Lutte Ouvriere fete 2013
Submitted on
The fete organised by the French revolutionary socialist group Lutte Ouvriere every year at the Whit holiday weekend (18-20 May) in countryside in Presles, near Paris, was hard hit this year by rain.
France
French car strike continues
Submitted on
A strike at the Citroen car plant in Aulnay, to the north-east of Paris, started on 16 January and is now in its seventh week.
Aulnay car workers strike
Submitted on
A strike at the Citroen Aulnay car plant, in France, started on 16 January. Report updated to 30 January.
The Paris Commune: Revolution, Resistance, a Model for Revolutionaries
Submitted on
Date:
14 January, 2013 - 19:30 - 21:00
Location:
The Bath Hotel, 66-68 Victoria Street, Sheffield
Description:
The Paris Commune was a short window of time in 1871 when workers took control over Paris, and made radical demands for a programme of socialist government:
- the separation of church and state;
- the remission of rents owed for the entire period of the siege (during which, payment had been suspended);
- the abolition of night work in the hundreds of Paris bakeries;
- the granting of pensions to the unmarried companions and children of National Guards killed on active service;
- the free return, by the city pawnshops, of all workmen's tools and household items valued up to 20 francs, pledged during the siege; the Commune was concerned that skilled workers had been forced to pawn their tools during the war;
- the postponement of commercial debt obligations, and the abolition of interest on the debts; and
- the right of employees to take over and run an enterprise if it were deserted by its owner; the Commune, nonetheless, recognized the previous owner's right to compensation.
The Commune, though it lasted just a short while, formed a large part of the basis on which Marx wrote his later writings on revolution and socialist society. It has informed much of the theory and practice of both Socialist and other revolutionary schools of thought (such as Anarchism) until the present day.
Sheffield Workers Liberty will be leading a discussion about the nature and legacy of the Commune - what, who, where, how and why, and what we can learn from it today.
You don't have to know anything in advance, but if you want to read up first, here's some recommended online texts:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Commune
Karl Marx, The Civil War in France: http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1871/civil-war-france/ch05.htm
Frederick Engels, Introduction to The Civil War In France: http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1871/civil-war-france/intro.htm
Marxist Internet Archive: http://www.marxists.org/glossary/orgs/p/a.htm
Olivier Lissagaray, History of the Paris Commune 1871: http://www.marxists.org/history/france/archive/lissagaray/index.htm
Lenin: Lessons of the Commune: https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1908/mar/23.htm
Discussing with French revolutionaries
Submitted on
On 3-4 November I attended, on behalf of AWL, the annual conference of L’Etincelle, a French Trotskyist group with whom we have had contact and discussion since about 1997.
French car workers defy plant closure
Submitted on
The announcement by the PSA group (Peugeot Citroën) of their decision to close the Aulnay-Sous-Bois factory was officially made in July.
Migrants evicted in Calais
Submitted on
Wednesday 25 September began days of evictions and arrests of the 200 migrants who are still sleeping rough and in tents and other makeshift shelters in Calais.
Industrial news in brief
Submitted on
French ferry workers employed by Brittany Ferries, which serves several ports in the UK, launched a prolonged strike against pay cuts and increases in working hours.
"Charlie Hebdo", "Muslims", and how to defend freedom of expression
Submitted on
Yves Coleman is a French socialist activist, involved in publishing the journal Ni patrie, ni frontières.
Zola's vision of socialism
Submitted on
The BBC are now showing a major adaptation of one of Emile Zola’s more neglected novels 'Au Bonheur des Dames' (sometimes translated as 'The Ladies Paradise').