In his fortnightly column MARK SEDDON reflects on the death of Major Oak and why such ancient trees matter to us
Latest editorial
The price of women’s equality is eternal vigilance
Women’s hard-fought-for rights are facing sustained and serious ideological attack. Let this International Women’s Day be a call to arms, says Professor MARY DAVIS
A woman showing signs of depression (picture posed by a model)
The world’s largest communist party marked its 105th birthday this week — and remains true to its principles and firm in its course, says OLIVER VARGAS
The left has become too reliant on persuasion and too detached from the workplaces and communities it seeks to represent, argues NICK TROY
RAMZY BAROUD highlights how Israel’s ambassador sought to shut down UN officials documenting sexual violence and abuses against Palestinians
The US-Israeli conflict with Iran has had far-reaching consequences, including a boost to Pakistan’s regional standing, argues ROGER McKENZIE
The recent heatwaves revealed how ill-prepared Britain remains for a hotter future – and how unequal the ability to cope with it has become, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
The drive to strengthen European defence is reshaping relations between France, Germany, Italy and Britain, says NICK WRIGHT
IT WOULD be tempting to mark International Women’s Day as a day to celebrate women’s victories. That would be a mistake because even after 50 years of the Equal Pay Act & Sex Discrimination Act, working-class women in Britain cannot chalk up many victories.
Some have argued that women have made great progress in the 21st century, and thus they question whether it is necessary to continue the debate on women’s inequality.
Compared to previous centuries when women were the property of men and had no rights at all, it is clear that women’s status in many countries has improved, at least juridically — although it has gone backwards in others. However, apart from the right to vote and own property, equality for women as it now exists is based, by an unseen process of co-option, on the successes of a favoured few; for working-class women little has altered.
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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
Legal frameworks designed to safeguard women are too often weaponised against them, reinforcing male power and entrenching injustice. The FiLiA Ending MVAWG Team highlight some of the issues
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
The legacy of socialist feminists such as Alexandra Kollontai challenges us today to confront an uncomfortable truth: framing prostitution as empowerment lets the abusers of the Epstein class off the hook, warns HELEN O’CONNOR