The 25th anniversary meeting of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation in the Kyrgyz capital may offer a glimmer of hope that international relations do not need to be defined by endless confrontation, writes KENNY COYLE
AFTER our article on the science of sex and gender (Does science “disprove” transgender identity?, October 25), several readers wrote thoughtful letters in response. Thank you to those who did. We would like to take the opportunity to respond to some critical points that were raised.
Debbie Hayton challenges us that we fail to persuade that “gender theory is the route to liberation.” As several correspondents point out, the route to total liberation is actually emancipation of the working class from capitalism. With this we wholeheartedly agree, but that does not mean critical thinking on gender is not important.
In our article we sought to address a single point: that “science” does not provide a basis for transphobia, something which is occasionally mystified, even in this newspaper.
ALEX HALL treads warily through a messy, dialectical struggle fought in the mundane machinery of driving licences, criminal law, and birth registries
Socialists, feminists and trade unionists gathered in Manchester to launch a network committed to evidence-based activism with a renewed emphasis on class and collective struggle. ANNA BARRETT reports
Professor MARY DAVIS argues that feminism has been hollowed out by liberal co-option – and only a revival of socialist, class-based politics can restore International Working Women’s Day’s original, radical purpose
Half a century after transformative laws reshaped Britain, women’s rights are again contested. This International Women’s Day is a call to remember how change was won, and to organise to defend it, says KATE RAMSDEN



