state socialism

An interesting critique of the Iranian intellectual left who had their dogmas - particularly those around anti-imperialist struggle - shattered by the events of the revolution. Also contains interesting information about the development of the Iranian socialist movement.

This short pamphlet was put together by Simon Pirani in 1996/7 from a series of interviews with Ukrainian worker activist Oleg Dubrovskii. It’s of general interest in relation to the way that life for the workers changed when the old Soviet Union disintegrated, but also provides some useful background information to what’s happening in the Ukraine today.

This is part 2 of the The Guillotine at Work, containing documentation of the Bolshevik "Red Terror" in the wake of the Russian revolution, edited by Russian anarchist Gregori Maximov.

At first glance, Giuliano Poletti, Minister of Labour and Social Policy in the Renzi government, could look like an old-fashioned left-wing politician: born into a farming family in the “red” Emilia-Romagna region, raised in the Communist Party, president of Legacoop, the main national organisation of cooperatives. He could be someone to provide a contrast to the Prime Minister’s attitude towards jobs (modelled on the inspiring figures of Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair). But appearances can be deceptive.