Reviewed by Sarah Mayo, Socialist Party
FEMALE CHAUVINIST PIGS is a witty and fresh book that is frankly long overdue. It examines ‘female chauvinist pigs’ (FCPs) – US women who have embraced ‘raunch culture’. According to Levy, FCPs are women who love porn, see Paris Hilton as a role model, and will wear a Playboy bunny with pride. FCPs delight in making other women into sex objects (and themselves too). (more…)

Will Cuba inevitably go the way of Russia and Eastern Europe following the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989, with the return of a virulent capitalism? This question is prompted by the recent illness of Fidel Castro, reportedly suffering from intestinal problems, and his temporary handing over power to his brother Raúl Castro in August. Peter Taaffe Secretary of the Socialist Party England & Wales analyses the situation. (more…)

Last weeks military coup in Thailand must be opposed by all socialists. For the military and their supporters, including the main opposition party the Democrats, the coup was about better enabling the government to introduce more neo-liberal attacks, including cutting of subsidies and reversing recent improvements to health care.
By Stephen Jolly, Socialist Party Melbourne (more…)

More than 300 fitters and electricians are on strike at Toyota’s Altona plant in Melbourne. The strike began on Wednesday in defence of an AMWU shop steward and was quickly deemed ‘unauthorised action’ by the Industrial Relations Commission. Union officials have been injuncted off the picket but the workers have been joined by many members of the community in an assembly outside the plant.
By Anthony Main, Socialist Party Melbourne (more…)

The Berlin WASG (Election Alternative for Work and Social Justice) won over 52,000 constituency votes, 3.8% of the Berlin total, despite standing in only 80% of the constituencies, an extremely significant vote in its first ever election campaign. The highest WASG constituency vote was over 10%. In the voters’ second ballot for the regional party lists the WASG won over 40,000 votes, 2.9%, less than the 5% needed to be elected into the Abgeordnethaus. The WASG won 3.3% of second votes in the former east Berlin and 2.7% in west Berlin.
Robert Bechert (CWI) reports (more…)

Andrew Calleja reports on the Victorian State Election and the Socialist Party campaign in the seat of Richmond.
Pundits expect few surprises when Victorians go to the polls on November 25. The Bracks Labor government is expected to be returned to office, albeit with a reduced majority in the upper house and swings in the outer Southern suburbs where the tolling of the new Mitcham to Frankston tollway has voters threatening to vote against Labor. (more…)

The world is a mess. War, poverty, and oppression are now part of the daily lives of billions round the globe. 1.2 billion people struggle to survive on less than $1 per day. Every day, more than 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes (UN Human Development Report, 2005). The wars in Iraq and Lebanon are only the most recent striking examples of the crises facing humanity.
By Canyon Lalama, Socialist Alternative (CWI - USA) (more…)

To commemerate the 70th Anniversary of the Spanish Civil War we publish this article written by Nigel Peacock, Socialist Party Melbourne.
The victory of the Popular Front in February 1936 raised the expectations of workers around the world. Many asked could Spain offer an answer to the rise of fascism with Mussolini in power in Italy and Hitler in Nazi Germany? The events leading up to and surrounding the revolution of 1936 and the subsequent Spanish Civil War resounded throughout the world. (more…)

In the lead up to the G20 anti capitalist demonstration to be held in Melbourne in November, SP reprints this article on direct action. This feature by Stephen Jolly examines the question of direct action from a socialist perspective. Drawing on the rich experience of the Socialist Party and the CWI, it highlights key features and principles of direct action. (more…)

A successful action was held in the Melbourne CBD yesterday in solidarity with the 500+ locked out distribution workers in New Zealand. The workers are employed by a company called Progressive Enterprises which is owned by Woolworths Australia. They have been locked out until they drop their demand for a collective union agreement. They are fighting for decent pay rises and pay parity across three New Zealand distribution centers. Read report and see photos below. (more…)