A seminar on Daniel Bensaïd

by SABADO François

2012-01-22_SABADO_FranoisIt is two years since Daniel Bensaïd left us. To mark the occasion, the Fourth International secretariat organized a seminar on his thought and action. This was not a big public initiative but three days of work to look further into a series of questions tackled by the theoretician, philosopher and political militant that Daniel was.

Hongrie : nouveau laboratoire social

par Pascal Franchet

2012-01-22_Franchet_PascalDes voix s’élèvent – dans les rues de Hongrie et dans les institutions de l’UE – contre la Loi fondamentale que le gouvernement ultra-nationaliste d’Orban vient de mettre en vigueur.

  Mais nous dénonçons une seule et même politique antisociale et antidémocratique, qu’elle soit menée par le capital transnational ou avec le label hongrois  ; nous le faisons avec ceux qui, en Hongrie, ont pu voter pour l’adhésion de leur pays à l’UE en espérant (à tort) que cela les protégerait de la montée d’une extrême droite raciste, antisémite, affichant ouvertement des sigles nazis.  

Audit, in Europa si fa così

2012-01-08_CannavoIn Francia l'appello ha superato le 50 mila adesioni, in Belgio le associazioni Attac e Cadtm hanno fatto ricorso al Consiglio di Stato contro i 54 miliardi per salvare la banca Dexia, in Grecia c'è un comitato attivo da un anno. Incontriamoci anche in Italia

¿Por qué no una auditoría ciudadana de todas las deudas?

DANIEL ALBARRACÍN / ECONOMISTA Y SOCIÓLOGO

2012-01-03_AlbarracinCuando se ha incrementado la deuda pública, ¿por qué no se alude a los rescates y recapitalizaciones bancarias; subvenciones al capital explícitos –como las de la industria a la automoción– e implícitos –como el sistema tarifario que se aplica a las compañías eléctricas–, o las desgravaciones, deducciones y exenciones fiscales al capital –en impuestos, en las cotizaciones sociales, etc.–?

No More “Green Capitalism” – An assessment of the failure of the Durban summit on the climate

ANTENTAS Josep Maria, VIVAS Esther

2011-12-24_esther-vivas-josep-antentasWe will save the markets, not the climate. That is how we can summarize the outcome of the 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCC) which took place in Durban, South Africa between 28 November and 10 December 2011.

Egypt – The “Cabinet Office” Massacre: A New Crime by the Sons of Mubarak in Power

Revolutionary socialists

The following statement was issued on 17 December by the Revolutionary Socialists in Egypt.

9 martyrs … 500 injured … this is the result of confrontations between the Egyptian Occupying Forces and the revolutionaries in a fresh attempt to bring the revolution to its knees and to bring back the Mubarak regime. And why not? After all, the leaders of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces are the sons of Mubarak, and they are loyal to their economic self-interests. The generals of SCAF control around 20 percent of the economy and are completely opposed to the interests of millions of working people who barely scrape a living. Most of them can’t find jobs which offer the chance of a decent life or even offer the hope of changing their lives for the better.

The Egyptian Revolution Continues:

An Interview with Hossam El-Hamalawy

by Mustafa Ali

2011-12-18_HamalawyHossam el-Hamalawy is a leading Egyptian journalist, photographer, and socialist activist from Cairo who maintains the widely followed blog 3arabawy. He is also actively involved in the Revolutionary Socialists, the Center for Socialist Studies, and the Workers Democratic Party.

La movilización social es indispensable para la auditoria de la deuda, dice economista colombiano

por Daniel Munevar, João Novaes

1) En que punto se encuentran las iniciativas para realizar una auditoria de los gobiernos para conocer la situación real de la deuda publica? En que países este tipo de iniciativas (ya sean de carácter independiente promovidas por ciudadanos o gubernamentales) están en curso, especialmente en Europa?

Russian socialists regroup to deepen struggle for new left party

Vpered and Socialist Resistance merge into Russian Socialist Movement

CHAPEL Duncan

The 2011 congress of the Socialist Movement “Forward” (Vpered), its sixth, has voted to join with two other socialist organisations to form the “Russian Socialist Movement” (RSD). This congress was notable because the discussion has held in parallel with the preparations for the simultaneous congress of “Socialist Resistance” (Sotsialisticheskoye Soprotivleniye). [1] During many debates and discussions, members addressed the consolidation and unity of the Left forces in Russia and the need to develop a full-fledged political agenda left. These issues took up the major part the Congress.

La dette publique, six questions, six réponses

WILNO Henri

Sommaire

1. COMMENT ÇA FONCTIONNE

2. POURQUOI LA DETTE PUBLIQUE

3. POURQUOI DÉTENIR DES (...)

4. QUEL EST LE COÛT ANNUEL DE

5. QU’EST-CE QUI FAIT QU’UNE

6. MORATOIRE ET ANALYSE (...)

Il est fréquent pour les politiciens et les économistes de traiter des problèmes de la dette publique en faisant des analogies avec les ménages et les entreprises. Ils s’appuient en apparence sur le bon sens. En réalité, un État n’est ni un ménage ni une entreprise.

AUDIT: an essential tool to show the origins and causes of the current “debt” crises in the United States and Europe

by Maria Lucia Fattorelli

1. The origins and the essence of the current financial crisis

2011-12-08_Fattorelli_Maria_LuciaThe recent debt crisis in the United States of America, as well as some new findings about the current economic problems in European countries, have revealed how the instrument of public debt is used for the benefit of banking and finance.

Arab world: The revolution continues

2011-11-30_gilbert_achkarGilbert Achcar reports on the most recent developments across the Arab world

While voices were being raised from the right, and part of the left, declaring the “Arab Spring” over and advising the rebellious masses to go back home, recent days have made it abundantly clear that the revolutionary process which was sparked in Tunisia late last year remains alive and well.

Durban, South Africa, November 26th

Declaration of members of the indigenous people biocultural climate change assessment (IPCCA) initiative

2011-12-01_Durban_Indigenous_peopleThe participants of the workshop on REDD and Biocultural Protocols organized by the Indigenous Peoples Biocultural Climate Change Assessment (IPCCA), from Ecuador, Panama, India, Nicaragua, Peru and Samoa met on 24 and 25 November 2011 in Durban, South Africa to share emergent findings and analyse how REDD is affecting our territories in order to respond through our assessments.

A la veille de Durban : pas d’accord climatique avant 2020 !

par Daniel Tanuro

2011-11-29_durban-climate-change-conferenceAu risque de lasser le lecteur, rappelons les conditions à remplir pour que la hausse de la température de la Terre ne dépasse pas trop 2°C (entre 2 et 2, 4°C) :
1°) Réduction absolue de 50 à 85% des émissions globales d’ici 2050, à entamer dès 2015 au plus tard ;

Grèce : coup d’État européen face au soulèvement populaire

par Stathis Kouvelakis

2011-11-28_KouvelakisAinsi donc c’est en Grèce qu’a débuté la nouvelle pièce promise à un grand succès en cette saison politique européenne et qui s’intitule : La Prise du pouvoir par les banquiers. L’Italie paraît choisie pour la prochaine étape, ce qui ne fait que ressortir l’intérêt du processus grec qui a conduit à la démission de Georges Papandréou et à la formation d’un nouveau gouvernement dit d’« entente nationale » dirigé par Lucas Papadémos.

France : les dettes publiques locales, un enjeu citoyen essentiel

par Patrick Saurin

2011-11-27_saurin_patrickPatrick Saurin est membre de l’exécutif national de Sud Banques Populaires Caisses d’Epargne et du Collectif pour un audit citoyen de la dette publique.

November 20, 2011

Down with military rule – Down with Mubarak’s rule

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists (Egypt)

You will pay the price … killers of the revolutionaries!

2011-11-25_Egypt2-november_2011The revolutionaries have returned to Tahrir Square. Once again it is filled with the young people who are impatient to bring the killers of the revolutionaries in January to justice, and to see the realisation of freedom and social justice. The military courts have stolen years upon years of their lives. They have lost their eyes to sniper fire on the orders of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and their henchmen in the Ministry of the Interior.

Urgent Appeal for Action on Egypt 

CIHRS

21 November 2011

2011-11-22_egypt_protestsThe Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) is calling on states, UN officials, and INGOs to take immediate action to urge the government of Egypt to halt the use of excessive force against largely peaceful protestors, and refrain from further human rights violations in this context.

Ireland’s Debt Crisis: Roots and Reactions

Author: Andy Storey of Action From Ireland

Introduction: a pattern of dependency

2011-11-22_Andy_StoreyThe collapse of the Irish economy has come as a particular shock to many people, at home and abroad, because of its seemingly remarkable success in the preceding years, the period of very rapid economic growth that saw the country, from the early 1990s onwards, described as the ‘Celtic Tiger’.

Egypt: Appeal for International Solidarity Mobilisation

Posted on November 20, 2011

A call for international solidarity with protests in Egypt

2011-11-21_Egypt-november_2011Hundreds of thousands of protesters are braving tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannon and live ammunition in demonstrations against the ruling military council in Egypt. By late on 20 November there were an estimated 100,000 in Tahrir Square according to eyewitness accounts and thousands protesting in every major city in Egypt.