No excuses can hide the criminal actions of a Nazi fellow-traveller in this admirably objective documentary, suggests MARTIN HALL
Lessons from history for women’s liberation
RON JACOBS points out that it wasn’t until anti-imperialist and anti-racist movements formed women’s liberation groups that the fundamental roots of oppression could be addressed
BOURGEOIS OR CLASS-CONSCIOUS? Women's liberation march, Washington, August 26 1970
PAUL DONOVAN relishes a fascinating exploration of the leading lights of the Labour right in the 1970s
BEN LUNN alerts us to the creeping return of philanthropy and private patronage, and suggests alternative paths to explore
A novel by Argentinian Jorge Consiglio, a personal dictionary by Uruguayan Ida Vitale, and poetry by Mexican Homero Aridjis
MIK SABIERS savours the first headline solo show of the stalwart of Brighton’s indie-punk outfit Blood Red Shoes
New releases reviewed by IAN SINCLAIR
STEVEN ANDREW is moved beyond words by a historical account of mining in Britain made from the words of the miners themselves
Revolutionary Feminists: The Women’s Liberation Movement in Seattle
Barbara Winslow
Duke University Press, £22.99
LIKE most of the liberation movements of the period we call the 1960s, the women’s liberation movement seems a shadow of its former self.
In a manner similar to those other movements, the politics of what’s known as second-stage feminism have shifted rightward. This is in part due to the non-stop attacks on women’s rights by the right-wing patriarchal forces in the United States — from the Catholic church hierarchy to the Republican Party and its adherents.
Equally important, though, is the fact that the liberal wing of mainstream US politics has yet to make many women’s rights legally protected in a way that prevents the reactionaries from curtailing those rights. Instead, issues crucial to women’s liberation like reproductive rights and pay equity tend to be reduced to Democratic talking points during elections.
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There’s no room for feminists to be complacent about the growth of extremism and misogyny worldwide, warns HAILEY MAXWELL
RON JACOBS recommends a new collection of essays that examine the presence of fascism in the US and the struggle against it
RON JACOBS revisits the Antiwar Troupe’s 1971 Tour
Women are not a minority — their issues should not be treated as ‘minority issues’ in our movement, writes MARY DAVIS