2011-2013-2016. New Texts Out Now
“Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising”
by ACHCAR Gilbert
Jadaliyya (J): What made you write this book?
Gilbert Achcar (GA): Two reasons: one general and one practical. The general reason is the need to assess the new counter-revolutionary phase in the Arab upheaval, which started in 2013. Since early on, I have been describing what began in December 2010 in Tunisia and spread to the whole Arab-speaking region in 2011 as a “long-term revolutionary process” that will necessarily go through a succession of contrasting phases. My previous book, The People Want: A Radical Exploration of the Arab Uprising—which came out in 2013 and was kindly reviewed by Maha Abdelrahman for Jadaliyya—analyzed the economic, social and political roots of the regional upheaval and its dynamics, along with an assessment of its first two years. Morbid Symptoms is a sequel to The People Want, assessing the reactionary phase that has been unfolding since the turning point of 2013.


The abomination that is the destruction of Aleppo, of its people and of its buildings and services will be remembered for centuries to come, should humanity have the good fortune to last that long.
Cela fait plusieurs semaines que je me dis que je vais t’écrire, et ce sont les événements tragiques d’Alep et ta réaction à ces événements, ou parfois ta non-réaction, qui ont fini par me persuader que l’heure était venue de m’adresser à toi. Pas nécessairement dans le but de te convaincre, car je crois que malheureusement il est déjà trop tard. Mais au moins, comme ça, les choses seront dites et tu ne pourras pas dire que tu ne savais pas.
Aujourd’hui s’ouvre à nouveau, au Luxembourg, le procès d’Antoine Deltour, Raphaël Halet et Édouard Perrin, les deux lanceurs d’alerte et le journaliste, grâce auxquels le scandale LuxLeaks a pu éclater au grand jour. En juin 2016, É. Perrin avait été acquitté mais le parquet luxembourgeois a décidé de faire appel. A. Deltour et R. Halet, quant à eux, condamnés respectivement à 12 mois et 9 mois de prison avec sursis et à des amendes, ont fait appel. Ce verdict est en effet tout simplement scandaleux, sanctionnant un acte citoyen courageux : la mise à jour d’un système de fraude fiscale de grande ampleur via des centaines d’accords secrets entre des multinationales et l’administration fiscale luxembourgeoise (« tax ruling »), par l’intermédiaire du cabinet d’audit Price waterhouse Coopers (PwC).
Cuéntenles a sus hijas e hijos quién es Marcos Ana. Porque de lo contrario, salvo que hayan tenido la suerte de conocerlo en alguna de sus visitas a colegios e institutos, es probable que no sepan quién es. Pese a algunos homenajes y reconocimientos recientes, este jueves eran muchos los que buscaban en Google quién es ese tal Marcos Ana. Y esa ignorancia da la medida de los agujeros que sigue teniendo la memoria colectiva de este país, sobre todo con los antifascistas, y más con los comunistas.
François Fillon est un adepte de la stratégie du choc. Abrogation des 35 heures et de l’ISF, fiscalité réduite pour le capital, retraite à 65 ans, réforme de l’assurance chômage, droit du travail… Il veut mener sa révolution néolibérale en deux mois. Au risque d’un choc récessif détonant.
They will blame
Republican Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential elections not only brings to power the most rightwing president in our nation’s modern history, but because he is an idiosyncratic political outsider, it also points to a very uncertain future. Still we can be sure that his victory will lead to attacks on the working class, on the black and Latino communities, on women, and on LGBT folk.
More than 580 elected representatives, including councillors, MPs and MEPs have signed the Oviedo Manifesto, an association against illegitimate debts that was presented to the Spanish Parliament on Wednesday, October 19, 2016.
Both the Syrian regime's war on a pro-democracy uprising and the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen are aimed at burying the aspirations of the Arab Spring, writes Gilbert Achcar, author most recently of
Les victoires face au rouleau compresseur néolibéral sont si rares qu’il faut savoir les savourer et les célébrer quand d’aventure elles se présentent. Le Parlement de la Wallonie a refusé de donner à l’Etat belge le feu vert pour la signature du CETA et le gouvernement wallon refuse de céder aux ultimatums, aux menaces et aux pressions émanant de l’Union Européenne, du gouvernement belge, des milieux d’affaire et du gouvernement flamand.
Following the successful
The German socialist August Bebel once called anti-Semitism “the socialism of fools.” He had in mind that a fool from the lower classes, indignant at the existing state of things instead of seeking the genuine reasons for his discontent concealed in the capitalist means of production, found a facile but false target in Jews. The result of this fool’s bad decision could prove catastrophic: instead of joining the ranks of socialists, he became their fiercest and most dangerous adversary. “Socialist foolishness” merits neither indulgence nor understanding. It is, moreover, a formidable weapon in the hands of elites, who are wise enough to know how to exploit it.
The victory of the 5 Star Movement (M5S according to its initials in Italian) and its young candidates, Virginia Raggi and Chiara Appendino, in the municipal elections of June 2016 in two symbolic cities of Italy (the capital, Rome and the main industrial city of the country, Turin) has revived many questions about the political role and the nature of the group founded by the comedian Beppe Grillo.