Global Left Midweek – January 25, 2023

Parties and movements in transition

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Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa. 16th Saharawi Congress in the Dajla refugee camp in the city of Tindouf, Algeria. Credit, Michele de Mello / Brasil de Fato
  1. Scientists Confront Climate Crisis
  2. Japanese Left on Ukraine War
  3. Western Europe
  4. Eastern Europe
  5. Polisario Front Congress
  6. The Left Responds to Flood Crisis in Pakistan
  7. Abortion Rights in Argentina: Strategic Perspectives
  8. Turmoil in South African Labor Movement
  9. El Salvador: Solidarity with Water Defenders
  10. Legacies

 

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Scientists Confront Climate Crisis

Clément Gibon / Equal Times (Brussels)

From Scientists for Extinction Rebellion, to Scientist Rebellion and the A22 Network (which includes Just Stop Oil, Declare Emergency, Dernière Rénovation and Renovate Switzerland, among others), environmental movements composed of activists identifying as scientists have multiplied across the world. Scientists from every field are participating in civil disobedience. 

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Japanese Left on Ukraine War

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Shaun O’Dwyer / Commons (Kyiv)

In parts of Japan’s left, including the JCP, Kakumaru-ha and Zengakuren, recognition of the legitimacy of Ukraine’s armed resistance is reflective of doctrinal flexibility on the question of just war. These organizations have taken a keen interest in Ukraine’s plight, and have reached out to express solidarity with Ukrainian left organizations. 

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Western Europe

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Eastern Europe

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Polisario Front Congress

Michele de Mello / Peoples Dispatch (New Delhi)

The Polisario Front, the political organization that leads the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), is holding its 16th Congress in Dajla – one of five Sahrawi refugee camps in the town of Tindouf, Algeria. After 30 years of ceasefire, this is the first Congress to be held again in the context of armed confrontation with Morocco.

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The Left Responds to Flood Crisis in Pakistan

Sanaa Alimia / Red Pepper (London)

Thirty-three million people have been affected by the floods in Pakistan. The disaster has left more than 1,700 dead, displaced millions and put one-third of the country under water. Three activists from left-wing parties, representing women, students, peasants, workers and others, speak on their responses to and readings of the floods.

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Abortion Rights in Argentina: Strategic Perspectives

Lucila Szwarc / Spectre (New York)

The lessons from the Argentinian fight for abortion may be useful for U.S. activists. Here are five strategies that local feminists and their allies deployed to build the movement for the legalization of abortion in Argentina, many of them reflecting transnational feminist experiences.

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Turmoil in South African Labor Movement

Dingane Xaba / Unicorn Riot (Minneapolis)

Union leaders met on Nov. 29 to discuss escalation plans, though to date, no further plans have been announced by COSATU, SAFTU or FEDUSA. This could be due to intensifying internal divisions within the union alliance, in particular, SAFTU.

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El Salvador: Solidarity with Water Defenders

Jessica Corbett / Common Dreams (Portland ME)

More than 250 organizations from 29 countries came together to pressure the Salvadoran government to drop the charges against and release five water defenders who were instrumental in achieving a 2017 legislative ban on metal mining in El Salvador. The activists were detained in northern El Salvador on January 11. 

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Legacies