Steve Freeman (Left Unity and RISE) sees the forthcoming EU referendum as undermining the potential for a European democratic revolution. The UK’s European referendum is no more than an opportunity for the Crown to extract more concessions for the City, whilst promoting its anti-working class racist neo-liberal agenda. It is not enough, however, to say…
THE UK STATE AND BRITISHNESS
This article, written by Allan Armstrong (RCN) in 2015, has now been updated to include a new section 3 on Scotland. It has been moved from its earlier site. Section A – The UK State and Britishness Section B – From the Irish-British and ‘Ulster’-British ‘Insider’ to the Irish ‘Racialised’ and ‘Ethno-Religious Outsider’ to the new ‘National…
SCOTLAND AND THE EASTER RISING
Celtic Connections Event Friday, January 15th, 17.00 City of Music Studio, Royal Concert Hall for tickets go to:- http://www.celticconnections.com/events/Pages/event.aspx?ev=debf3997-126f-4987-8d5c-a5460122d826 Scotland and the Easter Rising, edited by Kirsty Lusk and Willy Maley brings together writers, journalists and academics to reflect on the part played by Scotland in 1916 and its legacies. The Easter…
THE WAR IN SYRIA
We are posting three pieces dealing with the situation in Syria. The first is the emergency motion passed overwhelmingly at the RISE National Conference in Glasgow on December 5th. The second was written by the World to Win Editorial Board just after the vote at Westminster to openly extend UK state involvement in the war…
JOHN MACLEAN COMMEMORATION DAY
On November 30th, 1923, John Maclean, the great Scottish socialist, died, after two decades of committed struggle. Eric Chester (RCN) has written the following piece, which is a contribution to today’s celebration of John Maclean’s life. JOHN MACLEAN – 1879 – 1923 Glasgow has a proud tradition of radical politics, one that is particularly…
SOCIAL JUSTICE – RADICAL HISTORY, CENSORSHIP AND HOW THE TORIES STOLE OUR LANGUAGE
Pauline Bradley (RCN and RISE) outlines the emergence of the notion of Social Justice during the Liverpool Dockers campaign and how the Tories have attempted to hijack the term. SOCIAL JUSTICE – OUR RADICAL HISTORY, CENSORSHIP AND HOW THE TORIES STOLE OUR TERM Social Justice is a concept which has been stolen from the left…
SAVING STORMONT: THE LAST HURRAH?
The RCN has continually emphasised the significance of political developments in Northern Ireland. In contrast to England and Wales, where conservative unionism remains dominant, and Scotland where a hybrid constitutional nationalism/liberal unionism is dominant, in Northern Ireland reactionary unionism has become the predominant political force. Together the Ulster unionist parties and the loyalists have been able to push…
The Making And The Breaking Of The UK State
This article by Allan Armstrong (RCN) was posted on this blog on 9.6.12, after being updated from an earlier version originally posted on 30.9.11. That article has become contaminated and so is being reposted. Although the most recent section has been superseded by the Scottish Independence Referendum, it still includes a lot of relevant historical material.…
CLASS AND NATION IN CONTEMPORARY SCOTLAND
CLASS AND NATION IN CONTEMPORARY SCOTLAND CONFERENCE September 17th-18th The Renfield Centre, 260, Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4HZ Last September the Sociology Department at Glasgow University held a successful conference on ‘Racism: from the Labour Movement to the Far Right’. We are pleased to announce that we are holding a second conference next month, with…
EMANCIPATION & LIBERATION no. 24
The RCN produces a special issue of Emancipation & Liberation (no. 24) for the launch of RISE – Scotland’s Left alliance on Saturday, August 29th in Glasgow. Below are the first three articles which were specially written for this issue. 1. THE SCOTTISH LEFT PROJECT – COMPLETING SCOTLAND’S DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION Starting a new political organisation,…