Socialist Ideas & Theory

The 1917 Russian revolution was a momentous moment in working class history, in which women played a pivotal and active role. It started with a strike by women textile workers on 8 March (International Women’s Day – 23 February according to the calendar in use in Russia at the time). Not able to take their impoverished conditions and food shortages ...

23 February 1917 (8 March in today’s calendar) marked the beginning of the socialist revolution in Russia, which sparked a revolutionary wave that would travel around the world. In the Socialist in 2007, Socialist Party general secretary Peter Taaffe analysed the lessons of February for the working class today and how the leadership of the Bolshevik party, particularly Lenin and ...

By Hannah Sell (Deputy General Secretary, Socialist Party) The IMF now calls for state intervention to stimulate the ailing global economy. And many on the left also propose Keynesian-style policies. So, does this mean the IMF would welcome a Corbyn-led government in Britain? If not, why not? From the 1980s onwards neoliberal economics have reigned supreme. Now, eight years after ...

Kate Jones reviews Iphigenia in Splott, written and directed by Gary Owen, Sherman Cymru theatre, Cardiff ‘An angry call for revolt’ Effie is a working class girl in an area of Cardiff hit hard by cuts. No work, no hope, shops boarded up, library and swimming pool closed, streets littered with dog shit. Is there nothing for her but getting ...

By Dave Reid Many opponents of the idea of a new workers’ party have pointed to Welsh Labour as a model for the whole Labour Party. But just how ‘old Labour’ is it? Could it be used to advance the struggles of the working class? These questions are discussed in Clear Red Water, by Nick Davies and Darren Williams, chair ...

By Dave Reid Chartism in the 19th century was the first political movement of the British working class and arguably the first mass workers movement in history. In 1838 the People’s Charter had been drawn up by the London Working Men’s Association demanding equal political rights for the working class. Property qualifications prevented workers from standing for parliament or even ...