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Three northeastern provinces of China have endured weeks of power usage restrictions. This policy is set to continue, and has started to be applied elsewhere, though it remains most severe in the northeast. These provinces are the former industrial centres of China, which were ravaged by unemployment after the transition to capitalism. Now, they are being subjected to power restrictions that are wreaking havoc with public services and households alike.

This year’s Labour conference has ended in a victory for the right wing. The left must learn the lessons from the rise and fall of the Corbyn movement. The only way forward is to build the forces of Marxism. Join us in this vital task.

As the world toboggans towards an environmental catastrophe created by the capitalist system, how is Ireland – one of Europe’s most polluting nations – responding to the crisis? By using state repression against young environmental activists. We say: protest is not a crime! Drop the charges against climate activists!

The following is a transcript of a lead off by marxist.com editor, Alan Woods, at the world perspectives discussion at the 2021 congress of the International Marxist Tendency. In this speech, Alan lays out the most fundamental processes unfolding in a global situation marked by unprecedented crisis and dislocation at every level. Capitalism has never been more unstable, nor the potential for class struggle greater. The missing element is a bold, revolutionary leadership to show the workers, youth and poor of the world a way out of this morass.

The results of the 20th German federal election on 26 September show a continuing process of polarisation in Germany. Public opinion has never been so volatile, voters have never been so undecided, and parliament has never been so fragmented. The bourgeois-democratic political system of Germany is in crisis, but no class-struggle alternative was to be found in this election.

Since 16 September, more than 2,500 factory workers at the electric appliance company Universal have been engaging in a heroic strike at the industrial zone in 6th of October City, near Cairo. Please read this appeal, and share our solidarity motion (below).

The municipal elections in Austria’s second-biggest city, Graz, were a political earthquake. The victory of the Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) shows a categorical rejection of the hated bourgeois establishment that has managed the city for years, and opens up a perspective of a broad offense against social welfare cuts and an end to Graz’s tenure as a private investors’ paradise.

With petrol pumps across Britain running dry, and gridlock on the roads, the Tories are lurching from one crisis to another. The anarchy of the market is causing chaos to workers’ lives. All the ingredients are being prepared for a social explosion.

The Labour right wing in Britain has won a series of important votes at this year's party conference over the weekend and this week, provoking anger and outrage amongst left delegates on account of their bureaucratic antics. Amidst this mess, however, the ideas of Marxism have gained a strong echo.

In a historic and unanimous vote by ten ministers, the Supreme Court of Mexico has declared the penalisation of women who decide to get an abortion unconstitutional. That this vote has taken place now is clearly the result of our struggle in the streets, which has made it impossible for women’s rights to be ignored any longer. Without this struggle, the vote simply never would have happened.

On the weekend, Wellred Books hosted the launch of Alan Woods’ new text, The History of Philosophy: A Marxist Perspective. With about 200 attendees present from across the world, the event was a big success. The great turnout, and a large number of pre-orders for the book, demonstrate a thirst for ideas in this turbulent period. You can watch Alan Woods’ introduction and closing remarks at the launch event here.

On 9 July 2021, 422 workers at the Campi Bisenzio GKN plant near Florence received a text message. It came from the British multinational’s management, communicating that the workers were immediately and collectively dismissed. However, the plant is not in crisis. There is a market for the production of drive shafts and other components for the automotive sector that the plant is capable of producing. So why the sackings?

Today marks the 114th anniversary of the birth of the great revolutionary, Bhagat Singh. Our comrades of the Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) in Pakistan have released a special documentary on the political life of Bhagat Singh in Lahore to mark the occasion. In this documentary, presented by Adam Pal, the comrades visit all the places where Bhagat Singh himself used to live, or which were of historical significance to the revolutionary path that his life took.

The Labour right wing have carried out a brazen attack on press freedoms, explicitly denying the Marxist journalists of Socialist Appeal entrance to the party’s upcoming Labour conference on political grounds. We urge readers to rally against this injustice.

The federal elections in Russia have passed. As we predicted, they were completely rigged by the regime. While it would appear that Communist Party received a majority of the real votes, literally overnight the authorities produced the result they needed. This brazen act of completely rewriting the election results will only provoke growing anger in society.

Join Alan Woods for the launch of The History of Philosophy: A Marxist Perspective this Sunday at 16.00 (BST). To attend the launch event, you must register on this webpage. All those registered will be sent a link to join the Zoom meeting on the morning of the event. This book will prove to be a vital handbook for revolutionaries fighting to overthrow capitalism today. Pre-order your copy now – available for a limited time at a special price.