Blog

Three Cyclists from India and Encounters of Empire

 ‘In China, the people did not believe they were Indians, because they were clean-shaven…’ (RGASPI 542/1/5, 68).   The continual mining of the Comintern Archive in Moscow, either by visiting the archive or consulting the online digital archive, furthers our understanding of (as in my case) anti-colonial and anti-imperialist movements and experiences in the interwar period. By perceiving these movements as circulations of experience, and, transnational in scope and nature, the documen[...]

The Revolution of Ordinary People: Russia, 1917

Lenin did not make the Revolution in 1917. Nor did Stalin. Nor Trotsky. They each provided crucial leadership, with Lenin’s role being essential from April 1917 onwards. But they were part of a tidal wave that had first risen in 1905, crested and then rose again during the Great War. This tidal wave was lifted by ordinary people – factory workers, landless peasants, housewives, soldiers, students and those who barely found the means to survive. It is they who made the Revolution happen in [...]

Book Production as an act of Political Resistance

Can book production be an act of political resistance? Can the design and material of any book be used to strengthen any story of resistance? Can the aesthetics of a book magnify the content and substance of text and images? In April this year, we at LeftWord Books, published our first visual book. Edited by Johanna Wallin, ‘Rehearsing Freedom’ is a record of the first ten years of the work of The Freedom Theatre (TFT) in Jenin, Palestine. The Freedom Theatre was created in a refugee camp i[...]

The Venezuelan Dilemma: Progressives and the “Plague on both your Houses” Position

In recent weeks, a number of Venezuelan specialists on the left side of the political spectrum have published and posted pieces that place them in an anti-Chavista, “ni-ni” position that consists of “a plague on both your houses” with regard to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the Venezuelan opposition. I consider myself a ‘critical Chavista.' It’s not an easy position to be in, particularly because the last thing I would want to do is to act in any way that would favor the r[...]

Red Sun in a Blue Sky

Subhashini Ali delivered this speech at EMS Smrithi, Thrissur in June 2017:   25 years of neo-liberalism have seen the greatest concentrations of wealth and exponentially growing disparity.  They have also seen not only growing unemployment but lowering of standards of living of the middle class and working class people.  This is the natural result of the wage cuts and loss of jobs with guaranteed benefits. It has often been said that the market is not kind and it is unkindest to the poores[...]