said there’ll be days like this’ — The UK riots, the labour movement and the Left
Special guest post by KEVIN OVENDEN* What did people expect? Just over a year ago, during the general election campaign in Britain, I remember George Galloway on the stump warning that the last time the Tories came in to replace an already dead Labour government and pursue full-blooded, class war policies, Britain’s cities went up […]
13 Aug
Comments Off on Intended or not, the consequences of riots are not always negative
Watts Riot of 1965 — how the rioters treated ‘their’ community then This is the original text of an article commissioned by ABC’s The Drum, which was published yesterday and can be found here. The riots in the United Kingdom, mainly involving school age and unemployed youth, have provoked a backlash that seeks to paint them […]
11 Aug
Comments Off on Whoever expects a ‘pure’ revolution will never live to see it: The UK riots in perspective
Mark Duggan, whose killing by police sparked the riots Maybe it’s a sign of the times, but for mine the most depressing thing about the UK riots is how some on the Left feel the need to loudly proclaim their lack of solidarity with some of the poorest and most oppressed people in society, instead resorting […]
01 Mar
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