Trying To Fix My Introduction
Barney Farmer’s novel Coketown builds on his work on Viz classics like Drunken Bakers to create a comic horror update of Dickens’ Hard Times.
4299 Articles by:
Raven Hart
Raven Hart is co-founder of the Bristol Cooperative Alliance, an organisation that aims to promote a decentralised economy that empowers local communities and facilitates democratic self-determination.
The Covid Crisis Has Revived Arts Trade Unionism
Across the creative industries, already precarious workers have been left in limbo by government and institutional inaction during this crisis – but the unions that fight for them are adapting quickly.
Ireland’s ‘Golfgate’ Is a Story of Ruling Class Entitlement
Just days after imposing new lockdown restrictions, a circle of elite politicians in Ireland attended a golf dinner which brazenly flouted them. Their attitude was simple: rules only apply to the common people.
Remembering Wave Hill: When Australia’s Indigenous Fought Back
On this day in 1966, hundreds of indigenous workers walked off the job in Australia’s Northern Territory demanding equal pay. Their strike lasted nine years – and resulted in the return of ancestral lands stolen for generations.
He Was Curious Red
Olof Palme, the radical social democrat who led Sweden in the 1970s, first came to international prominence in an unexpected place – a cameo in the notorious ‘sex film’ I Am Curious Yellow.
How Co-operative Architecture Shaped Britain
In the 19th and 20th centuries, Britain’s growing co-operative movement provided an alternative to capitalist business practices – and made its mark on cities and towns with ambitious building projects.
Fabric Cybernetics
The work of the Soviet textile designer Anna Andreeva, recently rediscovered by New York’s Museum of Modern Art, is an insight into Soviet cultural diplomacy, right down to a commemorative scarf made for Queen Elizabeth II.
On Your Marks, Get Set, Unionise!
For years, international track and field athletes have watched the decisions that shape their sport made by elite organisations while their right to protest was curtailed – so now, they’ve decided to unionise.
Delays Are Not Enough – It’s Time to Cancel the Rent
Hundreds of thousands of renters face unaffordable arrears on top of their runaway housing costs. Delaying evictions isn’t a solution – it’s time to campaign for write-offs.
The Ruling Class Doesn’t Believe in Democracy
Under capitalism, democracy is permitted as long as it doesn’t fundamentally threaten the ruling class and their power – once that line is crossed, the democratic facade crumbles rapidly.
Track, Trace and the Myth of Private Sector Efficiency
For years, right-wingers have argued that healthcare privatisation is the path to greater efficiency. But the track and trace scandal shows what it really means – huge payouts for dysfunctional services.
Lebanon’s Interwoven Crises
This month’s apocalyptic explosion in Beirut was a symbol for the disintegration of a Lebanese state plagued by political and economic crisis – and increasingly subject to the intrigue of its old imperial power, France.
Instead of Rewarding Key Workers, Britain Is Putting Them on Zero-Hours
For the first time on record more than a million people in the UK are on zero-hour contracts. And the biggest growth sectors? Social care and retail – key worker industries that the government claims to champion.
Reading Neal Ascherson
In the first ‘What Our Editors Are Reading,’ culture editor Owen Hatherley reviews the Observer columns of Scottish writer Neal Acherson.
What I Learned from Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn didn’t win, but he fought for socialist politics even when it was difficult – if we are to have any hope of achieving radical change in our lifetimes, we must do the same.
Gen Z Wins Its First Battle
By forcing the government into a u-turn on A-level results, an emerging generation has learned its political power – but to win a decent future, it will have to fight for many years to come.
1. “Proudly Socialist”: A Conversation with Jeremy Corbyn
In the first episode of A World to Win, Grace interviews former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn about the past five years, the government’s handling of the pandemic – and the future of socialism.
PSG vs. RB Leipzig: Welcome to the Future of Football
Tonight in the Champions League, a Gulf dictatorship takes on a sports drink company for a place in the final. It’s a symbol of a game that is losing all connection to the communities that built it.
Fighting Climate Change Requires a Transit Revolution
There is no path to meeting climate targets and avoiding devastation that doesn’t run through a dramatic reduction in the use of cars. Now is the time to seize on this reality and invest in the alternatives.
It’s Time to Socialise the High Street
Britain’s high streets were already in crisis before Covid-19, but now many are on the verge of dereliction – it’s time for a bold plan to socialise them and build thriving centres of community life.