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Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal seeks to promote the exchange of information, experience of struggle, theoretical analysis and views of political strategy and tactics within the international left. It is a forum for open and constructive dialogue between active socialists from different political traditions. It seeks to bring together those in the international left who are opposed to neoliberal economic and social policies, and reject the bureaucratic model of "socialism" that arose in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and China.
Inspired by the unfolding socialist revolution in Venezuela, as well as the continuing example of socialist Cuba, Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal is a journal for "Socialism of the 21st century", and the discussions and debates flowing from that powerful example of socialist renewal.
Links is also proud to be the sister publication of Green Left Weekly, the world's leading red-green newspaper, and we urge readers to visit that site regularly.
Please explore Links and subscribe (click on "Subscribe to Links" or "Follow Links on Twitter" in the left menu). Links welcomes readers' constructive comments (but please read the "Comments policy" above).
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Socialist councillor Sue Bolton on building a political alternative in Australia today
July 13, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Moreland City councillor and Socialist Alliance national executive member Sue Bolton on building a political alternative in Australia today.
This talk was filmed at the May 2016 Socialism for the 21st Century conference held in Sydney, which was organised by the Socialist Alliance and co-sponsored by Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal.
Appeal for international solidarity: Free Baba Jan and 11 other political activists and stop the abuse of anti-terrorism
By Awami Workers Party
July 11, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- On the 8th of June 2016, the Supreme Appellate Court in Gilgit-Baltistan upheld the decision of an Anti-Terrorist Court in GB in September 2014[1] and sentenced Baba Jan (central leader of the left-wing Awami Workers Party - Gilgit Baltistan) and 11 other activists[2] to 40 year prison terms under the Anti-Terrorist Act.[3] The three-member SAC bench gave a two-to-one split verdict on the state’s appeal against the unanimous decision of the Gilgit Baltistan Chief Court two-member bench to acquit Baba Jan and others of terrorism and violence charges in April 2015.
Despite what the severity of the sentence appears to imply, Baba Jan and his companions are not militants who had taken up arms against the state – they are progressive political activists and organizers who had simply raised their voice for the plight of displaced persons of the 2010 natural disaster in Attabad, Hunza and organized them against government corruption and delay in payment of the compensation funds and their resettlement.
A missed revolutionary opportunity: The Comintern Third Congress discussion on the 1920 Italian factory occupations
Introductory note by Mike Taber and John Riddell
July 12, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from International Socialist Review -- As the Communist International’s Third Congress convened in Moscow in June–July 1921, the powerful working-class upsurge that had shaken Italy months earlier was fresh in delegates’ minds and posed a backdrop to their debates.
The September 1920 occupation of the factories in Italy is a lesser-known revolutionary experience of the post–World War I years, yet its impact was no less significant. By starkly posing the question of which class should run the economy, the occupations legitimized a new form of proletarian struggle—expressed in part through the tactic of the sit-down strike that was widely utilized during the 1930s. Possessing the potential for working-class victory, the defeat of this movement instead opened the door to the rise to power of Benito Mussolini and Italian fascism.
The Party, The Socialist Workers Party 1960-1988, Volume 1: The 60s
The British left after Brexit
July 10 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- With British politics in crisis after the recent UK referendum vote to leave the European Union, a debate has opened on the British left regarding the situation it finds itself in. As part of Links' ongoing coverage of the Brexit debate we are republishing articles by Charlotte Bence, from Revolutionary Socialism in the 21st Century, Neil Faulkner, from Left Unity, and Joseph Choonara, from the Socialist Workers Party. Above, is also a video by Novara Media's Ash Sarkar exploring the way class and race are mobilised as ways to understand inequality and political disenfranchisement.
Migration, fundamentalism & terrorism in Asia
By Farooq Tariq
July 9, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières -- Religious terrorism has become one of the major challenges for most of the countries in Asia, particularly in South and West Asia. It has resulted in a seemingly nonstop bombings, suicidal attacks and other means of terrorism.
A very British coup: Jeremy Corbyn and the battle for Labour's future
British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn's message to party members
July 8, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The British Labour Party has been rocked by an attempt by the majority of Labour MPs to depose Jeremy Corbyn, who won a party-wide leadership vote last year. Many have dubbed this a battle between the Parliamentary Labour Party and the membership. Links is republishing a number of articles looking at this crucial battle. They include articles by Shadow Chancellor and Corbyn backer John McDonnell, Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) general secretary Manuel Cortes, and Charley Allan writing in the Morning Star.
Life after Bernie Sanders: People’s Summit searches for the movement’s political future
By Dan La Botz
July 6, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from New Politics — The mood among the 3,000 Bernie Sanders supporters meeting in Chicago McCormick Place was improbably optimistic over the weekend of June 17-19, with many of the speakers proclaiming to cheering crowds that the movement has been victorious — even though Hillary Clinton, the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party has received a majority of the popular votes and a majority of elected delegates and super-delegates, as well as the endorsements of President Barack Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden, and Senator Elizabeth Warren.
That disjuncture — between the Sanders’ movement’s belief that we have achieved something quite important and Clinton’s clear victory in the primary — provides the contradictory context for this conference of progressives, radicals, and socialists searching for the way to the future, I among them.
Colonialism and independence in East Timor
July 6, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Jose Da Costa looks at the history of colonisation in East Timor and the situation today following 16 years of formal independence.
Da Costa was 18 years old when he came to Australia by boat in 1995 seeking political asylum from East Timor. He is a teacher, actor and co-founder of Dili Film Works.
This talk was filmed at the May 2016 Socialism for the 21st Century conference held in Sydney, which was organised by the Socialist Alliance and co-sponsored by Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal.
De-Privatize! A slogan for the Green Party in the 2016 elections
By Don Fitz
July 3, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- In the middle of June 2016, the US House Committee on Natural Resources approved HR 3650, an effort to expand privatization of public lands. The bill would transfer control of “up to 2 million acres of eligible portions of the National Forest System” from the federal to state governments. Since state governments cannot afford firefighting budgets for such huge pieces of land, the law is a slick maneuver to make certain that lands will end up in the hands of private corporations. Endgame: increased logging, increased mining, increased destruction of ecosystems, increased profits for a few of the super-rich, decreased recreational sites, decreased jobs for the 6.1 million Americans working in recreation.
There is a word that the Green Party might consider putting at the front and center of its 2016 presidential campaign. That word would show the commonality of hundreds, if not thousands, of local struggles in the US and set the pace for Green Parties across the globe. It's a word that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton won't touch. The word is: “De-Privatization.”
Queensland Independent MLA Rob Pyne on building a progressive social and political alternative in Australia today
July 1, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Queensland Independent state parliamentarian Rob Pyne, who resigned from the ALP earlier this year, looks at how to build an alternative political movement in Australia.
This talk was filmed at the May 2016 Socialism for the 21st Century conference held in Sydney, which was organised by the Socialist Alliance and co-sponsored by Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal.
Spanish general election: snapshot of a big disappointment
By Dick Nichols
July 1, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — The key question about the result of the June 26 Spanish general election is also the most difficult to answer: why did 1.09 million people, who in the December 20 elections voted for Podemos, the United Left (IU) and the three broader progressive convergences Together We Can (Catalonia), Podemos-Commitment (Valencian Country) and In Tide (Galicia), not vote for the combined Podemos-IU ticket United We Can and these convergences at this poll?
The election saw an increased vote for the ruling People's Party (PP) while the social-democratic Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) held off the seemingly unstoppable charge of United We Can and allies towards supplanting it as the leading force of the left.
Britain: what was behind the 'Brexit' vote?
June 29 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- In the aftermath of the recent UK referendum vote to leave the European Union, the British left continues to debate the meaning and significance of the vote. As part of Links' ongoing coverage of the debate we are republishing articles by Charlie Hore, from Revolutionary Socialism in the 21st Century, and Andrew Flood, from Workers Solidarity Movement.
Ken Canning: Fighting colonialism and racism today
June 29, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- First Nations activist and NSW Senate candidate for the Socialist Alliance Ken Canning looks at the struggles of indigenous people for their rights and recognition and the racism engendered by government policies in Australia.
Ken is a poet and playwright from the Kunja Clan of the Bidjara Peoples of South West Queensland. This talk was filmed at the May 2016 Socialism for the 21st Century conference held in Sydney, which was organised by the Socialist Alliance and co-sponsored by Links.
Building a progressive social and political alternative in Australia today
June 28, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Socialist Alliance national executive member Peter Boyle on how to build the alternative to neoliberalism and a more humane world. This talk was filmed at the May 2016 Socialism for the 21st Century conference held in Sydney, which was organised by the Socialist Alliance and co-sponsored by Links .
Tania: the revolutionary warrior
By Doug Enaa Greene
June 27, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- "Yes, this is really a very serious situation ... But I can tell you, once again, that there is nothing more beautiful than to be in the middle of a critical situation, where the revolutionary struggle is the most difficult. How many would like to be here in Cuba to participate in defense of the Cuban revolution! I'm lucky enough to be able to do so. This is why I returned to Latin America. If I were interested in living well, surrounded by all the comforts, I would have stayed in Berlin, where I had everything. The Latin American revolution is advancing steadily toward a higher level, and I am fortunate enough to take part of it! ... Patria o muerte! Venceremos!"
Tamara Bunke wrote this in a letter to her parents in 1962 when she was an internationalist volunteer in Cuba during the height of the Missile Crisis as the revolution was mortally threatened by the forces of imperialism.
Scottish Socialist Party, Sinn Féin, Momentum and Left Unity on Brexit referendum result
June 26, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — In the aftermath of the Brexit referendum which ended with a vote in favor of the UK leaving the European Union, Links has republished a variety of statements reflecting the views of key left forces in England, Scotland and Ireland.
Political fundamentals and the UK Brexit referendum
By Tony Norfield
June 26, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal originally posted on Economics of Imperialism blog on June 16 — What explains the desperation of British capitalism and Conservative Party in the lead up to the Brexit referendum on 23 June?
Flight of corporate profits poses biggest threat to South Africa’s economy
By Patrick Bond
June 23, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Last week the South African Reserve Bank Quarterly Bulletin confirmed that foreign corporations are milking the economy, drawing away profits far faster than they are reinvested or than local firms bring home offsetting profits from abroad. Can anything be done to stop the hemorrhaging?
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