Emancipation & Liberation will be posting a series of responses to the new political situation after May 7th. The first comes from Murdo Ritchie (RCN), the second from World to Win. 1. MOVING WITH THE FLOW Never have so many nations been divided by a common government. The glaringly obvious result when Scotland…
‘NONE OF THE ABOVE’ AND ‘ABANDON THE MIND-FORG’D MANACLES’
Jim Slaven of the James Connolly Society in None of the Above calls upon socialists and republicans to have a closer look at the nature and record of the SNP. This was first posted at:- http://107cowgate.com/2015/05/05/none-of-the-above/ Murdo Ritchie (RCN ) in his Abandon the Mind-forg’d Manacles offers an alternative analysis of the rise of the SNP. …
LIVING THE PEACE PROCESS IN REVERSE
The following extract is taken from an article by Robbie McVeigh, entitled Living the peace process in reverse: racist violence and British nationalism in Northern Ireland, in the current issue of Race & Class (Volume 56, April-June 2015, no. 4). Virtually the whole of the Left has ignored the broader implications of the new pan-unionist…
REPUBLICANISM AND DEMOCRACY
Allan Armstrong (RCN) was invited to speak on Republicanism and Democracy at the Assembly for Democracy event in Glasgow on Saturday, April 11th. He gave an update of the talk at the first Radical Independence Conference in Glasgow in November 2012 (see http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2012/11/15/genuine-self-determination-means-acting-as-republicans-now/) Most of the discussions today we have been having today have…
DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP: FROM LIBERAL PRIVILEGE TO DEMOCRATIC EMANCIPATION
On the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta in England, Richard Barbrook calls for a new debate on the conception of citizenship. “Government founded… on a system of universal peace, on the indefeasible hereditary Rights of Man … interests not particular individuals, but nations, in its progress, and promises a new era to the…
SINN FEIN UNDER PRESSURE FROM IRISH WORKERS
On Friday, March 13th six unions representing public sector workers in the north of Ireland took joint strike action to resist the austerity programme being pushed through by the Sinn Fein / Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) coalition government. John Mc Anulty, a member of Socialist Democracy in Belfast explains the background. The more optimistic socialist…
DEFINING REPUBLICANISM
John Tummon (Republican Socialist Alliance) responds to Murdo Ritchie’s (RCN) Promoting Republicanism (http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2015/02/24/promoting-republicanism/) Murdo Ritchie’s ‘Promoting Republicanism’ is a very important contribution to something we Republican Socialists need to keep working on until we have a theoretically rigorous and internally-tested critique of the poverty of any socialist analysis that fails to incorporate a full understanding…
THE SCOTTISH LEFT PROJECT
Allan Armstrong (RCN and RIC activist) provides the following initial assessment of the proposed Scottish Left Project. This is the final part of three articles, the first of which examines the role of the UK state and SNP in attempting to derail Scotland’s ‘democratic revolution’ (see http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2015/02/24/british-unionists-and-scottish-nationalists-attempt-to-derail-scotlands-democratic-revolution/) and the second which looks at the inadequate response of the Left…
APPEALS TO THE RADICAL INDEPENDENCE CAMPAIGN AND TO REPUBLICAN SOCIALISTS IN ENGLAND
Steve Freeman, who is standing as a republican socialist candidate in the Bermondsey & Old Southwark constituency in the Westminster General Election on May 8th has issued the following two appeals. Could RIC members supporting Steve’s candidature please e-mail him:- steve@republicansocialists.org.uk _______________ 1. AN APPEAL TO THE RADICAL INDEPENDENCE CAMPAIGN Another England Is Possible Dear…
THE LEFT IN THE UK, THE 2015 GENERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN AND THE WIDER IMPACT OF SCOTLAND’S ‘DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION’
After analysing the role of the constitutional nationalists of the SNP, the liberal and conservative unionists amongst the Conservatives, Labour and Lib-Dems and the reactionary unionists led by UKIP, and their attempt to roll back Scotland’s ‘Democratic Revolution’ (http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2015/02/24/british-unionists-and-scottish-nationalists-attempt-to-derail-scotlands-democratic-revolution/), Allan Armstrong (RCN) examines the problematic role of the Left in the UK in challenging this. 1. The UK constitutional issue will be central to…