04 May, 2012 // Category: Europe, Politics, Vision/Strategy
The first round of the French Presidential elections has raised important lessons for the democratic left – about both organisation and ideas. The media is talking about how well the far right did. But the socialist left did well too. More than one in ten electors voted for the Front de Gauche....
13 February, 2012 // Category: Corporate power, Europe, The Right, Vision/Strategy
Steve McGiffen has had a long involvement with left politics in Europe. He is a former official of the United European Left Group in the European Parliament and has been associated in various capacities with the Socialist Party of the Netherlands since 1999. He is also the editor Spectrezine. He...
16 January, 2012 // Category: Activism, Book Review, Culture, Europe, History, Philosophy and Theory, Politics, Racism, The Right
The Crisis of Multiculturalism: Racism in a Neoliberal Age by Alana Lentin and Titley, Zed Books, 2011, 284 pp. Defending Multiculturalism: A Guide for the Movement by Hassan Mahamdallie (ed.), Bookmarks, 231 pp. In 2011 David Cameron brought neo-Powellite racism to the heart of Government. ...
07 January, 2012 // Category: Europe, Politics, The Right
Since New Year’s Day, Hungary is no longer officially a republic. Signs on the border crossings and all official documentation have been changed accordingly. The new constitution, with its talk of historical destiny and stated desire for continuity with Horthy-era Hungary, has been enacted in its...
12 November, 2011 // Category: Activism, Corporate power, Economy, Europe, International, Politics
After four days of bargains and scheming behind closed doors, the pillars of the Greek political system have produced a “national unity government” – a term which isn't a misnomer if one excludes from the “nation” the various left parties, currently polling the same as or above the leading...
25 October, 2011 // Category: Economy, Europe
The long phase that lasted thirty years starting with the neoliberal turn of 1979–80 was anything but a retreat of the state; nor was it characterized by the abandonment of interventionist policies. Certainly the U-turn in economic policies at the end of the 1970s generated a rapid compression of...
27 July, 2011 // Category: Economy, Employment & Welfare, Europe, International
Hungary, 2010. A new conservative government comes to office with a radical, largely undeclared programme. It embarks on plans to ‘reform’ the public sector, involving massive numbers of redundancies in government, and one-sided changes to what it describes as an over-generous pension scheme....
22 June, 2011 // Category: Activism, Economy, Europe, International, Politics, Vision/Strategy
The only way to describe recent developments in Greece is to refer to a peaceful popular insurrection that has led to an open political crisis. The mass gatherings at city squares at the centres of all major Greek cities continue to gather momentum. Since the 25th of May, Athens and most Greek...
01 May, 2011 // Category: Corporate power, Economy, Europe, Politics
How different does Europe look today, from ten years ago. In 2000, influential commentators hailed the dawn of the ‘new European century’ to replace the atrocious ‘American’ 20th century. Europe was on the way to becoming the model polity for the new world. The re-unification of Germany,...
08 March, 2011 // Category: Europe, Politics
In his classic Novel, ‘Heart of Darkness’, Joseph Conrad wrote of strength that it was, in and of itself, no great thing since it is always and inevitably “based upon the weakness of others”. This is a point Enda Kenny, leader of a newly-bloated Fine Gael party might do well to remember....
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