The economists and big business say it is too radical, filled with Marxist rhetoric, and threatening state intervention and nationalisation. The trade unionists and communists say it is too conservative, promoting black business and labour market reform. Is The Second...
Socialism
Towards an ecosocialist network | by Grant Brookes
Text of a presentation by Grant Brookes at the conference Socialism 2012: Class Struggle in Aotearoa, held June 1-3 in Wellington, New Zealand, sponsored by the Workers Party New Zealand. I had some reservations, when I was asked to speak in this session, about an...
Missed chance as our Rome starts to burn | by Terry Bell
It was not solely disrespect for reserve bank governor Gill Marcus that saw many delegates to the National Union of Metalworkers (Numsa) congress largely ignore her speech last week. Nor was it, as general secretary, Irvin Jim, maintained, because the chattering...
Marxism, the 21st century and social transformation | by Bill Fletcher, Jr.
A discussion of the future of socialism and social transformation must be grounded in two realities. The first reality is the broader economic, environmental and state-legitimacy crises in which humanity finds itself. In other words, the convergence of these three...
Reviving socialism from below | by Phil Gasper
Capitalism’s biggest crisis since the 1930s raises the question of what can replace it. A SPECTER is haunting capitalism. As the world economy plunges into its worst crisis since the Great Depression, political discourse in the United States has been dominated by a...
Economic crisis and class struggle | by Phil Gasper
Are recessions better for the left or right, asks Phil Gasper? The most fundamental argument in favor of socialism is that capitalism is an irrational system that over the long term cannot meet the basic needs of the majority of the population because of its tendency...
Another world is possible | by Phil Gasper
Capitalism creates a society that robs most people of their creative potential, says Phil Gasper PHIL GASPER responds to a supporter of capitalism In the last issue of the ISR (#74), I wrote a column about Marx’s concept of alienation and why work—which Marx claims...
Is an alternative possible? | by Phil Gasper
Phil Gasper reviews what Marx had to say about the transition from capitalism to socialism THE REMARKABLE emergence of the Occupy Wall Street movement in the closing months of 2011 has not only shifted the political debate in the United States, putting issues of...
Seeking a definition of Socialism
Is North Korea socialist? Is the sort of society that exists there the sort of society that we, in South Africa, should wish to emulate? Is it the sort of regime that workers the world over should support? These may seem strange questions to ask in South Africa. Or...

