International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine

Free Alexei Gaskarov and the Prisoners of May 6!

Ilya Boudraïtskis — 2013-05-22T13:32:03Z

Alexei Gaskarov, a Russian social activist and economist, was arrested in Moscow on April 27, 2013. Gaskarov first became known to the broader public both in Russia and abroad in 2010, as one of the “Khimki hostages,” when he was arrested the day after a grassroots protest action in the Moscow suburb of Khimki, apparently because of his role as a spokesman for the anti-fascist and environmental movements. After three months in a pretrial detention facility and a triumphant acquittal on all charges, Gaskarov did not give up his activism. On the contrary, he became even more involved in numerous campaigns and causes. Having gained fame as an anti-fascist, Gaskarov has over the past two years become a visible young public politician thanks to his energy, intelligence, passion, and commitment.

- IV460 - May 2013 / Russia

UKIP results shame the left

Phil Hearse — 2013-05-21T06:10:26Z

The worst possible response to the local council elections at the beginning of May in which UKIP won 25% of the vote would be complacency. For this result is shameful for both Labour and for the left-of-Labour left. While it's true that the mainly rural areas and small town being polled are the heartland of sections of the petty bourgeoisie and not at all representative of the electorate in general, for all that the result is dispiriting and frustrating.

- IV460 - May 2013 / Britain, Far Right

The lefts in the crisis

François Sabado — 2013-05-20T06:52:46Z

The situation of the "lefts" cannot be understood without starting from the crisis, its multiple dimensions and its effects on the social and political field. Hitting head-on all the organizations and parties linked to the history of the workers' movement, precipitating ruptures, it obliges political forces to recompose around new axes. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet bloc announced a new era: the current upheavals give this era its content. The present crisis is global: in economic terms, it is the consequence of an over-accumulation of capital, an overproduction of goods and commodities and an under-consumption of the masses. The “real economy” of the imperialist centres is settling into a long-term recessive logic, and none of the "orthodox" economic experts ventures onto the theme of a "way out of the crisis”.

- IV460 - May 2013 / Anti-capitalist left, European Union

Election 2013: A right wing victory

Farooq Tariq — 2013-05-20T06:49:22Z

A right wing wave swept Pakistan general elections on 11th May 2013. At Federal level, conservative A right wing wave swept Pakistan general elections on 11th May 2013. At Federal level, conservative Muslim League Nawaz will form the government with 35 percent of votes at federal level. Pakistan former cricket captain Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek Insaaf came second with 19 percent of vote and surprised many. Pakistan People's Party, the Bhuttos' ruling party for the last five years came third with only 15 percent of votes, thanks to Sindh where it was able to fetch most of the votes. Muslim League Nawaz will form the government with 35 percent of votes at federal level. Pakistan former cricket captain Imran Khan Pakistan Tehreek Insaaf came second with 19 percent of vote and surprised many. Pakistan People's Party, the Bhutto's ruling party for the last five year came third with only 15 percent of votes, thanks to Sindh where it was able to fetch most of the votes.

- IV460 - May 2013

A left government to conquer the debt

Francisco Louçã — 2013-05-16T16:59:45Z

1. The Portuguese problem is democratic. This problem is the democratic answer to the blackmail of debt and the austerity that results from it, with social effects that destroy Portugal. This is the problem of problems.

- IV460 - May 2013 / Portugal, Anti-capitalist left, Debt

“It is necessary to propose a radical, anti-systemic, anti-capitalist alternative: ecosocialism”

Bernard Rioux , Michael Löwy — 2013-05-12T12:35:57Z

Greetings from Michaël Lowy to the Founding Assembly of the Ecosocialist Network in Quebec, followed by an interview datelined 12 March 2013.

- IV460 - May 2013 / Québec, Ecosocialism

A Marxist Critique of Post-Marxism

James Petras — 2013-05-09T11:25:03Z

“Post-Marxism” has become a fashionable intellectual posture, with the triumph of neo-liberalism and the retreat of the working class. The space vacated by the reformist left [in Latin America] has in part been occupied by capitalist politicians and ideologues, technocrats and the traditional and fundamentalist churches (Pentecostals and the Vatican). In the past, this space was occupied by socialist, nationalist and populist politicians and church activists associated with the “theology of liberation”. The centre-left was very influential within the political regimes (at the top) or the less politicised popular classes (at the bottom). The vacant space of the radical left refers to the political intellectuals and politicised sectors of the trade unions and urban and rural social movements. It is among these groups that the conflict between Marxism and “post-Marxism” is most intense today.

- 4. Features / Marxism, Features

Barbacha boils over

Alain Krivine — 2013-05-09T10:45:15Z

The commune of Barbacha (with around 30,000 inhabitants) near Béjaïa was the only one in Algeria led by a mayor from the Parti socialiste des travailleurs (PST – Socialist Workers' Party), our comrade Sadeq Akrour. During the municipal elections of November 2012, the Wali (prefect) of Béjaïa tried to prevent the presentation of a PST list but finally had to give way. This list came first with more than 30% of the votes but control of the town hall was lost to an unprincipled alliance of municipal councillors from three other lists.

- IV460 - May 2013 / Algeria

China's Rise: Strength and Fragility by Au Loong Yu (with contributions from Bai Ruixue, Bruno Jetin & Pierre Russet)

Garth Frankland — 2013-05-06T13:28:53Z

No one who reflects seriously on the changing economic and political world developments can over-estimate the importance of China. It seems to have suddenly emerged as the second biggest economy in the world. Many project it to overtake the US economy by 2020 or 2030 depending on how one values the Chinese GDP. China has become one of the most important factors in geopolitics. It affects everyone on the globe.

- 7. Books section / Economy, China, Book reviews

New opportunities for left realignment

Alan Thornett — 2013-05-04T15:35:47Z

The impact of austerity has thrown politics in Britain into turmoil. Both parties of the ruling coalition government (the Tories and the Liberal Democrats) lost heavily in local elections in England last week to UKIP (the United Kingdom Independence Party) – a right wing, populist, anti-immigration party which is pulling all the main parties to the right. Labour's performance was better but poor; since its answer to austerity is its own brand of austerity and it has pandered to anti-immigrant sentiment.

- IV460 - May 2013 / Britain, New parties of the left