Communicipalist Digest

  Further to my previous blog on the subject, a brief introduction to how I see socialism in contemporary England. Part Two brings the conversation up-to-date with an overview of ecosocialism as encapsulated in the slogan 'System Change Not Climate Change'.  I've been involved in the UK ecology movement since the 1970s when the current crisis was first flagged up, at that time mostly to the utter indifference of the majority of the population and pretty much all of the global corporate world. However, since the start of the twenty first century and especially in the last decade or so, ecosocialism has developed into what is now the dominent thesis of the English left and in fact all around the world. Things have changed. The reason for this environmental refocus has been the growing realisation that the current system of production and reproduction is quite simply unsustainable, the effects of climate change and pollution are now undeniable, whether we believe  the climat...

England The Stateless State of the Nation   The political scene across the British archipelago has not been as complex nor fractious as it is now since universal suffrage giving adults (over 21 years old) the vote irrespective of sex, income or property ownership finally became law in 1928. One problem we have here is an identity issue, who are we? This question is less problematic for our Celtic neighbours, the national identities of the Scots, or Welsh is better defined than that of the English. In Northern Ireland at the opposite end of the spectrum rigid national and cultural identities have at times in its history threatened to tear the place apart. We all have multiple nationalities we are citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the UK), we are also British and also seperately English, (Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish). There is a tendency for some people to use the terms English and British interchangeably and although this is in...