Hilary Wainwright

Participatory socialist economics: the vision of British Labour鈥檚 shadow chancellor John McDonnell

Tory-supporting media have been portraying Britain鈥檚 socialist Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn as a Soviet fellow-traveller. Meanwhile, 贬颈濒补谤测听奥补颈苍飞谤颈驳丑迟 notes, Labour鈥檚 shadow chancellor and close Corbyn ally sets out a vision that breaks with the old bureaucratic state model.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell can usually barely breathe a word about nationalisation without setting off a media frenzy, so it鈥檚 strange that his most interesting comments yet on the subject passed with so little comment.

Britain: Labour鈥檚 conference marked a movement preparing for power

Everyone sensed the new energy at this year鈥檚 Labour Party conference, held in Brighton from September 24-27.

The reality of the conference was something not seen in Britain for a long time: thousands of determined and self-confident members of a Labour Party that boldly stands for what they believe in.

Scotland: A chance for 鈥榠ndependence without borders鈥

There is a political movement in Scotland that is quite beyond anything containable by or even comprehensible through the terms of conventional parliamentary, tick-some-scoundrel's-name-every-four-years politics. Many of us have had our political senses so numbed for so long by broken promises of change that it鈥檚 taken a long time for people to wake up to this fact.

Brazil: Huge ructions pose need for change

Former Brazilian president Lula, who helped found the ruling Workers鈥 Party (PT) and governed from 2003鈥2010, took his time to comment on the wave of protests that erupted in mid-June, bringing millions onto the streets. But when he finally gave an interview, he warmly welcomed the protests: 鈥淏razil is living an extraordinary moment in the affirmation of its democracy. We are a very young democracy ... It鈥檚 only to be expected that our society should be a walking metamorphosis, changing itself at every moment.鈥

A real 'green new deal' 鈥 lessons from British Lucas Aerospace workers

Thirty-five years ago, workers at the Lucas Aerospace company formulated an 鈥渁lternative corporate plan鈥 to convert military production to socially useful and environmentally desirable purposes.