Solidarity 223, 2 November 2011

G is for General Strike

The recent fights sparked by the economic crisis have inspired some sections of the left to make calls for a general strike. It is a slogan the left has used before. But not everyone uses the call in the same way. For some, a general strike (mass industrial action for a limited or an indefinite period) is the immediate cure-all for a particular problem or for the problems of society in general. For others, the slogan is used to help build some elan around their own organisation and to differentiate themselves from other revolutionaries and in the labour movement. Marxists should have a...

Black Blocs in France

By Yves Coleman In France, the Black Blocs [see Theodora Polenta’s article on Greece, Solidarity 222] are a very broad current. This current groups together, or in it can be grouped, people who participated in the squatting movement in the 80s and 90s, Italian refugees in France who have contact with Italian insurrectionists, radical youth who want immediate action and are impatient to fight the police, and some supporters of late-period Toni Negri (called “garantistes” because they are for a guaranteed basic income for all). In short, these are people who in general do not vote, and who are...

Stalinism follows?

By Mark Osborn I find Martyn Hudson (October and its discontents, Solidarity 222) unconvincing. His main argument is that the rise of the Stalinists in the Soviet Union was “a summation and extension of all that went before … not a decisive break with Bolshevism.” And: “Stalinism was an extension of October not a counter-revolution.” And: “Our tradition should know better than simply defending the assaults on liberty that led to the final victory of the bureaucracy.” In passing Martyn accuses Trotsky (without explanation) of arrogant abstention from the struggle (presumably against Stalinism)...

Violence in Oakland

Violence has increasingly marred anti-capitalist protests around the world as police have attempted to clear occupations away. Last week Oakland in the US saw particularly coercive tactics deployed by the police, who used tear gas to break up hundreds of protesters marching on City Hall. The police justification for using force on unarmed protesters was to claim that the demonstrators were throwing rocks and bottles at them. It has since come to light, however, that the trouble may have been started by an undercover police officer who was embedded in Occupy Oakland’s camp from the start. Back...

Two views of the Occupy London camps

Luke Atterton has been taking part in the camp at Finsbury Square and has just joined the AWL. On Monday night there was a discussion at the St Paul’s assembly — around 200 people — about where the movement is going politically. We split into smaller groups to facilitate discussion, and most people in my group were sympathetic to socialism and class politics, not just general ideas but also demands like linking up with trade unions. Partly that was because there was an active socialist in my group, making the arguments. In general things are still quite unformed politically. A lot of people...

Cameron: “timezone saves us”

Desperate, or what? Trying to talk away the evidence that the UK economy faces depression along with the eurozone, David Cameron wrote in the Financial Times of 31 October. “Whatever the obstacles to growth today, we still boast some of the best universities in the world, the most favourable timezone in the world, and the world’s first language. I passionately believe that the global economy is presenting us with opportunities, not threats — and we must seize them”. And the British weather? Very boom-enhancing, too? The government is making cuts in the name of a plan reduced to clutching at...

Greece: from the No to the Yes

New Democracy (Greece’s equivalent to the Conservative Party) and Laos (an ultra-right populist party, similar to UKIP) were emphatic in their support for the official parades disrupted by anti-cuts protests on 28 October. The leader of Laos accused the government of “losing control of the state” and “being unable to enforce law and order” and attacked the government for not “ordering the police forces to be more heavy handed with the protesters”. New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras said: “Although we think Pasok is a disastrous government and we understand the people’s discontent, New...

Labour wins Irish presidency

The victory of the Labour Party’s Michael D Higgins in Ireland’s presidential election should be welcomed. The presidential office is largely symbolic, but Higgins, a poet and long-time anti-war activist, is preferable to both the Fianna Fail-backed businessman and the former sectarian paramilitary godfather who took second and third place. Let’s not rejoice in the personalised pageantry of bourgeois politics, rather assess what this development might mean. The election of Higgins and the pitiful 6.4% scored by Fine Gael’s Gay Mitchell may not be what it appears to be: a rejection of the...

Resisting “riot” evictions

On 12 August, three days after the England riots had come to an end, Eric Pickles, the Conservative Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, declared “looters should be evicted”. Later that day, David Cameron gave his “full backing” for councils to evict entire families. Wandsworth Council had already served an eviction notice on Maite de la Calva even though her 18-year-old son, Daniel Sartain-Clarke, is still yet to be convicted with riot related charges. The mother of two, who took no part in the London riots and has stated her fear for her eight-year-old daughter’s...

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