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
Queen Mary University of London – stop evicting students now!
The following is a statement from the QMUL Rent Strike Campaign from early April 2021. QMUL Rent Strike Campaign is mobilising against the eviction...
Review | Hope Against Hope: Cyborg thinking in disaster zones
Hope Against Hope contains some of the finest work of thinkers at the intersection of abolitionism, cyborg natures, and ecological revolutionary socialism
#KillTheBill – where it came from, where it’s going
Th Police Bill is an assault on us all and an attack on us all must be met by resistance from us all. Unity and solidarity must be the clarion call of this movement.
Justice over profit – organising in the legal sector
The law is often seen as a privileged arena, but the industry has staggering wage inequality. Two founding members of Legal Sector Workers United explain their strategy.
Alba is a dead end
None of the main pro-independence parliamentary parties are capable of delivering an independent Scotland that puts the needs of working-class people first.
Interview | Sanctions and ‘shock doctrine’ in Venezuela
In Venezuela, US sanctions are worsening a parlous economic situation and exacerbating a social crisis. What's the way forward?
Highlights
1871: the Commune and the Kabylia
Rosa Moussaoui recalls the uprising that swept colonised Algeria at the same moment that a Universal Republic was proclaimed in Paris
Remembering the Paris Commune
On the 150th anniversary of the instigation of the Paris Commune, rs21's Art Group presents a video project to commemorate the world's first working-class revolutionary government.
The Paris Commune: Order Reigns in Paris
A new translation of an article from Le Cri du peuple, the leading newspaper of the Paris Commune
‘That’s the power of direct action’: an interview with Palestine Action
On Feb 1 2021, Palestine Action and XR North shut down the Elbit Systems factory in Oldham. rs21 spoke with Huda and Richard from Palestine Action about Elbit, Palestine and direct action tactics.
Scotland, the left and independence
If the British state breaks up, will Scottish independence be a serious progressive change, or just a neoliberal reshuffle?
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.