Fake news about the Rojava Revolution
Sharply differing opinions have developed among the radical left towards the Rojava Revolution. The debate has led to the circulation of dubious stories and allegations of Kurdish fighters being involved in “ethnic cleansing” and alliances with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Nick Fredman takes up these accusations, saying the left “should be a bit more critical before accepting them”. He also argues there should be no contradiction between extending solidarity to democratic forces opposing Assad, campaigning against international support for Assad and showing solidarity with the Rojava Revolution.
India: Why are Suzuki automobile workers in jail?
In a recent court judgement on March 10, 13 leaders of the local union at the Maruti Suzuki car factory in Manesar, Gurgaon, India were convicted of murder. So why are automobile workers being jailed for murder?
Kavita Krishnan, from the Community Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, takes a look at how the Indian government is once again attempting to criminalise those who fight for workers’ rights and the growing movement of solidarity calling for the union leaders to be freed.
A revolutionary line of march: ‘Old Bolshevism’ in early 1917 re-examined
In the hundred years since the overthrow of Tsarism, there has been a near consensus among socialists and scholars that Bolshevism underwent a strategic rupture in early 1917. According to this account, the Bolsheviks supported the liberal Provisional Government until Vladimir Lenin returned to Russia in April and veered the party in a radical new direction by calling for socialist revolution and soviet power.
Through a re-examination of Bolshevik politics in March 1917, Eric Blanc demonstrates that the prevailing story is historically inaccurate and has distorted our understanding of how and why the Bolsheviks eventually came to lead the Russian Revolution.
The freedom to say “No”: Interview with dismissed Turkish academic and Yeniyol editor Uraz Aydin
For the last several months in Turkish politics, the party-state’s agenda has been dominated by two interconnected operations: consolidation of power and elimination of opposition. The former will culminate in the constitutional referendum of April 16 this year, which will, if successful, transform Turkey from a parliamentary into a presidential republic, further strengthening Erdogan’s personal rule and making it nearly impossible to electorally challenge AKP hegemony in the foreseeable future.
In an interview with LeftEast, Uraz Aydin, an editor of the Marxist journal Yeniyol, who has recently been fired from his faculty position at Marmara University, talks about the current situation.
The BRICS New Development Bank meets in Delhi to dash green-developmental hopes?
Will the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) bloc ever really challenge the world financial order? The BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) leadership is meeting in New Delhi from 31 March to 2 April with a degree of fanfare unmatched by accomplishments.
Patrick Bond says this is a good moment to assess progress since the BRICS Summit in 2013 when rumour had it that the then host city of Durban would also be the NDB’s home base. (It ended up in Shanghai, launched in 2015.)
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