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Phil Hearse is still writing. These are his articles on the websites of Anti*Capitalist Resistance and International Viewpoint that are not reprinted elsewhere on this site. Each title links to the article where it was published; the summary under it is ours, not his.

2026

• Europe’s Autumn of Discontent1 November 2026 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Surveys the wave of protest across Europe in autumn 2026 over energy prices, housing, wages and austerity, with France the most militant. Argues that the movement is socially broad and rooted in a long-running neoliberal crisis, and that governments answer with repression and attempts to blame the radical left, including a campaign against Mélenchon, rather than meeting the grievances.

• California burns again: The wildfires Mike Davis warned us about20 October 2026 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Argues that the October 2026 Californian wildfires, including the Norte Fire in Orange County, confirm Mike Davis's warnings in Ecology of Fear about building in fire-prone landscapes and protecting wealthy property at public expense. Links the danger to climate change and criticises the Trump administration's rollback of environmental protections.

• Sitting on a time bomb21 September 2026 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · also in International Viewpoint

  Argues that US climate disasters, from Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy to the Paradise and Malibu wildfires, show how capitalism shapes who suffers. Drawing on Mike Davis's work on Malibu, it examines subsidised building in hazardous places, insurance retreat and Trump's climate denial, and contrasts fortified, market-led adaptation with democratic planning of energy, housing and transport.

• Don’t underestimate the danger of Reform9 June 2026 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Reviews a novel imagining a Reform UK government after 2029 and finds it complacent. Argues that the book trusts British liberal institutions to contain a Farage government, understates the damage to the working class, and ignores the international far-right context. Says the left should instead debate the alliances needed to stop Reform winning, with the Greens now carrying the banner of radical change.

• The road to hell – and back9 May 2026 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Reviews William I. Robinson's Epochal Crisis, which presents global capitalism as in a multidimensional final crisis driven by overaccumulation, militarised accumulation and the repression of surplus populations. Warns of a possible financial crash and "global Argentina", questions Robinson's downplaying of imperialism, and notes the book is thin on building an ecosocialist movement.

• Roots of the Labour Crisis16 February 2026 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Argues that Labour's crisis, marked by the departures of McSweeney and Mandelson and the threat to Starmer, has deeper roots in its fiscal rules and deference to wealth. Examines the failed growth strategy, benefit and winter fuel cuts, austerity's legacy and Labour's courting of Reform voters, and warns that without a shift in wealth and power the far right will fill the gap.

• Elections and the Anti‑fascist Struggle3 February 2026 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Argues that elections matter in the fight against the far right, since fascists in Germany and Italy rose through electoral breakthroughs and then used parliament against democratic rights. Cites Trump's United States as a present danger. Concludes that an anti-capitalist electoral bloc, built around Your Party, is needed to block Reform UK and Tommy Robinson.

2025

• Storm in a Coffee Cup – a catalogue of global warming effects2 September 2025 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · also in International Viewpoint

  Uses the sale of Costa Coffee by Coca-Cola to show how climate change is raising coffee prices through damage to crops in Brazil, Vietnam and Colombia, alongside fertiliser and shipping disruption. Considers a possible private equity takeover by Apollo and its likely effect on staff, whose low pay sits beside very high London rents.

• Committee of 100 – Direct Action in the 1960s19 August 2025 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Compares the current mass arrests of Palestine Action supporters with the Committee of 100, the early-1960s civil disobedience offshoot of CND. Traces its sit-downs, Bertrand Russell's role, Ralph Schoenman's organising, the stalemate over mass arrests and the 1962 split, and notes its legacy for later movements such as the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign.

• Critical minerals and genocide in the Congo17 June 2025 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Examines the war in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Rwanda-backed M23 advance, placing the killing and sexual violence in the contest for coltan, cobalt, lithium and rare earths. Argues that competition for critical minerals, including for the green transition and by EU firms, drives the conflict. Appendices cover rare earth metals and the trader Traxys.

• New alliance needed to combat fascism3 April 2025 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Argues that Starmer's austerity, disability benefit cuts and anti-immigrant measures are feeding Reform UK and the Tories ahead of the May 2025 local elections, as the far right gains from crisis, media bias and the weakness of the Labour left. Concludes that no-platforming is not enough and that the left needs a socialist and green electoral alternative.

2024

• Enter Gilead – Part 125 November 2024 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  First of two parts using The Handmaid's Tale as a prompt to ask how far Trump's second term is conquering the state from within. Draws on the book Creeping Fascism and Project 2025 to examine mass deportation, politicised civil service appointments, attacks on abortion rights and campuses, Musk's 'efficiency' cuts, and the need for broad resistance.

• The Right After Sunak – and the Left‑wing Alternative16 July 2024 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Assesses the July 2024 general election, arguing that Labour's large majority rests on a fragile 35 per cent vote and that Reform UK gained heavily. Examines the Tories' lurch to the hard right and the rise of national conservatism, links these to the international far right, and looks to a left alternative outside Labour.

• Global elections: hard right reaches for power3 June 2024 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Surveys the 2024 election year in Britain, the United States, India, South Africa and Europe, arguing that the hard right is advancing while Starmer purges the Labour left. Covers Reform UK, threats to the Palestine solidarity movement and Neil Faulkner's "creeping fascism", and calls for a broad left-wing party built around class-struggle activists.

• Politics in Crisis: Prospects for the Hard Right and the Militant Left19 April 2024 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Assesses the prospects of the hard right and the militant left ahead of the 2024 general election. Argues that Reform UK and Tory plotters have far better chances than a left alternative, discusses the collapse of Corbynism and Labour's inevitable disappointments, considers a Corbyn-led party, and makes the case for a new militant left party.

• Historic public sector strike in NI as a UK local government crisis looms25 January 2024 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · also in International Viewpoint

  Reports the one-day strike of 170,000 public sector workers in Northern Ireland over pay parity, which the DUP's blocking of power-sharing leaves unpaid. Compares NI wages with the rest of the UK and links the dispute to English councils nearing bankruptcy declarations, warning of a wider local government crisis.

2023

• Ruth Perry affair: abolish OFSTED!14 December 2023 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Argues that the coroner's findings on the death of Reading headteacher Ruth Perry show bullying is built into the Ofsted inspection regime. Traces Ofsted from its 1992 creation through New Labour, describes "self-Ofstedisation" and its effect on teacher workload and retention, and calls for Ofsted and academies to be abolished and for the education unions to campaign nationally.

• Writing on the Wall for Sunak and Starmer25 October 2023 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · also in International Viewpoint

  Reads a week of British politics in October 2023, with Tory by-election defeats, Sunak's Israel trip and Labour Muslim councillors' revolt over Gaza, as signs of deeper trends. Argues that Labour's support will unravel whatever its election result, that the Labour left is marginalised, and that the radical right, notably Reform UK, may gain from disillusion.

• Suella Braverman’s speech shows Tory culture wars’ election strategy29 September 2023 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · also in International Viewpoint

  Argues that Suella Braverman's September 2023 speech in Washington sets the Conservatives' culture-war strategy for the coming election, with anti-immigrant politics first. Compares it with Powell in 1968 and with Meloni, Le Pen and the AfD, disputes her claim of mass migration to Britain, and says the criticism of her shows scope for pro-immigrant politics.

• Hunt’s ‘no more money’ claim aims to blame workers for massive cuts13 July 2023 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Rejects Jeremy Hunt's claim that there is no money for public sector pay deals, arguing that energy firms, tech companies, banks and others pay little tax while profits soar. Cites BP, Shell, Amazon and the water companies, and argues for a windfall tax, bringing empty homes into use and renationalisation, presenting the Tories as agents of transnational capital.

• Climate collapse threatens slide to fascism and war29 June 2023 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Links four events of mid-June 2023: Guterres's warning on heating, Saudi carbon credit purchases, heat deaths in India and the Greek refugee boat sinking. Argues that climate-driven water scarcity and migration are strengthening the far right and 'modern fascism', criticises Fortress Europe, and discusses water conflict, citing an Iraqi refugee's testimony.

• Taiwan, militarism and the reactionary campaign against China28 May 2023 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Argues that the Western campaign against China, built on fears of war over Taiwan and charges of 'economic coercion', is hypocritical given the scale of US sanctions and IMF-style coercion. Also asks whether Taiwan is a nation with a right to self-determination, rejecting the campist view that the question is settled by history.

• Tory Rebels: Mad Hatters and Creeping Fascism17 May 2023 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Examines two Conservative right-wing conferences held in May 2023, the Conservative Democratic Organisation and National Conservatism, as evidence of the party's drift towards nationalism and culture war. Looks at speeches by Braverman, Cates and Kruger, the Edmund Burke Foundation and the influence of Meloni and Orban, and sees the Tory right heading towards Hungarian-style "illiberal democracy".

• 1953: Militarism and Magical Symbolism3 May 2023 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  A memoir of the 1953 coronation, recalling flags, street parties, Trooping the Colour, toy guns and school visits to the Tower of London and Bovington Tank Museum. Reflects on how royal loyalty, militarism and symbolism instilled state ideology in a 1950s child, written ahead of Charles's coronation.

• Dystopian movies chart the rise of Apocalypse capitalism – part 119 February 2023 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Part one of a long essay arguing that contemporary dystopian films reflect 'apocalypse capitalism', a prolonged, multi-causal crisis dating from 2001 and 2007-08. Draws on William Gibson, Philip K Dick and Mike Davis, and discusses Children of Men, Blade Runner, Don't Look Up and The Handmaid's Tale, noting that such films mix progressive and reactionary themes.

2022

• The Political Importance of Mike Davis29 October 2022 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · also in International Viewpoint

  An appreciation of the Marxist writer Mike Davis, drawing on Hearse's acquaintance with him in London in 1982. Surveys his work, from nuclear imperialism and Prisoners of the American Dream to City of Quartz, The Monster at Our Door, Planet of Slums and Late Victorian Holocausts, and argues that his analysis of racism, urban space and ecological crisis remains essential for socialists.

• Conservatives: Faction Fighting and Desperation24 October 2022 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Analyses the Tory leadership turmoil as Rishi Sunak becomes leader in October 2022. Argues that any candidate would deliver a hard-right government of austerity, anti-union laws and policing of protests, examines the ERG and One Nation factions and the debt crisis rooted in neoliberalism and Covid spending, and calls for solidarity with striking rail and postal workers.

• Ukraine, war and the British left7 September 2022 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Interview with Federico Fuentes for Green Left on why Russia's invasion disoriented the British left. Argues that Russia bears primary responsibility, that Ukrainians may take arms from NATO, and that the left should oppose a Western push towards proxy war with Russia. Criticises the Communist Party, the SWP and Stop the War leadership, and turns to the coming industrial struggles.

• Million say ‘enough is enough’, as Tories plan massive attack22 August 2022 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · also in International Viewpoint

  Argues that the Tory leadership contest between Sunak and Truss points to deeper privatisation, tax cuts for business and anti-strike legislation as the cost-of-living and energy crisis bites. Backs the rail and port strikes, Mick Lynch and the Enough is Enough campaign, and urges the left to unite, demand nationalisation of energy and water, and press to bring down the Tories.

• Tory candidates push anti‑China cold war10 August 2022 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Argues that Sunak and Truss are competing to be tougher on China, feeding a new cold war driven by US politics, arms interests and Chinese nationalism ahead of Xi's third term. Examines claims about Taiwan, economic interdependence and sanctions, and warns of racist targeting of Chinese people in Britain.

• NATO expands – Kurds betrayed20 July 2022 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · with Sarah Parker · also in International Viewpoint

  Argues that Turkey's price for lifting its veto on Finnish and Swedish NATO membership was US F-16 sales and a promise to deport Kurdish 'terrorists'. Examines Erdogan's use of the terrorist label against the PKK, YPG and HDP ahead of elections, and urges opposition to deportations and support for Nordic anti-NATO campaigners.

• After Johnson: Spartans propel surge to the right9 July 2022 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Examines the Tory right after Boris Johnson's resignation, focusing on Steve Baker's "Spartans" and the hard-right ideas of the 2012 book Britannia Unchained. Argues that whoever replaces Johnson will move further right on cuts, Brexit, nationalism and militarism, and places Baker's group on the spectrum of "creeping fascism", requiring a united fighting left in response.

• Massacres, Militarism and the Culture of Cruelty14 June 2022 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · also in International Viewpoint

  Argues that US mass shootings must be understood through American capitalism and its warfare state, not only gun control. Examines militarised policing, racist violence, armed militias, violence against women, the glorification of the military in film, and suicide as the majority of gun deaths, under a 'culture of cruelty'.

• Debate: Imperialism and the Global Police State12 May 2022 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  An exchange of letters with the sociologist William I Robinson over his Global Police State thesis. Hearse argues that growing inter-imperialist conflict, especially between the US and China and over Ukraine, contradicts a 'post-imperialist' era. Robinson replies that states use external conflict and militarisation to deflect internal crisis.

• Ukraine: The return of Francis Fukuyama31 March 2022 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · also in International Viewpoint

  Challenges Francis Fukuyama's revived "end of history" reading of the Ukraine war as liberal democracy versus authoritarianism. Argues the real contest is between rival imperialisms and that this framing feeds NATO militarisation, criticises Paul Mason's pro-NATO stance, and holds that supporting Ukrainian self-defence need not mean siding with NATO.

• NATO, imperialism and the war13 March 2022 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · also in International Viewpoint

  Argues that the left should condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine without ignoring NATO's use of the war to advance US imperial aims. Criticises positions that reject any negotiated concessions, urges a ceasefire, and examines Western sanctions, European energy dependence and the wider inter-imperialist conflict.

• Sanctions, a question of who, where and when26 February 2022 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Argues against supporting US and EU sanctions on Russia, while distinguishing cases such as South African apartheid sanctions, which a mass movement demanded. Says it is a question of who imposes them, where and when. Cites the damage sanctions did in Iraq, Iran, Cuba, Gaza, Afghanistan and Venezuela, and warns against appearing to side with one's own imperialism.

• Neil Faulkner: Charismatic Revolutionary11 February 2022 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · also in International Viewpoint

  A tribute to Neil Faulkner, the archaeologist, military historian and Anti*Capitalist Resistance leader who died on 4 February 2022. Traces his path from the SWP and Counterfire through the Brick Lane debates to ACR, and outlines his theory of "creeping fascism" and his late work on the crisis, drawing on William Robinson and Rob Wallace.

• China versus America: War in the Pacific?11 January 2022 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · also in International Viewpoint

  Asks how US-China military rivalry, including Aukus and Pacific build-ups, fits with deep economic interdependence and the 'Global Police State' thesis. Examines Brookings-style arguments for competitive interdependence, US operational doctrines such as Multi-Domain Operations, the F-35 and failed naval projects, and the arms industry's interest in a China threat.

• Russian Hands Off Kazakhstan!6 January 2022 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · with Neil Faulkner

  A statement of solidarity with the Kazakh uprising of January 2022, calling for protest at the Kazakh embassy. Argues that Putin's paratroopers prop up a corrupt dictatorship, describes Russia as a weak but aggressive imperialist power, and criticises left campism. Ends with the demands of the socialist movement of Kazakhstan.

• Tory ‘Freedom’ versus Social Solidarity2 January 2022 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · with Neil Faulkner

  Argues that the Tory right's opposition to Omicron restrictions in the name of "freedom" comes from the libertarian ideas of Ayn Rand, as carried into the Britannia Unchained generation and Steve Baker. Sets out Rand's views and career, and counters them with an argument for collective obligation, the NHS and international solidarity such as an end to vaccine imperialism.

2021

• A Fascist Wedge: the anti‑vaxx movement20 December 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Argues that the anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown movement is a wedge for the far right, citing fascist presence at a London demonstration and Tory hard-right 'freedom' rhetoric during the Omicron wave. Rejects libertarian objections to public-health measures, backs vaccination of health workers and support for those isolating, and blames the government's delay.

• Cricket a game of racism and class17 November 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Argues that Azeem Rafiq's testimony on Yorkshire cricket is clear evidence of institutional racism, not an isolated case. Draws four lessons, including that racism is normalised as 'banter', contrasts it with the government's Sewell report finding no institutional racism, and calls on people to challenge racist behaviour wherever they meet it.

• Starmer Embraces Failed Legacy of Blairism23 September 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Assesses Keir Starmer's embrace of the Blair-Brown legacy by weighing the record of the 1997-2010 Labour governments. Criticises the Iraq war, light-touch neoliberalism, weak labour law, PFI and privatisation, debt-fuelled consumption and persistent poverty despite extra NHS and school spending, and sees Starmer's purging of the Labour left as continuing Blair's hostility to it.

• The future: flash floods and climate gentrification24 August 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Links summer 2021 flash floods, storms and wildfires to warming seas, as Extinction Rebellion protests ahead of COP26. Argues that property developers are turning the crisis into 'climate gentrification', pushing poor people off safer ground, while insurers and the Cambo oil field show how fossil-fuel interests shape government policy.

• The Earth is Burning6 August 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · also in International Viewpoint

  Argues that the summer 2021 heat domes, wildfires and floods in North America, Turkey, Germany and China are signs of accelerating climate breakdown. Explains the physical causes, tipping points and water crises, links them to Covid inequalities and the politics of capitalist inaction, and warns that without major political change the outlook is grim.

• Batley — No Great Victory for Starmer3 July 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · also in International Viewpoint

  Argues that Labour's narrow win in the July 2021 Batley and Spen by-election is no triumph for Starmer, whose leadership offers voters no clear alternative. Criticises George Galloway's Workers Party campaign for courting socially conservative voters with homophobia and transphobia, compares it to the KPD's "national Bolshevism", and sets out what a real left would campaign on.

• Culture Wars, Class, and Power9 June 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Examines the Tory 'culture war' over the cricketer suspension, taking the knee at football matches and the Baftas, as a deliberate political offensive. Argues the ultra-right is not inexorably losing, compares Thatcherism's institutional victories, finds contradictory attitudes in both working and middle classes, and concludes the struggle for power is ultimately political.

• Guy Debord and the Spectacle4 June 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Discusses Guy Debord's The Society of the Spectacle as the culmination of Marxist theories of ideological domination that began with Gramsci's hegemony. Examines how consumerism and media extend capital's control over consciousness, and suggests that the environmental movement is the one force with no place in the Spectacle.

• Colombia Military Moves against Popular Rebellion1 June 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Reports on President Duque's deployment of troops to Cali against the Colombian uprising that began with the national strike of 28 April 2021 over a regressive tax reform. Describes the police killings, the role of unions, youth, women and indigenous people, and sets Colombia within the "Global Police State" supported by the US, Britain and Israel.

• Colombia Uprising Symbolises a Continent in Revolt10 May 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Surveys a wave of rebellion in Latin America in 2021. Covers Colombia's strike and uprising against Duque's tax reform and state repression, then Chile, Bolivia after Morales, Argentina's abortion victory and Brazil under Bolsonaro, arguing that corruption, austerity and the pandemic are driving young, indigenous and working-class resistance.

• What do we mean by a Global Police State?5 May 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Explains what the Global Police State means, following William I Robinson: militarised policing of protest, border violence against migrants, militarised accumulation and arms profits, and the rise of modern fascism. Adds the role of digital surveillance and big tech, and argues that democracy is the central issue.

• Sport and the Spectacle of Monopolised Surplus Accumulation24 April 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Uses the failed European Super League to argue that big sport has become a world product whose profits are captured at the point of consumption by media and tech platforms. Draws on Guy Debord's idea of the spectacle, with the Indian Premier League, fashion and Netflix's Roma as examples, and notes that fans are priced out of live events and clubs run on debt.

• A Comment on Daniel Bensaid’s ‘What it Means to be a Marxist’7 April 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Replies to Daniel Bensaid's essay 'What it Means to be a Marxist', arguing that Marxism has an irreducible core as a theory of society and history. Criticises the idea of a 'thousand and one Marxisms', defends class exploitation as the overarching framework against fragmented identity politics, and cites an earlier interview with Bensaid.

• Picture of the Week 7 Hayward Gallery Art and Power exhibition28 March 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  A 'Picture of the Week' entry on the 1995 Hayward Gallery exhibition Art and Power. Describes the Soviet and Nazi pavilions at Paris in 1937, the use of the Worker and Kolkhoz Woman statue by the French LCR and IMG, and Eric Hobsbawm's argument that dictatorship art serves power and tends to kitsch.

• Turkey Bans Largest Left‑Wing Party25 March 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · with Sarah Parker

  Reports the Turkish Constitutional Court's closure of the Kurdish-led HDP in March 2021 and the five-year political bans on 687 of its leaders. Places the move within Erdogan's drift towards modern fascism, the economic crisis, arms-industry expansion and the war on Kurdish rights in Turkey, Syria and Iraq, and calls for solidarity.

• Spring Revolution: Workers, Women, and Youth Continue the Fightback in Myanmar21 March 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Reports on Myanmar's resistance to the February 2021 military coup, covering the deadly crackdown, the Civil Disobedience Movement and strikes by medical, garment and other workers. Places it within a wider global wave of revolt and repression, which it calls the Global Police State, and expects Africa and Latin America to follow.

• Picture of the Week 4 Photograph of Che Guevara by Alberto Korda7 March 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  A 'Picture of the Week' piece on Alberto Korda's photograph of Che Guevara, taken in March 1960. Recounts the occasion, the image's spread after Che's death in 1967, Korda's copyright win over Smirnoff, and Hearse's recollection of seeing it on placards at a 1998 student demonstration in Mexico City.

• Fight for Democracy Key to Popular Power5 March 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Argues that the early-2021 coups and crackdowns in Myanmar, Uganda, Russia, Hong Kong and Belarus show a "Global Police State", with military-bureaucratic elites entwined with local capital. Holds that socialists should join the democratic struggles, even alongside pro-capitalist forces, and rejects leftist apologetics for Russia or China, ending on whether global capitalism can survive the fight for democracy.

• Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere – Again!24 February 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Argues that the Myanmar general strike is part of a new global wave of resistance led by Generation Z and women, from Turkey and Latin America to India, Argentina and Poland. Compares it with the post-2008 movements, notes the strength of the far right, and calls for organisation and a red-green programme.

• Value and Surplus through a Neoliberal Lens: notes towards a new understanding of Marxist economics1 February 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · with Neil Faulkner

  A long theoretical paper proposing that Marx wrongly conflated value with surplus-value. Argues that value is created by collective labour but surplus is appropriated at several points in the circuits of capital, including consumption, rent, debt and finance. Concludes with ten theses on exploitation of workers as both producers and consumers.

• A Coup Attempt and a Fascist Riot: What Does it Mean for the United States?9 January 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Assesses the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot, arguing it was not a planned coup but followed a failed judicial-political attempt to overturn the election, and that the rioters were fascists backed by much of the Republican base. Defends the "creeping fascism" thesis using Robert Paxton, stressing police sympathy, the alliance of the far and institutional right, and the need for an anti-capitalist programme.

• Pandemic Catastrophe3 January 2021 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Argues that the January 2021 Covid catastrophe in Britain results from the failed tier system and a government prioritising business, and that only a Zero Covid strategy will work. Covers the new variant, vaccine rollout problems, unsafe schools and the NEU's stance, and urges support for the Zero Covid conference.

2020

• Creeping fascism after the US election: Trump’s march to Gilead23 November 2020 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Replies to John Rees's claim that Trump's defeat refutes the 'creeping fascism' thesis. Argues that the theory is a warning about the far right's racism and anti-immigrant mobilisation, that complacency is the real danger, and that Trump's coup attempt and the attack on socialism show the road to Gilead remains open.

• System Crash: An Activist Guide to the Coming Democratic Revolution (serialised)6 November 2020 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · with Neil Faulkner, Simon Hannah, Rowan Fortune and Nina Fortune

  A short book serialised chapter by chapter between November 2020 and January 2021, from the pandemic and the burning planet through mega-slums, police and warfare states, the new fascism and the economics of disaster capitalism, to the working class and the oppressed. It argues that capitalism has become a threat to human survival and that a democratic revolution is now an existential necessity.

• Fast‑Track Fascism5 November 2020 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · with Neil Faulkner

  Argues, in the wake of the 2020 US election, that "creeping fascism" no longer fits events and sets out five theses: bourgeois democracy is breaking down, modern fascism is a political form of neoliberal crisis, the working class is fractured, the police are the main instrument of repression, and the reformist road is ending. Calls for a new revolutionary organisation.

• Suppress the Virus or Face Catastrophe!12 October 2020 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance

  Argues in October 2020 that the UK needs an aggressive test, trace and suppress strategy backed by large subsidies to workers and small businesses, not tiers or herd immunity. Reviews rising infections linked to poverty and overcrowding, and criticises the Great Barrington Declaration and the failure of privatised test-and-trace.

• Johnson crashes Britain towards the abyss29 September 2020 · International Viewpoint

  Argues that Boris Johnson's government is steering Britain towards a social, health and economic disaster, through a failed Covid response, a likely no-deal Brexit with border problems in Ireland and at Dover, and anti-migrant xenophobia. Considers the left's weakness after Corbyn's defeat and Starmer's mild opposition.

• Analysing the World Capitalist Crisis10 September 2020 · Anti*Capitalist Resistance · with Neil Faulkner

  Background paper for the opening session of the Anti*Capitalist Resistance weekend school in September 2020, surveying the climate emergency, Covid-19, the continuing crisis of over-accumulation and the rise of the hard right. Draws on William Robinson's "surplus humanity" and "Global Police State", reflects on Corbynism's defeat and calls for the revolutionary left to regroup on internationalist, democratic lines.

2018

• What recent London demos say about the state of the British left21 November 2018 · International Viewpoint

  Examines two London demonstrations in October 2018: an anti-fascist turnout that outnumbered the far-right DFLA march and the 670,000-strong People's Vote march. Argues they exposed divisions on the left over Brexit, discusses the SWP's response and Corbyn's position, and describes a new libertarian anti-capitalist current such as Plan C.

2016

• Analysing the PKK: a reply to Alex de Jong26 August 2016 · International Viewpoint · with Sarah Parker

  Replies to Alex de Jong's two International Viewpoint articles on the PKK and Rojava, arguing that they are sectarian and doctrinaire. Contends the PKK has shifted to democratic confederalism and women's liberation, and that the Fourth International should judge liberation movements by their practice, as with the Vietnamese NLF, not their ideology.

2012

• A personal tribute to Dave Packer26 July 2012 · International Viewpoint

  A tribute to Dave Packer, a leading figure of the IMG, the Socialist League and the International Socialist Group, written from Hearse's close friendship with him. Recalls the 1985 split, the 1987 fusion with the Socialist Group, the ISG's disputes inside the Fourth International and its Labour Briefing orientation, and Packer's later work on Europe, left unity, ecosocialism and the 2008 crisis.

2009

• Destiny of a Revolutionary12 July 2009 · International Viewpoint

  Reviews Jan Willem Stutje's biography of Ernest Mandel. Assesses Mandel's economics, including Late Capitalism and long waves, and his role in the Fourth International's strategy, entrism and the youth radicalisation, while criticising his schematic view of Stalinism. Concludes the book dwells too much on his final disappointments and personal life.

• Peter Gowan - an appreciation17 June 2009 · International Viewpoint

  An obituary of Peter Gowan, who died in June 2009, remembered as a leading Marxist analyst of international relations and a critic of US imperialism. Recounts his early IMG leadership, his role around the Black Dwarf split and the founding of The Red Mole, and his later work with New Left Review and the ISG.

• New Labour’s collapse27 May 2009 · International Viewpoint

  Argues in May 2009 that New Labour is facing electoral collapse amid the slump and the MPs' expenses scandal. Traces the failure to its reliance on a deregulated City, public-private partnerships, targets, low wages and credit-fuelled "Mondeo Man" prosperity, and warns that Cameron's Tories will inherit the field while the left remains too divided to benefit.

2008

• Has working-class consciousness collapsed?3 September 2008 · International Viewpoint

  Examines the claim that the working class is no longer a 'class for itself'. Argues it is an exaggeration, traces falling consciousness to defeats such as the 1984-85 miners' strike and to workforce restructuring, and expects economic crisis to revive strikes. Urges socialists to link activist campaigns with the labour movement.

• The Bitter Truth about the Olympics6 August 2008 · International Viewpoint

  Argues that the 2008 Beijing Games promote national chauvinism and corporate profit rather than internationalism. Describes the vast spending on stadiums, the eviction of 1.25 million people, repression of complainants and worsening human rights, and urges the left not to be taken in by the spectacle.

• Tet Offensive - decisive battle of the Vietnam war4 January 2008 · International Viewpoint

  Examines the 1968 Tet offensive as the turning point of the Vietnam War: a military setback for the NLF and PAVN that was a political triumph. Covers the US strategy of Rolling Thunder and attrition, the Vietnamese leadership's debate and the failure of the hoped-for urban uprising, and the offensive's effect on American opinion and the international left.

2007

• 2007 - Year of Climate Change Catastrophe25 November 2007 · International Viewpoint

  Surveys the floods, storms and fires of 2007 as evidence that climate change is already harming the poor most, with examples from South Asia, Africa, China and California. Cites Oxfam's data on rising disasters, and argues that corruption, bad flood policy and property interests worsen the damage.

• How the SWP’s bureaucratic factionalism is wrecking Respect31 October 2007 · International Viewpoint · with Liam Mac Uaid

  Argues that the October 2007 crisis in Respect, sparked by George Galloway's criticism of the national secretary, stems from SWP control and organisational methods. Rejects the SWP's 'communalism' and witch-hunt narrative, and warns that Respect's collapse would damage hopes of a broad left party.

• Atenco leaders sentenced to 67 years imprisonment6 May 2007 · International Viewpoint

  Reports the May 2007 sentencing of Atenco land-defence leaders, including Ignacio del Valle, to 67 years and six months each for the 2006 clashes at San Salvador Atenco. Gives an eyewitness account of the police assault, links it to the Zapatistas' Other Campaign and Calderon's repression of popular movements in Mexico, and calls for an international campaign for political prisoners.

• "After Socialism" - Sad Outcomes21 April 2007 · International Viewpoint

  Reviews Gabriel Kolko's After Socialism. Credits Kolko's earlier work on US imperialism and the Vietnamese revolution, then disputes his rejection of the Enlightenment, Hegelian dialectics and Marxism after the Vietnamese Communists' turn to capitalism. Argues revolutionary consciousness depends on political struggle, not events alone.

• Burger giant’s revival reveals key to US capitalism13 February 2007 · International Viewpoint

  Explains McDonald's recovery from its late-1990s slump through longer opening hours, breakfast and a wider menu. Argues that this reflects American workers working longer and harder, with shift work, sleep deprivation and drive-through eating, and ties it to Marx on the working day and neoliberalism's intensification of labour.

• Blair Faces Endgame4 February 2007 · International Viewpoint

  Examines Tony Blair's weakened position in February 2007 amid the cash-for-honours inquiry, which involved secret loans to Labour and the arrests of Lord Levy and Ruth Turner. Links his unpopularity to Iraq, NHS hospital closures and militarism, expects Gordon Brown to continue the same neoliberal course, and judges that Blair's legacy is a deepening of Thatcherism.

• The Politics of the "Surge"13 January 2007 · International Viewpoint

  Analyses Bush's January 2007 'surge' of 21,000 troops to Iraq and Blair's call for a 'war fighting' Britain. Examines the Iraq Study Group's aims on oil privatisation and a continued US military presence, the US-Iran-Shia militia relationship and the planned assault on the Mahdi army in Sadr City.

2006

• The Crushing of the Hungarian Revolution3 October 2006 · International Viewpoint

  Narrates the Hungarian revolution of 1956 and its suppression by Soviet tanks, from de-Stalinisation, the Nagy New Course and the October uprising to the workers' councils and mass repression. Discusses the effect on Western Communist parties and the left, and criticises Isaac Deutscher's justification of the Soviet intervention.

• Showdown in Mexico27 August 2006 · International Viewpoint

  Surveys the social conflicts of Mexico in summer 2006: the disputed presidential election won by Calderon over Lopez Obrador, the miners' and steelworkers' strikes, the police attack on Atenco, and the Oaxaca teachers' movement and its APPO assembly. Places them in the context of neoliberalism and the Zapatistas' Other Campaign, and notes the lack of a national anti-capitalist party.

• Resistance and Revolution25 June 2006 · International Viewpoint

  Discusses revolutionary strategy in Latin America amid the left's resurgence under Morales, Chavez and others. Argues for adapting permanent revolution by tying democratic and national tasks to socialist ones, stresses women's liberation, and examines the question of state power, popular self-organisation and the oligarchy in Venezuela and Bolivia.

• Zapatistas call Red Alert over state attacks7 May 2006 · International Viewpoint

  Reports the Zapatistas' suspension of the 'Other Campaign' and red alert after police repression at San Salvador Atenco in May 2006, which left one boy dead and hundreds arrested. Gathers eyewitness accounts, Subcomandante Marcos's rally speech, and a PRT statement, and notes the government's moves against Marcos.

• Why America wants endless war1 May 2006 · International Viewpoint

  Argues that Rumsfeld's 2006 Quadrennial Defence Review and "generation-long war" reflect a US aim of controlling the world order through Iraq, the Middle East's oil routes and the Eurasian landmass. Reviews the loss of US influence in Latin America and East Asia, and describes the war on terror as a long-term "regime of accumulation" that bipartisan politics will not challenge.

2005

• One Step Forward9 July 2005 · International Viewpoint

  Explains the Zapatistas' Sixth Declaration of the Selva Lacandona in 2005, reading it as an attempt to end isolation after a decade of paramilitary violence and stalled peace talks. Discusses their proposed non-electoral national campaign with the left, the obstacle of the PRD, and the case for a broad anti-capitalist party in Mexico.

• ¡Cochabamba! - Story of the Water Wars24 April 2005 · International Viewpoint

  Reviews Oscar Olivera and Tom Lewis's account of the 2000 Cochabamba water war against privatisation to Bechtel's consortium. Retells the insurrection and its organisation, then draws strategic lessons for the global justice movement, arguing that coordinating mass struggle ultimately requires a political party.

• Quagmire13 January 2005 · International Viewpoint

  Analyses the US predicament in Iraq in January 2005, weeks before the elections: the Fallujah assault, rising US casualties, the Sunni boycott and Washington's reliance on Sistani and the Shi'ite parties. Argues that the Bush administration cannot afford to withdraw, even as the occupation loses what legitimacy it had, notes divisions among the neoconservatives, and urges the anti-war movement to mobilise internationally.

2004

• European Social Forum: take the power to change the world9 December 2004 · International Viewpoint

  Transcript of a speech at the 2004 European Social Forum debate on strategies for social transformation. Argues against the Zapatista refusal to seek state power, using Argentina, Venezuela and Mexico to show the limits of self-organisation without national power, and cites the Scottish Socialist Party in defending political representation.

• Is the Empire being defeated?1 October 2004 · International Viewpoint

  Argues that the occupation of Iraq in 2004 is a brutal urban guerrilla war whose scale is hidden by Western media. Examines the battles of Falluja and Ba'qubah, torture, the sham handover of sovereignty, and what the resistance means for US power in the region, urging the anti-war movement to demand withdrawal.

2003

• Change the world - without taking power?18 December 2003 · International Viewpoint

  A critical review of John Holloway's book Change the World Without Taking Power, which rejects seizing state power in favour of building "anti-power" and autonomous spaces. Argues from Lenin, the Paris Commune, Catalonia 1936, Venezuela and the Zapatistas that revolutionaries must smash the state and organise politically, and disputes Holloway's rejection of Marxism as a science.

2002

• Year Zero: twelve months of the "war on terrorism"12 September 2002 · International Viewpoint

  Reviews a year of the US 'war on terrorism' after September 11, arguing it advances American hegemony against rivals and movements. Draws on Brzezinski to discuss US strategy, notes growing racism in Europe, and considers the global justice movement merging with an anti-war movement and friction over Iraq.

• Palestine terrorised15 April 2002 · International Viewpoint

  Condemns the Israeli army's April 2002 offensive against Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jenin and other towns as a bid to smash the second intifada. Rejects the claim that suicide bombings caused it, sees the Sharon government pursuing the Zionist right's programme, and calls for mass international solidarity with the Palestinians.

• The ‘war on terror’ - a first balance sheet9 February 2002 · International Viewpoint

  Takes stock, in February 2002, of the US "war on terror" after the defeat of the Taliban, arguing it is an open assertion of imperialism that will extend to Iraq and elsewhere. Covers the rise of the Pentagon hawks, the Doha trade talks, Putin's alignment, Israel's war on the Palestinians and attacks on civil liberties, and the resilience of the global justice and anti-war movements.

2001

• Behind the ‘war on terrorism’16 November 2001 · International Viewpoint

  Argues in late 2001 that the Bush administration is using September 11 to push world politics rightward under US hegemony and crush opposition. Examines the anti-terror coalition and its contradictions, strains with Europe, erosion of civil liberties and racism against Muslims, and the challenge facing the global justice movement.