Sunday 23 August 2009

New Left Blog Round Up

Seems ages since I last did one of these. But anyway, there are a few new left wing blogs that have caught my eye this last month that deserve wider circulation.

First up is the blog of
Ryde Trades Council. It grew to some prominence over the Vestas dispute and has produced some excellent agitational pieces in support. The politics it espouses are more radical than you might expect as well.

Next is
Capital D, which, to mark his move from Manchester to London is the new incarnation of Dave from Complex System of Pipes. Readers of the old blog will be familiar with what to expect - short but incisive pieces of commentary and the odd bit about life in the SWP. You can follow Dave on Twitter here.

Long time readers of Socialist Unity will be familiar with the sensible contributions Barry Kade has made to many a discussion. And since January this year Barry has had his own
blog. Subtitled 'commentary on contemporary socialisms' most of his posts, as you would expect, have a strategic flavour.

Allow Me to Explain is a new US-based blog that unapologetically fights for global revolution. As the author puts it "I am a proletarian revolutionary and supporter of the Partisans of World Revolution (PoWR). We fight for the abolition of the capitalist system of exploitation so that a world of material abundance, free from inequality, oppression, wars and other social ills can be created. Through this blog I will convey my thoughts and opinions on various of subjects in hopes of contributing, however modestly, to the struggle for the liberation of humanity." Admittedly I've never heard of PoWR (nice acronym) but AMTE is an excellent blog with a good mix of the cultural, political and geo-political.

Apologies to the next group blog if I get their history wrong. A few years ago there was a falling out on the well-known
Urban 75 bulletin board. A group of the more political posters left and set up an alternative - Meanwhile at the Bar. Fast forward a few years the comrades behind it have set up a blog. So far comrades have blogged on quantitative easing, the future of the left, the far right, climate camps among other things. With a group of talented writers plus the backing of a medium sized bulletin board behind it, I wouldn't be surprised if MatBlog makes a big splash over the next year.

It seems scarcely a month goes by without a
Socialist Party member entering the blogging fray. The latest is the Crazy Life of Socialist V, a comrade with Brighton branch of the party. The blog promises to be a mix of the political, the ranty and the observational. You can follow V on Twitter here.

It might be stretching it to call
Simon Fletcher's site a new blog seeing as it's been around since last September, butas it hasn't been featured before ... For those who haven't encountered Simon before, his about more or less sums things up, so do not be surprised to be greeted with postings from a social democratic perspective. You can follow Simon on Twitter here.

While being neither new nor a blog, the
Tigmoo aggregator gathers the latest from trade union blogging - be they Labour-loyal or outside the party. Potentially a very useful resource.

And that's it for this month. If you know of any new socialist, feminist, green left and trade unionist blogs let me know and they'll get a plug in four weeks time.

3 comments:

JS.Ray said...

cheers for the plug for MATB fella. Going from the initial flurry of posts stage to the sustaining it stage so fingers crossed!

Daniel Hoffmann-Gill said...

Nothing beats Milton Keynes Communists though Phil!

Phil said...

Good luck with MATB, Jack. The first few months are always the hardest!

And yes DHG, I don't think any find will beat the MK Comms. They're still going strong but sadly original material is completely absent :(