The Corbyn insurgency: why it’s really not the Trots
Curious things keep happening in UK and US politics. The pundits are puzzled: why do Trump, Sanders, Corbyn exist? Why Brexit? A collective madness has settled over the populations of […]
Brexit to nowhere? Finding hope in convivial institutions
It appears that many people in the UK, some of them left-inclined, joined a right-driven rush to exit the EU, because they feel abandoned by the institutions that rule us. […]
The Housing Hustle – why building more houses won’t solve London’s housing crisis
House prices in London, most people agree, are too high. Orthodoxy on left and right says that this is due either to the free market or constraints on the free […]
Inventing the future, ignoring the past – a review
There was much that interested me in Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams’ Inventing the Future. The first part of the book constructs a critique of what they call ‘folk politics’. […]
Clouds over IMPA, the Argentine occupied factory that led the way
The slogan that has sprung from IMPA, one of the first factories to respond to the Argentinian economic crisis with a worker take-over, is Occupy, Resist, Produce. No part of […]
The performers vs the president’s police
This is a video of a protest I went to in Buenos Aires, in defense of murgas and street culture. A murga is a carnival performance group, usually attached to […]
Keeping politically radical co-ops politically radical
In my recent review of People Over Capital, I commented that many co-operatives have been set up by radically-minded co-operators, but that they often fail to remain politically radical, or […]
People Over Capital: The co-operative alternative to capitalism – a review
The reader’s attitude to this book is likely to depend on what they think of the subtitle. Do you want an alternative to capitalism, and do you think co-ops can […]
Lewisham Council plans to make a profit from renters: Besson Street and beyond
Lewisham Council has finally unveiled its plan to re-develop a large empty plot of land at Besson Street, New Cross Gate, within what is sometimes known as the Kender Triangle. The plans […]
Is the positive thinking industry built on wishful thinking?
Few people these days would believe in a medicine that could cure all diseases, yet many people, it seems, believe in the mental cure-all of positive thinking. Thinking positively will […]