This March 8th, we observe International Working Women’s Day or IWWD, but the first unofficial women’s day took place in America on the 28th of February 1909. In 1910 Clara Zetkin proposed that an international working women’s day would be observed every year at the Conference of Working Women. March […]
Month: March 2022
Coming of age during the Iranian Revolution
Based on Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novel of the same name, the film Persepolis follows a young girl as she comes of age against the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution. The film moves from her early childhood in secular 1970s Iran, where Marji’s deepest desire is to be the next […]
Holed below the waterline
There it goes, down again. Holed below the waterline, the leaking vessel Stormont is floundering once more. Yet, in spite of its official role as an integral part of overall United Kingdom governance, the British establishment cares little about the political apparatus in Belfast. Underlining this reality was the spectacle […]
Are rights subordinate to class power?
The intention of this article is to bring into focus the idea of “rights” and to put forward the argument that the communist movement should not frame strategies within the language of rights: rather our analysis must be based on class power. If our objective is to develop class-consciousness with […]
More haikus by Gabriel Rosenstock
Iraq: A bilingual photo-haiku portfolio Gabriel responds to images from Iraq by the acclaimed photographer Maxime Crozet. Iraq . . . all that has gone all that remains an Iaráic . . . a bhfuil imithe is a bhfuil fágtha ··············································································································· a mirage? former palace of Saddam Hussein in Babylon ciméara? seanphálás Saddam Hussein […]
Irish Rebels in Latin America
Tomás Mac Síomóin, From One Bright Island Flown: Irish Rebels, Exiles, and Martyrs in Latin America (Nuascéalta, 2022; €9.10 / £7.30). Available on line. The defeat of the Gaelic Irish, supported by Spanish forces, at the Battle of Kinsale in 1602 was the final blow in the English conquest of […]
An urgent need for a political solution in Ukraine
Statement by the National Executive Committee, Communist Party of Ireland Today the world is closer to global war than at any time since 1962. The two largest countries in Europe are at war. The immediate cause of this situation has been the expansion of NATO and its project to constrict […]
Violence against women: A class question
While violence against women cuts across socio-economic divides, working-class women are particularly exposed both to violence—especially violence from strangers—and to its economic effects. Urantsetseg Tserendorj was an office cleaner who was attacked in the Financial Services Centre in Dublin as she made her way home from her shift in January […]
An alternative to capitalist feminism
This March, those of us who are “lucky” enough to work at liberal corporations, or are surrounded by liberal organisations, are once more sure to encounter “liberal” or capitalist feminism. Usually these corporations and organisations will drop the “Working” from International Working Women’s Day, which should give a hint to […]
Tomás Mac Síomóin (1938-2022)
Marxist writer, thinker, activist The death of Tomás Mac Síomóin has caused much sadness to comrades and his large circle of friends as well as his family members, but his full, worthy life is a cause for celebration. He bequeathed to coming generations a legacy of powerful writing and thought. […]
Public housing the solution
Government housing policy is the cause of the housing crisis. Homelessness, waiting-lists and extortionate levels of private rent are the symptoms of policy designed to benefit speculators, landlords, and hedge funds—the business class. The number of homes available to rent has fallen close to a historical record, while rents have […]
A life-or-death struggle
The illusion of food democracy There are many things in life that we can do without—but food is not one of them. Along with food we need water, shelter, clothes and warmth to have any chance of survival as a species. And yet we often take food for granted, and […]
Hostile City
Hostile architecture is familiar to most people as dramatic instances of anti-homelessness spikes, sprinkler systems, or directional speakers. These devices are placed outside shops and businesses to discourage people who sleep in the street from choosing this particular nook to shelter in, or to prevent teenagers from gathering. Egregious examples […]
A Workers’ Rights Act Now!
At the recent biennial delegate conference of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions a motion from Dublin Council of Trade Unions was passed to seek alternative legislation to restore all rights lost as a result of the Industrial Relations Act (1990). The 1990 act was a direct result of the […]