Category: Social protests

Mike Parker: Socialist, Labor Educator, Political Activist – 1940-2022

Mike Parker spent his entire adult life engaged in movements and organizations that he believed would advance the struggle for the creation of a democratic socialist society.

The Fight to Defend Abortion Rights: A Roundtable

We at New Politics have been horrified by the passage of laws in Texas and Mississippi aimed at reversing Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that upheld women’s right to choose an abortion. The Texas law bans abortions . . .

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When Push Came to Shove

New Politics editorial board member Michael Hirsch (1945-2021) was a young radical when he came into contact with the journal’s founding editors, Phyllis and Julius Jacobson. The first of his many articles for it appeared in Spring 1970.

The Two Souls of Aplutsoc

John Barzman responds to Aplutsoc’s criticisms of his interview with New Politics about social resistance to the French health pass.

Social Resistance to the Health Pass

Continuing debate about the health pass and social resistance in France: The editorial board of Aplutsoc responds to New Politics’ coverage.

School Board Meetings Become Violent as Republicans Fight Over Health and Race

Local school board meetings in the United States have for the last three months become the site of intense arguments and even violence as parents fight over both health policies and teaching about race.

Tens of Thousands of Women March for Abortion Rights

The politics of the march in NYC were progressive, with a strong presence of Democratic organizations, such as Indivisible and several independent Democratic clubs.

Socialists and Free Speech Revisited

How should socialists who support democratic rights approach current controversies regarding the practical application of the right to free speech? This review essay explores this question discussing David Renton’s recent book. 

French Anti-Pass Demonstrations on the Eve of the Presidential Election

The fragmentation of the left has led to an almost certain second-round dual between Macron and Le Pen in 2022, with grave implications for the future of an explicitly left mass movement.

What’s Happening in France?

The French collective Aplusoc (Arguments for the Social Struggle) argues that recent protests in France do not represent a reactionary wave.

An assessment of the July 11 Protests in Cuba

Analysis from a Cuban historian and writer based in Matanzas, Cuba.

Understanding the Paris Commune On its 150th Anniversary

What is the significance of the Paris Commune for us today? A model for socialists? A heroic failure? Negation of the state? Or the first workers’ government?

DSA’s Flawed International Outlook: The Appeal of the Mass Party and its Contradictions

There’s something contradictory in this position that needs to be pointed out. The parties that DSA has focused on weren’t always mass parties. Often, they began as just the kind of plebeian networks or far left grouplets that DSA eschews as irrelevant.

Social Explosion in Cuba: The Ignored Signals

In my opinion, there are two determining factors that have led to this moment of malaise. On the one hand, the inability of our rulers to channel a successful reform path…On the other hand, there is the ability of citizens to submit this incapacity to public judgment, which is something new.

Cuban Protests and the American Reaction

The moment that thousands took to the streets in unprecedented national demonstrations in Cuba on July 11 demanding “freedom,” everyone in Cuba and in the United States recognized that we are at a critical moment.

From Cuba: A Description of the Protests

On Sunday 11 July, Cuba experienced a series of social outbreaks that encompassed at least six of the 14 provinces that make up the country. In the 62 years since the triumph of the revolution, Cuba had not faced a situation like this.

Nigeria: #EndSARS, Workers’ Power, and War

In October 2020, millions in Nigeria marched for two weeks in a revolt that shook the world. From Badagry to Yola, youth and workers rose in unity against the barbarism of police brutality and bad governance. Raising radical slogans and . . .

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Assad’s Pyrrhic Victory

It’s difficult to recollect the euphoria of the early days of the 2011 uprising in Syria against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Reflecting on that time, Syrians speak of the breaking of the “fear barrier”—the suffocating authoritarianism and repression that . . .

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South Africa

“The Masses Are Not Protected”

Post-Apartheid Symptoms of Morbidity

Everyone’s focus is on trying to save what is dying in South Africa. Few are paying attention to what is struggling to be born.

Some Good News–Support for Palestinians is Growing

It may be hard to believe, but against the background of daily killings of Palestinians and statements of blanket support for Israel by Imperial Leader Biden, there is some good news. Many Israelis are courageously denouncing Israeli apartheid and support for Palestinians has been growing fast around the world and in some unusual places.

The Other Regional Counter-Revolution

Iran’s Role in the Shifting Political Landscape of the Middle East

Where has Iran stood during the popular movements in Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria?

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