On October 1, the People’s Republic of China will mark the 60th anniversary of its foundation. This will be an occasion to celebrate one of the most influential victories of popular struggle in our era.This great uprising forged a united and independent Chinese state, freed the country from foreign domination and capitalist rule, ended landlordism, provided broad access to education and health care, and set in motion popular energies that modernized and industrialized its economy. Read more…
By Roger Annis and John Riddell. The capitalist world is being shaken by the most profound economic disruption since the Great Depression of the 1930s. At the same time, the imperialist powers, including Canada, are intensifying their wars in Afghanistan, Palestine, and elsewhere in the Middle East. This situation poses new challenges and responsibilities for socialists in Canada and around the world. Read more…
The Harper government’s economic proposals, announced November 27, aroused a cry of outrage from unions and social activists across the country: “Throw the bums out.” Read more…
Introduction. Anyone familiar with the socialist movement in the industrialized countries today must be struck by the huge gap between what’s needed — mass socialist parties with deep roots in the working class — and the reality — small groups of socialists with little influence. The following exchange contains a searching discussion of these issues between the noted Marxist scholar Paul Le Blanc, John Riddell, and a number of other socialist writers. Read more…
Including an exchange with Felipe Cournoyer. This article is based on a talk by John Riddell at the Historical Materialism conference at York University in Toronto on April 26, 2008.
Over the past decade, a new rise of mass struggles in Latin America has sparked an encounter between revolutionists of that region and many of those based in the imperialist countries. In many of these struggles, as in Bolivia under the presidency of Evo Morales, Indigenous peoples are in the lead. Read more…
One of the most important developments in Cuban Marxism in recent years has been increased attention to the writings of Ernesto Che Guevara on the economics and politics of the transition to socialism.
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Book Review: La Vía Campesina: Globalization and the Power of Peasants. by Annette Aurélie Desmarais. Fernwood Publishing, 2007.
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By Suzanne Weiss and John Riddell. Suzanne and John are members of the Venezuela We Are With You Coalition. The following are major portions of a presentation they made to members of the National Farmers Union in Grey County, Ontario, March 10, 2007.
The people of Venezuela are today campaigning to rebuild a devastated family farm economy. They have more problems than solutions, but still are making significant progress. Read more…
“If we want to talk of socialism,” says Argenis Loreto, “we must first resolve the people’s most urgent needs: water in their homes, accessible health care, easy access to housing.”
In the Venezuelan municipality of Libertador (state of Carabobo), of which Argenis is mayor, “we have 90% poverty. Ending that is our first task. I am convinced that the existing state cannot do this.” It’s essential that “the majority of the people become part of the decision-making process.” Read more…
Book Review. Roberto Regalado, Latin America at the Crossroads. Translation by Peter Gellert. Ocean Press (www.oceanbooks.com.au1), 2007, US$17.95; América latina entre siglos. Ocean Press, 2007, US$17.95.
This compact book by Roberto Regalado, a veteran member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, strongly reaffirms the need for revolution in Latin America and beyond. Read more…
For socialists, this month marks a significant anniversary. One hundred years ago, a congress of the Second — or Socialist — International took a bold stand in the struggle against capitalist war. The congress pointed the way toward the Russian revolution of 1917 and provided an enduring guide for socialists’ anti-war activity. Read more…
By Roger Annis and John Riddell. The dramatic advances of the Venezuelan revolution, and the alliances it has forged with other insurgent peoples and governments resisting imperialism, are creating an historic opportunity to strengthen international anti-imperialist collaboration and rebuild the revolutionary socialist movement worldwide.
Part One: A New Pole of Anti-Imperialist Leadership
CAIRO, EGYPT — More than 1,500 activists from the Mideast and around the world met in Cairo March 29-April 1 under the banner, “Towards an International Alliance against Imperialism and Zionism.” The conference — the fifth held in Cairo since 2002 by the International Campaign against U.S. and Zionist Occupation — brought together Islamic, nationalist, and socialist forces from the region, together with delegates from anti-war coalitions in Canada, Korea, Venezuela, and many countries of Europe. Read more…
There is much to admire about Venezuela today: impressive mass mobilizations, community and labour activism, significant social gains, an inspiring commitment to a socialist future.
But Venezuela’s importance today to the workers’ movement lies above all in the leading role it is playing in a new upsurge of anti-imperialist struggles internationally. Read more…
When supporters of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez rallied in the Teresa Carrena theatre in Caracas to celebrate their presidential election victory December 15, 2007, “there were cheers in the back half of the theatre,” writes Michael Lebowitz, “but few in the high-priced seats.” Read more…