>SATURDAY JUNE 25 – CENTRAL SYDNEY9.00 – 9.15 Welcome 9.15 – 10.45 Plenary 1 – AUSTRALIAN LABORISMSpeaker: Rick KuhnRespondents: Geoffrey Robinson and Tad Tietze 10.45 – 11.00 Short morning tea 11 – 12.30 Workshop 1A – MARXISM AND THEOLOGY Roland Boer: ‘The Religion of Everyday Life’: Capital as FetishTamara Prosic: Orthodox Christian Theology and Social ChangeRemy […]
17 Mar
Comments Off on Guy Rundle, the ‘anti-imperialist Left’ and the calls for a no-fly zone in Libya
> Friends no longer It’s important to give Guy Rundle credit for being one of the few mainstream commentators who still has interesting things to say from a genuinely Left perspective. But his intervention in the debate over whether the Australian Left should back calls for a Western-run no-fly zone in Libya — to save […]
12 Mar
Comments Off on The revenge of nature
> The scale of the human death and suffering from Japan’s earthquake and Tsunami has been staggering. While not on the scale of human loss suffered during similar disasters that have hit poorer parts of the world, to see such rapid devastation of modern, solidly built roads, harbours and towns was almost too dramatic to […]
04 Mar
Comments Off on Drugs! Drugs! Drugs!
As the state election skulks closer, it seems clear the NSW Greens will not be actively campaigning on their Drugs and Harm Minimisation policy in the community or the media. Their silence makes obvious that they have determined to stay mum on the question, despite the policy being one democratically endorsed by the membership after […]
02 Mar
Comments Off on The Irish Greens and the decomposition of official politics
> Fianna Fáil waves goodbye If there is one OECD economy that can be considered a place where the logic of neoliberal shock therapy — what Naomi Klein has dubbed the “shock doctrine” — was used most brazenly to solve a crisis of neoliberalism itself, it would have to be Ireland. The result has been […]
22 Feb
Comments Off on The changing face of activism (or not)
Members of the April 6 Movement in Egypt Recent events in the Middle East and North Africa have revealed new and surprising forms of political activism and reinforced long standing ones. The mass uprising in Egypt has sparked a wave of protest across the region as populations held down for decades under oppressive regimes […]
20 Feb
Comments Off on Have the Australian Greens become Julia Gillard’s ‘useful idiots’?
Since the dust from the August election settled, something strange has been going on in the Australian Greens camp. I think it’s probably a conscious “strategy,” but I’m not privy to the discussions in the party room, so I can’t be sure. But here is my stab at it, and why it worries me deeply. […]
16 Feb
Comments Off on So you think you want a revolution?
Photo by Counterfire My latest piece on ABC’s The Drum Unleashed — “What Australia can learn from Egypt’s uprising” — dispelling the mythology around revolutions peddled by Western leaders and mainstream media: The word “revolution” comes loaded with many preconceptions, but the 18 days that brought down the Mubarak regime in Egypt have deeply challenged views […]
14 Feb
Comments Off on The Egyptian Revolution: only the beginning — where to next?
The most indubitable feature of a revolution is the direct interference of the masses in historical events. — Leon Trotsky, History of the Russian Revolution How good was that? Here we’ll let some Egyptian voices speak: First, a statement on Friday from the Revolutionary Socialists of Egypt: Glory to the martyrs! Victory to the revolution! What is happening today […]
09 Feb
Comments Off on Beyond an impasse — Egypt’s masses surge forth again
Photo by Hossam el-Hamalawy From Al-Jazeera’s English-language website: The square has become a mini-utopia in central Cairo. Political opinions aired, gender and sectarian divisions nowhere to be found. People feed and clothe each other here. Medical areas have been set up by doctors joining in with the protesters. The crime and sexual harassment so prevalent […]
19 Mar
Comments Off on ‘Capital’ Against Capitalism: Provisional Timetable