The workers' movement in Italy reached new heights when a wave of factory occupations swept the industrial centres–only to be swiftly defeated by the political disorganisation of the revolutionary left. The legacy of this movement's defeat helped Gramsci develop his theory of revolution.
The revolutionary wave of 1848 began with a joyous struggle for democracy. But it ended with violent struggles between workers and capitalists, liberals and socialists, revolutionaries and reformers. The experience was a decisive influence on the development of Marx's theory of revolution.
A man who embodies the political establishment has teamed up with a "progressive prosecutor" who intervened to protect banks from prosecution. While the US seems to disintegrate, the Democrats are fighting to return to pre-crisis neoliberalism.
