Emancipation & Liberation » Ideology and Religion: Science and Secularism

Sep 06 2020

CULTURAL APPROPRIATION – A REACTIONARY DEBATE

Category: Capitalism and Communism,Cultural Celebration,For Liberation: Struggles against Oppression,For Self-Determination: Struggles against Alienation,How they are organised,How we organise,Ideology and Religion: Science and Secularism — RCN @ 1:14 pm

E&L has appreciated the significance of cultural arena in the struggle for self-determination. We are posting this article by Gearoid O’Loingsidh which addresses the issue of cultural appropriation.

CULTURAL APPROPRIATION – A REACTIONARY DEBATE

In the world of identity politics and the myriad expressions of it, one topic pops its head up on a fairly regular basis, that of Cultural Appropriation. There is not one definition of it, but it basically goes that people from one particular culture use artefacts, expressions, musical forms, clothing and other things from a culture other than their own, generally to make money, but not always. Sometimes the mere use is enough to provoke the ire of identitarians and the liberal hangers on. Though it is an accusation generally levelled at white people, as Rihanna and Beyoncé found to their cost, anyone can be accused of it. The debate around Cultural Appropriation makes a number of assumptions and ignores the glaring elephant in the room. The first assumption is that culture is static and “belongs” to a particular group. It also makes assumptions about who that group is. Continue reading “CULTURAL APPROPRIATION – A REACTIONARY DEBATE”

Tags: Abel Meeropol, Adolophe Sax, Alan Lomax, Author: Gearoid O' Loingsigh, Beyonce, Big Mama Thornton, Bill Haley, Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan, Buddy Holly, cultural appropriation, Dana Schutz, Deborah Feldman, Elvis Presley, Emmett Till, Fleadh Cheoil, Ghost Dance, Iggy Azaela, J. Edgar Hoover, jazz, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jim Crow South, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, Kenan Malik, Leadbelly, Legrande, Lewis Allen, Mbube, Mendelssohn, Michael Flatley, Nazis, Pete Seeger, rap, reggae, Rhiannon Giddens, Rihanna, Solomon Linda, Strange Fruit, UB40, Wimoweh

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May 11 2020

IDEOLOGY AND SCIENCE

Category: Capitalism and Communism,Environmental Degradation/Sharing Our Planet,How they are organised,Ideology and Religion: Science and Secularism,UK state/British imperialism,US imperialism — RCN @ 3:07 pm

In the political climate since the 2008 Financial Crisis and now with the Coronavirus pandemic, there has been a marked increase on anti-science thinking. Whilst particularly prevalent on the Far Right, such thinking has spread far wider. Thus article, first posted by Socialist Democracy (Ireland), examines this phenomenon in relation to the coronavirus pandemic.

IDEOLOGY AND SCIENCE

Sir David King, former Chief Scientific Advisor

It has been reported by the Sunday Times newspaper that Sir David King a former Chief Scientific Advisor to the British Government is to set up an alternative scientific advisory group to the current one. The alternative advisory group are to go online with their recommendations and conduct open access conversations with the best scientists willing to participate in democratic debate, mainly on YouTube. The former scientific adviser says his patience has finally run out with how things are being handled by the existing Government SAGE committee. He points out that the current group is not acting as others did in the recent past, it is pledged to offer independent scientific advice but how can it do that when political watchdogs like Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister’s principal political advisor, are participating members of the SAGE panel:-

‘Dominic Cummings is a political advisor to the PM, and the chief scientific officer is an advisor to the PM, and I think this is very dangerous for only one of them really understands the science.’ Continue reading “IDEOLOGY AND SCIENCE”

Tags: 'The Telegraph', Andrew Gelman, Bill Gates, Centres for Disease Control, Columbia University, Coronavirus, Das Kapital, Dominic Cummings, Donald Trump, Eugen von Bohm-Bawerk, Guido Hulsmann, Imperial College London, Karl Marx, Ludwig Von Mises, Mises Institute, praxeology, Professor Neil Ferguson, Sir David King, Stanford University, State Socialism, Sunday Times, The Austrian School, The Spectator

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Nov 29 2018

FAKE NEWS AND CONSPIRACY MYTHS

Category: How they are organised,Ideology and Religion: Science and Secularism — RCN @ 6:49 pm

We are posting two related articles. The first is from Media Lens and is about their book, Propaganda Blitz, which addresses the issue of corporate control of the mainstream media. The second is written by Thomas Klikauer and looks at the connection between ‘fake news’ and the far right.

There is a connection between the two. The mainstream media’s promotion of the fake news story about Saddam Hussein’s “weapons of mass destruction” contributed to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in the Middle East and the ‘suicide’ of Dr. David Kelly. The AltRight has built on this fake news precedent to develop their own on-line communities, addicted to conspiracy myths, amongst isolated individuals. Their longer tem aim is to mobilise these communities for their own Far Right ends.

1. PROPAGANDA BLITZ

When we started Media Lens in 2001, our guiding aspiration was that independent, web-based activism would have a profoundly positive impact on public discourse. Continue reading “FAKE NEWS AND CONSPIRACY MYTHS”

Tags: "weapons of mass destruction", 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion', Alternative for Germany, AltRight, Author: Thomas Klikhauer, Donald Trump, Dr. David Kelly, Facebook, Guardian, Howard Zinn, Media Blitz, Noam Chomsky, Observer, Propaganda Blitz, Theories That Kill

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Dec 02 2016

ST. ANDREWS DAY OR JOHN MACLEAN DAY?

Category: Against Imperialism,Against Unionism,Combined struggles for Emancipation, Liberation and National Self-Determination,Commemorations,Cultural Celebration,For Self-Determination: Struggles against Alienation,How we organise,Ideology and Religion: Science and Secularism,Independent class organisations,Ireland,Scotland,The Socialist Republican Break-up of the UK — RCN @ 6:50 pm

The Irish Workers’ Republican Starry Plough does not have an equivalent accepted by the working class in Scotland

Today is St. Andrews Day. It is not yet a full-blown public holiday, although there is some partial observance. The following article was written by Allan Armstrong for the Lothian SSP bulletin in November 2007. It is even more relevant today, when Scottish nationalists try to subsume all of us under the saltire.
Continue reading “ST. ANDREWS DAY OR JOHN MACLEAN DAY?”

Tags: 1603 Union of Crowns, 1707 and 1801 Union of Parliaments, Author: Allan Armstrong, Butchers Apron, Irish tricolour, John MacLean, Republicanism, Secularism, St Patrick cross, St. Andrew saltire, St. Andrews Day, St. George cross, Starry Plough, Union Jack

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Apr 09 2016

TOWARD A SECULAR SOCIETY

Category: For Liberation: Struggles against Oppression,For Self-Determination: Struggles against Alienation,Ideology and Religion: Science and Secularism — RCN @ 7:01 pm

Eric Chester (RCN) takes David Cameron to task over his promotion of a Christian UK.

Forgive us our debts and hallowed be thy tax havens

During his recent Easter weekend address, Prime Minister David Cameron made a point of declaring that the United Kingdom was a “Christian country.” This is not the first time Cameron has used religion to advance his conservative agenda. In his speech, he argued that Christians had certain values, including compassion, that were those held by the UK as a whole. This is ironic coming from the proponent of the bedroom tax and a budget that cuts funds for the disabled, but hypocrisy has always been a trademark of mainstream politicians.
Continue reading “TOWARD A SECULAR SOCIETY”

Tags: Anglican Church, Author: Eric Chester, Catholics, Christian, David Cameron, Iraq, ISIS, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party, SNP, Syria, UK, USA

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Sep 13 2015

CLASS AND NATION IN CONTEMPORARY SCOTLAND

Category: Against Unionism,Combined struggles for Emancipation, Liberation and National Self-Determination,Cultural Celebration,For Emancipation: Struggles against Exploitation,For Liberation: Struggles against Oppression,For Self-Determination: Struggles against Alienation,How they are organised,How we organise,Ideology and Religion: Science and Secularism,Independent class organisations,Scotland,UK state/British imperialism — RCN @ 8:24 pm

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 a slightly broader remit this time. The aim of our event is to provide a platform for academics, different kinds of activists (political, community, trade union), and for people simply in their capacity as citizens to debate and discuss the meaning of ‘Class and Nation in Contemporary Scotland’ following last year’s independence referendum. We are hosting a key note lecture on Thursday 17 September, followed by a one-day conference on Friday 18 September. We have attached a programme for the conference which details the panels and speakers confirmed.
Continue reading “CLASS AND NATION IN CONTEMPORARY SCOTLAND”

Tags: Ashli Mullen, Bridget Fowler, Britishness in Scotland: Past Present - and Future?, Class and Nation in Contemporary Scotland, Colin Clark, Contemporary Racisms, Did the Yes Campaign Represent the Triumph of Nation over Class, Ewan Gibbs, Gerry Mooney, Gina Netto, Inequality and Gentrification, Jeanne Freeman, John Foster, Jonathon Shafi, Kirsteen Paton, Maureen McBride, Michael Rosie, Mina Liinpaa, Movements and Neoliberalism, Nasar Meer, Neil Davidson, Racism: from the Labour Movement to the Far Right, Richard Finlay, Robin McAlpine, Satnam Virdee, Sectarianism or Anti-Irish Racism?, Suki Sanga, The Continuing Relevance of Class

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Aug 05 2015

WHAT THE FUK? – Fascist UK, Britannia and the Far Right

Gavin Bowd’s book Fascist Scotland, Caledonia and the Far Right has given succour to unionist opponents of Scottish self-determination. Allan Armstrong (RCN) provides a republican and international socialist critique.

WHAT THE FUK?

Fascist UK, Britannia and the Far Right

1) What is a fascist organisation?

Gavin Bowd’s book, Fascist Scotland, Caledonia and the Far Right, contains a lot of useful material about far right writings, culture and organisation in Scotland since the 1920s. However, Bowd does not define what he means by fascism, nor distinguish it from other forms of reactionary or right populist politics. These often invoke similar chauvinist, ethnic or racist themes. The purpose behind Bowd’s lack of clarity over the political basis of fascism only emerges gradually.
Continue reading “WHAT THE FUK? – Fascist UK, Britannia and the Far Right”

Tags: 'One Nation Labour', 'Red Duchess' of Atholl, 'War on Terror', 1320 Club, 1913 Third Irish Home Rule Bill, 1919 Amritsar Massacre, 1919 Spartacus Rising, 1920 Iraqi war, 1936-9 Palestinian Rising, 1944 Kirkcaldy by-election, 1945 General Election, 1945 Motherwell by-election, 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Alex Salmond, Alexander Ratcliffe, Alexander Sloan, Anders Breivik, anti-Catholic Irish sentiment, Anti-Semitism, Archie Lamont, Arthur Donaldson, Auschwitz, Author: Allan Armstrong, Axmed Abuukar Sheek, Babi Yar, Black and Tans, Boleslaw Beirut, Bowd, Braveheart, Brian Hosie, British concentration camps in South Africa, British fascists, British National Party, British Union of Fascists, Britishness, Captain Archibald Maud Ramsay, Charles Forrester, City of London, civic nationalism, Clann Albainn, Common Wealth Party, Communist Parties, Communist Party of South Africa, conservatives, CPGB, David Camerson, Dr. Robert McIntyre, Duke of Hamilton, Emrys Hughes, Ernest Bevin, ethnic nationalism, Eu referendum, Fascism, Fascist Scotland Caledonia and the Far Right, Francis Glancy, Franco, Freikorps, FS, Fullerton's Billy Boys, Gavin Bowd, George Galloway, Gordon Brown, Greek Resistance, Greens, Guernica bombing, Hamish Henderson, Harry Miller, Hector Smith, Henri de Man, Hitler, Hitler-Stalin Pact, Hugh Dalton, Hugh MacDiarmid, Ian Smart, Independent Labour Party, Irish Citizen Army, Irish war of Independence, Islamophobia, Jason Campbell, John Cormack, John MacCormick, John MacLean, John Strachey, John Taylor, Josef Stalin, Karl Radek, King Edward VIII, King George V, Kormack's Kaledonian Klan, Kristallnacht, Labour Party, Leo Schlageter, Lewis Spence, Lib-Dems, Loyalism, Mark Scott, Marshal Badoglio, Mussolini, Naqba, National Bolshevism, National Front, National Party of Scotland, Nazi Germany, Neville Chamberlain, New Economic Policy, New Labour, New Party, Oliver Brown, Oswald Mosley, Plaid Cymru, Popular Front, Protestant Action, Red Army, Red Paper Collective, Red/Brown pacts, Rical Inependence Campaign, Roland Muirhead, Scottish Democratic Fascist Party, Scottish internationalism, Scottish Neutrality League, Scottish Protestant League, Scottish Socialist Party, Scottish Unionism, Scottish Watch, Settler Watch, Shutzbund, SNP, Social Democratic Parties, Soil nan Gaidheal, Spanish Republicans, Terence Reilly, Third International, Third Period politics, Timothy McVeigh, Tom Johnston, Tony Blair, Ulster Volunteer Force, Unionism, Vidkun Quisling, William Power, William Weir Gilmour, Winston Churchill

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Jan 21 2015

THE RCN AND THE CAMPAIGN FOR SCOTTISH SELF-DETERMINATION

THE REPUBLICAN COMMUNIST NETWORK, THE RADICAL INDEPENDENCE CAMPAIGN,

AND THE CAMPAIGN FOR SCOTTISH SELF-DETERMINATION

Photo of RCN banner – Patricia Kirk & John Lannigan

Contents

A) The emergence and clash of Left British unionism and Left Scottish nationalism

B) The politics of the Scottish independence referendum campaign

C) How the Left responded to the demand for greater national self-determination in Scotland

D) Carrying over lessons learned from the SSP experience

i) the need for political platforms

ii) the need for a revolutionary pole of attraction

iii) the need for political balance sheets to avoid repeating earlier mistakes

E) Promoting socialist republicanism and ‘internationalism from below’

i) The political legacy of the Republican Socialist Conventions and the Global Commune events

ii) Debating with other socialists during the Scottish independence referendum campaign

iii) promoting socialist republicanism and ‘internationalism from below’ in RIC

iv) the debate over secularism

v) the debate over Ireland

F) Debates and differences within the RCN

i) in the lead up and during the referendum campaign

ii) since the September 18th referendum

iii) the future for RIC, the all-islands Republican Socialist Alliance and the Scottish Left Project

Appendix

___________________

Continue reading “THE RCN AND THE CAMPAIGN FOR SCOTTISH SELF-DETERMINATION”

Tags: 'Yes Scotland', Alan Graham, Alan McCombes, Alan Story, Author: Adam Majo, Author: Alan Johnstone, Author: Alistair Black, Author: Allan Armstrong, Author: Andy Ashe, Author: Angharad Tomos, Author: Bernadette McAliskey, Author: Bill Scott, Author: Bob Goupillot, Author: Chris Gray, Author: D. R. O'Connor Lysaght, Author: Dave Douglass, Author: David Betteridge, Author: Duncan McCabe, Author: Eric Chester, Author: Ewan Robertson, Author: Geraldine Gould, Author: Gerry Hassan, Author: Gillian Ferguson, Author: Gregor Gall, Author: Iain Robertson, Author: James Kelman, Author: James Turley, Author: Jim Aitken, Author: Jim Slaven, Author: Leanne Wood, Author: Leigh French, Author: Liam O'Hare, Author: Mark France, Author: Mary McGregor, Author: Murdo Ritchie, Author: Nick Rodgers, Author: Paul Feldman, Author: Penny Cole, Author: Ray Burnett, Author: Rory Scothorne, Author: Steve Freeman, Author: Stuart King, Author: Susan Dorazio, Authors: James Foley and Pete Ramand, Authors: Tommy McKearney & Paul Stewart, Bella Caledonia, Brendan McGeever, Charlie Rees, Colin Fox, Commonweal, CPGB, CPGB - Weekly Worker, David Betteridge, David Torrance, Declaration of Calton Hill, Deidre McCartan, Doune the Rabbit Hole, Edinburgh Radical Book Fair, Emancipation & Liberation, Frontline, George Galloway, Isobel Oakeshott, James Connolly, James Connolly Society, Jason Allardyce, Jim Aitken, Jim Monaghan - Saothar, Jim Sillars, John Lanigan, John MacLean, Left Unity Party, Liam Turbott, Michael Davitt, Michael Marra, National Collective, Nick Clarke, Patricia Kirk, Pauline Bradley, Peoples Assembly, Permanent Revolution, Plaid Cymru, Rab Wilson, Radical Independence Campaign, Red Banner, Red Paper Collective, Republican Communist Network, Republican Socialist Alliance, Republican Socialist Conventions, Rod McGregor, Sandy McBurney, Scotland: Go For It rally, Scottish Left Project, Scottish Republic Yes Tendency, Scottish Socialist Party, Solidarity, SPGB, Ted Crawford, The Commune, The London Artist Taxi Driver, Tommy Sheridan, Turlough McDaid, Weekly Worker, Welsh Language Society, Word Power Books, World to Win

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Jan 11 2015

THE RCN’S UPDATED ‘WHAT WE STAND FOR’

Category: Against Imperialism,Against Unionism,Capitalism and Communism,Combined struggles for Emancipation, Liberation and National Self-Determination,Cultural Celebration,Environmental Degradation/Sharing Our Planet,For Emancipation: Struggles against Exploitation,For Liberation: Struggles against Oppression,For Self-Determination: Struggles against Alienation,How they are organised,How we organise,Ideology and Religion: Science and Secularism,Independent class organisations,Other Economic Struggles,Other Social Struggles,Political Campaigns,Trade Unionism,What is communism?,Women’s Liberation — RCN @ 2:14 pm

Over the RCN weekend away from November 7th-9th 2014 held near Dunfermline and our aggregates held on January 11th in Edinburgh and February 21st, 2015 in Glasgow, we updated our What We Stand For in the light of our recent engagement with the struggle for Scottish self-determination and our ongoing discussions on communism, secularism and patriarchy. Here are the results of our discussions and debates.

WHAT WE STAND FOR

1) Another world is possible – a joyful, creative, new world communism which emancipates us all from oppression and frees us all from exploitation, and which forms a new sustainable relationship between humanity and the environment.
Continue reading “THE RCN’S UPDATED ‘WHAT WE STAND FOR’”

Tags: Republican Communist Network, What We Stand For

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Oct 20 2014

MORE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE RCN’S ‘WHAT WE STAND FOR’

Category: Against Unionism,Capitalism and Communism,Environmental Degradation/Sharing Our Planet,For Emancipation: Struggles against Exploitation,For Self-Determination: Struggles against Alienation,How they are organised,How we organise,Ideology and Religion: Science and Secularism,Independent class organisations,Scotland,The EU,Trade Unionism,UK state/British imperialism — RCN @ 11:01 am

The RCN will be debating new amendments to our ‘What We Stand For’ on our annual weekend away being held on November 8th. The first set of amendments proposed by Allan Armstrong were posted at:- http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2014/08/09/proposed-amendments-to-the-rcns-what-we-stand-for/. Eric Chester has proposed another set of amendments, which are posted below.

Add to point 5: We call for the immediate withdrawal from NATO and the European Union. We will work toward the formation of a federation of European states.

Continue reading “MORE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE RCN’S ‘WHAT WE STAND FOR’”

Tags: Author: Eric Chester, Republican Communist Network (Scotland), What We Stand For

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