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Socialist Outlook
SO/04 - Autumn 2004
In the Politics/ESF section we have a keynote article by Gilbert Achcar, of the French LCR, Thoughts on the Iraq warand the anti-war movement, which analyses the political effects of the US-led imperialist war and occupation in Iraq and the seminal role of the international anti-war movement. Sam Chase, of the campaign Rising Tide (UK), in Rising Tide: a movement for climate justice. The story so far… charts the history of this campaign that seeks to expose the human and environmental crimes of the multinational oil companies and how to oppose them. In The Fourth International in Europe Alex Cowper discusses the political and campaigning activities of some of the European sections of the FI, many of whom will be participating in the London European Social Forum. This November sees the US Presidential election. In the Politics/US Elections section Dave Bernt, from Socialist Action (US), explains why the ‘anyone but Bush’ campaign is wrong. In ‘Lesser evil’ Kerry is not the answer he argues that a vote for the Democrat Party candidate Kerry is a vote for lesser evil rather than for a genuine alternative to Bush. In the Theory/History section to celebrate the ESF coming to London this October, Dave Packer, in London: heart of empire and global city: Or how the city has reinvented itself, shows how historically London has always been both an imperial city, at the heart of international trade and at the same time considered ungovernable and a city of extreme contrasts. In the Debate/ESF section Jane Kelly looks again at the debates around the French legislation on the banning of the hijab arguing that Only the oppressed can decide. Finally we have two contributions in response to a recent article by Alex Callinicos on the new left parties in Europe and the politics of Respect. In Building anti-capitalist parties in Europe, Murray Smith, of the French LCR, looks at the broader picture in Europe and also draws on his experiences of working with the Scottish Socialist Party. Alan Thornett, in A reply to Alex Callinicos, concentrates on the English developments, discussing what lessons we can derive from the experience of the Socialist Alliance in trying to build Respect.
Editorial
The European Social Forum meets in London to debate an alternative progressive politics to the horrors unleashed on the world by Bush and the neo-cons in charge of the White House. But the ‘war on terror’ continues – in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Chechnya, in Palestine and elsewhere.
Politics
The European Social Forum will provide a major opportunity for activists across Europe to discuss how to take the movement against the imperialist war drive forward. Here Gilbert Achcar, a Lebanese socialist based in France, and member of the LCR, analyses the current political situation and the problems and opportunities facing the anti-war movement.
Politics
Oil has fuelled economic growth for over a century, while the oil industry and the financial structures it supports have torn communities apart, trashed ecosystems and helped trigger climate chaos in a ceaseless shabby hustle for ‘shareholder value’. Here Sam Chase, of the Rising Tide UK Network, explains why the campaign on climate change is targeting oil companies.
Anyone coming to the London Social Forum will no doubt either be bewildered by or resigned to the 57 varieties of socialism and anarchism on offer. But many ESF participants will see the need to build international left co-operation alongside and as part of the international coordination of the social movements. Revolutionary marxists of the Fourth International (FI), to which Socialist Outlook is linked, have played a crucial role both in European left regroupment and in the leadership of social struggles. Drawing on contributions by comrades from a number of countries, Alex Cowper surveys the work being done by the FI across the continent.
Politics
The worldwide movement against the war and occupation in Iraq has mobilised throughout the world. In the United States, demonstrators have demanded, ‘Bring the troops home now!’ Yet John Kerry, the Democratic Party nominee for U.S. president, has called for 40,000 more U.S. troops to be sent to Iraq. In this article, Dave Bernt, a national leader of Socialist Action and Youth for Socialist Action (US), explains how voting for the ‘lesser evil’ Kerry is no solution.
Theory/History
Or, how the city has reinvented itself.
The European Social Forum in London is the third to be staged in one of Europe’s great cities. David Packer here discusses the way London has been described as an imperial monster, a ‘do as you please’ Babylon, a polypus, a stain, a mighty carbuncle, William Cobbett’s ‘great wen’, or Mayhew’s vast ‘bricken wilderness’. It has always been considered ungovernable and a city of extremes and contrasts.
Debate
The new French legislation banning the wearing of ‘ostentatious symbols of faith’ in schools in the name of secular education has divided the left and feminists alike, both in France and Britain. Jane Kelly argues that rehearsing some of the debates between black and white feminists in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s may remind us of how the left should respond to the demands of the oppressed including in the debate on the wearing of the hijab.
Debate
Following on the recent European elections, leading SWP member Alex Callinicos has written an article entitled, ‘The European radical left tested electorally.’ The article is interesting from two points of view. In the first place, for what it has to say about the experience of Respect and the lessons the SWP draws from it. Secondly, for the way it approaches the ‘broader strategic issues’ concerning the radical left in Europe. Murray Smith of the French Ligue Communiste Revolutionnaire (LCR) responds.
Debate
Alan Thornett responds to Alex Callinicos’s article “The European radical left tested electorally”.
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