Photos of the Tokyo demo in solidarity with the people of Palestine, from the Labor Net website.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Monday, August 18, 2008
Marxism 2008 Seoul
We’ve just returned from Marxism 2008 in Seoul, an amazingly inspiring four day event hosted by All Together. Over 1200 activists crammed in to Korea University to take part in a whole range of discussions, debates and cultural celebrations.
The conference drew on the energy of the Anti-Mad Cow movement, and at the opening rally we were lucky to hear from some of the leaders of the movement, including three who have been forced to take refuge in a temple because they are being persecuted by the police.
(protest organisers addressing the opening rally via video conference)
On the second day there was a rally to commemorate 100 days of the candlelight demonstrations - this was viciously attacked and over one hundred protesters were arrested.
(Candle Girl - symbol of the mass movement)
UK socialists Jonathan Neale and Ian Birchall spoke on climate change, the future socialist society, and the legacy of 1968, while a huge range of Korean speakers - from All Together, from the teachers’ union, from student groups and doctors groups - introduced talks on everything from abortion rights to Korean history, immigrant struggles, liberation theology and alternatives to neo-liberalism.
The Anti-Mad Cow movement is challenging Lee Myung Bak’s reactionary government, and its effects are showing: his popularity rate has slumped to under 20%. Its no wonder, then, that the right-wing media have led a campaign against All Together and the Marxism conference -- Korea University cut power and water to the event, and generally tried to make life difficult. Police circled the venue on the first night hoping to arrest the keynote speakers. But none of this dampened the enthusiasm, dedication and commitment we saw from the activists there.
Monday, August 11, 2008
If there is hope...
...then of course it lies in the proles. Problem is, for many left-wing writers and activists thinking about Japan, it has been hard to find recent reminders of this hope. With the right so aggressive and progressive movements disoriented and demoralised, it's not surprising that commentary on Japan can sometimes seem gloomy.
In this context, an unexpected revival of Takiji Kobayashi's Kani Kosen ("The Factory Ship") amongst youth is an inspiring hint of the discontent and alienation under the surface of official Japanese life. Takiji's story of oppression - and the beginnings of workers' organisation - on a crab boat has connected with young people, many of whom, as freeter and "precariat" workers, share experiences of casualisation, poor conditions and abuse. Critics - and readers themselves - have linked Kani Kosen's popularity to discontent amongst young people, and others see it as a sign of a shift to the left in popular consciousness. Some academics are reporting a rise in interest in the works of Marx on the campuses, and in discussions of capitalism, exploitation and theory.
Certainly, the official Left is rebuilding - the JCP is signing up a thousand new members a month, and sees Kani Kosen's revival as related to its own growth. The test is for socialists committed to emancipation from below to see if they can meet the challenge of this new mood.
There is some good stuff on Kobayashi on the web - including this excellent, and detailed, blog post that stimulated interesting comments, and this good piece - and there's plenty of Japanese material here. He was a matyr to the workers' movement in Japan - he died tragically young, tortured to death by the police - and, if nothing else, this latest publicity is welcome for bringing his work the attention it deserves.
In this context, an unexpected revival of Takiji Kobayashi's Kani Kosen ("The Factory Ship") amongst youth is an inspiring hint of the discontent and alienation under the surface of official Japanese life. Takiji's story of oppression - and the beginnings of workers' organisation - on a crab boat has connected with young people, many of whom, as freeter and "precariat" workers, share experiences of casualisation, poor conditions and abuse. Critics - and readers themselves - have linked Kani Kosen's popularity to discontent amongst young people, and others see it as a sign of a shift to the left in popular consciousness. Some academics are reporting a rise in interest in the works of Marx on the campuses, and in discussions of capitalism, exploitation and theory.
Certainly, the official Left is rebuilding - the JCP is signing up a thousand new members a month, and sees Kani Kosen's revival as related to its own growth. The test is for socialists committed to emancipation from below to see if they can meet the challenge of this new mood.
There is some good stuff on Kobayashi on the web - including this excellent, and detailed, blog post that stimulated interesting comments, and this good piece - and there's plenty of Japanese material here. He was a matyr to the workers' movement in Japan - he died tragically young, tortured to death by the police - and, if nothing else, this latest publicity is welcome for bringing his work the attention it deserves.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Gavan McCormack on Nuclear Proliferation
A late Hiroshima Day post.
"It is 63 years since mushroom clouds over Hiroshima and Nagasaki ushered in the nuclear age. The attacks on the two cities are now solemnly commemorated on 6 and 9 August, when the two city mayors issue their messages calling on the world to disarm, messages as necessary as they are certain to be ignored by the powers.
The five nuclear club members, led by the single super-power, refuse to carry out their obligation under the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty (actually an abolition treaty) to demolish their arsenals. At the most recent, five year, review meeting of the organization in 2005, they insisted that the function of the treaty be confined to blocking outsiders, other than those such as Israel, India and Pakistan to whom de facto honorary membership has been extended, from admission. The NNPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) becomes the NPPT (Nuclear Privilege Protection Treaty).
Super-powers and regional powers alike, unable to envisage their security without nuclear weapons, will therefore politely acknowledge but ignore the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Declarations. In the teeth of powerful citizen opposition, the British Labour government has already decided to maintain (renew) its Trident nuclear submarine-based “deterrent” into at least the mid 21st century...."
read Gavan McCormack on nuclear proliferation in full here.
"It is 63 years since mushroom clouds over Hiroshima and Nagasaki ushered in the nuclear age. The attacks on the two cities are now solemnly commemorated on 6 and 9 August, when the two city mayors issue their messages calling on the world to disarm, messages as necessary as they are certain to be ignored by the powers.
The five nuclear club members, led by the single super-power, refuse to carry out their obligation under the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty (actually an abolition treaty) to demolish their arsenals. At the most recent, five year, review meeting of the organization in 2005, they insisted that the function of the treaty be confined to blocking outsiders, other than those such as Israel, India and Pakistan to whom de facto honorary membership has been extended, from admission. The NNPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) becomes the NPPT (Nuclear Privilege Protection Treaty).
Super-powers and regional powers alike, unable to envisage their security without nuclear weapons, will therefore politely acknowledge but ignore the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Declarations. In the teeth of powerful citizen opposition, the British Labour government has already decided to maintain (renew) its Trident nuclear submarine-based “deterrent” into at least the mid 21st century...."
read Gavan McCormack on nuclear proliferation in full here.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Politics and Aesthetics
Two exhibitions in Tokyo of note for socialists:
Curator Shinya Watanabe has prepared "Into the Atomic Sunshine: Post-War Art Under Japanese Peace Constitution Article 9", to show at Daikanyama Hillside Forum until 24th August. There's an interesting feature on the exhibition in today's Japan Times.
Also, next week will be the last chance to see the fantastic "Springtime for the Russian Avant-Garde" at Bunkamura in Shibuya.
Curator Shinya Watanabe has prepared "Into the Atomic Sunshine: Post-War Art Under Japanese Peace Constitution Article 9", to show at Daikanyama Hillside Forum until 24th August. There's an interesting feature on the exhibition in today's Japan Times.
Also, next week will be the last chance to see the fantastic "Springtime for the Russian Avant-Garde" at Bunkamura in Shibuya.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
More on Korea...
Another call for action, this time from Eric Lee's excellent LabourStart website:
August is a time when many of you (particularly those living in thenorthern hemisphere) are on vacation. Thousands of you won't even seethis message until you come back to work. If I were the leader of a country intent on crushing an independenttrade union movement, this would be a good time to do so. The outcry around the world will be limited. After all, it's August.
About ten days ago, the South Korean government issued arrest warrants for the leaders of the country's trade union movement. Among those named were the President, Vice President and General Secretaryof the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), as well asleaders of affiliated unions. The KCTU Vice President was arrested by police and she's now being held at the Youngdeungpo Police Station.The others are still at large.
Police have encircled the union headquarters in Seoul. The “crime” these trade union leaders are accused of committing is this: in early July, they called for a general strike. The South Korean government, in defiance of universally recognized human rights standards (including ILO conventions) has decided that this strike was illegal.
The KCTU has asked us all to take a moment and send off a strong message of protest to the South Korean government. LabourStart has launched a major new online campaign to do precisely that. Please go here now to send off your message:
http://www.labourstart.org/kctu
If you are on Facebook, sign also up the new Cause we've created,here:
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/107071
Time is of the essence and we need to mobilize thousands of our fellow trade unionists very quickly. I know that I can count on all of you. Thank you.
August is a time when many of you (particularly those living in thenorthern hemisphere) are on vacation. Thousands of you won't even seethis message until you come back to work. If I were the leader of a country intent on crushing an independenttrade union movement, this would be a good time to do so. The outcry around the world will be limited. After all, it's August.
About ten days ago, the South Korean government issued arrest warrants for the leaders of the country's trade union movement. Among those named were the President, Vice President and General Secretaryof the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), as well asleaders of affiliated unions. The KCTU Vice President was arrested by police and she's now being held at the Youngdeungpo Police Station.The others are still at large.
Police have encircled the union headquarters in Seoul. The “crime” these trade union leaders are accused of committing is this: in early July, they called for a general strike. The South Korean government, in defiance of universally recognized human rights standards (including ILO conventions) has decided that this strike was illegal.
The KCTU has asked us all to take a moment and send off a strong message of protest to the South Korean government. LabourStart has launched a major new online campaign to do precisely that. Please go here now to send off your message:
http://www.labourstart.org/kctu
If you are on Facebook, sign also up the new Cause we've created,here:
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/107071
Time is of the essence and we need to mobilize thousands of our fellow trade unionists very quickly. I know that I can count on all of you. Thank you.
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