“If anyone doubts that the mainstream media fails to tell the truth about our political system (and its true winners and losers), the spectacle of large majorities of black folks supporting Hillary Clinton in the primary races ought to be proof enough. I can’t believe Hillary would be coasting into the primaries with her current margin of black support if most people knew how much damage the Clintons have done — the millions of families that were destroyed the last time they were in the White House thanks to their boastful embrace of the mass incarceration machine and their total capitulation to the right-wing narrative on race, crime, welfare and taxes. There’s so much more to say on this topic and it’s a shame that more people aren’t saying it. I think it’s time we have that conversation.” — Michelle Alexander, Facebook comment, January 28, 2016. Alexander is the author of The New Jim Crow, in the Age of Colorblindness.
“Muncipalism of change” and metro workers
21 March 2016, byBarcelona en Comú has faced probably its most difficult week in its nine months at the helm of government. Although there have been other moments of tension between the Municipality and sectors of social activism (such as the operations of Guardia Urbana against hawkers), the Metro strike of February 22-24, 2016 was surely the most open and crude confrontation between the town hall and a mobilization from below. It is necessary to reflect on the experiences of “municipalism of change” in a manner which allows us to better understand what has happened and what the implications for the movement are. It is not a question of handing out lessons from positions of comfort to the people who are in the first line institutionally, but providing ideas to derive collective lessons.
Anticapitalistas on the current political scenario
16 March 2016, byThis statement by Anticapitalistas on the failure of PSOE to form a government argues for Podemos to turn to re-energizing social movements in preparation for a new round of elections — in which it should stand as a radical alternative to the mainstream parties, neoliberalism and capitalism.
Bargaining, but for what?
16 March 2016, byAfter intense and prolonged negotiations and bargaining, the European Union and Turkey reached an agreement on 7th March in Brussels on a solution to cope with the refugee “crisis” and massive influx of Syrians into European countries. As far as we know, Turkey asked for another 3 billion euros in return for controlling the Aegean Sea traffic and the flow of the refugees into Europe and to accept all refugees back from Europe. According to the negotiations, Europe will be having one Syrian refugee for every refugee it sends back to Turkey.
In support of the Kurdish people’s struggle to live free and in dignity
14 March 2016, byThe Bureau of the Fourth International, following the mandate of the International Committee meeting on 2nd March, issued the following statement.
Portugal’s political impasse
14 March 2016, byThe election of conservative candidate Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa as Portugal’s new president on January 24 (with 51.99 percent of the vote and a 48.84 percent voter turnout) adds a new element to the existing "tripolar" situation.
Internationalism from below against Fortress Europe
9 March 2016, byThis statement was adopted unanimously at the meeting of the International Committee of the Fourth International in Amsterdam on 1st March 2016.
Rosa Luxemburg for Our Time
8 March 2016, byDoes Rosa Luxemburg leave feminists a theoretical and political legacy? That is, does she give us any theoretical guidance as to how to understand women’s oppression? If so, what is it?
From September 20 to February 4
3 March 2016, byDuring the September 20, 2015 elections, Tsipras’ general staff—with the generous support of the creditors and national ruling classes, who were in dire need of a "leader"—saw their dreams come true: the exclusion of the PU from parliament; the electoral survival of ANEL (the Independent Greeks, a party that acts as SYRIZA’s junior partner in government); the entry into parliament of various "useful idiots" such as TV personality Vassilis Leventis and his Union of Centrists; the fragmentation of social anger against the third Memorandum; and the near-extinction of the socio-political dynamic created by the 62 percent "no" vote in the July 5, 2015 referendum, which translated into a high level of abstention on September 2. [1]
Fukushima After Five Years
3 March 2016, byTime will heal, some people say. The prospect of that looks bleak, however, for the people affected by the world’s worst nuclear disaster.
Footnotes
[1] First published in French at A l’encontre and in Spanish at Viento Sur.