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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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The development of Trotsky’s analysis of the Soviet bureaucracy
By Thomas M. Twiss
August 19, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — In his presentation, Paul Le Blanc has provided a brief account of the darkening situation in the Soviet Union in the years following the revolution, of the heroic resistance by members of the Left Opposition, and of the “deep black night” of Stalinism in the mid-late 1930s. He also summarized for us Leon Trotsky’s final theory of Soviet bureaucracy and — I think appropriately —emphasized its value for understanding that history. What I want to do is to briefly sketch the development of Trotsky’s analysis of the problem of Soviet bureaucracy in order to get a deeper understanding and appreciation of his final theory, with all of its strengths and limitations. For as Trotsky observed in a 1933 preface to a collection of his oppositional writings, “It is impossible to understand correctly either scientific or political ideas without knowing the history of their development.”
Before ’68: The Left, activism and social movements in the long 1960s
August 18, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — Ernest Tate and Phil Hearse present Revolutionary Activism in the 1950s and 1960s at "Before ’68: The Left, activism & social movements in the long 1960s" conference. Hosted by UEA School of History in conjunction with the journal Socialist History, and the Institute of Working Class History (Chicago).
Ernest Tate's memoir is an important contribution to the history of the left in Britain and Canada during a unique period. It's a political life of Ernest Tate's life as a socialist during the fifteen year period from 1955 to 1970. In volume one, he tells us about his arrival from Toronto in 1955 as a working-class immigrant from Northern Ireland and about how he quickly became engaged in radical politics.
Excerpts of the book are available on Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal here.
Portugal: “el Bloque de Izquierda lucha por la hegemonía de la izquierda”
[Original in English here]
Por Dick Nichols
August 18, 2016 — Traducido por Enrique García para Sin Permiso — Es difícil imaginar un contraste más fuerte que entre la 10ª Convención Nacional del Bloque de Izquierda portugués, que se celebró en Lisboa del 24 al 26 de junio, y su predecesora, que tuvo lugar en la misma ciudad hace 18 meses.
The path to power: ‘Let’s commit to the long haul’
By Umair Muhammad
August 17, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from John Riddell's blog with permission — During the summer of 2014 I became involved in an anti-pipeline campaign in Toronto. Part of the campaign against the oil pipeline involved occupying worksites. I myself was able to take part in two such occupations. The first occupation resulted in a one-day stoppage of work. The second stopped work for at least two days and resulted in work equipment being carried offsite. The occupations were in part meant to serve as precursors for larger actions to come, allowing the activists involved to build links and gain experience.
Tactics is not strategy: a critique of Riot. Strike. Riot
A review of Riot. Strike. Riot: the New Era of Uprisings by Joshua Clover
By Ben Peterson
August 16, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from Left Win with permission — In the wake of 2011 uprisings in the Arab spring and Occupy, there has been a resurgence radical ideas and a new enthusiasm for radical theorists. A new generation of activists are seeking to digest these experiences, to take lessons from them and prepare for the struggle to come. Joshua Clover’s Riot-Strike-Riot is part of this process. Unfortunately, it is an unhelpful attempt. Good theory contextualizes a struggle and draws together the threads of history together into a coherent argument, which can illuminate what has happened and what can now be done. Riot-Strike-Riot instead deifies certain tactics and if its strategic suggestions were taken up would hinder rather than advance the movement for post-capitalist revolution.
Riot-Strike-Riot
Granma editors raise challenges facing Cuban journalists
August 15, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — Two editors of the Cuban Communist Party's newpaper, Granma, have recently made important contributions to the ongoing debate over censorship and the role and character of the press in socialist Cuba. As part of making this debate available to an English speaking audience, Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal is republishing the comments by Sergio Alejandro Gomez (right), Granma's international editor, and Karina Marron (left), the newspaper's deputy editor. These translations first appeared on the Cuba's Socialist Renewal blog.
(Updated) Happy 90th birthday Comandante Fidel Castro!
Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal joins in the global celebration of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro's 90th birthday. To mark the occasion we are publishing solidarity messages looking at Castro's revolutionary legacy from the Network in Defense of Humanity, Isaac Saney from Canadian Network on Cuba, Dr Francisco Dominguez from Cuba Solidarity Campaign UK and US peace activist Cindy Sheehan.
UPDATED: Links has added an article by Sergio Alejandro Gómez published in the Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma.
Two decades on: A glimpse inside the Zapatista's capital, Oventic
Sign reads, “You are now in rebel Zapatista territory. Here, the people command, and the government obeys.” (Ryan Mallett-Outtrim)
By Ryan Mallett-Outtrim
August 13, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — The line of guards clad in the guerrilla movement's iconic balaclavas was a sign we had found the place. For anyone who did not get the hint, there was a half rusted sign across the road that read, “You are now in rebel Zapatista territory.”
“Here, the people command, and the government obeys,” it stated.
Less than an hour from the nearest city, and I had already arrived at Oventic. This small, unassuming community in the highlands of Mexico's Chiapas state is often known as the de facto capital of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), a leftist guerrilla movement that has been a thorn in the side of the Mexican government since the 1990s.
Coup and counter-coup in Turkey and Kurdistan
By Sarah Parker and Phil Hearse
August 12, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — The dramatic events of 15/16 July created an international shock wave: this was, contrary to some initial opinions, a very serious coup involving large sections of the armed forces. Both the parliament and the presidential palace were attacked by fighter planes. Hundreds were killed, both demonstrators and police killed by pro-coup soldiers and helicopter gunships, and young conscripts lynched by the anti-coup crowds. The coup showed the deep rifts that exist inside the Turkish ruling class, and its aftermath showed the growing drive towards the creation of an Islamist dictatorship.
'It is not illegal to kill Black people in America': Black Lives Matter Movement grows stronger
By Malik Miah
While police tactics and accountability measures are being examined, many black people are also questioning their safety and place in society. They worry about the next time they interact with police, and about the difficult conversations they must have with their children.
— Mistah F.A.B.
We’re just a bullet away from being a hashtag.
— Mistah F.A.B.
Hearing my son say to the officer, “You shot me,” it pierced my heart.
— Wanda Johnson
— Wanda Johnson
I’m 61 years old, and I have been stopped by police 53 times in my life.
— John William Templeton
— John William Templeton
As a physician I watch these videos and I see health care infractions.
— Dr. Tiffany Chioma Anaebere,
— Dr. Tiffany Chioma Anaebere,
I’m not ready to have the conversation with my daughters.
— W. Kamau Bell
The San Francisco Chronicle, July 31, 2016
Spain: Podemos MP on understanding transversality
By Juan Antonio Gil de los Santos
August 10, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — When the 15-M movement broke out onto the streets across Spain in 2011, it didn’t coalesce into a series of political parties on either end of the political spectrum. In fact, there was a common declaration that stood out among all of the indignados: “They don’t represent us”.
Obama’s Africa policy – an expanding military footprint to grab resources
By Rupen Savoulian
August 10, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from Antipodean Atheist with permission — US President Barack Obama, the first African American to occupy the White House, has used his part-African background to leverage influence in the continent of his ancestors.
Green Party of Canada takes historic step of supporting BDS campaign against Israel
The Green Party of Canada have become the country’s first political party with parliamentary representation to support the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. They also passed a resolution at the recent convention calling for the removal of the charitable status of the Jewish National Fund. Below, Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal is republishing two articles on the topic from ricochet by Canadian activists Derrick O’Keefe and Yves Engler that provide some context to this historic decision.
VIII Continental Gathering in Solidarity with Cuba: Final Declaration and Action Plan
Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from Tortilla Con Sal -- With the participation of 370 delegates from 25 countries, including the United States, Canada and Quebec, the VIII Continental Conference in Solidarity with Cuba took place in the Dominican Republic from July 28-30, 2016.
‘The hammer blow of the revolution’: Rosa Luxemburg’s critique of bourgeois democracy
By Michael Löwy, translated by Dan La Botz
August 8, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from New Politics — Rosa Luxemburg’s defense of socialist democracy and her critique of the Bolsheviks in her pamphlet The Russian Revolution (1918) are well known. Less well known and often forgotten is her critique of bourgeois democracy, its limits, its contradictions, and its narrow and partial character.
Canada: History and strategies in the fight for reproductive justice
By Jocelyn Piercy
August 7, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- When I think of the struggles in Toronto in the 1980s and ’90s for sexual and reproductive justice or liberation (that is, for more than just legal or formal rights), I think of the importance of having AIDS Action Now and the Ontario Coalition for Abortion Clinics (OCAC) as socialist feminist leaders in these respective struggles.
Chile's Revolutionary Left Movement under Allende and Pinochet
By Doug Enaa Greene
August 6, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — In late 1973, following the military coup led by Augusto Pinochet, political activist Bautista Van Schowen was captured by the government. Reportedly, Van Schowen was tortured mercilessly by his captors. In response to his torturers, Van Schowen declared “you don’t know what you’re torturing me for, but I know what I’m dying for.” Van Schowen’s attitude was emblematic of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (Movement of the Revolutionary Left, MIR), Chile’s small Guevarist organization.
Cuba: Moves to censor journalists sparks controversy
August 5, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — In recent months an important debate has opened up over the role and character of the press in socialist Cuba. As part of making this debate available to an English speaking audience, Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal is publishing two translated pieces by Fernando Ravsberg and Esteban Morales. We hope to continue to run more articles covering different aspects of what is a critical discussion for the future of Cuba’s socialist revolution.
Erdogan, the coup in Turkey and the global counter-revolution
By Santiago Alba Rico, translated from Cuarto Poder by Sean Seymour-Jones
August 4, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — What many of us feared on the night of July 15 has occurred in the most sombre way possible. If a victorious coup in Turkey would have been terrible, its failure looks set to be no less so. In barely a week, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has detained or purged more than 40,000 public officials: army officers, police, judges, teachers, and journalists. He has declared a state of emergency for three months - which can be extended indefinitely - and has suspended the European Convention of Human Rights, which could open the way – as the government has already insinuated - to the reestablishment of the death penalty and, in any case, normalise repression against all forms of opposition, particularly against the Gulenist forces and the Kurds, who have once again, following the reinitiating of the military conflict a year ago, been converted into the “internal enemy”. In short, to stop or avenge a coup - real and manipulated - Erdogan and his party have at the same time carried out a coup.
Class "justice": Baba Jan and his comrades sentenced to 40 years in prison
By Jan Malewski
August 3, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from International Viewpoint -- Accused without evidence of acts that he could not have committed, since he was at the time about sixty kilometres away, Baba Jan was tortured, convicted and then acquitted on appeal. He came second in the elections in 2015 while imprisoned and was tipped to win a by-election. Now our comrade, who is vice-president of the Awami Workers Party (AWP) of Pakistan and leader of the party in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, was sentenced by the Supreme Court of Appeal in this region occupied and administered by Pakistan, on June 8, 2016, to 40 years in prison and a fine of 500,000 rupees, under a special law, called "anti-terrorist." Eight other activists - Iftikhar Hussain, Aleem, Irfan Ali, Shukurullah Baig, Sarfraz, Rasheed, Musa and Sher Khan – received the same sentence. [1]
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