In the wake of his recent humanitarian visit to Cuba, RICHARD BURGON points to the now urgent need to defend the island’s political sovereignty and its right to self-determination
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Reviving the cultural heart of our communist movement
Successful communist projects have culture at their core, as it is fundamental to embedding revolutionary ideas among the people and preventing revisionist decay, writes JOHN PATEMAN, ahead of this month’s major conference in Barnsley
A 2017 mural dicpting Vietnamese traditional art forms
Thousands of jobs are at risk across higher education, yet government funding appears only when universities can be linked to military objectives, says JO GRADY, in the run-up to the Stop the War International Conference this Saturday
The Wye, Usk, Arrow and Lugg were once treasured for their clean waters – today, pollution and corporate excess are fuelling demands for a return to public ownership, says MARK SEDDON
The new Employment Rights Act is a step forward, but restoring collective bargaining and union power remains essential to tackling insecurity, outsourcing and low pay, says PAUL WHITEHOUSE
Rising support for Farage’s party reflects Labour’s failure to defend working-class living standards or offer a credible alternative to neoliberal decline, says JOSEPH MILLS
Trade unionists are mobilising to support Cuban workers and public services, amid escalating US pressure on the socialist island. RONAN OGILVY explains
CULTURE is the lifeblood of the Communist Party of Britain (CPB). It is as intrinsic to the CPB’s development, growth and survival as economics and politics, and yet it has a far lower profile within the party.
Culture must be embedded within every level of the CPB, from the executive committee through the nations and districts and down to the local branches. Culture should not be an add-on or an afterthought. It should be central to the CPB’s ideology. Every policy and position of the party must have a cultural dimension.
For example, in the recent general election, the party produced an excellent manifesto which included a 12-point programme for real change. These ranged from Palestine and austerity to the NHS and public ownership.
But there was no mention of culture, either as a stand-alone point or as an aspect of the 12-point programme. There was no reference, for example, to the role that culture can play in women’s rights, migration and anti-racism, democracy, peace and the environment.
All successful communist projects have culture at their core and not at their periphery. The Cuban revolution is a case in point. Fidel Castro made sure that culture was one of the pillars of the revolution alongside free, publicly accessible healthcare and education, for example.
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