In recognition of International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8th, we are posting two contributions. The first is the introductory talk on IWD given by Linda Rogers and Cat Grant to the Edinburgh Radical Independence Campaign meeting on March 2nd. The second is a major contribution to the history of women’s suffrage, entitled Finland 1906:…
WATER CHARGES: INDEPENDENT MOBILISATION, NEW STATE REPRESSION
The following article from the Socialist Democracy (Ireland) website addresses the political situation in Ireland after the mass demonstrations against water charges held on January 31st. The mass demonstrations across Ireland on the 31st January show the emergence of a new force in Irish politics. The spontaneous movement on water charges has stood on…
PROMOTING REPUBLICANISM
Murdo Ritchie (RCN) wrote the following article for supporters of the Republican Socialist alliance. It was first also posted on Murdo’s blog at http://murdoritchie.blog.co.uk/2015/02/13/promoting-republicanism-20090169/. _____________ PROMOTING REPUBLICANISM The advocacy of socialist republicanism has very few precedents in the United Kingdom. While many organisations can make claims to republicanism, in most cases this has been rarely…
ROLLING BACK SCOTLAND’S ‘DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION’
Allan Armstrong (RCN) updates his socialist republican analyses of constitutional developments in the UK and Ireland, in the lead up to the May 2015 Westminster election. ___________ ROLLING BACK SCOTLAND’S ‘DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION’ 1. British unionists and Scottish nationalists attempt to derail Scotland’s ‘democratic revolution’ There are several important features to the political landscape we can currently…
GREEK VOTERS REIGNITE THE FLAME FOR DEMOCRACY
Below we are posting an article by Paul Feldman from World to Win on Syriza’s election victory in Greece. This is followed by the leaflet produced by Real Democracy Now (Greece) which was handed out at the Radical Independence Campaign called demonstration at the Scottish Parliament on 14th February. The stunning victory of the anti-austerity Syriza in the…
STORMONT HOUSE DEAL
Below are two articles from the latest edition of Socialist Democracy (Ireland). They provide an account and analysis of the Stormont House Deal between the UK government and the DUP/Sinn Fein coalition in Stormont over the implementation of Westminster imposed cuts, against the background of threats to stand down Stormont. (http://www.socialistdemocracy.org/Bulletins/SDBulletinJan2015StormontHouseDeal.html and www.socialistdemocracy.org/Bulletins/SDBulletinJan2015SectarianismAndAusterityTwinPillarsOfReaction.html) …
DAVE WILLIAMS – A TRIBUTE
Brian Higgins of the rank and file Building Workers Group sent us this obituary for Dave Williams, a militant building worker and like Brian on the employers’ black list. Recently I received the very sad news that blacklisted bricklayer Dave Williams died in November following a serious illness. Condolences to Dave’s family and…
THE RCN AND THE CAMPAIGN FOR SCOTTISH SELF-DETERMINATION
THE REPUBLICAN COMMUNIST NETWORK, THE RADICAL INDEPENDENCE CAMPAIGN, AND THE CAMPAIGN FOR SCOTTISH SELF-DETERMINATION 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…
BOB PURDIE, 1940-2014
D.R.O’Connor Lysaght of Socialist Democracy (Ireland) has written the following obituary to Bob Purdie. Bob was onetime member of the International Marxist Group and influential in establishing their position in the Irish struggle for Irish self-determination in the 1970’s. Later a member of the SNP, he recently wrote Hugh MacDairmid: Black, Green, Red and Tartan. Obituary: Bob…
THE RCN’S UPDATED ‘WHAT WE STAND FOR’
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…