The mass movement supporting Palestine represents potential political power that the left must now embrace as central to its strategy, writes HUGH LANNING, ahead of this Saturday’s Socialism or Barbarism day school in London
The 1660 Restoration and the lessons of defeat
KEITH FLETT considers how the return of the monarchy after Cromwell offers lessons for a left facing the return of Donald Trump, showing that radical traditions endure despite reactionary victories

ROSA LUXEMBURG saw the future as a choice between socialism and barbarism.
In that respect, the presidential landslide for Donald Trump is not good news for the left. Of course, Trump does not lead directly to barbarism, but there is a clear direction of travel, although whether he or his Democratic opponent would be the more likely to start a world war is a moot point.
In the US, abortion rights, civil liberties and much else may be under question and threat. No doubt, organisations from the community and from the labour movement will fight to defend them.
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PHIL KATZ applauds the biography of a man of principle that is a vibrant excavation of the radical tradition itself

There is no denying Thomas Cromwell's positive and progressive impact on English politics, argues STEPHEN ARNELL

Modern Christmas as we know it, with its trees, dinner menu, cards and time off from work, only dates back to the early days of modern socialism as we know it, writes KEITH FLETT, checking in on Marx, Engels and the Chartists in the 1800s

KEITH FLETT draws parallels with the 1834 Tory crisis, noting the absence of modern-day Robert Peel among the leadership contenders capable of reinventing the party for a new era