The Sound of Solidarity

How can ordinary people fight for real change when our rulers seem so powerful? Cooper Forsyth argues that workers everywhere have the power to spread struggles around the world and win. Read more about revolution. Read more about Solidarity.

Phil Griffiths challenges the ruling class propaganda about China and argues that it is imperialist rivalry that is making the region less safe and threatening war. Read Solidarity's articles on China. Find out more about Solidarity.

Lucy Honan explains what Marxists mean by alienation and how its impact shapes our lives – and how we can retake control through collective struggle.

Lebanese socialist Simon Assaf outlines how the crimes of the Israeli state are fostering anger and resistance across the region, creating a new opportunity for revolutionary change. Read Solidarity's coverage of the fight for a free Palestine. Find out more about Solidarity.

Australia is a settler colonial state. Israel is, too. But what does that mean for the struggle for Indigenous rights in Australia and liberation for Palestine? Paddy Gibson unbundles the theory. Read Solidarity's coverage of the fight against racism. Find out more about Solidarity.

Sameh Nasser, who escaped Gaza in December and who has lost 16 family members to Israeli terror, addressed Solidarity's Keep Left conference. David Glanz provided an introduction. Read all Solidarity's coverage of the Palestine crisis here. Find out more about Solidarity and get involved.

This talk by Paddy Gibson outlines the importance of anti-Aboriginal racism to the ruling class in Australia. Paddy explores the ways that the so-called "Aboriginal problem" has posed challenges for Australian capitalism and the way Aboriginal resistance continues to threaten the system. Recorded at a Solidarity meeting in April 2016, this podcast is dedicated to the memory of Arrente and Alyawarr Elder Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, who famously asserted, "Don't try and suppress me. I am not the problem. I have never left my Country, nor have I ever ceded any part of it."

Teachers and School Staff for Palestine has organised some inspiring actions, despite hostile media coverage and attempts at suppression by Labor state education ministers and their departments. We talk to Lucy Honan, an experienced teacher and long-time member of the Australian Education Union. She’s also a member of Solidarity.

Paddy Gibson gives an introduction to Karl Marx's theory of historical materialism. He includes basic explanations of the concept of alienation, surplus value, the centralisation and concentration of capital and what we mean by workers' power and socialist revolution. This talk was given to a Solidarity student club meeting at Sydney University in August 2014.

This episode is about what is happening in Melbourne for fans of electronic music from the SWANA (Southwest Asia and North Africa) region, and for music fans who want to recognise and act on what is happening in Palestine. To discuss this, Tami Gadir is joined by MzRizk, a renowned Naarm/Melbourne radio broadcaster (Boogie Beat Suite, PBS) and prolific DJ (winner, “Best DJ” category, Music Victoria Awards 2022). MzRizk talks about her DJing work, Palestinian solidarity and what it means to express political positions through music and the arts. MzRizk uses genres such as house, jazz, soul, disco, hip-hop, and Arabic music to foster community and cultural connection wherever she plays—from Melbourne to New York to Beirut and beyond. One of the popular club nights she co-organises is Habibi Hafla, which has been among the Palestine solidarity events that have been put on by local organisers since October 2023. Music credit: Ṭarabeat - طربيت, "Kazdoura - ك​ز​د​و​ر​ة" https://tarabeat1.bandcamp.com/track/kazdoura

Writing during the First World War, Lenin analysed how capitalism led to imperialism, which in turn led to war between the great powers. A century on, David Glanz argues that Lenin's arguments and his insistence that workers have the power to end war is still vitally relevant today.

In this week’s episode of our Music and Politics miniseries, we talk to Erima Dall about the course of industrial disputes at the Sydney Opera House construction site and what lessons we can take from how they played out. Erima is a member of Solidarity, a wharfy, and a Maritime Union of Australia member and delegate. In 2023, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Opera House’s completion, Erima wrote an article on this topic in Solidarity magazine and we’re pleased to have her joining us for this episode.

Zionism argues that antisemitism can't be fought and that Jews need a state at the expense of the Palestinians. David Glanz discusses how Zionism has always fostered racism and collaborated with imperialism.

Narendra Modi, prime minister of India, is an authoritarian leader and an Islamophobe. Barry Pavier, author of Hindutva and the Sangh Parivar in Britain, explains the background to his politics and discusses how the Indian left can fight back. Read Barry's article here.

Israel tries to smear its critics as antisemites. This episode features five anti-Zionist Jews in conversation, rejecting the myth that Israel speaks in their name. Nachshon Amir, Melanie Lazarow and John (Janusz) Ebel talk with Tami Gadir and David Glanz.

Labor played a key role in the partition of Palestine and the establishment of Israel in 1948, despite enacting antisemitic policies at home. Tom Orsag discusses why the ALP has always supported Israel.

Between 1996 and 1998, the Mirarr people in the Northern Territory fought plans for a uranium mine on their land in Kakadu. It included an eight-month blockade of the mine site. Tami Gadir argues that the mine was eventually stopped due to strong grassroots campaign made up of traditional Mirarr owners, Aboriginal activists and tens of thousands of people in Australia, including environmentalists, unionists and students.

We're often told people are too selfish to change the world. David Glanz challenges that argument, looking at the development of human society from the earliest years through to the mass solidarity movement for Palestine today.

Western leaders bleat about the "two-state solution". But as Sarah Thorne explains, it has never offered justice for the Palestinians. The only solution is one state from the river to the sea, where everyone has equal rights, including the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes.

Some musicians are as well known for their politics as they are for their music. Paul Robeson is one such figure. Robeson, born just before the turn of the twentieth century, during his life observed the parallels between the struggles of international workers against their ruling classes and the struggles for Black civil rights at home in the USA. Such sympathies led him to be viciously censored and pursued by the US authorities during the early stages of the Cold War. What can we learn from Robeson's contributions to radical politics in the twentieth century, and how might those lessons be applied to the present in which politics look very different? To help answer these questions we talk to writer, editor, broadcaster, and Walkley Award winner Jeff Sparrow about his book, No Way But This: In Search of Paul Robeson, a finalist in the Best Writing Award in the Melbourne Prize for Literature in 2018. Jeff is known for his public commentary on Australian politics and is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Advancing Journalism at the University of Melbourne. Link to the book: https://scribepublications.com.au/books-authors/books/no-way-but-this-9781925321852 A performance by Paul Robeson at the Royal Albert Hall in 1958: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9FVaHIMgYw&ab_channel=MartyHermsen