The victories that followed the American civil war and the 1960s civil rights era are once again under attack, echoing earlier efforts to roll back equality and redefine democracy, says JOE SIMS
MOST socialists will probably have wondered at some time or other what life would be like, what form society might take, in communism.
Most of us also realise that we’re unlikely ever to know the answer.
Socialist states, past and present, were and are just that — socialist, not communist, although communist parties have generally played an important role in achieving them.
The selection, analysis and interpretation of historical ‘facts’ always takes place within a paradigm, a model of how the world works. That’s why history is always a battleground, declares the Marx Memorial Library
NICK MATTHEWS recalls how the ideals of socialism and the holding of goods in common have an older provenance than you might think
TONY CONWAY assesses the lessons of the 1930s and looks at what is similar, and what is different, about the rise of the far right today



