Counterfire Site feed

The Making and Unmaking of a Zionist

2013-05-24T14:25:53+00:00

Antony Lerman’s remarkable memoir, The Making and Unmaking of a Zionist, details a life entwined with a cause he has abandoned as conflicting with his own Jewish values

The lessons to learn from the Woolwich killing are obvious: but not to David Cameron

2013-05-23T10:47:18+00:00

P margin-bottom: 0.21cm; P margin-bottom: 0.21cm; -->

Any rational balance sheet of the last decade would show that the 'war on terror' has been a failure in its own terms: it has not prevented terrorism but caused

A movement rises: hundreds pack People's Assembly rallies‏

2013-05-22T20:42:28+00:00

Chris Nineham reports on a week of electric anti-austerity events backing the People's Assembly Against Austerity

A short history of Britain since 1945 (without the boring bits)

2013-05-20T09:17:55+00:00

The great social achievements of the post-war generation have been systematically attacked and eroded. Historian Neil Faulkner explains why – and outlines how we can shape history in a different direction

Raising Expectations (And Raising Hell): My Decade Fighting for the Labor Movement

2013-05-16T11:37:40+00:00

Jane McAlevey’s Raising Expectations, an account of the problems and possibilities of trade union activism in the US, is full of wit and wisdom, finds Season Butler

People's Assembly: we need unity to beat austerity

2013-05-15T19:39:43+00:00

The People's Assembly is not merely a nice idea or a worthwhile event, but the main basis for co-ordinating resistance to cuts for some time to come

Bulgaria after the elections

2013-05-15T14:31:47+00:00

As rigidly neoliberal rules on spending and monetary policy push ordinary Bulgarians to despair, the Left needs to offer a coherent, credible alternative writes Dancho Medarov

Video: 'A Marxist History of the World: From Neanderthals to Neoliberals'

2013-05-14T11:49:57+00:00

From the dawn of humanity to the greatest crisis to confront the human race, Neil Faulkner introduces his new book. Video by Fourmanfilms

Remembering Rainsborough

2013-05-11T18:21:05+00:00

Sunday May 12 sees the unveiling of a memorial to Thomas Rainsborough, Leveller leader in the English Civil War, a revolution the Tory right would rather forget

Bahrain: 20/20

2013-05-10T19:09:29+00:00

A huge, glossy, photographic history of the Bahrain uprising presents a misleading narrative that seeks to whitewash the regime, finds Dominic Kavakeb

Israel's illegal act of war threatens to inflame the region far beyond the borders of Syria

2013-05-06T09:26:58+00:00

It is highly likely that the US will have been notified about these attacks in advance and they are part of a growing campaign of intervention in the civil war in Syria

Rise of the 'clowns': Ukip and British politics today

2013-05-05T11:17:43+00:00

In the wake of this week's local elections, where Ukip took nearly a quarter of all votes, Alex Snowdon looks at what they represent and how the left should respond

Mad Science: The Nuclear Power Experiment

2013-05-03T16:08:59+00:00

Nuclear power is championed by some environmentalists as an answer to global warming, Mad Science provides evidence that it remains far too dangerous

Dangerous Ideas for Dangerous Times | May 31- June 1

2013-05-03T12:07:49+00:00

David Harvey, Terry Eagleton, Nina Power, Lindsey German and many more speakers, performers and artists are coming together for Dangerous Ideas for Dangerous Times - an international festival

Letter from Italy: when the old is dying and the new cannot be born

2013-05-01T11:46:09+00:00

In the first of a regular series, Elle Gierre's letter from Italy reports on a left struggling to get a grip on a country in crisis

Len McCluskey's victory is a vote for a fighting union

2013-04-30T15:13:34+00:00

McClusky's victory is an endorsement of the strategy for a fighting union by Unite activists, but the 15% turnout shows the need to win this strategy with the wider membership

Michael Gove: holiday snatcher

2013-04-30T13:35:03+00:00

Michael Gove's determination to demoralise and destroy public sector education appears to be boundless

Syria descending into hell

2013-04-29T09:20:50+00:00

The alliance of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel, Jordan and the western powers has in its sights the taking out of Syria as a key ally of Iran, and with it Hezbollah in Lebanon

Murdoch’s Politics: How One Man’s Thirst for Wealth and Power Shapes Our World

2013-04-26T10:01:15+00:00

The threat monopoly media ownership poses to democratic politics is laid bare in a compelling new study of Rupert Murdoch’s use of his corporate power, argues Paul Hartley

The day we nearly broke Blair

2013-04-24T14:44:30+00:00

In the latest edition of Strike! magazine Chris Nineham remembers the power of protest

Labour, the movement and the radical left

2013-04-22T19:48:47+00:00

Labour activists are an important part of the anti-cuts movement in many areas. Reuben Bard-Rosenberg argues for a united anti-cuts movement involving those inside and outside the Labour Party

The Endless Crisis

2013-04-20T12:39:02+00:00

John Bellamy Foster and Robert McChesney’s new book on the economic crisis, explaining the tendency to stagnation of the era of monopoly-finance capitalism, is clear and compelling, argues Peter Stauber

North Korea threatened by rogue nuclear state

2013-04-20T09:43:33+00:00

As tensions rise on the Korean peninsula its worth remembering that the US spends more than the next 42 countries combined on waging war

Stealing the suffragettes: Margaret Thatcher’s funeral and false historical parallels

2013-04-19T10:32:17+00:00

Katherine Connelly explains why attempts to claim Thatcher as the heir to the suffragettes are a gross distortion of history and an attack on our struggles today

Fighting drone wars behind our back: cheap, invisible and risk-free mass murder

2013-04-17T12:40:48+00:00

The great advantage of drones for western governments is they can be used without domestic casualties and therefore, they hope, without the risk of popular opposition or protest

The Lady's not for mourning: Margaret Thatcher and the neoliberal counter-revolution

2013-04-16T20:41:17+00:00

Historian Neil Faulkner on Thatcher, the neoliberal counter-revolution, and the battle for the future

Bombs from Boston to Baghdad: what is the value of a human life?

2013-04-16T16:08:36+00:00

Whoever is behind the tragic Boston bombings, such carnage is routine in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East, argues Lindsey German

Mortgage fraud, faux-democracy and escrache in Spain

2013-04-13T12:21:52+00:00

As David Cameron plans another housing boom in Britain, Yaiza Hernández looks at how the people of Spain are suffering and resisting the dire consequences of a bursting bubble

Crisis without end: Egypt’s democratic transition

2013-04-13T10:41:10+00:00

What is the nature of the ongoing struggle in Egypt and where is it today? Egyptian socialist Tamer Wageeh provides some answers

Tyneside shows opposition to bedroom tax

2013-04-13T09:08:32+00:00

The nationwide protests against the bedroom tax continue with hundreds gathering in Newcastle. Report by Dan Cockcroft

China’s Rise: Strength and Fragility

2013-04-13T08:30:19+00:00

A Marxist analysis of Chinese capitalism and its ruling class illuminates the contradictions in its foreign relations, and the class tensions within, finds Sean Ledwith

Thatcher's legacy was warmonger Blair

2013-04-08T19:33:42+00:00

Margaret Thatcher laid the basis for policies that wrecked the lives of many in Britain. But she should also be remembered as a warmonger

We need to end the legacy of Thatcherism

2013-04-08T15:33:39+00:00

Margaret Thatcher may be dead, but her legacy lives on. We must unite to defeat it, argues Alex Snowdon

Thatcherism: A Timeline

2013-04-08T12:48:12+00:00

As the Tories prepare to celebrate the life of much-hated former PM Margaret Thatcher, this extract from John Rees' Timelines looks at the real history of Thatcherism

Trade Unions in the Green Economy: Working for the Environment

2013-04-06T15:12:14+00:00

Need there be a conflict between jobs and climate change? The positions of trade unions internationally on problems of climate change and the environment is explored in a varied collection of articles, reviewed by Douglas Coker

Desperation Nation: stopping the Tory war on welfare

2013-04-03T13:21:08+00:00

The largest and most radical changes to the welfare state since its inception come into being this month Adam Tomes reviews six of the major changes being introduced and the myths used to justify them

The crisis in Europe and the response of the Left

2013-04-02T13:25:38+00:00

In this article, which will appear in Spanish in the Chilean journal Revista Materialismo Histórico, John Rees looks at the prospects for the left

The left needs infrastructure

2013-04-02T09:34:03+00:00

It’s more than possible to build infrastructure that’s of use to the left, campaigning organisations and those lost souls looking for a place to be, we need more of them argues Jim Jepps

Bedroom tax: Manchester joins national day of action

2013-03-31T07:35:26+00:00

Manchester had a vibrant protest against the bedroom tax on Saturday, hot on the heels of the city's last protest on the issue, as part of a nationwide day of action

The Oil Road: Journeys from the Caspian Sea to the City of London

2013-03-28T08:30:04+00:00

The Oil Road provides an illuminating picture of political and economic power through the form of a travelogue across the countries affected by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline

Boris Berezovsky and the triumph of historical justice

2013-03-26T10:12:12+00:00

For millions of Russians who lost their savings, jobs, and life prospects during the final decade of the last century, Berezovsky is a symbol of the nightmare the country lived

Video: The New Scramble for Africa

2013-03-25T10:37:14+00:00

The New Scramble For Africa looks beyond the humanitarian rhetoric and examines the geo-strategic motives of the Western powers in Africa

The Immigrant War

2013-03-22T16:22:42+00:00

Vittorio Longhi’s The Immigrant War makes a compelling case for why migrant labour needs to be defended against attack. In doing so conditions for all workers would be raised, finds Paul Hartley

It's time to decide: the left, austerity, and the People's Assembly

2013-03-22T10:09:04+00:00

The crucial next step to radical unity at the moment is to pull together all those who want to fight the government, whether they are inside or outside Labour argues Chris Nineham

Revolution co-opted: western leaders threaten further escalation in Syria

2013-03-19T15:54:28+00:00

Western imperial powers have ironically chosen the tenth anniversary of their calamitous invasion of Iraq to intensify the diplomatic and military pressure on the Assad regime in Syria

Iraq: the difference we made

2013-03-19T15:07:44+00:00

The impact of mass opposition to the Iraq war still reverberates today argues Chris Nineham

Hacking, hypocrisy and hysteria: a Royal Charter for the Press

2013-03-19T12:29:23+00:00

The Royal Charter does not signal the end of press freedom or licensing of the press, but neither does it deal with the question of ownership and control at the heart of the problem

Proud, vindicated and angry that over one million Iraqis died because we were ignored

2013-03-19T09:05:15+00:00

Those of us who protested ten years ago were right to do so and the world would be a much better place if instead of being vilified we had we been listened to

Cyprus, contagion and the return of the euro crisis

2013-03-18T21:00:30+00:00

The sight of queues appearing outside banks in Cyprus over the weekend has raised the spectre of contagious bank runs across Europe - the eurocrisis is back

Support the PCS on Budget day

2013-03-18T15:06:57+00:00

The PCS union has voted to take strike action over pensions and pay this Wednesday as George Osborne announces another round of austerity measures in the annual Budget

Spirit for our age

2013-03-14T11:52:25+00:00

The Spirit of 45 is Ken Loach at his very best, says Tom Prince

The People v. Tony Blair: Politics, the Media and the Anti-War Movement

2013-03-14T09:33:08+00:00

The People V Tony Blair is a refreshing and stimulating account of how mass movements and demonstrations have the power to neutralise the mainstream media and challenge governments, finds Adam Tomes

Sequestration: American for austerity

2013-03-12T11:17:14+00:00

Obama's failure to avert a devastating sequence of cuts represents another betrayal of the millions of American workers who voted to give him a second chance in the November election

Video: Lincoln, the American Civil War and the fight against Slavery

2013-03-12T10:55:06+00:00

Historian Neil Faulkner and socialist writer John Rees talk about the American Civil war at Firebox Cafe. Film by Paul Hanes

Video: Owen Jones - rebuilding the working class movement

2013-03-12T10:30:49+00:00

Owen Jones speaking at Firebox cafe on 7 March 2013. Film by Paul Hanes

Austerity has failed. We need to mobilise popular opposition

2013-03-10T12:06:31+00:00

George Osborne will deliver another austerity budget against a background of divisions in the Coalition, growing public hostility to cuts and a leap in support for Ukip

How a Century of War Changed the Lives of Women

2013-03-09T16:34:51+00:00

How a Century of War Changed the Lives of Women looks at the remarkable impact of war on women in Britain, how conflict has changed women’s lives and put women at the centre of peace

A Marxist History of The World: From Neanderthals to Neoliberals

2013-03-09T16:34:51+00:00

This analysis of human history from hominids to the current Great Recession combines the insights of earlier Marxist historians with radical new ideas about the historical process

Coming together – People’s Assembly update

2013-03-09T14:45:17+00:00

With April bringing a new wave of austerity measures, what we do in the run up to the People’s Assembly can shape the future of the anti-austerity movement in Britain

Counterfire book series by Pluto Press

2013-03-09T09:39:20+00:00

Neil Faulkner and Lindsey German talk about the new Counterfire book series published by Pluto press, featuring A Marxist History of the World and How a Century of War Changed the Lives of Women