The debates currently taking place in Canada over Niki Ashton’s
On the first night of the Labour Party conference in the British seaside town of Brighton, there was a blood red moon in the sky. Superstitious types may have viewed this cosmic event favourably. Others, perhaps, with foreboding. With the left wing MP Jeremy Corbyn taking to the stage as the newly elected leader of the Labour Party, was this the sign of a new dawn for politics in Britain?
Contracting-out and other forms of privatization are happening in educational institutions all over the world. Solidarity between students and workers is a crucial part of fighting such moves. In Britain, an impressive student occupation at the University of Sussex against the privatization of services on campus is still in full-swing after three weeks, even expanding, with flash occupations and disruptions of different buildings and events on campus on March 1. Students at Sussex have been inspired by Quebec’s student movement, adopting a yellow square as a symbol of their campaign. On February 28, Jeffery R. Webber sat down with Maia Pal, a leading organizer of the campaign, to discuss its origins and dynamics to date.
By Greg Sharzer
Last summer’s London Riots may not have directly anticipated the current Occupy Movement. But they stem from a similar place: a growing outrage at the deprivation and inequality of the capitalist system. And like the Occupy movement, the riots raise important questions about how leftists should relate to them – NS.