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The first article from the new edition of the Marxist Left Review is now online. Check it out, and subscribe to support this important publication! ----------------------- "The causes of the rebellion have been widely discussed by a press corps disturbed by their insurrectionary verve. The New York Times has suddenly rediscovered the existence of workers and the poor, describing the protests as “a louder-than-usual howl against elites in countries where democracy is a source of disappointment, corruption is seen as brazen, and a tiny political class lives large while the younger generation struggles to get by”. The revival of revolt should come as no surprise. The post-GFC era has seen the intensification of class war through low pay, high rates of youth unemployment, unaffordable housing and education and an ostentatiously wide gap between rich and poor. These factors combine to produce a generation pessimistic about their future and angry about their present. The mass strikes that shook France at the end of 2019 are typical. Emmanuel Macron was elected as a centrist saviour – neither left nor right but modern. In reality his presidency sought to reboot the French economy through savage attacks on workers and their organisations, most recently with proposed cuts to pensions. Under pressure from the rank and file, unions have called a number of major general strikes, which have been strengthened by more localised but ongoing actions by railway workers, petrol workers, teachers and others. Actions continued throughout Christmas holidays, as activists refused to give Macron the present of social peace. At the time of writing, the strikes had been running for 29 days straight, the longest period of continuous strike action since 1968. The determination of the Yellow Vest protesters prepared the ground for this breakthrough, normalising widespread and militant opposition to Macron. These crucial events are a reminder that the West will not remain immune to the social eruptions being seen in Santiago, Baghdad and Hong Kong. By bringing the global revolt to the imperial centre, French strikers have made it possible to imagine the defeat of neoliberalism at the core of the capitalist system." https://marxistleftreview.org/articles/resisting-barbarism-the-contours-of-a-global-rebellion/ -- Subscribe to Socialist Alternative's fortnightly newspaper - *Red Flag* <http://www.redflag.org.au> Check out our theoretical journal - *Marxist Left Review* <http://www.marxistleftreview.org/> And put away the Easter Weekend for our annual conference, *Marxism 2019* <http://marxismconference.org/> _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
