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  @import url("http://web.archive.org./web/20190803160610cs_/http://www.leftcom.org/sites/all/themes/zen/zen-internals/css/print.css?pjdrz6");                        Jump to Navigation              The internationalists Internationalist Communist Tendency   About us Articles News Catalogue Forum           The Drums of War in the Gulf  Regions: Middle EastBasics: ImperialismFacts: ArmsConflictsEnergy, oil and fuelsPublications: Revolutionary PerspectivesThe article which follows is taken from the new edition of Revolutionary Perspectives (#14) which is just out. It was obviously written before the events which followed the British Navy’s seizure of the Iranian tanker, the Grace 1, off the coast of Gibraltar, but the substance of the analysis has not changed.

     Twenty Years of the National Minimum Wage  Regions: British IslesFacts: Unemployment and precarityWorkers' conditions and strugglesPublications: Aurora (en)2019 marks the 20th anniversary of the National Minimum Wage. The first minimum wage, brought in by the Liberal government as part of a programme of reforms between 1906-1914, only applied to certain groups of very low-paid workers. The idea was to both undermine the young parliamentary Labour Party and bind it to the Liberals (which it did) and ward off the mounting militancy of the working...

     Climate Change: Capitalism is the Problem  Politics: EnvironmentalismFacts: DisastersEnergy, oil and fuelsEnvironment and resourcesPublications: Aurora (en)The capitalist mode of production, characterised by exchange for profit, private property, wage labour and capital accumulation, has only existed for around 300 years. Since the late 19th century it has found its way to even the most remote corners of the Earth by the way of exploitation, dispossession and imperialist competition.

     Crisis, War and Environmental Catastrophe: There is No Alternative to the Social Revolution!  Basics: CrisisImperialismPublications: Aurora (en)2019 finds humanity in an increasingly dangerous place. The consequences of global economic stagnation, itself the product of a much deeper crisis of profitability, can be seen in the rise of nationalism, racism and xenophobia. These in turn threaten not only to add to the increasing proliferation of unending wars around the world but to the possibility of more general conflict further down the...

     A Class Perspective on the 'Women Question'  Politics: FeminismFacts: DiscriminationsPublications: Documents1. The general terms of the ‘women question’ · The issues facing women have made an urgent political reappearance in recent years, ranging from the horrific numbers of women killed by their partners to the scourge of wage differences and harassment at work. · Clear evidence has emerged that gender equality – so often trumpeted by various politicians as the objective of public political intervention...

               English · Italiano · Français · Deutsch · Español · Русский · Polski · Svénska  Ελληνικά · 한국어 · صفحه فارسی · Türkçe · Srpskohrvatski · Português · Dutch · Magyar               Reflections on the Student Movement in the UK  Politics: Student movementRegions: British IslesHistory: 2010: Student protests in UK and ItalyFacts: Education and youthPublications: DocumentsIn 2010 the announcement by the Coalition government that university tuition fees would be tripled sparked a wave of student protest. Remaining largely within the confines of the campus, the movement exhausted itself and failed to spread to other sectors. Nine years later, what’s left? · The Students · Between 1965 and 1975, under the recommendations of the Robbins Report, university provision in...

  Read more about Reflections on the Student Movement in the UK 1 comment Log in or register to post comments      OPEC, Iran, and the Libyan Civil War  Regions: Northern AfricaMiddle EastBasics: ImperialismFacts: Energy, oil and fuelsPublications: DocumentsThe rising tensions in the Persian Gulf in the past weeks can be easily attributed to a sharp crisis of overproduction in the international oil market, ongoing since 2014. One relevant theater for understanding recent developments therefore lies in the largely under-reported and often overlooked Libyan Civil War, and in particular in its wide-ranging implications for OPEC (Organization of the...

  Read more about OPEC, Iran, and the Libyan Civil War Log in or register to post comments      Capitalism's New Economy: The Booming Financial Sector  Basics: Exploitation and accumulationFinancializationGlobalizationPublications: DocumentsPart three of this series was published in 2005, two years or so before the great financial crash when the economic pundits were lauding the move away from manufacture to 'business and financial services'. In 2008 the banking and wider financial bodies were saved and the appearance of capitalist 'normality' maintained only by the concerted injection of gargantuan amounts of...

  Read more about Capitalism's New Economy: The Booming Financial Sector 1 comment Log in or register to post comments      The Drums of War in the Gulf  Regions: Middle EastBasics: ImperialismFacts: ArmsConflictsEnergy, oil and fuelsPublications: Revolutionary PerspectivesThe article which follows is taken from the new edition of Revolutionary Perspectives (#14) which is just out. It was obviously written before the events which followed the British Navy’s seizure of the Iranian tanker, the Grace 1, off the coast of Gibraltar, but the substance of the analysis has not changed.

  Read more about The Drums of War in the Gulf Log in or register to post comments      Thunberg's Call for General Strikes: The Confusions of a Liberal Protest  Politics: EnvironmentalismBasics: Proletarian revolutionFacts: Environment and resourcesPublications: DocumentsOn May 23rd Greta Thunberg and 46 other spokespeople for the Youth Climate Protest (YCP) issued a statement before their latest day of action. At the heart of the statement was an "invitation" which we quote in full to accurately reflect its content. · YCP's statement reads - "Starting on Friday 20 September we will kickstart a week of climate action with a worldwide strike for the climate.

  Read more about Thunberg's Call for General Strikes: The Confusions of a Liberal Protest Log in or register to post comments      Capitalism's New Economy: The Value of Capitalist Services  Basics: Exploitation and accumulationFinancializationGlobalizationSocial classesPublications: DocumentsThis second article in our series examines what is meant by ‘services’ and their apparently key role in the richest capitalist states where moving away from production of commodities is regarded as essential to economic advancement. Indeed, despite the setback of the 2007/8 financial crash, World Bank figures show that ‘services’ represent a higher proportion of GDP for the world economy as a...

  Read more about Capitalism's New Economy: The Value of Capitalist Services Log in or register to post comments      Capitalism's New Economy: The Case of the UK  Basics: Exploitation and accumulationFinancializationGlobalizationSocial classesPublications: DocumentsThe article here, the first in a series on what was then dubbed the "new economy", originally appeared in the CWO's political journal, Revolutionary Perspectives, in 2005. After thirty years or so of economic crisis, a crisis that still haunts capitalism today and which more than ever threatens the future of humanity, the US and its advanced capitalist allies had managed to offload much of...

  Read more about Capitalism's New Economy: The Case of the UK 1 comment Log in or register to post comments      Sudan: The Dictator Goes but the Regime Lives On  Regions: Northern AfricaFacts: Repression and controlSocial unrestPublications: DocumentsSince December last year Sudan has been seething but it now looks like the Army have reasserted control. What started as bread riots last December, in the historic working class city of Atbara, transformed itself into a campaign of mass civil disobedience. In a country where 60% of the population are under 25 and 27% of these are unemployed it is not surprising that they should be in the vanguard...

  Read more about Sudan: The Dictator Goes but the Regime Lives On Log in or register to post comments      The Attack on Two Oil Tankers in the Gulf of Oman  Regions: Middle EastBasics: ImperialismFacts: Energy, oil and fuelsPublications: DocumentsOn the morning of June 13, two oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf of Oman. One was the Front Altair, owned by the Norwegian company Frontline, but flying the flag of the Marshall Islands. It was carrying a cargo of ethanol from Qatar to Taiwan. The second was the Kokuka Courageous of the Japanese company, Kokuka Sangyo, flying the Panamanian flag which was carrying methanol from Saudi Arabia...

  Read more about The Attack on Two Oil Tankers in the Gulf of Oman 3 comments Log in or register to post comments      Italy: The Failure of the “Populist” Coalition  Politics: Parliamentary center-rightRegions: ItalyFacts: Economic policiesPublications: DocumentsFor those who think that the political and economic incompetence of our rulers is confined to the Anglo-Saxon states the following article from our Italian comrades, written just before the European elections, only underlines the same sorry story for Italian capitalism. The salient fact is that there is no viable capitalist solution to the global economic crisis which continues to bring only...

  Read more about Italy: The Failure of the “Populist” Coalition Log in or register to post comments      Teesside Construction Workers Challenge the State  Regions: British IslesFacts: Energy, oil and fuelsWorkers' conditions and strugglesPublications: DocumentsOn Thursday 30 May construction workers at the Tees Renewable Energy Plant, owned by MGT Power, walked out in a wildcat action over safety conditions at the site. When workers act on their own class terrain they begin to challenge the capitalist structure as a whole. · A safety incident seems to have initially sparked the protest.

  Read more about Teesside Construction Workers Challenge the State 1 comment Log in or register to post comments      Iran and the USA on the Warpath?  Regions: Middle EastBasics: ImperialismFacts: ConflictsWorkers' conditions and strugglesPublications: DocumentsWhen the leaders speak of peace · The common folk know · That war is coming · When the leaders curse war · The mobilisation order is already written out. · Bertolt Brecht in German War Primer (1937) · When does a war of words become the words of war? It’s always difficult to say, but if Brecht is right we should be very worried right now.

  Read more about Iran and the USA on the Warpath? Log in or register to post comments     Pages1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next › last »      Recent posts        Type   Title   User   Replies   Date       Advert   Jour fixe am 8.8.   ikt (editor)     Sat, 2019-08-03 16:57     Publication   Revolutionary Perspectives #14   webmaster     Fri, 2019-08-02 19:55     Article   Reflections on the Student Movement in the UK   stevein7   1   Fri, 2019-08-02 17:31     Forum topic   Filippo Turati, where is the critique?   Noa   3   Fri, 2019-08-02 17:22     Article   Capitalism's New Economy: The Booming Financial Sector   stevein7   1   Fri, 2019-08-02 10:52     Article   صدای طبل های جنگ در خلیج    damoon (editor)     Wed, 2019-07-31 15:32     Article   OPEC, Iran, and the Libyan Civil War   Dyjbas (editor)     Mon, 2019-07-29 12:41     Article   L'appello di Greta Thunberg per gli scioperi generali: le confusioni di una protesta riformista   andrea79   1   Sun, 2019-07-28 13:23     Forum topic   a quale frazione della borghesia fanno riferimento 5stelle e lega?   andrea79   2   Sat, 2019-07-27 08:03      Article   The Drums of War in the Gulf   Dyjbas (editor)     Tue, 2019-07-23 12:31        more       Contact us  info@leftcom.org

  Your name *    Your e-mail address *    Subject *    Message *     CAPTCHAThis question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.            In evidence  CWO Facebook Page CWO Twitter Page Discussions on Socialism Russian communist left The Communist Workers’ Organisation is (unsurprisingly!) a not-for-profit organisation. We have no so-called “professional revolutionaries”, nor paid officials. Our sole funding comes from the subscriptions and donations of members and supporters. Anyone wishing to donate (to “Prometheus Publications”) can now do so safely using the Paypal button below.

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 UK £15 (€18) Europe £20 (€24) World £25 (€30, $30) Take out a supporter’s sub by adding £10 (€12) to each sum. This will give you priority mailings of Aurora and other free pamphlets as they are produced.

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 By emailing us at uk@leftcom.org and asking for our banking details By writing a cheque to the “CWO” and sending it to BM CWO, London WC1N 3XX By donating the cost of the publications required via Paypal using the “Donate” button The book “Bordiga Beyond the Myth” by Onorato Damen can also be ordered via Amazon      Adverts      Sheffield Public Meeting   ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER - NO SOLUTION WITHIN CAPITALISM!

 Evidence of the crisis threatening the entire planet is increasingly stark. Desertification, flooding, hurricanes and cyclones, uncontrolled forest fires all destroy the very basis of life for the "women and men of no property" - the worldwide working class. This, of course, is massively increased by the spreading "wars without end". Whole communities are forced to migrate while the bosses' states raise barriers and walls.

 The ecological devastation has been highlighted by the mushrooming mass actions around the School Students' Strikes and the activities of groups such as Extinction Rebellion (XR). Their campaigning focuses on a wish for Governments to save the planet, for corporations to be more considerate and for those who neither own nor control to alter their consumption patterns.

 Such arguments put forward by those who seek a "kinder capitalism" are fatally flawed. The root causes of this ultimate ecological crisis are not about gaps in the democratic facade, neither can it be solved by tweaking our lifestyles while the bosses' system based on profit and ruination leads us to the brink of an abyss.

 In the latest edition of our broadsheet Aurora the main article is headed "Climate Change: Capitalism is the Problem". CWO has called this meeting to highlight the unbreakable link between the continuation of capitalism and the accelerating degradation of the planet.

 Many thousands of people have begun to realise that we cannot allow "business as usual" to continue. The meeting will explore the "hows and whys" of the vital need to move towards a truly sustainable future for humanity. At the core of the required change is the need for a revolutionary replacement of the capitalist system with a world-wide association of freely associated producers - a world without alienation or exploitation.

 We welcome anyone interested in joining the discussion.

 When: Saturday, 22 June 2019, at 3pm

 Where: Rutland Arms, 86 Brown St, Sheffield, S1 2BS

 Hosted by: Communist Workers' Organisation (CWO)

   Log in or register to post comments      London Public Meeting   TOWARDS THE FUTURE INTERNATIONAL!

 From Iran to Mexico, a rising tide of strike actions across the globe shows that class resistance to the horrors of capitalism is still the "spectre that haunts" the capitalist class.

 At the same time we are also encouraged by the appearance of new militants attracted to the ideas of Internationalist Communism — the only alternative to the abyss towards which capitalism is dragging the entire planet.

 This meeting aims to deepen and extend that communist understanding in the convinced belief that without a clear communist political organisation the international working class will be left without a compass in the tumult ahead.

 The CWO and our comrades in the ICT wrote some years ago: The revolutionary programme serves no purpose at all if it exists only in the minds of a limited number of “thinkers” who are deluded into assuming their ideas are being transmitted “to the class” when they appear in a journal of equally restricted readership, or on the html files of some site on the Internet.

 More recently we have written: Our earnest hope is to engage with those new forces which do come to a consciousness of the need to overthrow the system, to give them a political compass, something to rally around, whilst at the same time, we seek dialogue with those forces which already exist to actively cooperate where possible, agree to disagree where necessary, and ultimately to unite as history inexorably moves on and a real class movement develops.

 We welcome anyone interested in this vital task to come and discuss with us.

 When: Saturday, 11 May 2019, at 3pm

 Where: Calthorpe Arms, 252 Grays Inn Rd, London, WC1X 8JR

 Hosted by: Communist Workers' Organisation

   Log in or register to post comments      more      Recent publications         Revolutionary Perspectives #14    Summer 2019 - Now out!

     Journal of the Communist Workers’ Organisation -- Why not subscribe to get the articles whilst they are still current and help the struggle for a society free from exploitation, war and misery? Joint subscriptions to Revolutionary Perspectives (3 issues) and Aurora (our agitational bulletin - 4 issues) are £15 in the UK, €24 in Europe and $30 in the rest of the World.

         Aurora #2019-05-01    May 2019

    Aurora is the broadsheet of the ICT for the interventions amongst the working class. It is published and distributed in several countries and languages. So far it has been distributed in UK, France, Italy, Canada, USA, Colombia.

          Aurora #2019-03-01    Spring 2019

    Aurora is the broadsheet of the ICT for the interventions amongst the working class. It is published and distributed in several countries and languages. So far it has been distributed in UK, France, Italy, Canada, USA, Colombia.

         Bordiga Beyond the Myth    Written by Onorato Damen

            Class Consciousness and Revolutionary Organisation    Introduction Idealism and Bourgeois Materialism How Working Class Consciousness Develops Marx, Engels and Proletarian Organisation The Era of Social Democracy and the Fight Against Revisionism On the Eve of Revolution: the Debate Between Luxemburg and Lenin Class Consciousness and Working Class Political Organisations Party and Class in the Revolutionary Wave 1917-1921 The Decline of the Russian Revolution and the Cult of the Party The Idealism of Bordigism By Way of Conclusion: Towards Proletarian World Revolution           more       Links   Nuevo Curso - Intransigence Marxists archive - Paul Mattick - Left Wing Communism - Sinistra.net Libcom.org - Revleft.com - Collectif Smolny Art to the People - Gerd Arntz more    User login   Username *    Password *   Create new account Request new password                 var s_sid = 5234;var st_dominio = 4; var cimg = 0;var cwi =150;var che =30;          _uacct = "UA-664382-1"; urchinTracker();      This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

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