NI 551 - September, 2024

Election year

A note from the editor

Party animals

By December, half of the world’s population will have had the opportunity to cast a vote this year. Some, of course, in more preferable circumstances than others. But even in the most free and fair elections, many voters despair at the choice they are offered.

Political parties have formed the basis of our democracies – and many other forms of government – since the 18th century. They allow social movements to put forward a programme for change, although their stifling bureaucracies can all too often let established power run rampant and preserve the status quo.

The fate of Britain’s Labour party is a case in point. The defeat of the Conservatives after 14 years at the July general election will come as a great relief to most on the Left. But Labour wasted no time in suspending MPs who voted in favour of scrapping the cruel two-child benefit cap, and then announcing it was means-testing the winter fuel allowance for pensioners. It’s thanks to the party system that it can take both these moves, in spite of their unpopularity.

In the US election in November, we’ll see rallying cries of popular unity alongside the visceral bickering that disguises the small differences of Establishment parties. Meanwhile, independent candidates and minor parties – both Left and Right – are making inroads across the world. The might of the party is here to stay, but it could be facing its toughest challenge yet.

Elsewhere in this edition, read ILYA’s graphic account of the anti-imperialist Mau Mau uprising in Kenya, and Matt Kennard explores Britain’s continuing role in US imperialism.

Conrad Landin for the New Internationalist co-operative.
www.newint.org

The big story

From left: Leanne Mohamad, who narrowly missed out on unseating senior Labour politician Wes Streeting in Ilford North; Jeremy Corbyn; Andrew Feinstein, New Internationalist contributor and former South African MP who challenged Keir Starmer; and Iqbal Mohamed, who defeated Labour in Dewsbury and Batley.

Photo: Zuma Press/Alamy

NI 551 - September, 2024

Election year

A note from the editor

Party animals

The big story

Britain’s general election saw the rightwing Conservatives swept out – and a huge majority for Labour. But the shallowness of the victorious party’s support points to an existential threat to dominant parties across the world, argues Conrad Landin.

The Big Story

With the fading of the historic centre-left and centre-right parties, and mass working-class abstention, Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National has built its vote without recreating a typical mass party. By David Broder.

Membership, election year, and party types around the world.

The Movement Towards Socialism has proved an enduring force in Bolivian politics, in spite of multiple setbacks. Olivia Arigho Stiles traces its history.

Amid a widening consciousness of climate change and the decline of traditional social democratic parties, green politics has grown across the Global North. But can green parties really deliver progressive change? By Coll McCail.

Though it now holds elections, the Philippines is still far from a functioning democracy, and remains under the yoke of US neo-imperialism. Agatha Canape profiles the National Democratic movement leading the struggle.

Attacks on journalists and press freedom are intensifying around the world. These snapshots from Slovakia, Nigeria, Fiji, Palestine and Kashmir take a closer look at media workers’ struggles and successes during this period of heightened hostility against journalism.

In Peru, a group of Indigenous women living in isolated communities have been determined in fighting for the rights of their river, including winning a ground-breaking lawsuit. Stephanie Boyd reports.

So-called RAF bases filled with US military personnel are a tell-tale sign of Britain’s key role in US imperialism – not simply as a willing agent, but as a compliant subject. By Matt Kennard.

Comment

Feeling the heat, by Nilanjana Bhowmick.

Rising for reparatory justice, by Rosebell Kagumire.

Racists 0, Vinícius Júnior 1, by Leonardo Sakamoto.

The United Nations has failed to halt Israel’s war crimes in Gaza. As the void of legitimacy under the organization grows, Mark Seddon asks whether it’s time to look for an alternative.

Currents

Report from Ethiopia by Gabriella Jozwiak.

Report on activist arrests in Russia by Richard Swift.

Report on tourism in Spain by Bethany Rielly.

Resign Ruto!; Rare whale find; Enslaved workers freed; North Korea defection; Samsung strike; Child prisoners; Saving the rainforest.

Report on female genital mutilation in The Gambia by Jessie Williams.

Report on violence in India by Nikita Jain.

Report on environmental defenders in Ecuador by Michele Bertelli.

Honour for a war criminal from Australia, reports Zoe Holman.

Leader of the leftist National Regeneration Movement in Mexico.

Drawing pictures of Gaza’s historical buildings destroyed during Israel’s ongoing assault.

A Turkish drone strike killed three female Kurdish activists near Kobane, writes C Englert.

Strides towards equality; Assange walks free; Climate court win.

Regulars

Praise, blame and all points in between? Give us your feedback.

Amid arrests, harassment and violence, Sophie Neiman reflects on the plight of journalists in Uganda.

‘Olympics Against Genocide in Gaza’ by Ameen Alhabarah (Saudi Arabia).

Beware the Chinese vaccine.

Students attend a protest at Dhaka University, Bangladesh, July 2024. Photo by Mamunur Rashid.

ILYA looks back to when Britain crushed an anti-imperialist rebellion in Kenya.

The photos, facts, and politics of Mexico.

Highlighting the work of artists and photographers from the Majority World.

Revolutionary conservation is at the heart of the Indigenous Karen struggle in southeast Myanmar, as activist Paul Sein Twa explains to Lital Khaikin.

ABC with ant 'n' bee, by Marc Roberts.

Stop digging. Words – Danny Chivers.

Cartoon by P J Polyp.

Cannabis legalization was actually just? Amy Hall explores whether those most harmed by prohibition could benefit from legalization.

Struggling with an ethical dilemma? New Internationalist’s Agony Uncle can help you find answers in our troubled political times.

Film, Book & Music Reviews

The North Will Rise Again; Scattered; A Mouth Full of Salt; A Mouth Full of Salt.

No Other Land; Paradise is Burning.

Alva; Chain of Light.

A new history of pro-Zionist pressure is strongest in its simplicity, writes Rob Norman.

Political historian, filmmaker and novelist. Words by Subi Shah.

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