On The Jewish Question - Karl Marx
I
Bruno Bauer,
The Jewish Question,
Braunschweig, 1843
The German Jews desire emancipation. What kind of emancipation do they desire? Civic, political emancipation.
Here to stay, here to fight - Kenan Malik
Submitted by wojtek on Dec 11 2012 13:52
An extract from Kenan Malik's From Fatwa to Jihad that delves into the roots of the Asian Youth Movements of the 1970s and 1980s and how they came to be formed.
BBC Radio 4 broadcast a documentary this week by Zaiba Malik on the history of the Asian Youth Movements. For many of us who grew up in 1970s and 1980s, the AYMs were a central feature of our lives.
The Falklands farce
Submitted by wojtek on Oct 19 2012 15:15
A number of Freedom articles published in the lead up to and during the Falklands War. Taken from The State Is Your Enemy: Selections From Freedom 1965-86.
Ancient utopia and peasant revolts in China - Ngo Van Xuyet
The last essay completed by the veteran Vietnamese council communist, written in 2004 when he was 91 years old, is a brief introduction to the history of peasant revolts in China, with special emphasis on their Taoist origins and utopian and libertarian inspirations, and features many interesting quotations from historical and religious texts.
Ancient Utopia and Peasant Revolts in China – Ngo Van Xuyet
About the Author
Ngo Van Xuyet (Born in Tan Lo, 1913; died in Paris, 2005)
God and the state - Mikhail Bakunin - audiobook
Bakunin’s most famous work, published in various lengths, this version is the most complete form of the work published hitherto, recorded as an audiobook by LibriVox.
Originally titled “Dieu et l’état”, Bakunin intended it to be part of the second portion to a larger work named “The Knouto-Germanic Empire and the Social Revolution” (Knouto-Germanic Empire is in reference to a treaty betwixt Russia and Germany at the time), but the work was never completed.
Islamic fundamentalism: Religious fanaticism to reinforce the state
1990 article by Internationalist Perspective on Islamic fundamentalism not as a mediaeval religious phenomenon but as a modern statist one. We do not agree with elements of this article related to "decadence" but believe it to be interesting nonetheless.
The past decade has been a wave of "Islamic fundamentalism" roll over the Muslim world. The Shia world has seen the consolidation of an "Islamic republic" in Iran, under the charismatic leadership of the Ayotollah Khomeini.
Qur'an, patriarchy, and Islamic feminism
An old university essay by 'xslavearcx' on the question of different readings of the Qur'an in regards to gender issues.
Islamism – Consequence of, heir to and rival of frustrated Arab nationalism
Wine and Cheese on the origins and meaning of Islamism.
1. Islam has a bad press in the free West: followers of Islam still live in the Middle Ages, one hears, and Islamic clerics may conduct procedures their Christian colleagues have only been allowed to dream of for 150 years – to veil women, stone sinners, and burn heretics to death.
The rise of the British culture warriors
Submitted by Phil on Mar 25 2012 14:36
This post was prompted by Joseph Kay's "bodies as a site of class struggle." As well as raising some interesting questions regarding the right to choose and class struggle - which I'll offer my own thoughts on here - it also prompted me to look more closely at the re-ignited abortion debate. I've been aware of it only peripherally due to my focus being elsewhere, but certainly what's happening there is very scary indeed.
I can't claim to offer any scientific data or analysis on the advances/retreats of womens’ rights in relation to wider social/economic conditions. However, I do broadly agree that what are known in the US as "culture wars" heat up in times of crisis and heightened class conflict.
An unlikely mobilization: The occupation of Saint-Nizier church by the prostitutes of Lyon
Submitted by wojtek on Jan 19 2012 17:28
A journal article by Lilian Mathieu which examines the occupation of Saint-Nizier church in Lyon, June 1975 by prostitutes protesting against police repression. It highlights the difficulties these politically inexperienced women encountered in mobilizing, namely preventing defections and choosing an appropriate mode of action; difficulties they were able to surmount thanks to resources provided by outside supporters endowed with practical knowledge in matters of collective action. Despite this assistance, however, the prostitutes' mobilization quickly declined and soon expired, in part because of the leaders' defection.
Can comment on articles and discussions