'Pravda', the newspaper indelibly associated with the Bolshevik Party and the Russian Revolution, means 'truth'. It’s an appropriate name for a publication that set out to relate and generalise the experiences and struggles of the Russian working class, which was numerically small and scattered over a vast area in the early twentieth century.
The federal election has sparked some discussion around what position the radical left in this country should take on electoral activity. The anarchist publication Red & Black Notes recently carried a contribution from Tommy Lawson, arguing for a principle of abstention from parliamentary elections.
The editors of Red Flag receive a lot of feedback from the socialists distributing and selling this publication around the country. One thing that stands out from their conversations this year is that many left-wing people feel that there is no point devoting serious time to political activism.
Mick Armstrong responds to the argument made by British journalist Paul Mason that socialists should call for a 'popular front' with capitalist forces in the West against the threat of Russian and Chinese authoritarianism.
The Chinese Communist Party is celebrating its centenary. From its origins among a handful of activists in an economically underdeveloped country occupied by more advanced capitalist powers, to the hegemonic bureaucracy ruling what is now one of the most powerful imperialist states in world history, the CCP has undergone several transformations.
The following is a speech delivered by Omar Hassan to a post-rally event co-hosted by Socialist Alternative and Free Palestine Melbourne on 22 May 2021.