Emancipation & Liberation Special Bulletin – The Centenary of the World War I Imperialist Slaughter

WORLD WAR I – THE CATASTROPHIC RESULT OF IMPERIALIST RIVALRIES On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip, A Serbian nationalist, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian empire. This incident sparked World War I, that soon engulfed much of the world and led to the deaths of millions of soldiers, and…

Making Plans For Nigel

Allan Armstrong (RCN) examines the situation Socialists face across these islands in the light of the recent European election and the ongoing Scottish independence referendum campaign. A SOCIALIST REPUBLICAN ANALYSIS OF THE STATE OF THE UK AND ‘NEW UNIONISM’ IN THE LIGHT OF THE RISE OF UKIP AND THE FORTHCOMING SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM CONTENTS Introduction…

Racism In Northern Ireland Breaking The Bounds of Liberal Outrage

Below E&L has posted a leaflet distributed by Socialist Democracy (Ireland) at an anti-racist rally in Belfast on 7th June. This was produced in response to Northern Ireland First Minster, Peter Robinson of the DUP and the initial support heave to a rabid rant directed against Muslims by a Protestant fundamentalist preacher, James McConnell. Racism:…

Labour And Socialist Left Unionism In The Scottish Independence Debate

Allan Armstrong (RCN) prepared a talk for the Conference of Socialist Economists Day School held in the Out of the Blue Centre in Edinburgh on June 21st. The article below incorporates some of the discussion points that were raised. It provides a socialist republican analysis of the British Left and the case for an ‘internationalism…

Cultural Capitulation And Cultural Resistance In Ireland

Below are two articles from the May/June issue of Socialist Democracy (Ireland) about recent cultural developments in Ireland. The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) has always been seen as being on the cultural frontline of the Irish national movement. The first article outlines the retreat of the GAA in the face of Sky TV’s global corporate onslaught.…

2 New Pieces On Ukraine

The RCN co-sponsored a tour by Zakhar Popyvych of the Left Opposition in Kyiv to Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow from May 16th-18th (see Ukraine – Caught between East and West). Patricia Kirk (RCN) videoed Zakhar’s talk in Glasgow, whilst John Lanigan (RCN) took a number of photographs. Two of these photographs and the video link…

Ukraine – Caught between East and West

The Republican Communist Network is co-sponsoring a series of meetings in Scotland about the current situation in Ukraine. Below we are posting the leaflet that has been circulated at various events. Ukraine is at the brink of war. It is being pulled apart by imperialist forces, from the East, Russian forces and from the West,…

Adams Arrest – Sinn Fein responds to British attacks by calls to the dark side

John McAnulty of Socialist Democracy (Ireland) outlines what was behind the arrest of Gerry Adams by the PSNI, and why Sinn Fein is unable to respond to this British state initiated event. When Sinn Fein claim that the arrest of Gerry Adams is a political act they are clearly correct. The arrest of former IRA…

Exploitation, Oppression and Alienation: Emancipation, Liberation and Self-Determination

The RCN has based much of its analysis of capitalism on the notions of exploitation and oppression, to which we counter the ideas of emancipation and liberation – hence the name of our main publication. However, we have been conducting discussions on capitalism’s third prop, alienation, and its antithesis, self-determination, understood in its widest sense. In the article below, by…