After the Second World War, from which the Allied forces emerged victorious, the government of the United States sought to make the most of its military victory. It structured the Assembly of the United Nations to be led by a Security Council composed of the seven most powerful countries, with veto power over decisions […]
Subjects Archives: Movements
We Accuse!
Today is the 21st day since the arrest of Ameer Makhoul at his home in Haifa, Israel, under the cover of darkness, by the International Crimes Investigation Unit and General Security Service (GSS or Shabak) officers. The arrest was conducted in a brutal and terrifying manner. Our house was raided, its contents ransacked, and […]
ElBaradei: Brazil-Iran-Turkey Nuclear Deal “Quite a Good Agreement”
Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei was the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an inter-governmental organization under the auspices of the United Nations, from December 1997 to November 2009. Dr. ElBaradei and the IAEA were awarded the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize for “for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for […]
Greece: The Weak Link
Esquerda.net: In December 2008, Greece faced huge demonstrations triggered by the killing of a youth by police. What is the link between the reactions in 2008 and those seen in 2010? Stathis Kouvélakis: . . . They do share in common two important things. The first is that they reflect, express, the deep crisis […]
Political Aspects of Full Employment
This essay was first published in Political Quarterly in 1943; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes. A shorter version of this essay was published in The Last Phase in the Transformation of Capitalism (Monthly Review Press, 1972). I 1. A solid majority of economists is now of the opinion that, even in a […]
South Africa: An Unfinished Revolution?
The Fourth Strini Moodley Annual Memorial Lecture, University of KwaZulu-Natal, 13 May 2010 I In her historical novel, A Place of Greater Safety, which is played out against the backdrop of the Great French Revolution through an illuminating character analysis and synthesis of three of that revolution’s most prominent personalities, viz., Maximilien Robespierre, Georges […]
75 Years of UAW — and Where Are We?
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the UAW in May 1935. In December 1936, UAW members seized GM’s Flint plants in a sit-down strike and held on for 44 days to force GM to recognize their union. The victory set off a wave of organizing across the Midwest. For decades […]
Public-Sector Unions
In an age where only 7.2 percent of private-sector workers in the United States belong to unions, it may come as a surprise that 37.4 percent of all public-sector (i.e. government) workers are unionized. Put another way, there are more public-sector workers in unions (7.9 million) than in the private-sector (7.4 million), despite the […]
“Homes, Not Shelters!” Day of Action in NYC, on Malcolm X’s Birthday
Manhattan/Brooklyn/Bronx — Early on Wednesday morning, the anniversary of Malcolm X‘s birth, Picture the Homeless carried out two banner drops. Transgressing into vacant buildings in Brooklyn and El Barrio, they dropped banners from the top that read “Homes Not Shelters / Casas No Refugios,” and “Let Housing Bloom . . . berg.” For more […]
Turkish Foreign Minister: Iran’s Uranium Will Be Safeguarded in Turkey Till Tehran Reactor Receives Its Fuel
Tehran — The Turkish Foreign Minister said at the joint press conference with the Foreign Ministers of Iran and Brazil after signing the trilateral agreement on Tehran Research Reactor fuel: Turkey and Brazil guarantee that, until fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor is delivered to Iran, Iran’s low-enriched uranium will be kept in Turkey. […]
Don’t Get Caught in a Bad Hotel
A flashmob infiltrates the Westin St. Francis hotel in San Francisco and performs an adaptation of Lady Gaga’s song “Bad Romance.” The event was organized to draw attention to a boycott called by the workers of the hotel who are fighting to win a fair contract and affordable healthcare. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and […]
Cosmopolitanism and Secularism: Working Hypotheses
Listen to Étienne Balibar: Étienne Balibar: . . . I will be trying to reverse the implicit rule of this kind of event. Far from coming with positions for which I would argue, I mean already established positions for which I would argue, trying to convince others that they can be shared, I’m coming […]
Bolivia: President’s Chief of Staff Vouches That There Is No General Strike in Country and Asks COB to Make Sensible Decisions
La Paz, 10 May — The President’s Chief of Staff, Óscar Coca, said on Monday that no general strike is happening in Bolivia, referring to the indefinite general strike called by the Bolivian Workers’ Center (COB), and asked the leaders of this trade union organization to make sensible decisions on their demands.
Unemployment Rises to 9.9 Percent, Driven by Jump in Labor Force Participation
Nominal wage growth has averaged just 1.1 percent over the last quarter. The Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate rose to 9.9 percent in April as 805,000 people entered the labor force. Even with the economy generating 290,000 new jobs according to the establishment survey, this was not sufficient to keep the unemployment rate […]
Puerto Rico: Long Live the Students!
In support of the students of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) on strike against the $100 million budget cuts, elimination of tuition wavers, privatization, etc. . . . ¡Que vivan los estudiantes! Note: The indefinite strike declared on the Río Piedras campus is on its 15th day today. The one declared in the Mayagüez […]
Egypt, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the NPT Review Conference
Maged Abdel-Fattah is Egypt’s Ambassador to the United Nations. Ezzat Ibrahim: Egypt is president of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and New Agenda Coalition (NAC). What kind of contribution are NAM and NAC expected to offer during the NPT revision conference? Maged Abdel-Fattah: First of all, NAM (118 member states) is a major player in […]
Cuba: Viva May Day!
Speech by Salvador Valdés Mesa, General Secretary of the Central Organization of Cuban Workers (CTC) and member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba General Raúl Castro Ruz, President of the Councils of State and Ministers, Compañeros of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, […]
What “Populist Uprising?” Part 2: Further Reflections on an “Astroturf Movement”
The much-ballyhooed Tea Party “movement” that has arisen to absurdly accuse the corporate and imperial Barack Obama administration with “socialism,” “favoring the poor,” and other “radical leftist” crimes claims to be a decentralized, independent, “grassroots,” and popular/populist uprising against concentrated power. Contrary to that claim, Part 1 of our report presented recent polling data showing […]
Thailand: It’s about Democracy, Stupid!
In a democratic society, when there is a deep crisis, it is customary for the government to dissolve parliament and call elections in order for the people to decide. This happened in Britain and France after mass strikes and demonstrations in the 1960s and 1970s. After mass Yellow Shirt protests against the government in Bangkok […]
Obama’s Slippery Slope to Military Strikes on Iran
Today, POLITICO published our newest Op-Ed, “Obama’s Slippery Slope to Strikes on Iran” (excerpts below but also worth reading in full on POLITICO.com). Our piece was prompted by the partial leak of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ January 2010 memo on Iran to the New York Times last week and subsequent statements by Gates and […]
