Solidarity 083, 03 November 2005

Communist International 1920 Theses on the national and colonial question

1. An abstract or formal conception of the question of equality in general and national equality in particular is characteristic of the bourgeois democracy by its very nature. Under the pretence of the equality of the human person in general, bourgeois democracy proclaims the formal legal equality of the proprietor and the proletarian, of the exploiter and the exploited, and thus deceives the oppressed classes in the highest degree. The idea of equality, which is itself a reflection of the relations of commodity production, is transformed by the bourgeoisie, under the pretext of the absolute...

“Revolutionary nationalism”, in 1920 and today

The Theses on the National and Colonial Question of the Second Congress of the Communist International, which met in July-August 1920, are one of the most important documents of revolutionary socialism. We reprint this text over on page 16. They were drafted by Lenin and amended in important respects by the Congress. The world dealt with in the resolution has long ago passed into history, bar a remnant here and there. It was a world of great colonial empires ruled from London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Lisbon. (The Dutch had a large empire in the East Indies, now Indonesia; the Belgians...

Don’t let them chip away abortion rights!

By Cathy Nugent On 26 October the Abortion Rights Campaign held a meeting in London to mark the 38th anniversary of the passing of the 1967 legislation granting British women some access to abortion. Limited though the legislation was, it did mean that women no longer had to risk death or damaged health from illegal “back street” abortions. If all the predictions are correct, and if the general anti-abortion mood continues to nurture it, another legislative assault on the time limits is imminent. Over 100 people attended the ARC meeting, including many young women (and some men). This could be...

Rosa Parks and her times

“There comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over.” - Martin Luther King “My resistance to being mistreated on the busses and anywhere else was just a regular thing with me and not just on that day.” - Rosa Parks (1913-2005) The Second World War changed the position of black Americans. In 1940 there were 12.8 million African Americans, 9.8% of the population. About one quarter lived in the north and east of the USA; but the majority of black Americans still lived in the rural areas of ex-Confederate southern states. In the South black Americans lived under a regime of vicious...

Unfair to Draper

A lot of political tendencies and ways of thinking come under fire in the editorial “what is left anti-Semitism?” in Solidarity 3/82. Among them are those on the left who maintain appalling double standards towards Israel – opposing its occupation of Palestine with far more venom than that with which they oppose the equally (if not more) brutal occupations of, for example, Chechnya by Russia. These attacks are justified, and I agree that the double-standards applied to Israel and the history of Jewish nationalism can legitimately be analysed as amounting to de facto hostility to Jewish people...

1945 Labour introduced real reforms

While the article “1945 – was it socialism” (Solidarity 3/83) did draw out many accurate criticisms of Attlee’s government, I feel that it failed to get a grip on the real outlook of the people involved. It gives the impression of a government which was cynically passing progressive reforms merely for the sake of reducing working-class militancy. Rather than genuinely believing in its programme, the Labour leadership was merely trying to “appease its working class base” while in foreign policy it was “freest to serve the interests of capitalism more closely”.. There can be little doubt that...

Council workers refuse to lie down and die

By Heenal Rajani, Lambeth Council Unison Unison members protested outside the head office of the Local Government Association in London on October 27, wearing skeleton costumes and masks, against plans to make local government workers “work till they drop” for their pensions. Shortly before the general election, deputy prime minister John Prescott agreed to revoke plans to raise the local government pension age to 65 and abolish the “85 year rule” which allows council workers to retire as early as 55 if their years of service and age add up to 85. The LGA’s “new” plans, published in mid...

Huddersfield caretakers

Caretakers at Huddersfield Technical College started an indefinite strike on November 1 over poverty pay and the existence of a two-tier workforce. The college is refusing to speak to their union, Kirklees Unison branch, so the struggle continues. Donations and messages of support to Kirklees Unison, 20 Queen Street, Huddersfield, HD1 2QT or, phone 01484 223 377 or fax 01484 450 174.

Staffordshire bus drivers strike again

300 First Bus drivers in Staffordshire struck against on October 29 and 31 as part of an ongoing battle over pay and conditions by First Bus workers around the country. The Staffs drivers, currently on £6.60 an hour, want £8 to bring them into parity with First drivers elsewhere, but management are insisting that any pay rise must be “self-funding”, i.e. linked to worseconditions. Further strikes are planned for 7, 19 and 21 November.

Democracy comes to Westminster

140 TGWU cleaners at the Houses of Parliament will strike on 9 November in support of their demands for a living wage, as well as sick pay, holidays and pensions. At the moment, they get £5.20 an hour. To put that in context, Peter Grant Peterkin, the civil servant in charge of the contracts, who is refusing to meet the T&G to discuss the dispute, “earns” £100,000 a year!

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.