Red Words

As public sector workers prepare to vote on the Croke Park agreement Kieran Allen examines the Irish trade union movement and asks what is the way forward for workers after the death of partnership?

To read click here Unions after Partnership

Two terrible threats define the 21st century. One is imperialist war; the other is the accelerating threat of catastrophic climate change. In the wake of last December’s fiasco at Copenhagen UN conference on climate change, Donal Mac Fhearraigh explores the politics of climate change, from the scientific debates through to Marx and the role of the working class in preventing it.

Click here to read Climate Change

The Irish Labour Party

As the economic crisis tightens its grip in Ireland the Labour Party has seen a surge in support as workers look for a credible alternative to right-wing political parties like Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. Through an in-depth, historical analysis of the Labour Party and its role in Irish history, James O’Toole considers whether Labour can ever offer Irish workers a real alternative .

Click here to read The Labour Party

Radical thinkers series: Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky is one of the most recognised names of our time, and was voted the most important public intellectual in the world today, winning almost a quarter of the 20,000 votes cast. Sinéad Kennedy assesses the writing and politics of this important left-wing intellectual.

This is first in what will be a series of articles on radical thinkers today

Click here to read

Venezuela caught the imagination of people around the world when left-wing President Hugo Chávez famously launched his plan to create “socialism in the 21st century”.  Five years after that declaration, Mike Gonzalez examines the extent to which Venezuela is moving in a leftward direction towards a new and different kind of society.

Click here to read Revolution in Venezuela

Marnie Holborow reviews Fintan O’Toole best-selling critique of Ireland’s Celtic Tiger, Ship of Fools: How Stupidity and Corruption Sank the Celtic Tiger.

Chris Harman, editor of International Socialism Journal and leading member of the British SWP, sadly died late last year. Brian O’Boyle considers his final and timely book, Zombie Capitalism: Global Crisis and the Relevance of Marx.

Paul O’Biren examines Brian Hanley’s and Scott Millar’s history of the Workers Party, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers Party.

Sean Mitchell reviews Robert Service’s controversial new biography of revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky, Trotsky: A biography.

Madeline Johansson reviews a new biography of Marx’s collaborator Friedrich Engels, The Frock-Coated Communist: The Revolutionary Life of Friedrich Engels.

Peadar O’Grady looks at Slavoj Žižek, ‘the Elvis of cultural theory’ recent book, First as Tragedy, then as Farce.