Eleven years ago we were told by a newly elected Labour government that the old Thatcherite days were over. There was a new way – a Third Way – that would lead to social justice and wealth redistribution.
Black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey inspired millions in the 1920s with slogans like, "Up, you mighty race, accomplish what you will" and "Liberate the minds of men and ultimately you will liberate the bodies of men."
Economic crises are unpredictable. In periods of economic growth there is a powerful ideology at work that insists the good times will last forever. Voices that point to problems ahead tend to be marginalised.
In March 1836 Lord Auckland, the British governor of India, wrote to the Afghan ruler Amir Dost Mohammed with no apparent sense of irony, "You are aware that it is not the practice of the British government to interfere with the affairs of other independent states."
After the Second World War and the independence of India, Britain declined as an imperial power and the US replaced it.
In 1910, the year that James Connolly returned to Ireland from the US, the British Liberal government introduced a Home Rule Bill for Ireland.
For more than 200 years there have been people who have argued that the world is overpopulated, and that this is the main cause of poverty, unemployment, homelessness and damage to the environment.
In 1910 James Connolly returned to Ireland after working for seven years as a revolutionary in the US. His return coincided with the publication of his major pioneering work, Labour in Irish History.
The LCR has initiated the formation of a new broader party that it hopes will become a home for wide layers of people opposed to neoliberalism. The initiative grew out of rising struggle in France.
Anyone reading the press or listening to politicians’ speeches will notice periodic attempts to whip up fears about immigration "running out of control" and to blame immigrants for creating all manner of social problems.
The European Parliament has adopted a new law known as the Returns Directive which is aimed at fast tracking mass deportations.
The current dispute by cleaners on London Underground shows the reality of a migrant workforce that keeps Britain running and that is fighting for decent pay and working conditions.
