Ian Birchall
Cultural Marxism? A review of The Dialectics of Art
Ian Birchall reviews The Dialectics of Art, a new work by John Molyneux.
Review: Anti-Nazi Germans
As Boris Johnson and others attempt to invoke the ‘spirit of the Blitz’ in response to COVID-19, Ian Birchall celebrates a recent publication that disrupts the national myths of WWII.
The total Marx and the total theory of literature
A lost gem of Marxist aesthetic theory, out of print for over forty years.
There’s nothing so weird as a revolution
Ian Birchall reviews China Miéville's October, a new history of the Russian Revolution.
It seems an odd pairing: the Russian Revolution and China Miéville, whose...
Peter Sedgwick and the British Left
Peter Sedgwick (1934-83) was a lifelong socialist activist and writer. Apart from his work to bring Victor Serge to the English speaking world, and his critical writings...
The story of a Bolshevik worker-intellectual: a review of Barbara Allen’s...
Ian Birchall reviews Barbara C Allen's Alexander Shlyapnikov 1885-1937: Life of an Old Bolshevik, published by Haymarket Books.
"Young Alexander conquered India. He alone?"...
The Somme: Remember…and explain
Ian Birchall reviews Neil Faulkner's new pamphlet, Have You Forgotten Yet? The Truth about the Somme
I happened to be on Waterloo Station on 1st July. When...
Bel Druce 1940-2015
We republish Ian Birchall's obituary for his very close friend, and rs21 member Bel Druce, who died at the end of August. It was...
Latest articles
Cultural Marxism? A review of The Dialectics of Art
Ian Birchall reviews The Dialectics of Art, a new work by John Molyneux.
Combatting workplaces: an interview with Janet Newsham
Every workplace is a Covid frontline, as employers try to force workers into unsafe situations. We interviewed Janet Newsham of the Hazards Campaign, which is fighting back.
Next steps in the fight for safe schools
The government's retreat on school closures won't last forever. Education workers need to go on the offensive.
Let them starve – food and class in Tory Britain
The Tories and their cronies will let working-class children starve. We don't just need food for all – we need to take over the food system.
‘As cold as charity’: repression and the ‘speculator state’
The government's right-wing reform of public services continues apace – and NGOs and charities are being used as cover.
Agitating with Art: the Artivists at Work story so far
Artwork – not just 'great art' but cartoons and doodles – can add life and vibrancy to political messaging, and give people a mirror in which to recognise their own hopes and frustrations.
Highlights
Poland’s feminist uprising
Women in Poland are making their own cause for hope by taking the streets. rs21 spoke with several feminist activists in Polish union Inicjatywa Pracownicza about the recent wave of feminist strikes and protests.
What does abolition mean in modern Britain?
The Black Lives Matter movement has sown seeds of hope worldwide for the abolition of police. But policing in the UK goes far beyond the bodies of armed men in uniform.
Fortress Europe after Moria
After Moria burned to the ground, a new camp was quickly built to replace it. We interviewed Chloe Haralambous and Michalis Poulimas about events on the ground and what they mean for the EU border regime.
Global fever
The Covid-19 pandemic is a foretaste of the approaching climate catastrophe. Andreas Malm's electrifying new book looks at both these crises and asks what we'll need to do to face them down.
Interview: Organised and disorganised labour in the Belarus uprising
Siarhei Biareishyk speaks to rs21 about the uprising in Belarus following the falsified re-election of Aliaksandr Lukashenka on 9 August 2020.
Interview: Beirut blast exposed a global system
Rima Majed spoke to rs21 about the blast that devastated Beirut in the context of an existing political and economic crisis.