By Yorgos Mitralias Why republish a text on Auschwitz and its meaning, written in Greek in the last century? Because, reread today, at a time profoundly marked not only by the genocide of the Palestinians and the destruction of Gaza, but also by the return in force of the fascist threat - and war - on a global scale, embodied by the Trump-Musk duo, this text takes on a heightened significance … [Read more...]
WIN ARCHIVE LIBRARY – RUSSIA: LITERATURE AND REVOLUTION
by Roger Silverman. In Russia, literature and revolution are inextricably intertwined. There is a proud and unbroken Russian tradition of defiance of successive autocratic regimes by artists and writers. It happened under the Tsars; it happened under the tyranny of Stalin and his successors; and it happens still today under the Putin dictatorship. There is no country with a richer … [Read more...]
WIN ARCHIVE LIBRARY – THE BOLSHEVIKS AND PARLIAMENT
by Roger Silverman. We revolutionaries are often misrepresented as enemies of democracy. Didn’t the Bolsheviks ban opposition parties, shut down the Constituent Assembly, impose war communism, create a one-party police state…? On the contrary. For instance, far from imposing a one-party state, the first Soviet government was not even a one-party government: it was a coalition with the left … [Read more...]
WIN ARCHIVE LIBRARY – WHAT WAS STALINISM?
by Roger Silverman. Socialists today still find themselves under the dark shadow that Stalinism has cast over the history of the twentieth century. It is more than ten years since the collapse of the Stalinist regimes of Russia and Eastern Europe – overthrown in many cases by workers’ uprisings. These were hideous, corrupt, vicious regimes, and workers rightly celebrated their downfall as … [Read more...]
WIN ARCHIVE LIBRARY – THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION – 100 YEARS ON
by Roger Silverman - 7th November 2017. We revolutionaries are often misrepresented as enemies of democracy. Didn’t the Bolsheviks ban opposition parties, shut down the Constituent Assembly, impose war communism, create a one-party police state…? On the contrary. For instance, far from imposing a one-party state, the first Soviet government was not even a one-party government: it was a … [Read more...]
IS LABOUR DEAD?
Roger Silverman: Is Labour Dead? - YouTube At this week's Future of the Left event in Liverpool, Roger Silverman spoke on the question "Is Labour Dead?". That might seem a hard case to argue at a time when, due to the Tory government's gross corruption and ineptitude, Labour is suddenly 33 points ahead in the polls. But, as he says here, this is certainly no party of labour. Here is his opening … [Read more...]
After Labour’s Conference …What Now?
This week's Labour Party conference marked yet another turning point. Under its new leadership, Labour's policies have turned sharply back to the right, and are now virtually indistinguishable from those of the Tories. As a consequence, Labour has LOST...* well over 150,000 members, with many thousands of socialist activists expelled* almost £15 million in funds, … [Read more...]
Roger Silverman Speaks on the Crisis in the Labour Party
Roger Silverman speaks on the crisis in the Labour Party to an audience of nearly 200 at the conference of the Labour In Exile Network, 27th February 2021. … [Read more...]
The British Labour Party: A Socialist Dialogue Discussion
An open discussion forum to launch the new ON THE BRINK pamphlet introduced by its author Roger Silverman, with a range of participants including Chris Williamson, Tina Werkmann and Jackie Walker. This up-to-the-minute 58-page pamphlet traces the history of the Labour Party from its birth to the current pandemic crisis. Who founded the Labour Party? Was it ever socialist? What was “new” about New … [Read more...]
Editorial: On the Brink Spring 2020
This is no time for glib slogans. December’s election result is a serious setback. It clears the way for the most brutal Tory attacks yet seen on our living standards and our democratic rights, destroying the last remaining vestiges of the welfare state and plunging into despair a generation of youth desperate for the chance of a future. It also puts at risk the advances made in the last four … [Read more...]