Larissa Reisner and the German revolution of 1923
In a vain effort to escape from the disgusting trivia of the New Zealand elections, I have been reading Hamburg at the Barricades, Larissa Reisner’s1 account of the failed German […]
Category Archives: revolution
The socialism of mining villages, lumber camps and company towns
The capitalist mode of production comes into existence by uprooting people from the land and drawing them into urban industrial concentrations. Great industrial cities are a characteristic feature of capitalism, […]
The Twitter Bonaparte casts a shadow: two articles on Bonapartism
Part 1: the second Bonaparte (and the first) In 1848 the continent of Europe was engulfed in the flames of revolution. Absolute monarchies, princes and dukes were overthrown in Denmark, […]
Fidel Castro’s ‘moral armour’ and courage under fire
In one of the videos of Fidel Castro that have been circulating since the revolutionary leader’s death, a reporter is accompanying Fidel on the plane trip to New York, where […]
The difficult birth of independent Mongolia
“Let every Mongolian, Russian, Tibetan, and Chinese person know that we have heard that the Chinese have revolted against the Manchu and the Qing empire is presently in collapse. Mongolia […]
A visit to the museum of propaganda posters in Shanghai
I have never been very keen on Maoist poster art – not even in the period of my life when I was attracted to Maoism – and I probably would […]
The Condition of the Working Class in New Zealand in 1890
In 1842 Friedrich Engels, the 22-year-old son of a German textile manufacturer, was sent to Manchester, England, to work in the family business. Manchester was at the time the centre […]
The many claimants to the political legacy of Thomas Sankara
(Last in a series based on a visit to West Africa in December and January) At various locations in Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso, there are monuments to the achievements […]
Agricultural workers and gold miners in Burkina Faso
Notes from a visit to West Africa in January 2015. Fourth article in a series. In the savannah regions of northern Ghana, Togo, and Benin, and southern Burkina Faso, most of […]
Grass fires, firewood, and the fires of revolution
Notes from a visit to West Africa, December 2014 to January 2015. Second in a series of six articles Koussoukoingou, Benin, January 5: Everywhere we went in the dry northern regions […]
