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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.
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Ideas for the struggle #9 - Respect differences and be flexible in regards to activism
By Marta Harnecker, Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal
1. There continues to be a difficulty within the left to deal with differences. In the past, the tendency of political organizations, especially parties that declared they were parties of the working class, was always towards homogenizing the social base within which they carried out political work. If this attitude was once understandable due to the past identity and homogeneity of the working class, today it is anachronistic when confronted with a working class that is quite differentiated, and with the emergence of a diversity of new social forces. Today, we increasingly have to deal with a unity based on diversity, on respect for ethnic and cultural differences, for gender and for the sense of belonging of specific collectives.
Filipino socialists on Duterte's separation from the US: 'Yes to ‘separation’, but an economic anti-imperialism is also needed'
By Rei Melencio, International Department, Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM)
October 23, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from Partido Lakas ng Masawebsite — President Rodrigo Duterte’s statement declaring his intentions to “separate” from the United States in both military and economic relations should be welcomed, but it’s easier said than done. Hence the President’s constant ‘backtracking’ on his statements. Given the President’s inconsistency, the question is posed: What does it mean to be an anti-imperialist government today? And is lining up with China (and to a lesser-extent Russia) an anti-imperialist positioning?
Steve Ellner: 'There is much to learn from the positives and difficulties of the Venezuelan experience'
By Lucas Koerner
October 21, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from Venezuela Analysis — Distinguished Venezuelan history and politics professor Steve Ellner visited Caracas from September 26 to October 7 to teach an intensive seminar at the Venezuelan Planning School, titled “The Role of the Venezuelan State in the Transition to Socialism”. VA sat down with the long time Universidad de Oriente professor to discuss a range of pressing issues facing Venezuela, including the country’s current economic crisis, the recall referendum, the future of the Bolivarian process, the efficacy of state social programs such as the CLAPs, rentierism and the Maduro government’s controversial Mining Arc, as well as the role of international solidarity.
Jeremy Corbyn, British Labour and the radical left
October 20, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — Below, Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal republishes two articles presenting differing views on the position that the radical left should take towards the British Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn.
Rojava Coordination: Our fight will go on until all Syria is cleared off ISIS
October 19, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from ANF News — Rojava Cantons General Coordination issued a statement on the outcome of the coordination meeting where they assessed the recent political developments in Syria and the region.
The Coordination statement reads: “The Rojava Cantons General Coordination convened on October 10, 2016 to assess the political developments in Syria and the region. We would like to share our views and the political situation in the region in the face of the historic weight placed on our shoulders by the developments.
Pakistan: Awami Workers Party (AWP) reiterates its resolve for peace, social justice
By Awami Workers Party
October 18, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from Awami Workers Party website — The second federal congress of the Awami Workers Party concluded with a call for peace in the region and social change. The party described the current tension between Pakistan and India as a conspiracy of the ruling class of the two countries and demanded an immediate end to warmongering. The party also supported the Kashmiri struggle for the right to self-determination and condemned violence against the people of the disputed Himalayan territory. These and other demands were made through a set of resolutions passed by the delegates of the congress.
Filipinas: Los 100 días de la presidencia Duterte y las tareas de la izquierda
[Original in English here.]
Por Sonny Melencio, traducido por Enrique García para Sin Permiso
Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century: Globalization, Super-Exploitation, and Capitalism’s Final Crisis
Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century:
Globalization, Super-Exploitation, and Capitalism’s Final Crisis
By John Smith
Monthly Review Press, 2016, 382 pp.
Review by Barry Healy
October 18, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — On April 24, 2013 a clothing factory in Rana Plaza, Dhaka, Bangladesh collapsed, killing 1133 workers and injuring 2500 others.
This image of super-exploited, fatally-trapped workers, hemmed in by national borders and racist migration policies preventing them from moving to safer, better-paid work opens John Smith’s book — and illustrates his outrage.
Ideas for the struggle #8 - The left should avoid allowing the right to set its agenda for struggle
By Marta Harnecker, Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal
Turkey’s attack on Rojava – A threat to radical democracy in Mesopotamia
By Rojava Solidarity NYC
Latin Amerika’da Sol Bir Geri Çekilme Sürecinde Olsa Da Henüz Tükenmiş Değildir
[Original in English here .]
Federico Fuentes, Etiketler: Halk Direnişi, İşçi Hareketi
BRICS fantasies and unintended revelations: the wages of sub-imperial assimilation
By Patrick Bond
October 14, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — A Brazilian leader’s faux pas spoke volumes about the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) heads of state summit underway in Goa this weekend. The country’s foreign minister (and occasional presidential candidate) José Serra told an interviewer last month that the BRICS included Argentina. And as he stumbled while spelling out the acronym, Serra also had to be prompted to recall that South Africa is a member (because in English it is the “S” in BRICS, but in Portuguese the country is “Africa do Sul”).
The roots of 1917: Kautsky, the state and revolution in Imperial Russia
By Eric Blanc
October 14, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from John Riddell’s blog with permission — This article reexamines the perspectives on the state and revolution advocated by the early Karl Kautsky and revolutionary social democrats across the Tsarist Empire. Contrary to a common misconception, these “orthodox” Marxists rejected the possibility of a peaceful and gradualist utilization of the capitalist state for socialist transformation. I show that Second International “orthodoxy” proved to be a sufficiently radical political foundation for the Bolsheviks and Finnish socialists to lead the Twentieth century’s first anti-capitalist seizures of power.
Why the White House compares ISDS to gunboat diplomacy
By Felix Holtwell
October 14, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — Official lack of foresight knows few bounds, and trade appears to be no exception. In the above quote the US government, the White House site to boot, compares ISDS to a new, better form of gunboat diplomacy. They expect this to be an argument in favour of the arbitration system. Besides the communication blunder this entails, it does show an underlying structure to our global economic system. It shows the force necessary to maintain economic hegemony and how economic policy is still made irrespective of those concerned by it.
Spain: Socialist Party bosses behead leader to allow conservatives to rule
By Dick Nichols
October 13, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — In late September and early October two heavy political bomb blasts shook the already unstable foundations of the Spanish state.
Exposing the devil: US foreign policy towards Latin America
By Dae-Han Song
October 12, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from International Strategy Center — Though this famous line emerged from one of the most iconic crime-heist movies of all time, it is just as fitting to the United States’ machinations in Latin America. Of course, few today see the US as benign, or are ignorant of the US’ role in the region. However, even those on the left sometimes forget just how omnipresent and involved the US is in Latin America’s domestic problems and contradictions. As the left forgets this truth, it grows confused and disillusioned with the experiments occurring in Latin America. To properly understand the crises facing progressive parties in Latin America, we must distinguish between its own internal contradictions and those created and instigated by the United States. Only then can we understand the experiments undertaken in Latin America, correctly apply their lessons to our own situation, and find our role in ensuring their success.
Un golpe desde arriba tras un colapso desde abajo
[Original in English here.]
Por Federico Fuentes
12 de octubre, 2016 — Traducido del inglés para Rebelión por Beatriz Morales Bastos — Menos de dos años después de que la candidata del Partido de los Trabajadores (PT) Dilma Rousseff fuera reelegida presidenta de Brasil, el senado brasileño la destituyó.
What is socialism for the twenty-first century?
By Michael A. Lebowitz
October 11, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from Monthly Review — Often the best way to begin to understand something is to consider what it is not. Socialism for the twenty-first century is not a society in which people sell their ability to work and are directed from above by others whose goal is profits rather than the satisfaction of human needs. It is not a society where the owners of the means of production benefit by dividing workers and communities in order to drive down wages and intensify work—i.e., gain by increasing exploitation. Socialism for the twenty-first century, in short, is not capitalism.
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