Portside

1. Power, Control, Inequality, and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century
2. Tech Workers and Rising Class Consciousness in China
3. Strikers in Pakistan
4. Unions Win Reform of South Korea’s Labor Law
5. Hong Kong Cleaning Workers Push Back
6. Two Worlds of Indonesian Politics
7. Hope and Die Linke 
8. African Indigenous Women on the Move
9. UK Greens Take a Big Step Left
10. Live Blog: Flotilla Back Making Its Way to Gaza

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Power, Control, Inequality, and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century

Jayati Ghosh / Monthly Review (New York)

Control and regulation of capitalist processes in the larger social interest are needed by democracy. But capitalism has mutated into a form in which the drive for appropriating economic rents dominates over the pursuit of profits per se, which has generally been seen as the driving force of capitalism.

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Tech Workers and Rising Class Consciousness in China

JS Tan / Asian Labor Review (Seoul)

With rising class consciousness in tech sectors in both the U.S. and China, how can tech workers in these two countries come together. When we are hearing politicians use phrases like the “AI-arms race,” or the “tech cold war,” the question of co-existence cannot be left to politicians and the tech elites.

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Strikers in Pakistan

Farooq Tariq / Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières (Paris)

More than forty labor organizations, social movements, and political parties have demanded the immediate acceptance of the demands of the striking workers of Faisalabad.

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Unions Win Reform of South Korea’s Labor Law

Hankyoreh (Seoul)

A package of amendments to the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act was finally passed by the National Assembly in a plenary session. They guarantee practical bargaining rights to workers while restricting the ability of firms to demand compensation for operational losses or damaged property resulting from strikes. 

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Hong Kong Cleaning Workers Push Back

HK Labour Rights Monitor (Hong Kong)

A sit-in protest by cleaners at Hong Kong Baptist University forced the outsourcing contractor to concede, winning cleaners a monthly allowance of between HK$300 and HK$500. This seemingly modest victory became a rare spark of resistance in a city overshadowed by political suppression.

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Two Worlds of Indonesian Politics

Edward Aspinall / New Mandala (Canberra)

August’s anti-government protests highlight the growth of a subculture of street protest that echoes the anti-Suharto activism of the 1990s. In opposing the new form of patronage politics Reformasi gave rise to, today’s protesters pursue goals no less daunting than those of the movement that brought down the New Order.

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Hope and Die Linke

Klaus Dörre / Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (Berlin)

Electoral success is one thing, but translating it into a tangible revitalization of left-wing socialist politics is a long-term challenge that remains to be tackled. Die Linke has been given a mandate to represent the anti-fascist opposition and to take action in the new cycle of struggle ahead of us.

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African Indigenous Women on the Move

Temwani Mgunda / Dialogue Earth (London)

Indigenous women in Africa are protecting the environmental rights of their communities in the face of steep legal barriers and patriarchal norms. At the same time, they are reviving ecological grazing techniques, encouraging the planting of drought-resistant crops, and leading efforts to diversify livelihoods.

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UK Greens Take a Big Step Left

Adam Ramsay / Novara Media (London)

Recent leadership elections show a new radical consensus among Greens across the UK – one that’s been developing for a while. The changing makeup of the Green party, and now its leadership, also reflects a generational shift in the country.

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Live Blog: Flotilla Back Making Its Way to Gaza

Justin Salhani, Simon Speakman Cordall and Lyndal Rowlands / Al Jazeera (Doha)