Australia is a class riven, unequal society. During 2008 it became apparent that the Australian economy, free from recessions since the early 1990s is not bullet proof and that capital accumulation, in all parts of the global economy, is inherently crisis-prone. For more than three decades the left and organised working class in Australia has been in uneven retreat. This has been one factor that contributed to the vigour of the economy. Nevertheless, periods of low level class conflict have been punctuated by dramatic bursts of struggle from below, most recently against the invasion of Iraq in 2002-2003 and during the early stages of the union campaign against the Howard Government's WorkChoices industrial relations laws. Campaigns in other parts of the planet, notably against neo-liberal globalisation and the attack on Iraq have promoted Australian struggles.
Yet Australian Marxist research and discussion takes place in a difficult environment. The Marxist left is small. Not only the right but also ALP governments and the academic mainstream are hostile to working class and social movement activism and Marxist perspectives. Despite the difficulties, a considerable number of Marxist writers continue to make important contributions. Much of the resulting work, however, appears fragmentarily in a variety of journals which cater to academic audiences uninformed about or unsympathetic to Marxism, or remain in the form of unpublished essays and theses. It is important to find ways to make these contributions more readily accessible to an audience which can make use of them and can appreciate their significance without being tutored about basic concepts. Marxist interventions has done this for some time. Until recently, MI was a strong collection of material about Australia. We feel it is time to give it a new start.
MI will now be an Australian-based on-line journal which will publish theory and empirical research informed by Marxism. There will be a bias towards Australian subject matter but MI will also publish material on other countries and global issues. We seek contributions from those who work in or outside universities, based in Australia or elsewhere.
While MI will initially be structured as an annual, further articles may be added to the current volume in the course of the year. The first issue will appear early in 2009.
Material will be published after a double-blind review process.
Contributions will generally be about 7,000 words long but may be significantly shorter or more extensive, depending on the nature of the material and topics.
The editors will play a very active sub-editorial role to ensure that articles are well-written and accessible. They will be supported by a broader editorial board.