This interview done on 25 March will be published in the May 2012 issue of Yeni Yol, the journal of the Turkish section of the Fourth International. Two update questions were posed by Stephen R. Shalom for ZNet on 5 April.
Campaign of harassment to silence feminists
7 April 2012, byThere has been an increase in threats directed against feminists and women who publicly display their aversion towards gender norms in Sweden, according to many feminist writers and activists. This targets the rights of feminists to exist in a democratic society, according to Anna-Klara Bratt, chief editor of the newly started feminist internet newspaper, Feministiskt Perspektiv. In a context of growing racism and xenophobia, most clearly expressed in the 2010 elections where the racist party the Swedish Democrats won parliamentary seats for the first time, feminists are also singled out for threats and ridicule.
Springtime for the Arab Left?
6 April 2012, by , ,A central paradox of the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia has been that youth movements and trade unions were central in overthrowing the dictatorships – but in the subsequent elections, these forces were pushed to the margins. How can this paradox be explained? And how can these forces become part of a new left project? Gilbert Achcar comments on developments on the left in the Arab Spring in an interview with Peter Drucker and Alex de Jong
After the general strike
5 April 2012, byThe first general strike against the adjustment measures of the Partido Popular government, 100 days after its constitution and the day before the presentation of the 2012 state budget containing spending cuts without precedent in the European Unión, was a success.
Do we need public debt?
5 April 2012, by ,The answer is yes. A State must be able to contract loans in order to improve its population’s living standards, for instance when it carries out major work of public utility and invests in renewable energies. These public loans could be used to move from an economy geared to the needs of car drivers to one that gives priority to public transport, to shut down nuclear plants and replace them with renewable sources of energy, to renovate, upgrade or build from scratch public buildings and social housing that would require less energy and be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities.
A revolutionary march versus a counter-revolutionary march
5 April 2012, byThe March of the Social Movements and the pro-government Countermarch of counterposed power to power on March 22, 2012 in the city of Quito, Ecuador.
The Portuguese people are not standing for it
4 April 2012, by ,The general strike on March 22 in Portugal reinforced the struggle against the Troika and the right-wing PSD-CDS government.
On March 22, Portuguese workers were called out in the first general strike of the year. Contrary to the previous one, last November, the strike was called only by the CGTP trade union confederation (close to the Communist Party), the UGT (close to the Socialist Party) having this time decided not to support it. The leadership of the UGT thus signed an agreement with the right-wing government and the employers, involving new attacks against wages and social rights. In disagreement with this orientation, nearly twenty trade unions affiliated to the UGT nevertheless called on workers to take part in the strike.
Fukushima, one year later – and what about France?
3 April 2012, by ,A year after the catastrophe of Fukushima, a big mobilization is being organized to demand the abandoning of nuclear power.
In defence of public and universal health service and social protection
1 April 2012Last November in Katowice (Poland), a European conference was held on the defence of public health and social care systems. It was decided to call a new conference which will be held on May 12-13 in Paris, to continue our analysis and establish joint mobilizations.
For a mass movement of European solidarity with the Greek people and active resistance to austerity policies
1 April 2012, byWhy does European public opinion find the misfortunes of the Greek people so moving? And why, day by day, does this feeling grow more broad and deep and transform itself into the will to act, to do something to show solidarity with the Greek population? The answer is not difficult to find: if the Greek drama moves and even revolts people, it is because they no longer perceive it as external to their concerns, as an isolated case, as an exception to the rule. In sum, it is because they recognize it for what it always has been since it began, as a test case conceived of and imposed by force by those on top, of using the Greek people as guinea pigs to test the endurance and resistance of the victims of their policies before generalizing these policies throughout Europe!