Solidarity 320, 9 April 2014

East Ukraine: it’s mostly Russian imperialism, not democratic protest

On the weekend of 5-6 April pro-Russian crowds staged demonstrations in some cities of eastern Ukraine, and seized public buildings. In Donetsk the demonstrators echoed events in Crimea by saying that they were constituting a new regional government and would organise a referendum on transferring Donetsk to Russia. Are these justified protests by Ukraine’s Russian minority, strongest in the east, against Ukrainian chauvinist policies from the new government in Kiev? Or are they operations fomented by the Russian government, using Russians crossing the border to join the protests, and the east...

Against UKIP, for a workers' united Europe!

The UK Independence Party (UKIP), the far right, anti-Europe, anti-immigrant party may top the vote in May’s European elections, according to recent opinion polls. A recent YouGov poll in put UKIP at 34%, Labour at 27% and the Tories 20%. UKIP leader Nigel Farage boosted his party’s profile in two recent TV debates with LibDem leader Nick Clegg. The party currently has 35,000, members and in the last two European elections polled over two million votes. Although the polls also suggest many fewer people would vote UKIP in a general election (about 12%, currently) UKIP is dragging the...

Diagonal communication

Your debate on organising and the internet has caused me to consider the strengths and limitations of using social media to advance the class struggle. My experience is broadly positive but we cannot assess the merits of the networked culture that mass internet usage is creating without a consideration of the context. The growth of internet access, mobile telephony, and social media, has not occurred alongside a remobilisation of organised labour. Whilst it has lowered the barriers to entry for individuals seeking answers to the predicament of our class, it is not led to an immediate cultural...

The right to stay at home

I would like to respond Esther Townsend’s article “The things we do for love” ( Women’s Fightback , January/February 2014). On becoming a mother at the age of 21 I believed feminism was something that fought for me to have choice, the choice to work like my elder sister, or stay home, like my mum. But I found that SAHMs (stay-at-home mothers) are seen as out-dated and that my rights as a mother revolved solely around my right to return to the workplace; my right to stay home is poorly accounted for and the decision to do so is often viewed negatively. Esther’s article reflects this. Esther...

Shahrokh Zamani on Hunger Strike

Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) has reported that the imprisoned Iranian trade unionist Shahrokh Zamani, has just entered his 30th day of a hunger strike. The agency reports that his initial 3 day strike which was made in solidarity with imprisoned and persecuted Gonabadi Dervishes was extended after being exiled to the infamous Ghezel Hesar prison, a jail notorious for abysmal conditions, torture and executions. Shahrokh was jailed in 2011 for his organising of the painters and decorating union. Another political prisoner – the student Arash Mohammadi, has joined Shahrokh’s hunger...

Maidan: Revolution Betrayed

Translated, by Dale Street, from the website of the Russian Socialist Movement. The government of Prime Minister Yatseniuk and President Turchinov can repeat as often as it wants the mantra that Crimea is an inseparable part of Ukraine. But the annexation of the territory of the peninsula by the Kremlin is an accomplished fact. The majority of the local inhabitants have welcomed the Russian occupiers as liberators. In terms of popular celebrations, 16th March – the day of the scandalous referendum on the status of the republic – left far behind the New Year, the First of May, and the Day of...

Opposing Russian imperialism, fighting neo-liberalism: voices from the Ukrainian and Russian left

We reprint below, in abridged form, a range of different (and sometimes conflicting) opinions about recent and current events in Ukraine, expressed by Ukrainian and Russian left activists. When the writers refer to “imperialism”, they mean Russian imperialism. The original articles were published by: Otkrytaya Leva (Open Left), Avtonomna Spilka Trudyashchikh (Autonomus Workers Union) and “Links, International Journal of Socialist Renewal” Dmitry Mrachnik (member of Ukrainian Autonomous Workers Union) The Maidan resulted in a neo-liberal coup which has untied the hands of broad layers of the...

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