More than 130 of the leaders of the world’s nations signed the Paris agreement on climate change towards the end of April. New Politics had the opportunity to interview Daniel Tanuro, the founder of Climate and Social Justice, a Belgian based environmental organization and author of Green Capitalism: Why it Can’t Work. Tanuro’s writings on ecosocialism are well known to those in the European ecosocialist movements. New Politics co-editor Dan La Botz had an opportunity to interview Tanuro about the Paris agreement at the Swiss Solidarity Spring University.
Challenging a new government in Argentina
7 May 2016, bySince conservative Mauricio Macri became Argentina’s president following elections last November, he has spearheaded an offensive against the country’s working class and social movements. Claudio Katz, a longtime Argentine political activist, member of Economistas de Izquierda and author of numerous books and articles, talked to Todd Chretien of socialistworker.org on May 2, 2016 about the current state of politics and the prospects for a working-class response to Macri’s attacks.
Unfriendly Terrain
6 May 2016, byIn the Netherlands, the Right is dominating debates on European integration and refugees.
Brief Description of the Current Philippine Situation Before the Elections - Part 1
5 May 2016, byOn 9 May, the Philippines will have its local and national elections. It will be the fifth presidential elections since the Marcos dictatorial regime was ousted from power.
Break free from fossil fuels
4 May 2016, byDuring the first two weeks of May a global wave of action is taking place around the world around the demand: Break free from fossil fuels – keep the coal, oil, and gas in the ground.
April 28, another step towards confrontation with the government
4 May 2016, byThe day of strikes and demonstrations on April 28 produced mixed results: - half as many demonstrators as on March 31 (500,000 demonstrators according to the CGT, compared to more than a million on March 31). - many combative responses and promising link-ups; - an increase in police violence and the development of an aggressive campaign from the right and the government.
Trouble Down in Texas (and elsewhere)
3 May 2016, byThe US Supreme Court, on March 2nd, heard arguments in the case of Whole Women’s Health vs. Hellerstedt. The judges will be deciding the constitutionality of a 2013 Texas bill (HB2) that places restrictions on clinics where abortions are performed — most within the first eight weeks of pregnancy.
Easter Rising against colonial rule
2 May 2016, byIreland and the world is commemorating the 100th anniversary of the great 1916 Rising. On the morning of Easter Monday 1916, April 24, some 1,300 members of the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army seized the center of Dublin.
Disasters in Syria and Yemen
1 May 2016, by ,Gilbert Achcar is the author of the forthcoming book Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising. A longtime Marxist analyst of Middle Eastern social movements and politics, he currently teaches at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London. A recent interview on the status of the “Arab Spring” is online here. Against the Current editor David Finkel interviewed him by phone on March 3, 2016 to discuss the current crises in the region as well as the impact of the horrific refugee crisis.
Politics of the New Abnormal
1 May 2016, byIn the strangest of U.S. election seasons, the capitalist class appears to have partially lost control — temporarily at least — of its trusted political parties. The Bernie Sanders insurgency, which was expected to fizzle out by now, has instead gained strength as the Democratic primaries proceed. The outpouring of support for Sanders’ message reveals the chasm separating that party’s institutional elites from its voting base that’s been brutally affected by the capitalist crisis and neoliberal politics.