Choose Project Real Democracy over Project Fear

The way in which Project Fear has saturated both sides of the official European Union referendum campaigns is reason enough to reject them and replace Westminster’s discredited political system with Project Real Democracy.

An issue at the heart of the UK’s broken constitution has been overwhelmed by rhetoric, half-truths, lies, deceptions and fearful predictions of what will happen following either a remain or leave vote.

Essential questions of democracy, where power lies, where power ought to lie, why millions have abandoned former loyalty to political parties, what the EU actually is – all have gone out of the window in the scramble for votes. Read more...

Inspired by Salvador el Bahia – and the possibilities of diluted paint

Giuseppe Marasco admires the delicately-structured almost ghostly paintings of Lara Viana.

Don’t look back – Orpheus comes to Tower Hamlets

Giuseppe Marasco is mesmerised by a contemporary rendering of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, set in an east London cemetery.

Baghdad rising like a phoenix from the ashes

Sura Hussein Mohammed Ali explains why she chose an unusual subject for her thesis – and what it’s like for a woman to live in today’s Baghdad. Corinna Lotz reports.

When Muhammad Ali wowed a South London school

In memory of Muhammad Ali, who visited this school in Brixton out of the kindness of his heart. Story and photos by Peter Arkell.

Steel’s collapse is the crisis of the capitalist system itself

Tata's threat to end steel making comes as a huge shock for communities throughout the UK, but for the global conglomerate the decision to terminate its loss-making operations in Britain was surely a no-brainer. Gerry Gold reports.

The untold story of the Cuban revolution

For many, the Cuban Revolution remains a bit of a mystery. How could 80 guerillas led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevarra seize power? How were a small band of revolutionaries able to land on a deserted beach, re-group in the mountains and eventually march on Havana. Review by Peter Arkell.

A World to Win is collaborating with others on a proposal for a new kind of organisation that will focus on democracy, power and the state in making a transition beyond capitalism. A deeper understanding of the issues involved is essential for building a movement that counters the ideologies of war, surveillance, inequality and a ruthless exploitation of nature.

This series of articles is published as part of this process. We welcome your feedback and comments.

Mason’s starry-eyed guide to the future

Journalist Paul Mason says it’s time to “explain why replacing capitalism is no longer a Utopian dream, how the basic forms of a postcapitalist economy can be found within the current system, and how they could be expanded rapidly”.

Review by Gerry Gold

Hello Lenin!

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin remains one of the most controversial figures of 20th century history. In this outstanding intellectual biography, Hungarian historian and socialist Tamás Krausz sets out to rescue Lenin from his detractors.

By Corinna Lotz

How to fight the new enclosure of the commons

As the Scottish government contemplates a very modest land reform initiative, private landowners are shrieking with pain and quoting 19th century mantras about how land is safer in private hands, where “enlightened self interest” will ensure good management.

By Penny Cole

Trade unions at the crossroads as Tories shackle their rights

New Tory laws against the trade unions, pushed rapidly through Parliament by the Tory government, are a barely disguised attempt to destroy them as effective organisations. Behind the onslaught is the state’s determination to blunt any force that could challenge the government’s reactionary big business policies.

By Peter Arkell

Lift the ban on the Communist Party of Ukraine! But Oppose Neo-Stalinism!

The Ukraine Solidarity Campaign condemns the decision of the District Administrative Court of Kyiv on 16th December 2015 to suspend the activities of the Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU). This judgement in effect prevents the CPU from participating in elections and engaging in other activities under its own name.

We oppose the ban on the CPU not out of support for its reactionary, nationalist politics but in the interests of freedom and democracy in Ukraine itself. We share the concerns of human rights organisations that have strongly criticised both the judgement and the law upon which it was based.