A review of Imagine by Tommy Sheridan and Alan McCombes, the (then) leaders of the Scottish Socialist Party. An attempt by Trotskyists (formerly of Militant) to become libertarian sounding are not very convincing. At the height of its electoral success in 2003, the party had six Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) but it then imploded, in thanks to the activities of its leader, Sheridan, and the cult of personality the party had created around him. It appeared in Black Flag no. 224 (2004).
(more…)Category: Marxism
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Sylvia Pankhurst: Anti-Parliamentarian Communist
An account of the evolution of Sylvia Pankhurst from suffragette to supporter of the Bolshevik regime and then to council communist. It discusses the similarities of her ideas to anarchism as well as her links to the movement. It appeared in Black Flag Anarchist Review Volume 5 Number 3 (Autumn 2025).
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Markets, Marx and Mutualism
A review of Socialism After Hayek by Theodore A. Burczak, noting the apparent ignorance of libertarian socialism and so failing to discuss mutualism even though he approaches it.
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Review: Divide and Conquer or Divide and Subdivide?
A review of a pamphlet on the lessons of the First International written by Mark Leier whose excellent biography of Bakunin is recommended.
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Argentina and the left
An Anarchist critique of two Trotskyist analyses of the Argentine revolt against neo-liberalism, showing their limitations and how they implicitly call for party rule.
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