Ewan Kerr

Re. Trade unions, the possibilities and prospects for this are conditioned by the dual nature of trade unionism. But there is significant cause for optimism, and calls for a profound transformation of working-class movements are certainly overstated.

In our latest article (and my last from GCU), @twosoulsindy and I examine how Scottish social movement activists navigated the COVID-19 crisis, the state, and each other during the pandemic. Available here: euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.336…

I appear in the latest edition of the @Scottishleftrev, reflecting on the implications of the pandemic upon state-society relations in Scotland: scottishleftreview.scot/the-legacy-of-…

Later this month I'll be chairing an event to examine the comparative experiences of two regions grappling with the realities of energy transitions, featuring the indomitable @ewangibbs! Further info and signup details: tulelabour.org/events/

Very pleased to see the print version of our symposium in Critical Sociology on state society-relations during crisis periods appear. The collection examines COVID-19 governance, inequalities and civil society mobilisations in Europe. Link: journals.sagepub.com/toc/CRS/current

Final conference of the year! Thanks to @GeoPhDklein, @dai_alectic and @Matthuber78 for great discussion at last night's panel. @histmat

All the takes are correct and yet they also miss the point. Yes, it was insane for the Democrats to think they could win by running a soulless candidate, without a shred of progressive policy vision, pursuing endorsements from neocon war-hawks everybody hates, while arming and funding a genocide, and belittling and crushing those who have enough morality to protest it.  It is enraging that the Democrats are so smug and blind to this. But these are all just symptoms.  The deeper reality is that liberalism has failed, liberalism is dead, and people urgently need to wake up to this fact and respond accordingly. It is a defunct ideology that cannot offer any meaningful solutions to our social and ecological crises and it must be abandoned. Democrats have proven over and over again that they cannot accept even *basic* steps like public healthcare, affordable housing, and a public job guarantee - things that would dramatically improve the material, social and political conditions of the working classes. And they cannot accept a public finance strategy that would steer production away from fossil fuels and toward green transition to give us a shot at a liveable future. Why? Because these things run against the objectives of capital accumulation. And for liberals capital is sacrosanct. They will do whatever it takes to ensure elite accumulation, it is their only consistent commitment.  At home, they suppress and demonize progressive and socialist tendencies. Abroad, they engage in endless wars and violence to suppress input prices in the global South and prevent any possibility of sovereign economic development. The Democrats have done all this purposefully and knowingly, for my whole life, not as some kind of "mistake" but in full consciousness that it is in the interests of capital. And because liberalism cannot address our crises, and because it crushes socialist alternatives, it inevitably paves the way for right-wing populism.  They know this pattern, and yet they risk it every time - this election being only the most recent example. They did it in 2016, when they actively crushed the Sanders campaign and sent Trump to the White House. They do it because ultimately they (and I mean the liberal ruling class here) don't really mind if fascists take power, so long as the latter too ensure the conditions for capital accumulation. They 100% prefer this to the possibility of a socialist alternative. So, progressives have to face reality. The dream of "converting" the Democratic party is dead. This is now a fact and it must be accepted. The only option is to build a mass-based movement that can reclaim the working classes and mobilize a political vehicle that can integrate disparate progressive struggles into a unified and formidable political force and achieve substantive transformation. This will take real work, actual organizing, but it must be done and that process must begin now.

Esta es hoy Valencia, España, como esta ciudad, varios poblados están bajo el.agua, se llama: colapso climático, y lo produce el aumento del CO2 en la atmósfera por el consumo creciente de petróleo, carbón y gas en los países ricos y por los más ricos del planeta.

These are doctors and nurses. Today.

Unlike Gaza, Israel can’t prevent international journalists from entering hospitals to show the world the abhorrent lies Israel tells. Western media has so much to atone for in Gaza. Media who regurgitated ridiculous renderings of command & control centres that never existed.

Israeli public media is posting the Jabalia death march as the ultimate victory picture of Israel's genocide. Children, men & women caged in a concentration camp, starved & bombed, then rounded up & forced to move to the next concentration camp to be caged, starved, & bombed!

(Inevitably wishing I had taken a better mugshot)

I've just touched down in Wroclaw, Poland, to take part in the ENDURE project's AGM and participate in two talks arranged by my hosts. Looking forward to discussing agency in the anthropocene and contemporary trade unionism!

Spain’s Ione Belarra: “Those clutching their heads in disbelief at Iran’s attacks but have remained silent for months during the worst genocide in a century against Palestine by Israel are the height of hypocrisy. The entity responsible for this escalation has a name: the USA.”

More than 200 Spanish trade unions have announced a general strike in Spain to protest the genocide in Gaza and the occupation of Palestine. “The message we want to send to the Spanish government, the EU, and the world is to end all relations with Israel.” 🇪🇸 🇵🇸

Massive blow to Scotlands commitment to a Just Transition, desperately sad news for workers and for the wider Grangemouth and Falkirk communities. This was the litmus test for a Just Transition and that test seems to have been failed

🚨 PETROINEOS SHUTS DOORS ON GRANGEMOUTH. Today Petroineos have confirmed the refinery will close in 2025. This isn’t just an attack on livelihoods and on jobs but our community and to our country. 🧵

“Keep in mind that, much sooner than later, the great avenues will again be opened through which will pass free people to construct a better society.” Salvador Allende’s last words to the Chilean people as Pinochet’s fascist, US-backed coup progressed 51 years ago today.

The great Bob Fulton has passed away this week at the age of 101. I only got to know him during the last decade of his life, and those years alone could fill up the pages of a wonderfully surreal biography. Bob was larger than life. 1/

The sessions and speakers for “Scottish Independence And The British State Ten Years on.” A fantastic lineup so far. Don’t miss out on what promises to be a fascinating event. Tickets are selling fast! Book now to avoid disappointment: eventbrite.com/e/2014-2024-sc…