The following is the text of the opening report delivered by David North, chairperson of the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site, to the International May Day Online Rally 2023, held Sunday, April 30.
David North•
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The social, cultural and historical significance of the US television and film writers strike
The strike by 11,000 US television and film writers is part of a general upsurge in the class struggle, a challenge to the stranglehold of the conglomerates over film and television production and a confrontation with the Democratic Party establishment that dominates Hollywood.
The coronation is conceived as an appeal for national unity, at a time of rising social tensions and class conflict and with war having already erupted on European soil.
Chris Marsden•
Following Wednesday’s drone attack on the official residence of Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, the US media sprang into action to promote the claim that Russia staged the attacks.
Andre Damon•
Ideological opponents of the Ukrainian government are waiting for prison or death
Report by a Ukrainian socialist
This article, which paints a chilling picture of state-led repression of any form of opposition to the Ukrainian government and the war against Russia, was submitted to the WSWS by Maxim Goldarb, the head of the banned Union of Left Forces (For a New Socialism) party.
Maxim Goldarb•
The charges of planning violence to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power applies even more strongly to ex-president Trump, but there is no hint of that in statements from the Department of Justice.
Patrick Martin•
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed three execution warrants so far this year, ending a more than three-year hiatus on state-sanctioned killings in the state.
Kate Randall•
An interview with Harvard anthropology Professor John Comaroff—Part two
“We have always written against the grain, which is the point of critique … of any weight”
We spoke recently to South African-born John Comaroff, the Hugh K. Foster Professor of African and African-American Studies and of Anthropology, and Oppenheimer Research Fellow in African Studies, Harvard University. This is the second of two parts.
David Walsh•
“Most of the hardworking posties are burnt out and talking about leaving. Most of us feel the CWU proposed deal is a sell-out and Ward and Co should resign or be sacked.”
our correspondents•
Jacob Crosse, Marc Wells, WSWS Reporters•
Jonathan Burleigh•
In the last days, security forces have killed at least four Palestinians they allege have killed Israeli citizens, without even attempting to arrest, formally charge them and bring them before the courts.
Jean Shaoul•
The four-day conference held in Atlanta, Georgia, last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention became a superspreader event.
Benjamin Mateus•
Leon Trotsky and the Struggle for Socialism in the Twenty-First Century
This essay by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North is the preface to the upcoming book, Leon Trotsky and the Struggle for Socialism in the Twenty-First Century. The print and epub versions of the book are available now for pre-order from Mehring Books.
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The return of German militarism and the lessons of World War II
This speech was delivered at the International May Day Online Rally 2023.
Christoph Vandreier•
The fight against war is a fight against Australia’s Labor government
This speech was delivered at the International May Day Online Rally 2023.
Cheryl Crisp•
Join the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees!
This is the report delivered by Will Lehman, a socialist rank-and-file worker at Mack Trucks in Macungie, Pennsylvania, to the 2023 International May Day Online Rally held on April 30.
Will Lehman•
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the ruling class’ return to Social Darwinism
This is the report delivered by Evan Blake, Coordinator of the WSWS Global Workers’ Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic, to the 2023 International May Day Online Rally held on April 30.
Evan Blake•
Thomas Scripps•
David North•
Alex Lantier•
Deepal Jayasekera•
Stepan Geller, Andrei Ritsky•
The social, cultural and historical significance of the US television and film writers strike
The strike by 11,000 US television and film writers is part of a general upsurge in the class struggle, a challenge to the stranglehold of the conglomerates over film and television production and a confrontation with the Democratic Party establishment that dominates Hollywood.
David Walsh•
Ukrainian attack on Kremlin is a criminal provocation
The Ukrainian attack on the Kremlin and the attempted assassination of Putin is a criminally reckless provocation, serving no other purpose than to provoke retaliation by Russia that would then be used to justify a massive escalation of NATO’s involvement in the war.
Andre Damon•
Macron’s police state wages war on French workers
There is no room for compromise and nothing to negotiate with this government, and the way forward for the working class is to bring it down through a general strike.
Alex Lantier•
US film and television workers strike: “We are not going to sit by silently as they keep paying us less and less”
Thousands of writers took to the picket lines Tuesday and expressed a willingness to fight back against the few corporations that dominate not only film and television, but the rest of society as well.
Jacob Crosse, Marc Wells•
Marcus Day•
Patrick Martin•
Patrick Martin•
David North•
Marcus Day•
US media promotes absurd claim that Russia staged attack on Kremlin
Following Wednesday’s drone attack on the official residence of Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, the US media sprang into action to promote the claim that Russia staged the attacks.
Andre Damon•
Ideological opponents of the Ukrainian government are waiting for prison or death
This article, which paints a chilling picture of state-led repression of any form of opposition to the Ukrainian government and the war against Russia, was submitted to the WSWS by Maxim Goldarb, the head of the banned Union of Left Forces (For a New Socialism) party.
Maxim Goldarb•
The 1619 Project and the New York Times’ promotion of the racialist ideology of Ukrainian nationalism
The racialist historical revisionism of the Times and the racialist ideology of the Ukrainian neo-Nazis share a common premise: the mythological reimagining of history as a struggle of “the nation” and “the race.”
Tom Carter•
New Zealand boosts support for US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine
The Labour Party-led government will extend the deployment of New Zealand troops to train Ukrainian soldiers in Britain, while strengthening ties with the US and Australia to prepare for war with China.
Tom Peters•
Clara Weiss•
Johannes Stern•
Alex Lantier•
Roger Jordan, Keith Jones•
Andre Damon•
Four years since the arrest and imprisonment of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange
Assange has spent almost a third of his adult life in detention, for the “crime” of exposing illegal wars, diplomatic conspiracies and mass surveillance.
Oscar Grenfell•
The betrayers of Julian Assange
This comment is an abridged version of an address by John Pilger in Sydney on 10 March to mark the launch in Australia of Davide Dormino’s sculpture of Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, ‘Figures of Courage’.
John Pilger•
No record of Australian Labor government’s diplomacy to US about Assange
The latest revelation demonstrates that while occasionally making vague statements about Assange’s plight, Labor is continuing the more than ten-year record of Australian governments collaborating in his persecution.
Oscar Grenfell•
Belmarsh Tribunal in Washington D.C. makes bankrupt appeal to Biden to drop charges against Assange
While there were important remarks from a number of journalists and whistleblowers, the tribunal was characterized by the bankrupt orientation of the “Progressive International” to the Biden administration and the Democratic Party.
Dominic Gustavo•
Laura Tiernan•
Thomas Scripps•
Oscar Grenfell•
Oscar Grenfell, SEP candidate for NSW Legislative Council•
Teamsters seek to isolate Philadelphia Coca Cola workers as strike approaches one month
The strike by 400 Coca-Cola workers faces a concerted effort to isolate the struggle by corporate management, the Democratic Party and Teamsters bureaucrats.
Ray Coleman•
Michigan hospital workers picket for improved wages and benefits at Trinity Health Grand Haven
Employees at Trinity Health Grand Haven picketed on April 28 to demand that the $20 billion health care corporation that has acquired the hospital negotiate a new contract with improved wages and benefits.
Kevin Reed•
Los Angeles Fire Department personnel speak out on shortage of rescue ambulances
In the most urgent cases, such as cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction, strokes and major trauma, an average response time of less than 7 minutes is a critical factor in patient outcomes, with deleterious consequences when exceeded.
Liz Cabrera•
Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia
India: Jammu and Kashmir education workers demand pay rises; Over 1,000 Anganwadi (childcare) workers protest in Kolkata; Australia: Patient transfer officers in New South Wales strike
Jacob Crosse, Marc Wells, WSWS Reporters•
Jonathan Burleigh•
Jerry White•
Sri Lanka’s public health services face breakdown
Drastic falls in the numbers of doctors and health workers have led to huge workloads for the remaining workforce, who are already severely burdened with higher taxes, inflation and cuts in allowances and overtime.
Tisara Senanayake, Kamal Mahagama•
Mass protests in Sri Lanka’s northern and eastern provinces against Wickremesinghe’s Anti-Terrorism Bill
Tamils and Muslims in the north and east participated in the mass hartal, while union bureaucrats in Colombo prevented unified nationwide actions.
W. A. Sunil•
Sri Lankan president still blocking local council polls while manoeuvring for an early presidential election
Wickremesinghe is banking on the enthusiastic support of big business, the media and sections of the upper-middle class over his so-called ability to secure the IMF $2.9 billion bailout loan.
Saman Gunadasa•
Sri Lankan trade unions hold “delegate conference” to derail growing class struggles
Union delegates made clear that they will do nothing to stop Wickremesinghe’s austerity measures and his anti-democratic attacks.
Pani Wijesiriwardena•
Deepal Jayasekera•
M. Thevarajah•
Sakuna Jayawardena•
Pani Wijesiriwardena•
Shanthakumar Alagappan, S.K. Keerthi•
Proud Boys leaders convicted of conspiracy against democracy
The charges of planning violence to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power applies even more strongly to ex-president Trump, but there is no hint of that in statements from the Department of Justice.
Patrick Martin•
North Carolina legislature poised to establish three-year high school option, vastly expand privatization of public education
A North Carolina Senate committee recently approved a bill that will require districts to provide for a three-year option to graduate high school and funnels over a billion dollars into private schools.
Harvey Simpkins•
Biden sending 1,500 active-duty troops to Mexican border
On Tuesday, the Biden White House said that it would deploy 1,500 troops from the Army and Marines to the southern border as part of a crackdown on migrants seeking asylum when Title 42 immigration rules are lifted on May 11.
Kevin Reed•
In bipartisan push for social cuts, Biden invites House, Senate leaders to discuss debt ceiling
As is common knowledge within ruling class circles, both parties are using the artificially created debt ceiling crisis to push through major cuts in social programs.
Barry Grey•
Jacob Crosse•
Andy Hartmann•
Jacob Crosse•
Barry Grey•
Chase Lawrence•
Mississippi River flooding exposes deep problems with US infrastructure
The city of Davenport, Iowa, only has temporary flood barriers and does not have a permanent flood wall or levee system, unlike neighboring cities, despite hosting nine miles of riverfront prone to flooding.
Jessica Goldstein•
Norfolk Southern conducted toxic chemical burn in East Palestine, Ohio without consulting federal authorities
Also this past week, test results from two independent laboratories confirmed the presence of carcinogens in the surrounding soil, water and air.
Samuel Davidson•
Former New Democrat Premier of British Columbia parachutes out of office and into top corporate job
Lost in all the faux-outrage over ex-Premier Horgan’s corporate appointment is the reality that the union-backed NDP is a right-wing capitalist party that colludes with and carries out the diktats of big business day in and day out.
Malcolm Fiedler•
Florida carries out third execution of 2023
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed three execution warrants so far this year, ending a more than three-year hiatus on state-sanctioned killings in the state.
Kate Randall•
Gwen Lee•
Hugo Maltais•
Kevin Reed•
Andy Thompson•
Leon Gutierrez•
Cotton Capital: The Guardian cynically “discovers” its links to the slave trade—Part 2
The political impulse at work is to rescue the Guardian’s progressive reputation while acknowledging the stain of slavery.
Paul Bond•
Germany: Conservative-Green Party state government passes repressive assembly law
The CDU-Green Assembly Act resembles the type of measure favoured by right-wing dictatorships and has been welcomed by representatives of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Justus Leicht•
UK higher education institutions respond to University and College Union marking boycott with escalated attacks on workers
An April 20 tweet by Dr. Kait Clark, a cognitive neuroscientist and senior lecturer, confirmed that fully 22 institutions said they would dock 100 percent of staff pay. Another 24 universities threated to slash between 20 and 80 percent of pay.
Ioan Petrescu•
Members of Zelensky’s party introduce internet censorship bill
The increasingly repressive and ever more openly dictatorial measures taken by the government are no doubt motivated above all by growing popular opposition to the war.
Jason Melanovski•
Santiago Guillen•
Alice Summers•
Peter Schwarz•
Markus Salzmann•
NHS FightBack•
Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot dead at 84
A remarkable talent and sincere and honest performer, Lightfoot's music is widely cherished in both the US and Canada.
James Brewer•
Dunera boys in Orange, the images and music of anti-Nazi refugees persecuted by British and Australian authorities
In World War II, Canberra signed a deal with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to incarcerate thousands of Jewish refugees from Nazi-controlled Germany, Austria and eastern Europe, in remote Australian prison camps.
Richard Phillips•
“Those he inspired will rise up, and like him, use their talents and their passions for good”—Minamata director Andrew Levitas marks the passing of composer Ryuichi Sakamoto
The death late last month of the multi-talented Ryuichi Sakamoto has seen an outpouring of tributes on social media from his artistic collaborators and fans.
Richard Phillips, Andrew Levitas•
The final season of HBO’s Succession: Corporate-family power struggles and an elite in decline
How the show wraps things up remains to be seen, but the portrait of the Roy family is unflattering in the extreme and Succession’s writing and acting remain sharp and amusing.
James Martin•
Joanne Laurier•
Fred Mazelis•
Fred Mazelis•
David Walsh•
Hong Jian•
Migrants caught between troop deployments along Chile-Peru border
The migrants are scapegoats in a show of military force that is driven by the irresolvable political and economic crises gripping both governments.
Andrea Lobo•
Thousands of Brazilian teachers stage national strike against low wages, pro-corporate high school reform
The unions have done everything they can to isolate and break a series of teacher strikes as they try to channel a growing movement of the Brazilian working class behind the Lula government.
Guilherme Ferreira•
In run-up to 2023 elections, Argentina’s pseudo-left prepares Syriza-style betrayal
With the entire political establishment facing a historic crisis, Argentina’s pseudo-left parties are scrambling to provide an electoral formula to help prop up capitalist rule.
Andrea Lobo•
Biden administration declares Argentine union bureaucracy a “model” as it enforces historic cuts in living standards
In an industrialized country that is a leading food producer, children are undernourished and incomes have fallen below Haiti’s per capita GDP.
Andrea Lobo•
Andrea Lobo•
Mauricio Saavedra•
Don Knowland•
Andrea Lobo•
Andrea Lobo•
CDC confirms that its 2023 Annual Epidemic Intelligence Service Conference became a COVID superspreader event
The four-day conference held in Atlanta, Georgia, last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention became a superspreader event.
Benjamin Mateus•
At House hearing on COVID-19
AFT President Randi Weingarten defends push to reopen schools during pandemic
Testifying before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten defended her record of forcing millions of teachers and students back into unsafe classrooms during the pandemic.
Emma Arceneaux•
Arcturus COVID mutation claims five lives in Britain
Sir John Bell, an immunologist who was a member of the UK Covid Vaccine Taskforce and former government chief scientific adviser, warned last month that Britain is now no more prepared for a new novel pandemic than it was for COVID-19.
Barry Mason•
New Zealand COVID deaths continue to mount
Despite official claims that the pandemic “emergency” is over, COVID-19 is still tearing through schools, workplaces and aged care facilities, fuelling a crisis in the public health system.
Tom Peters•
Benjamin Mateus•
P. T. Sampanthar•
Wasantha Rupasinghe, Benjamin Mateus•
Oscar Grenfell•
Benjamin Mateus•
Australia: Menindee fish kill incident highlights environmental degradation
While there is an element of natural disaster in the incidents, they are greatly exacerbated by the subordination of key river systems to major agribusinesses.
Frank Gaglioti•
Japanese prime minister visits Africa, targeting Russia and China
Tokyo is exerting pressure throughout Africa to gain access to resources and to pull countries in the region away from Moscow and Beijing.
Ben McGrath•
Thailand election to be held amid deepening political crisis
Despite the widespread hostility toward the ruling parties, the anti-democratic election offers no genuine choice for the Thai working class.
Robert Campion•
Australian PM defends attendance at radio host’s million-dollar wedding
Prime Minister Albanese’s very well-publicised participation in right-wing shock jock Kyle Sandilands’ wedding was clearly based on political calculations.
Mike Head•
Mike Head•
Oscar Grenfell•
John Harris, Martin Scott•
John Braddock•
Tom Peters•
US financial crisis deepens as shares in regional banks continue to fall
Within hours of Fed chair Jerome Powell having declared that the takeover of First Republic Bank had drawn a line under the “stress” that began in March, the stocks of other regional banks came under heavy selling pressure.
Nick Beams•
Fed lifts interest rates but signals possible pause amid financial turbulence
Yesterday’s meeting was held in the immediate aftermath of the takeover of the First Republic bank by JPMorgan Chase, following what was the second largest banking failure in US history, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell began his remarks to a press conference asserting that the banking system was “sound and resilient.”
Nick Beams•
Australian central bank hikes rates again to increase “pain” on workers
The Reserve Bank of Australia, backed by the Labor government, is intent on suppressing household spending enough to increase unemployment, as a battering ram against workers’ wages struggles.
Mike Head•
Government backing crucial for JPMorgan takeover of First Republic Bank
The takeover is being presented as a “private sector” solution to try to avoid giving the impression that this is yet another government bailout, but large amounts of public money are involved.
Nick Beams•
Nick Beams•
Nick Beams•
Jean Shaoul•
Nick Beams•
Tom Hall•
Netanyahu’s far-right government presses ahead with judicial coup
Israel’s parliament, reconvening on Sunday after a one-month recess, is expected to pass legislation that will enable the government to control the appointments to the Supreme Court.
Jean Shaoul•
Two months after earthquake disaster, Turkish government keeps ignoring public safety
The procedures for debris removal and the construction work implemented in the earthquake-hit region show that the deadly “profit before lives” policy is continuing.
Ozan Özgür•
Israel ramps up provocations against Palestinians and neighbouring states
Netanyahu has given the green light to the fascists, racists and religious zealots that make up his government to incite the Palestinians in the run up to the end of Ramadan and provoke an uprising to be used as the excuse for a military onslaught.
Jean Shaoul•
The mass protests in Israel and the “left-anti-Semitism” witch-hunt
The political lie of the unchallenged universal legitimacy of the state of Israel has suffered a devastating exposure with the mass protest movement of Jewish Israelis against the far-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Chris Marsden•
Jean Shaoul•
Jean Shaoul•
Jean Shaoul•
Hakan Özal, Ulaş Ateşçi•
Jean Shaoul•
This week in history: May 1-7
This column profiles important historical events which took place during this week, 25 years ago, 50 years ago, 75 years ago and 100 years ago.
Cotton Capital: The Guardian cynically “discovers” its links to the slave trade—Part 1
The political impulse at work is to rescue the Guardian’s progressive reputation while acknowledging the stain of slavery.
Paul Bond•
Lessons of the Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand for the Australian working class
The Australian Labor government and some representatives of the Indigenous elite have praised the Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand as a model for Australia; the treaty, first signed in 1840 during the colonisation of New Zealand, has been used over the past 30 years to enrich a narrow layer of Māori while leaving the vast majority in poverty.
Tom Peters•
80 years since the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Workers, who are today confronted with the unfolding maelstrom of a new imperialist redivision of the world, the buildup of fascist forces, social counterrevolution and an ongoing pandemic and climate catastrophe, have a tremendous amount to learn from the heroic but also tragic experience of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the Holocaust.
Clara Weiss•
Kevin Reed•
Tom Mackaman•
Rafael Azul•
David North•
Lawrence Porter•
Enthusiastic response by Sri Lankan workers and students to upcoming international May Day online rally
“Nowadays May Day is used as political propaganda by the trade unions and the capitalist parties. In fact, May Day belongs to the workers and it should be a day that brings together workers in struggle in every country.” –Kandy Hospital nurse
our reporters•
SEP (Australia) holds well-attended post-election public meeting
The SEP held an important meeting Sunday afternoon entitled: “After the NSW Elections—How to fight AUKUS, War & Austerity!”
Our reporters•
World Socialist Web Site launches its Ukrainian-language edition
The Ukrainian edition of the WSWS will publish critical historical and programmatic documents that will create the foundations for a Ukrainian section of the ICFI.
World Socialist Web Site Editorial Board•
Watch SEP online memorial meeting: A Tribute to Regina Lohr – Australian Trotskyist
The SEP held an online memorial meeting to pay tribute to the life of Regina Lohr, who passed away on October 10 at the age of 66.
Socialist Equality Party (Australia)•
Our reporters•
Michigan education unions hold Lansing lobby stunt while isolating striking University of Michigan grad student workers
The Michigan AFT will hold its annual lobby day May 4, urging educators to once again beg well-heeled legislators for crumbs under conditions of the AFT’s deliberate isolation of GEO strikers at the University of Michigan.
Debra Watson, Walter Gilberti•
The war in Ukraine and how to stop it: Meeting at Berlin’s Humboldt University explains causes of war and socialist perspective
It was the first meeting in Germany of an international series on the causes of the NATO proxy war in Ukraine held by the youth and student movement of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI).
IYSSE at Humboldt University•
Sri Lankan pseudo-left FSP and IUSF silent on their thuggish attack against IYSSE socialist campaigner
The Frontline Socialist Party and Inter University Student Federation, which posture as champions of democratic rights at press conferences and meetings, violently oppose the IYSSE and students exercising their democratic rights on university campuses.
International Youth and Students for Social Equality•
Australia: Student pseudo-left group slanders the SEP and the IYSSE
The pseudo-left group at the University of Newcastle defended the anti-democratic #MeToo witch-hunt and the trade union bureaucracy, which has attacked the wages and conditions of workers for decades.
Robert Campion, Oscar Grenfell•
Eric Ludlow•
International Youth and Students for Social Equality (US)•
International Youth and Students for Social Equality (US)•
International Youth and Students for Social Equality•
Matthew Brennan•
Japan dispatches military to evacuate citizens from Sudan
Japan’s involvement in Africa is above all aimed at securing access to resources while promoting remilitarization.
Ben McGrath•
Sudan fighting provokes mass exodus
United Nations figures show that more than 420 people have been killed, including at least 256 civilians, and more than 3,500 wounded since fighting broke out on April 15.
Jean Shaoul•
South Africa roiled by global crisis of capitalism
South Africa, in comparison to its most important trading partners, is a leaf in the gale-force maelstrom of the global economy.
Iqra Qalam•
Sudan fighting erupts between rival military factions backed by external powers
Violence broke out amid increased army deployment, security measures and jockeying for public and international support over the planned integration of various militia groups into the Sudanese army.
Jean Shaoul•
Kipchumba Ochieng•
Kipchumba Ochieng•
Kipchumba Ochieng•
Jean Shaoul•
Jean Shaoul•
Uncrewed SpaceX rocket Starship explodes after launch
The company’s CEO, Elon Musk, claims the spacecraft will one day ferry humans to Mars.
Bryan Dyne•
New insight into the possible origin of chipped stone tool technology
The use of a hammer-and-anvil technique to crack nuts by monkeys and chimpanzees may represent the precursor of human stone tool technology.
Philip Guelpa•
Preview release of ChatGPT shows potential of artificial intelligence
ChatGPT, released as a free prototype by the research laboratory OpenAI last November, is a powerful artificial intelligence technology with socially transformative potential that is being used under capitalism to eliminate jobs, increase exploitation and automate warfare.
Kevin Reed•
Intriguing discovery of ancient tools, butchery, and hominin teeth in Kenya
The discoveries include evidence that Oldowan tools were used to cut and pound animal flesh far earlier than previously known.
Frank Gaglioti•
Frank Gaglioti•
Benjamin Mateus•
Benjamin Mateus•
Benjamin Mateus•
Benjamin Mateus•
Will Lehman responds to Department of Labor decision denying access to former UAW President Ray Curry’s election protest
On Saturday, rank-and-file candidate for UAW president Will Lehman wrote to Thomas Murray, Detroit-Milwaukee District Director of the Department of Labor’s Office for Labor-Management Standards, objecting to the withholding of Curry’s election protest.
Will Lehman•
DSA leaders of U-M grad students’ strike promote top UAW sellouts Shawn Fain and Bob King
The outbreak of the campus strikes in New Jersey and Illinois threatens to break through the isolation imposed by the AFT bureaucracy and its local enforcers on the strike by U-M grad student instructors. This makes all the more sinister the promotion by the GEO leadership at U-M, dominated by the DSA, of the phony “reform” wing of the United Auto Workers bureaucracy headed by newly installed UAW president Shawn Fain.
Barry Grey, Tim Rivers•
UAW Monitor conflict of interest exposed: Jenner & Block and Crowell & Moring are longstanding lawyers for General Motors and auto corporations
UAW presidential candidate Will Lehman’s complaint to the Department of Labor, filed March 29, reviews the UAW monitor’s conflict of interest, which Lehman said is a ground to re-run the election in its own right.
Will Lehman•
Fear of rank-and-file rebellion looms on last day of UAW convention
In a report on the 2021 Deere strike, UAW Vice President Chuck Browning said officials had faced a “serpent” of opposition from workers.
Jerry White•
Shannon Jones•
Jerry White•
Eric London•
Will Lehman•
20 years since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq
March 20 marks 20 years since the beginning of the US invasion of Iraq, launched on the basis of lies. At the time of the initial invasion, the WSWS published many statements on the background of the war, its history and its implications. This page features some of the most important statements.
Read
January 6 conspiracy trial: Prosecutor alleges Proud Boys saw themselves “as Donald Trump’s army”
US Assistant attorney Conor Mulroe told jurors that the Proud Boys were a “violent gang” fighting to “keep their preferred leader in power no matter what the law or the courts had to say about it.”
Jacob Crosse•
Chris Hedges’ dishonest defense of the January 6 fascist mob
In his March 5 column, the ex-left journalist continued his political adaption to the far right.
David North, Jacob Crosse•
Architect of the Capitol fired after Inspector General report revealed complicity in January 6 coup
A scathing, and as-of-yet still unreleased Inspector General report on the Architect of the Capitol, revealed that James Brett Blanton, Trump-appointed member of the Capitol Police Board refused to respond during the siege.
Jacob Crosse•
Three active-duty Marines arrested for storming the Capitol on January 6
The arrests indicate the significant level of support Trump’s coup, and fascism, have within the US military.
Jacob Crosse•
D. Lencho•
Jacob Crosse•
Jacob Crosse•
Jacob Crosse•
Jacob Crosse•
On the 25th anniversary of the World Socialist Web Site
Twenty-five years ago, the International Committee of the Fourth International began posting the World Socialist Web Site. In this video, WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North explains the background to the WSWS, reviews its record and contemporary significance and makes an appeal to all readers to donate to the WSWS and expand its readership.
Watch now
NSW election: Australian workers and youth speak about COVID, war and social crisis
One worker said: “I think it’s a good idea to have an international movement for the working class against war and for democratic rights, for workers to unite, it makes sense.”
Our reporters•
Australia: After media lies about a Labor landslide, NSW election likely to result in minority government
The media misinformation was aimed at covering up the crisis of the two-party system and trying to ensure a “stable” government to implement budget austerity.
Oscar Grenfell•
SEP (Australia) election campaign finds intense opposition to war and austerity in northern NSW
Among those who spoke out were victims of last year’s floods in Lismore, a regional city, where thousands of residents are still living in substandard accommodation more than a year after the floods.
Mike Head•
Australia: NSW election sees further crisis of Liberals, but no landslide to Labor
Contrary to media claims, the result is no ringing endorsement of Labor. Instead it expresses a deepening of the crisis of the two-party set-up.
Oscar Grenfell•
Our reporters•
Socialist Equality Party (Australia)•
Our reporters•
Max Boddy, SEP candidate for Bankstown in NSW•
Oscar Grenfell•
Statement of the Editorial Board
For a Global Workers’ Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic
The Inquest is necessary to break through the cover-up, lies and misinformation that have been used to justify policies responsible for the avoidable deaths of millions.
Find out more
2023: The global capitalist crisis and the growing offensive of the international working class
In 2022 the accumulating pressure of these intersecting elements of the world capitalist crisis attained the equivalent of critical mass: that is, they have reached the point where the dynamic of crisis has passed beyond the ability of governments to control the movement toward a social cataclysm.
Read statement
Former Montgomery, Alabama teacher testifies about the forced reopening of schools in 2020-21
In this interview, Tynisa Williams, former teacher in Montgomery, Alabama, describes the experience of being forced to teach in-person in the fall of 2020 and winter of 2021. She and her coworkers waged a courageous struggle to stop the deadly return to in-person learning that cost the lives of eight educators in the district.
Emma Arceneaux, Evan Blake•
Accomplices to social murder
The international pseudo-left and the lifting of Zero-COVID in China: Part 1
The pseudo-left’s hostility to public health and support for imperialism found sharp expression in their universal demand—echoing that of the Western corporate media and political establishment—that China abandon its Zero-COVID strategy.
Evan Blake•
Accomplices to social murder
The international pseudo-left and the lifting of Zero-COVID in China: Part 2
The pseudo-left’s hostility to public health and support for imperialism found its sharpest expression in their demand—echoing that of the Western corporate media and political establishment—that China abandon its Zero-COVID strategy.
Evan Blake•
Immunocompromised mother in Manhattan speaks to Global Workers’ Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic
Melanie, whose children attend public schools in New York City, spoke to the WSWS about the toll the “let it rip” policy toward the pandemic has taken on her and her family.
Tim Avery•
George Kirby•
Tom Peters•
Dylan Lubao•
Evan Blake•
Tom Peters•
A call to youth throughout the world: Build a mass movement to stop the Ukraine war!
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality—the student and youth movement of the Socialist Equality Parties, the national sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International—calls for the building of a mass global movement of young people to end the reckless escalation toward World War III.
Read statement
Trace compounds of vinyl chloride found in East Palestine, Ohio residents after derailment and chemical spill
Last week, a truck carrying 40,000 pounds of contaminated soil from the East Palestine derailment site overturned, with the driver suffering injuries in the crash.
Samuel Davidson•
Norfolk Southern CEO stonewalls on safety in second US Senate hearing on East Palestine, Ohio derailment
Both Democratic and Republican senators on the Commerce Committee made clear in Wednesday’s hearing that they had no intentions of developing meaningful safety regulations if they cut across the industry’s profit margins.
Samuel Davidson•
The East Palestine disaster: A crime of capitalism
The poisoning of East Palestine, Ohio, is not merely an environmental catastrophe. It is a man-made disaster which raises fundamental questions about the structure of the society which produced it.
The Socialist Equality Party (United States)•
Dylan Lubao•
Benjamin Mateus•
Samuel Davidson, Tom Hall•
Samuel Davidson, Tom Hall•
Samuel Davidson•
Timothy Snyder’s Bloodlands: Right-wing propaganda disguised as historical scholarship
This five-part series and historical timeline exposes Snyder’s Bloodlands as a work of falsification, aimed at justifying the imperialist proxy war against Russia in Ukraine and the alliance of US imperialism with the Ukrainian far-right.
Read
The Wuhan lab lie: “Weapons of mass destruction” redux
In an uncanny instance of history repeating itself, the lies used to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq based on false claims about “weapons of mass destruction” are being used to promote the United States’ unprecedented military buildup around China.
Andre Damon•
A discredited conspiracy theory about the origins of COVID-19
The Wuhan Lab Leak slander being resurrected to bolster US war drive against China
The Wall Street Journal disclosed that the Department of Energy has shifted its opinion on the origin of the coronavirus to it being most likely a result of a lab leak. However, unnamed sources who have read the report indicate the evidence is of low confidence.
Benjamin Mateus•
Republicans revive discredited Wuhan Lab Leak theory and call Anthony Fauci to testify
Republicans have demanded Former Biden chief medical advisor Dr Anthony Fauci testify on the Wuhan lab leak theory.
Benjamin Mateus•
Anthony Fauci gives aid and comfort to COVID-19 “lab leak” conspiracy theory
Fauci’s aim in lending credence to the conspiracy theory, which he knows to be a lie, is to distract attention from the antiscientific policies carried out under the Trump and Biden administrations that led to the deaths of over a million Americans.
Andre Damon•
Andre Damon•
Benjamin Mateus•
Kevin Reed•
Frank Gaglioti•
Harvard UAW, pseudo-left groups organize provocation against professor John Comaroff
The right-wing witch-hunt of John Comaroff at Harvard University continued Tuesday with a stage-managed protest during his first class of the semester.
Mike Ingram•
Defend Harvard professor John Comaroff against the right-wing witch-hunt!
This shameful campaign reached new heights Tuesday when concerted efforts were made to prevent Comaroff from teaching. Provocations were organized both inside and outside the classroom.
Socialist Equality Party (US), International Youth and Students for Social Equality•
The politically driven campaign against Harvard anthropologist John Comaroff
The attack on Harvard anthropology professor John Comaroff has taken to a new level the campaign to purge American colleges and universities on the basis of anti-democratic identity politics.
David Walsh•
The concerted, cowardly #MeToo attack on Harvard professor John Comaroff
John Comaroff, professor of African and African American studies and of anthropology at Harvard University, has become the target of what has all the earmarks of another filthy #MeToo witch-hunt.
David Walsh•
James McDonald, Sam Wayne•
Mike Head•
Matthew Brennan, Barry Grey•
Barry Grey•
James McDonald•
Watch: UAW presidential candidate Will Lehman’s final campaign video
Watch and share the powerful video of Will Lehman, a second-tier worker at Mack trucks in Macungie, Pennsylvania, explaining the basis of his campaign for UAW president, accompanied by statements of support from workers across the US and Mexico.
1619 Project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones was paid over $1 million to speak about race at colleges in 2022
The race-obsessed middle class layers which Hannah-Jones epitomizes are fundamentally fearful of and hostile to the growing movement of the working class. The last thing they want is for the party to end when there is yet so much money to be made.
Dominic Gustavo•
Book Review
The New York Times 1619 Project: A New Origin Story: History as the emanation of race
The Times, which wishes readers to take the 1619 Project seriously as a “reframing of American history,” has said more than it intended.
Tom Mackaman•
An interview with Mark Kruger, author of The St. Louis Commune of 1877: Communism in the Heartland
The World Socialist Web Site recently spoke with Mark Kruger about his new book, the 1619 Project, and the current state of American politics.
Douglas Lyons•
Historian Jack Rakove on American history writing and the falsifications of the 1619 Project and its defenders
Professor Jack Rakove is a leading scholar of the American Revolution and the framing of the Constitution.
Tom Mackaman•
Tom Mackaman•
Tom Mackaman•
Niles Niemuth•
Niles Niemuth•
David North•
Timeline of thirty years of war: The historical background to the US-NATO conflict with Russia
This interactive timeline presents some of the most important events that have brought humanity to the brink of World War III. It includes links to critical articles and statements produced by the International Committee of the Fourth International over the past 30 years.
View the Timeline
The Berlin state election results: A vote against all parties in government
It would be hard to find a previous election in Germany in which the gulf between the interests of the population and the politics of the established parties was as obvious as in the re-run of the Berlin state election last Sunday.
Peter Schwarz•
Speech at the SGP anti-war rally in Berlin
Ulrich Rippert: “The strength of our party is the historical tradition it represents.”
The following speech was given by Ulrich Rippert, the honorary chairman of the Socialist Equality Party and candidate in the Berlin state elections, at the SGP's rally against the war in Ukraine on February 4 at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin.
Ulrich Rippert•
Vote against war! Vote SGP!
The international significance of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei election campaign in Berlin
Against the war madness and social devastation, a powerful movement of the working class is developing all over the world. The SGP election campaign has given it a voice and a socialist perspective.
Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei•
Sosyalist Eşitlik Grubu's Ulaş Ateşçi calls for a vote for the SGP: “An international movement against the war must be built in the working class and youth!”
We publish here an appeal by Ulaş Ateşçi to vote for the Socialist Equality Party (SGP) in the Berlin elections on February 12. Ateşçi is a leading member of the Sosyalist Eşitlik Grubu (Socialist Equality Group) in Turkey.
Ulaş Ateşçi•
Gregor Link•
Christoph Vandreier•
Johannes Stern•
NOW AVAILABLE
COVID, Capitalism, and Class War: A Social and Political Chronology of the Pandemic
Mehring Books, the publishing arm of the Socialist Equality Party (US), is proud to announce the publication of Volume 1 of COVID, Capitalism, and Class War: A Social and Political Chronology of the Pandemic, a compilation of the World Socialist Web Site's coverage of this global crisis.
Read the introduction
Concluding remarks to the December 10 rally
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality and the fight against war
These are the concluding remarks by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North to the December 10 rally, “For a Mass Movement of Students and Youth to Stop the War in Ukraine!” organized by the International Youth and Students for Social Equality.
David North•
Youth and students in Berlin respond to the IYSSE rally against war: “In a nuclear third world war, no one would escape unscathed”
The rally on December 10 set out the background to the Ukraine war and provided an international perspective against the threat of nuclear war.
International Youth and Students for Social Equality•
A call to youth throughout the world: Build a mass movement to stop the Ukraine war!
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality—the student and youth movement of the Socialist Equality Parties, the national sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International—calls for the building of a mass global movement of young people to end the reckless escalation toward World War III.
Statement of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE)•
Speech to the December 10 IYSSE anti-war rally
The position of Latin America in the imperialist redivision of the world
Latin American countries, with deep economic and political ties to both the US and China, will necessarily be drawn into the center of the developing global war.
Eduardo Parati•
Evan Blake•
Evrim Yazgin•
Genevieve Leigh•
Kapila Fernando•
Will Lehman•
Judge rejects lawsuit by Trump-endorsed Kari Lake seeking to overturn Arizona election defeat
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson ruled against every single one of Lake’s claims and noted in his decision that none of Lake’s witnesses could point to any intentional misconduct or evidence of a single vote that was changed.
Jacob Crosse•
Democrat Raphael Warnock narrowly wins runoff election for US Senate from Georgia
The US midterms have set the stage for two years of legislative stalemate—except when it comes to funneling billions into the US-NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine and passing record Pentagon budgets, or enacting dictatorial laws blocking strikes and imposing corporate-dictated contracts on workers, as with last week’s bipartisan vote banning a strike by rail workers.
Barry Grey•
Trump-endorsed Republicans in Arizona refuse to concede, threaten violence
The same right-wing forces in Arizona that backed Trump’s failed coup and his stolen election narrative are inciting violence against election officials more than a week after all but one of the major races has been decided.
Jacob Crosse•
US 2022 midterm live updates: Congressional elections appear to end in deadlock
The indeterminate outcome has already led to back-biting within both capitalist parties.
Jacob Crosse, Eric London, Patrick Martin•
Barry Grey•
Patrick Martin•
Jacob Crosse•
Patrick Martin•
Barry Grey•
Forty-five years since the assassination of Tom Henehan (1951-1977): A Revolutionary Life
October 16 marked the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Tom Henehan, a member of the Political Committee of the Workers League—the predecessor of the Socialist Equality Party in the US. We are republishing here a tribute delivered by David North at a meeting in 1997.
Greetings from the ICFI to the SEP (Australia) 2022 Congress
The political crisis in Brazil and the fight for the revolutionary party
These remarks were delivered by Tomas Castanheira to the Sixth National Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia), held from September 24 to 27, 2022.
Tomas Castanheira•
Greetings from the ICFI to the SEP (Australia) 2022 Congress
The return of German militarism and the perspective of international socialism
These remarks were delivered by Christoph Vandreier to the Sixth National Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia), held from September 24 to 27, 2022.
The fight against war and the global expansion of the ICFI
These remarks were delivered by Ulaş Ateşçi to the Sixth National Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia), held from September 24 to 27, 2022.
Ulaş Ateşçi•
Greetings from the ICFI to the SEP (Australia) 2022 Congress
The crisis of bourgeois rule in Sri Lanka and the tasks of the SEP
These remarks were delivered by Deepal Jayasekera to the Sixth National Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia), held from September 24 to 27, 2022.
Deepal Jayasekera•
Chris Marsden•
Tom Peters•
Alex Lantier•
Keith Jones•
Joseph Kishore•
On the 82nd anniversary of the assassination of Leon Trotsky
Eighty-two years ago, on August 20, 1940, Leon Trotsky was assassinated by an agent of the Stalinist secret police, the GPU, in his villa in Coyoacan, Mexico, where he spent the final three years of his life as a political exile.
Report to Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US)
The historical and political principles of the socialist opposition to imperialist war and the Putin regime
This report was given by Clara Weiss to the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) in support of the resolution, “Mobilize the working class against imperialist war!”
Clara Weiss•
Report to Seventh Congress of Socialist Equality Party (US)
The historical background of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fight for global elimination
This report was given by Evan Blake to the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) in support of the resolution titled “The COVID-19 pandemic and the fight for socialism”
Evan Blake•
America’s “New World Order”— The historical and social roots of US plans for war with Russia and China
The following is a report given by Andre Damon to the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) in support of the resolution titled “Mobilize the working class against imperialist war!”
Andre Damon•
Report to Seventh Congress of Socialist Equality Party (US)
Build rank-and-file committees, the organs of 21st century working class struggle!
This report was given by Eric London to the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) in support of the resolution titled “Build the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees! For a global counteroffensive of the working class!”
Eric London•
Ulaş Ateşçi•
Tom Peters•
Keith Jones•
Tomas Castanheira•
The definitive left-wing critique of the 1619 Project. This volume includes interviews with eminent historians and essays from the World Socialist Web Site exposing the New York Times’ racialist falsification of history.
May Day 2022: The revolutionary role of the American working class
This is the report delivered by Joseph Kishore to the 2022 International May Day Online Rally held on May 1. Kishore is the national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party in the United States.
Joseph Kishore•
May Day 2022: The class struggle in the Asia-Pacific
This is the report delivered by Tom Peters to the 2022 International May Day Online Rally held on May 1. Peters is a leading member of the Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand, which is fighting to build a section of the ICFI.
Tom Peters•
May Day 2022: Young people must turn to the working class and the fight for socialism!
This is the report delivered by Gregor Link to the 2022 International May Day Online Rally held on May 1. Link is a leading member in Germany of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality, the youth movement of the International Committee of the Fourth International and its affiliated Socialist Equality Parties.
Gregor Link•
May Day 2022: Australian ruling class promotes anti-China campaign
This is the report delivered by Cheryl Crisp to the 2022 International May Day Online Rally held on May 1. Crisp is the national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party in Australia.
Cheryl Crisp•
Nick Beams•
Ulaş Ateşçi•
Alex Lantier•
Chris Marsden•
M. Thevarajah•
Wije Dias: A fighter for Trotskyism (1941-2022)
Comrade Wije Dias, the longtime general secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), died in Colombo on July 27, 2022. This exhibit includes two tributes to Wije by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North as well as a selection of Wije’s most significant articles and speeches.
Socialist Equality Party meeting discusses crisis of Australia’s two-party system and the way forward for the working class
The livestreamed event provided a much-appreciated forum for democratic discussion about the election result, Labor’s right-wing program, and the class battles now unfolding in Australia and internationally.
Our reporter•
Australia’s Labor government demands “sacrifices” from workers
Labor claims to have suddenly discovered that the budget situation is “dire” so “significant savings” must be found and “productivity” driven up with the help of the trade unions.
Mike Head•
Australian Labor government already functioning as US attack dog in the Pacific
Labor, before it has even secured a majority government, is on a foreign policy blitz aimed at shoring-up US and Australian hegemony over the Pacific.
Oscar Grenfell•
The international significance of Australia’s crisis election
The outcome reflects, in distorted electoral terms, a political radicalisation of workers and young people that is already finding expression in a development of working class struggles.
Oscar Grenfell•
Our reporters•
Our reporters•
Mike Head•
Our reporters•
Oscar Grenfell•
Global Workers’ Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic
Family of Detroit autoworker who died of COVID-19 demands answers
Autoworker and grandmother Catherine Pace died on March 27, 2020 after contracting COVID-19 in the paint department at the Warren Truck Plant outside Detroit, then operated by Fiat-Chrysler, now Stellantis.
Watch video testimony
Elon Musk’s Twitter abruptly reverses ban on promotion of alternative social media platforms
After instituting a ban on sharing links from competitive social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Mastodon, Elon Musk canceled the policy less than 24 hours later.
Kevin Reed•
Musk continues to ban from Twitter journalists who criticize him
Twitter owner and fascistic billionaire Elon Musk acknowledged late Thursday that he had shut down the accounts of numerous prominent journalists earlier in the day, claiming falsely that they had violated a new policy on the platform against “doxxing."
Kevin Reed•
Musk’s attack on Twitter workers brings company to the brink of collapse
Media outlets and technology experts are warning that Twitter may collapse or go bankrupt following the mass exodus of another 1,200 employees from the company.
Kevin Reed•
Elon Musk issues ultimatum to Twitter employees: Submit to “extremely hardcore” culture, or face termination
In a rational society, a platform like Twitter would be publicly owned, but under capitalism it has become the plaything of a single billionaire oligarch, and a fascistic buffoon to boot.
Dominic Gustavo•
Eric Ludlow•
Our reporter•
Kevin Reed•
Kevin Reed•
Jacob Crosse•
A video presentation by Evan Blake
What must be done to end the pandemic
Watch
Death of Los Angeles County man infected with monkeypox under investigation by health officials
Los Angeles County health officials reported last week that a man infected with monkeypox had passed away. An investigation is underway to determine the virus’ contribution to his death.
Benjamin Mateus•
Texas public health officials confirm death of immunocompromised man infected with monkeypox
A severely immunocompromised adult male died in Houston on Sunday. Public health officials said he was infected with monkeypox. Still, they stopped short of connecting the infection as a contributory factor in his death, stating they did not know what role the virus played in his demise.
Benjamin Mateus•
Monkeypox reported at General Motors’ Wentzville plant, suspected at Flint Assembly
The UAW has remained silent on the spread of monkeypox in the plants, in line with its efforts to cover up the disastrous toll COVID-19 has had on workers.
Marcus Day, Sheila Brehm•
The CDC minimizes the danger of monkeypox among children as students begin returning to school
The CDC’s cursory guidance posted as answers to Frequently Asked Questions only downplays and minimizes the concerns working families have about the safety of schools for their children.
Aaron Edwards•
Hong Jian, Kimie Saito•
Martin Scott•
Tom Hall•
Tamino Dreisam•
A historic advance in the fight for Trotskyism
The International Committee of the Fourth International accepts application of the Sosyalist Eşitlik Grubu to become its section in Turkey
The June 19 decision followed extensive discussions with representatives of the International Committee in Istanbul on the development of the fight for Trotskyism in Turkey and the Aegean and Black Sea regions.
Read more
May Day 2022: The NATO-Russia war and the tasks of the international working class
In his introduction to the International May Day Online Rally, WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North reviews the historical origins of the US-NATO war drive against Russia and outlines the political strategy of the working class to oppose the danger of World War III.
Watch the recording
The death of Queen Elizabeth II: A major political crisis for British imperialism
With the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the British ruling class has lost its popular head of state on which it has relied to project the myth of national unity and suppress social conflict.
Chris Marsden•
The 1619 Project and the New York Times’ glorification of the monarchy
In its adulation of Queen Elizabeth and all the pageantry of the British monarchy, the newspaper responsible for publishing the 1619 Project has entangled itself in many layers of contradictions.
Tom Carter•
The queen’s funeral and the spectre of war and revolution
The significance of Elizabeth II’s funeral is well illustrated by reference to a previous British royal funeral, more than a century earlier, that of Edward VII.
Chris Marsden•
King Charles addresses UK parliament as workers are subjected to propaganda barrage
What was being celebrated at Westminster Hall is the ability of Britain’s imperialist bourgeoisie to utilise the monarchy as a means of sanctifying and reinforcing its own power.
Chris Marsden•
Chris Marsden•
Robert Stevens•
Jean Shaoul•
Joseph Scalice•
Robert Stevens•
The fight for Trotskyism and the political foundations of the World Socialist Web Site
The WSWS is publishing the report delivered by David North 25 years ago, on February 1, 1997, motivating the proposal to end publication of the SEP’s printed newspaper and replace it with an international website; as well as North’s reply to the National Committee ‘s discussion of the proposal.
WSWS Review
Thirty years since the dissolution of the USSR
Review the most critical essays, lectures and letters produced by the ICFI in the course of its intervention in response to the crisis of Stalinism and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Read more
Pentagon national strategy document targets China
The US military published a series of documents Thursday outlining US plans for war with Russia and China, and asserting the central role of nuclear weapons in US warfighting.
Andre Damon•
Australia dispatching military “trainers” to aid the US-NATO war against Russia
Australia, already the largest non-NATO funder of the war in Ukraine, is escalating its involvement amid warnings that the conflict could result in a nuclear catastrophe.
Oscar Grenfell•
German President Steinmeier delivers war speech to the nation
Steinmeier's remarks to invited soldiers, journalists, think tank representatives and leading politicians can only be described as a “war speech to the nation.” The focus was de facto a declaration of war on Russia and the Russian population.
Johannes Stern, Christoph Vandreier•
One year since the US military's withdrawal from Afghanistan
The Afghan withdrawal represented a debacle for US imperialism, which based its policy throughout thirty years of uninterrupted wars, beginning with the first Gulf War in 1990-91, on the conviction that military force could overcome Washington’s precipitous economic decline.
Jordan Shilton•
Tom Peters•
Jean Shaoul•
Peter Symonds•
Tom Peters•
Mike Head•
Eighty years since the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union
The WSWS has published a feature page incorporating a selection of essential essays from its own archives, and other documents produced contemporaneously by the Fourth International.
Read more
Peace activist sentenced for criticizing German war policy in Ukraine
The Berlin-Tiergarten District Court has sentenced peace activist Heinrich Bücker for a speech he gave on the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s invasion on the Soviet Union.
Justus Leicht•
Large-scale raid against right-wing terrorist network reveals the extent of the fascist danger in Germany
Around 3,000 officers from the special police forces stormed 137 locations in 11 federal states on Wednesday morning and arrested 25 people. Another 27 people are being investigated. The state prosecutor has accused them of being members or supporters of a terrorist organisation.
Peter Schwarz•
German secret service operates hundreds of far-right social media profiles
Regardless of whether the pending investigations can demonstrate that the agents gave the impetus to the planned terrorist attacks, a picture emerges of a right-wing extremist milieu organized and controlled by the state.
Christoph Vandreier•
German Interior Minister Faeser wants to fight climate change activists “with all her might”
While right-wing extremist terrorist networks operate unhindered in Germany’s state apparatus and are covered up by the highest authorities, federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (Social Democrats) has called for a fight against alleged “left-wing extremists” and young climate change activists.
Christoph Vandreier•
Justus Leicht•
Statement of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei•
Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee (UK)•
Peter Schwarz•
Christoph Vandreier•
100 years since the birth of Jean Brust
August 31, 2021 marks 100 years since the birth of Jean Brust, a leading figure in the Trotskyist movement. Comrade Jean, who died November 24, 1997 at the age of 76, joined the Trotskyist-led Young Peoples Socialist League as a teenager in 1937.
The social, cultural and historical significance of the US television and film writers strike
The strike by 11,000 US television and film writers is part of a general upsurge in the class struggle, a challenge to the stranglehold of the conglomerates over film and television production and a confrontation with the Democratic Party establishment that dominates Hollywood.
David Walsh•
Ukrainian attack on Kremlin is a criminal provocation
The Ukrainian attack on the Kremlin and the attempted assassination of Putin is a criminally reckless provocation, serving no other purpose than to provoke retaliation by Russia that would then be used to justify a massive escalation of NATO’s involvement in the war.
Andre Damon•
Macron’s police state wages war on French workers
There is no room for compromise and nothing to negotiate with this government, and the way forward for the working class is to bring it down through a general strike.
Alex Lantier•
The ICFI’s May Day 2023 online rally: A milestone in the building of a global, working class movement against war
Together, the speakers set out a political programme capable of uniting the international working class and mobilising its immense social power in a struggle against the world’s major corporations and governments.
Thomas Scripps•
David North•
Marcus Day•
Evan Blake•
Oscar Grenfell•
Patrick Martin•
Twenty years since the September 11 terror attacks
The horrific massacre of civilians was immediately exploited by the imperialist powers, led by the United States government itself, to justify far-reaching attacks on the democratic rights of their own populations, and the launching of decades-long wars in the Middle East and Africa.
Read more
Socialist Equality Party summer school prepares membership for growth of class struggle
The Socialist Equality Party in the United States held a summer school from August 1 through August 6. It was devoted to an analysis of the major social and political events in the US and internationally since the previous SEP school, held in July of 2019.
Barry Grey•
SEP Summer School 2021 Lecture
The historical background and initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic
This report to the 2021 SEP summer school was delivered by Dr. Benjamin Mateus, who has led the coverage on the WSWS of the scientific and medical issues posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Benjamin Mateus•
SEP Summer School 2021 Lecture
January 6, 2021: Donald Trump’s plot against America
The following lecture was delivered at the Socialist Equality Party (US) 2021 summer school by Eric London, a writer for the WSWS and author of Agents: The FBI and GPU Infiltration of the Trotskyist Movement.
Eric London•
The lessons of the 2021 Volvo strike
This lecture was delivered at the Socialist Equality Party (US) 2021 summer school, held August 1 through August 6, by Marcus Day, a writer for the World Socialist Web Site .
Marcus Day•
Tom Carter•
Jerry White•
Tom Mackaman•
Andre Damon•
Patrick Martin•
Cliff Slaughter: A political biography (1928-1963)
By David North
Cliff Slaughter died on May 3, 2021, in Leeds, England, at the age of 92. His enduring contribution in the 1960s to the defense of Trotskyism stands in tragic contrast with his subsequent political opportunism and repudiation of revolutionary Marxism.
Nine dead, 44 still missing in mine collapse in China
The disaster tragically exposes the brutal working conditions faced by miners in China in the reckless drive for profits ahead of lives and safety.
Jack Wang•
New Zealand: Court action over Pike River mine disaster
The fathers of two of the 29 workers killed in the 2010 Pike River mine disaster are campaigning for the release of documents and correspondence relating to a 2013 decision to drop charges against Pike River CEO Peter Whittall.
Tom Peters•
New Zealand police to drill more boreholes at Pike River mine
Police have made no guarantee that there will be any prosecution for the 2010 Pike River coal mine disaster, which killed 29 workers.
Tom Peters•
NZ government’s “Working with Survivors” continues cover-up of Pike River mine disaster
The Labour Party government’s promises to “be upfront” and “empower” the survivors of catastrophic events are a fraud, as the experience of the Pike River victims’ families makes clear.
Tom Peters•
Tom Peters•
Socialist Equality Group (New Zealand)•
Tom Peters•
Tom Peters•
Tom Peters•
Sylvia Ageloff and the assassination of Leon Trotsky
With David North and Eric London
North and London discussed the significance of the latest revelations of the the Security and the Fourth International investigation into Trotsky’s assassination.
Watch the video
150 years since the birth of Rosa Luxemburg
The meeting examined Luxemburg’s role as a Marxist theoretician and political leader, and discussed the significance of her legacy to the contemporary struggle to build a Marxist leadership.
Watch the video
Publisher agrees to an uncensored edition of Roald Dahl’s books, but not before PEN America exposes its own hypocrisy
Puffin has announced it will publish another edition of Dahl’s books without changes, but not before the writers' advocacy group, PEN America, exposed itself as a phony opponent of censorship, given that it is a purveyor of Ukraine war propaganda and anti-Russian chauvinism.
Sandy English•
Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague—A portrait of a 17th century lockdown
Drawing on original historical records, Geraldine Brooks has written an absorbing account of how a small village tried to combat the bubonic plague in 17th century England.
Margaret Rees•
Novelist Russell Banks (1940-2023): “Go, my book, and help destroy the world as it is.”
The American writer Russell Banks, who wrote about the lives of working-class people and historical figures such as John Brown, died on January 3 at the age of 82.
Sandy English•
The Best American Short Stories 2022
With a couple of exceptions, the editor has chosen stories that in their form, language and examination of thematic ideas are highly accomplished, even if the collection as a whole bumps its head against certain objective limits.
James McDonald•
Tom Mackaman•
Carola Kleinert, Verena Nees•
Margaret Rees•
James McDonald•
Ela Maartens, Verena Nees•