“Let’s consolidate the victory of socialism.” Artwork by Konstantin Vyalov, 1932. Image courtesy Ogiz-IzoGiz. At the invitation of the Socialist Project, I recently wrote a review of the 59th annual volume of the Socialist Register, which is devoted to assessing capital and politics in this extraordinary period. It aims to
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Canadian Dimension: The terminal politics of ‘more of the same’
Mural depicting Bernie Sanders in Philadelphia. Photo by Tyger Williams/Philadelphia Inquirer. With the American election looming, it appeared that a resounding defeat might be in the works for Trump and his Republican enablers. Nevertheless, it was clear that Democratic contender Joe Biden was not exactly setting the country alight with
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Red Flags: Reflections on racism and radicalism
Strikers face down the North West Mounted Police. Illustration by David Lester, from the Graphic History Collective’s 1919: A Graphic History of the Winnipeg General Strike, published by Between the Lines, 2019. In light of contemporary commemoration debates, we seem to be scrutinizing and selecting and reselecting our ancestors very
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Popular participation, not populism
Photo by Emilio Pedros The struggle for the vote for workers and for women was resisted at every stage, and when universal suffrage was finally won, every effort was made to blunt and control its impact through institutional devices. These included second chambers, disproportional electoral systems, executive powers and, most
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Twilight of the Idols: Rise and Fall of the Personalist Left
Photo by Joka Madruga
Introduction
Over the past three years Latin American leftist leaders, who presided over heterodox ‘free trade’ and commodity based welfare economies, lost presidential, legislative an…
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Syriza: For Better or For Worse
Photo posted on nycsocialist.org. The victory of Syriza in Greece is a historic turning point for Europe and the world, for better or for worse. I fear it’s going to be the latter. Syriza claims to be something more radical than a social-democratic party. In a pre-election interview in Jacobin,
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