New Labour's moral capitalism!

In a speech on 19 January 2012, the Labour Party leader Ed Miliband demanded a moral capitalism with a special emphasis on the protection of consumers. What he overlooks, however, is that the real causes of inequality and exploitation are rooted in the social relations of production. Interventions at the level of consumption will not rectify this.

The Rise and Fall of the Welfare State - new book by Asbjørn Wahl!

In the highly important book The Rise and Fall of the Welfare State (Pluto Press, 2011) Asbjørn Wahl reveals the underlying structural dynamics of the welfare state. It was the structural power of trade unions, gained through intensive social struggles, which had forced employers into the class compromise of the welfare state, not consensus politics and tripartite co-operation. Hence, today too when defending the welfare state against the neo-liberal onslaught, the emphasis has to be on labour’s power in society.

Samir Amin at Nottingham University: video interview!

Samir Amin, the internationally renown political economist and one of the leading thinkers of the past half century, spent time at Nottingham University/UK from 29 November to 3 December 2011. This included the presentation of the Annual Lecture of the Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice on 1 December 2011 as well as participation in the workshop on ,'Free Trade, Trade Unions and the Problem of Transnational Solidarity’, 2 and 3 December 2011.

In an exclusive, wide-ranging video interview Samir Amin speaks to Ceasefire’s Sara Motta about the Arab uprisings, the ‘liberal virus’ and the autumn of capitalism.

Prof. Andreas Bieler
Professor of Political Economy
University of Nottingham/UK
Andreas.Bieler@nottingham.ac.uk

Personal website: http://www.andreasbieler.net
10 January 2012

November 30 – what next?

Between 2 to 3 million workers went on strike on November 30 in the UK's biggest strike for several decades over the imposition of changes to pension schemes as well as the general cuts in the public sector by the current ConDem government. The question is, however, what next?

The imposition of austerity and the move to authoritarian government - Part I

While bankers have caused the global financial crisis, it is now working people who are asked to pay for the bill. Austerity programme after austerity programme is passed across Europe. But people fight back and make clear that they are not prepared to accept this without a fight. Unsurprisingly, it is in this situation that there is a clear shift towards undemocratic, authoritarian government.

Europe Against Austerity

On Saturday, 1 October 2011, I attended the conference Europe Against Austerity in London. The conference was hosted by the British Coalition of Resistance. Representatives from all over Europe discussed the economic crisis, the way governments and the European Union were attempting to make working people pay for the bailout of banks as well as the possibilities of resistance against a European-wide policy of austerity.

An Autumn of Discontent?

Considering the full-scale attack on the public sector in the UK, including measures such as cuts to welfare benefits, imposed changes to public sector pension schemes, compulsory redundancies, the privatisation of several NHS hospitals, the abolition of the Education Maintenance Allowance and the introduction of tuition fees of up to £9000 per year in Higher Education amongst others, the annual congress of the Trades Union Congress in London from 12 to 14 September 2011 is of particular importance. Will British trade unions find a way forward to contest the cuts by the ConDem coalition government successfully?