How Twitter is like a horse
This article appeared in Solidarity. Later this month I’ve been invited to debate some of the leading online campaigners in Britain on the role of new media in the revolutions taking place in Middle East….
South Africa: Unions are wrong to cheer on the UJ boycott
South Africa’s unions are cheering on the decision by the University of Johannesburg to cut ties with an Israeli academic institution. In a statement issued last week, the municipal workers union (SAMWU) said that it…
Streiken gegen den Pharao
This article appeared in both the print and online editions of Jungle World. Nicht nur über Facebook wurden die Proteste in Ägypten organisiert. Die sozialen Netzwerke der Lohnabhängigen waren entscheidend für den Sturz Mubaraks.
Egypt: What trade unions must do now
This article appeared in Solidarity. What happened in Egypt over the last few weeks has a clear historic parallel in the events of August 1980 in Poland. In both cases, weakened authoritarian regimes crumbled as…
Trade unions: the revolutionary social network at play in Egypt and Tunisia
This article, co-authored with Benjamin Weinthal, appeared in The Guardian online edition. Perhaps the most overlooked factor in the demise of the authoritarian Ben Ali regime in Tunisia, and the weakening of Hosni Mubarak’s grip…
Trade unionists on the net
This article appeared in both the print and online editions of Solidarity. LabourStart has just completed the first ever large-scale, global survey of trade union use of the net. More than 1,300 union members participated…
Results of the first annual global survey of trade union use of the net
Published today – well worth reading. (Click here.)
Activist websites under threat
A major study released last month has confirmed that websites belonging to independent media and human rights organisations around the globe are increasingly vulnerable to cyber-attack. The report issued by Harvard University’s Berkman Center for…
The Two Orlovs
The best-selling book A Simples Life by the loveable meerkat Aleksandr Orlov may be unwittingly focussing attention on one of the great mysteries of the twentieth century. No doubt the creators of the British television…
Unbelievable! The Cambodian Embassy’s response to our appeals
Last week we told LabourStart’s email subscribers about an Amnesty International global appeal to protest arrest threats targetting union leaders in Cambodia. Many of you sent off protest messages — and several of you have…