Palestine: Global unions file ILO complaint to recover wages of over 200,000 Palestinian workers in Israel

photo: MAJDI FATHI NurPhoto via AFP

A complaint against the Israeli government for blatant violations of the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Protection of Wages Convention has been filed by nine global trade unions, with members in over 160 countries representing 207 million workers.

27-09-2024

The complaint highlights the obligations of Israeli authorities to redress and remedy a range of abuses, including unpaid wages and withheld benefits for more than 200,000 Palestinian workers employed in Israel.

These abuses have led to millions of dollars of lost income, causing severe financial insecurity, economic distress, deprivation of basic services, and widespread hardship for the affected workers and their families, who have no access to judicial remedies.

Filed on 27 September 2024, under article 24 of the ILO Constitution, the joint complaint details the exploitative conditions faced by more than 200,000 Palestinian workers from the West Bank and Gaza, formally or informally employed in Israel at the time of the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023. These workers have experienced widespread wage theft due to the suspension of work permits and the unilateral termination of their contracts.

The global unions’ complaint is based on evidence showing that over 200,000 workers from Gaza and the West Bank have not been paid for work completed before 7 October and have received no wages since. According to ILO estimates, the average daily wage for Palestinian workers employed in Israel under regular work permits was 297.30 shekels (US$79). Claimants estimate that the average weekly wage for workers in the informal economy ranged between 2,100 and 2,600 shekels (US$565-700). For more than a year, Palestinian workers have been unable to recover their outstanding wages or settle wage debts.

The complaint was signed by the following organisations listed in alphabetical order: the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI); Education International (EI); IndustriALL Global Union; International Federation of Journalists (IFJ); International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF); Public Services International (PSI); and UNI Global Union. The Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD has also joined the complaint.

“When I visited the West Bank earlier this year, I witnessed the economic destitution experienced by the families of Palestinian workers employed in Israel. As always, working people are enduring the worst of the continuing conflict. Through this petition, we want to ensure that the much-needed backpay is paid out to workers who are struggling to make ends meet,” stated Luc Triangle, General Secretary of the ITUC.

“International law is clear: no crisis, not even war, can justify the suspension of labour rights or the denial of justice to workers. Palestinian workers, many of whom were employed in Israels’ construction sector, have the right to be paid their outstanding wages. We will not be satisfied until justice is delivered for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian workers who have been denied their due, and a ceasefire is reached,” said BWI General Secretary Ambet Yuson.

SCOTLAND

Council leaders meet to discuss forcing worker pay deal

Jamie McIvor
BBC Scotland News correspondent

Strikes amongst council staff are still possible after Unison rejected the latest offer

Council leaders are due to discuss whether to give staff a pay rise against the wishes of the biggest union.

The pay offer - an increase of either 3.6% or £1,292 - was made to see off the threat of bin strikes in August.

Members of the GMB and Unite accepted the offer. But the biggest council union Unison rejected it and is warning that strikes are still possible.

The next steps will be discussed by council leaders from across Scotland later, at their regular meeting at the council umbrella body Cosla.


Cosla meeting


Staff have been waiting for their annual pay rise since April. The offer covers virtually all council staff across Scotland except teachers.

As all full time staff would get a minimum rise of £1,292, it is worth most in percentage terms to the lowest paid.

The Scottish government made extra resources available so councils could improve on the previous pay offer - which was worth 3.2% for all staff - but it has made it clear that no more money for pay is available this year.
Getty images
The deal covers almost all council staff except teachers


Whatever councils do next has risks.

The GMB and Unite want their members to get the rise they voted for as soon as possible. They represent a large proportion of lower paid council staff. The rise would be backdated to April.

But members of Unison, the biggest union, voted to reject it. The union believes more needs to be done to address what it sees as the long-term decline in the value of council pay.

Unison argues council staff have seen the value of their pay fall by 25% over the last 14 years and says councils are facing problems recruiting staff for some roles.

If council leaders agree to "impose" the pay offer it risks inflaming the situation with Unison.

It has warned of the risk of strikes and may ballot more council workers on action.

Councils have warned using any more of their money for pay would mean more cuts to services or job losses.

Bavarian Nordic signs agreement with Unicef for 1-million mpox vaccines

27 September 2024 - 

Reuters

Bavarian Nordic has signed an agreement with Unicef for 1-million doses of its mpox vaccine, Jynneos, for impacted African countries. File photo.
Image: REUTERS/Rebecca Noble

Bavarian Nordic said on Thursday it has signed an agreement with the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) for 1-million doses of its mpox vaccine, Jynneos, for countries in Africa impacted by the disease outbreak.

The agreement includes 500,000 doses of the vaccine previously committed by Gavi, a public-private alliance that co-funds vaccine purchases for low-income countries.

The Danish biotech said it would make all doses available for supply before the end of this year and work with partners to secure the availability of vaccines beyond 2024.

This is the first award of vaccines under an emergency tender issued by Unicef to secure mpox vaccines for crisis-hit countries in collaboration with the Gavi alliance, Africa CDC and the World Health Organisation, the company said.

DEATH PENALTY IS TORTURE

Death row inmate Alan Miller shakes and trembles during lengthy Alabama nitrogen gas execution

Alan Miller, 59, took around eight minutes to die at a prison in Alabama, witnesses said. It comes after he was convicted of shooting dead three men in the state in 1999.


By Daniel Binns, news reporter
Friday 27 September 2024

Alan Miller was found guilty of murdering three men. Pic: AP

A murderer took around eight minutes to die as he was controversially executed using nitrogen gas.

Alan Miller was seen shaking and trembling before gasping for air as he died at a US prison in the state of Alabama.

The 59-year-old, who was strapped down on a stretcher, was also seen pulling at his restraints before he stopped moving.

He was only the second person to be executed in the US using the gas.

Miller was convicted of shooting dead three men in the city of Pelham, Alabama, in August 1999.

Officials previously tried to execute him by lethal injection in 2022 but abandoned the attempt after staff failed to find a vein before a deadline for the expiration of his initial death warrant.

In his final words, Miller said: "I didn't do anything to be in here."

He also asked his family and friends to "take care" of someone, but the individual's name was not clear because his voice was muffled by a gas mask covering his face.

The convict was pronounced dead at 6.38pm local time on Thursday.

Miller in August 1999 following his arrest. Pic: AP

The execution, the fifth in the US in the space of a week, has sparked renewed debate about the death penalty and whether some methods are inhumane.

Campaigners from US groups such as Death Penalty Action have described the use of nitrogen gas as "horrific and torturous".

Alabama's attorney general Steve Marshall said the execution "went as expected and without incident".

He added: "Despite misinformation campaigns by political activists, out-of-state lawyers, and biased media, the state proved once again that nitrogen hypoxia is both humane and effective."

Death Penalty Action activists protesting against the execution earlier this week. Pic: AP

'Pure evil'

Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said: "Everything went according to plan and according to our protocol."

However, Lauren Gill, a journalist for local politics magazine Bolts, wrote on X: "I was a witness for Alabama's execution of Alan Miller by nitrogen gas tonight. Again, it did not go as state officials promised.

"Miller visibly struggled for roughly two minutes, shaking and pulling at his restraints. He then spent the next five to six minutes intermittently gasping for air."

Some experts, including from the American Veterinary Medical Association, consider nitrogen gas to be "unacceptable" as a method of euthanasia for most types of animals due to the distress it can cause.

Miller, a former delivery truck driver, shot dead two colleagues at Ferguson Enterprises - Lee Holdbrooks, 32, and Christopher Scott Yancy, 28 - during his killing spree.

He then drove five miles to his previous workplace, Post Airgas, where he killed Terry Jarvis, 39.

All three were shot several times.

A court heard he was paranoid and believed his co-workers had been gossiping about him.

Following the execution, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey described Miller as "pure evil" and said justice had been "finally served".

Family members of the victims did not witness the execution, state officials said, and did not issue a statement afterwards.

Helene of Florida: ‘Nightmare’ hurricane makes landfall at 225km/h

By Kate Payne and Heather Hollingsworth
Updated September 27, 2024 

Crawfordville, Florida: Hurricane Helene made landfall in north-western Florida as a Category 4 storm as forecasters warned that the enormous system could create a “nightmare” storm surge and bring dangerous winds and rain across much of the southeastern US. There were at least three storm-related deaths.

The National Hurricane Centre in Miami said Helene roared ashore just before midnight on Thursday (Friday afternoon AEST) near the mouth of the Aucilla River in the Big Bend area of Florida’s Gulf Coast. It had maximum sustained winds estimated at 225km/h. That location was only about 32km north-west of where Hurricane Idalia came ashore last year at nearly the same ferocity and caused widespread damage.


Residents wade through a street flooded in the passing of Hurricane Helene, in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba.CREDIT:AP

Helene prompted hurricane and flash flood warnings extending far beyond the coast up into northern Georgia and western North Carolina. More than 1.2 million homes and businesses were without power in Florida, more than 190,000 in Georgia and more than 30,000 in the Carolinas, according to the poweroutage.us tracking site. The governors of those states and Alabama and Virginia all declared emergencies.

One person was killed in Florida when a sign fell on their car and two people were reported killed in a possible tornado in south Georgia as the storm approached.



“When Floridians wake up tomorrow morning, we’re going to be waking up to a state where very likely there’s been additional loss of life and certainly there’s going to be loss of property,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said at a news conference.


Hurricane Helene in the Gulf of Mexico moving towards Florida on Thursday.CREDIT:NOAA/AP

Helene was moving rapidly inland after making landfall, with the centre of the storm set to race from southern to northern Georgia next. The risk of tornadoes also would continue overnight and into the morning across north and central Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and southern North Carolina, forecasters said. Later Friday, there would be the risk of tornadoes in Virginia.

“Helene continues to produce catastrophic winds that are now pushing into southern Georgia,” the hurricane centre said in an update. “Persons should not leave their shelters and remain in place through the passage of these life-threatening conditions.”

Even before landfall, the storm’s wrath was felt widely, with sustained tropical storm-force winds and hurricane-force gusts along Florida’s west coast. Water lapped over a road in Siesta Key near Sarasota and covered some intersections in St Pete Beach. Lumber and other debris from a fire in Cedar Key a week ago crashed ashore in the rising water.

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Beyond Florida, up to 25 centimetres of rain had fallen in the North Carolina mountains, with up to 36cm more possible before the deluge ends, setting the stage for flooding that forecasters warned could be worse than anything seen in the past century.


The St. Pete Pier is pictured among high winds and waves as Hurricane Helene makes its way toward the Florida panhandle, passing west of Tampa Bay.CREDIT:AP

Heavy rains began falling and winds were picking up earlier in Valdosta, Georgia, near the Florida state line. The weather service said more than a dozen Georgia counties could see hurricane-force winds exceeding 177km/h

In south Georgia, two people were killed when a possible tornado struck a mobile home, Wheeler County Sheriff Randy Rigdon told WMAZ-TV.

The storm made landfall in the sparsely populated Big Bend area, home to fishing villages and vacation hideaways where Florida’s Panhandle and peninsula meet.



“Please write your name, birthday, and important information on your arm or leg in a PERMANENT MARKER so that you can be identified and family notified,” the sheriff’s office in mostly rural Taylor County warned those who chose not to evacuate in a Facebook post, the dire advice similar to what other officials have dolled out during past hurricanes.

Still, Philip Tooke, a commercial fisherman who took over the business his father founded near the region’s Apalachee Bay, planned to ride out this storm like he did during Hurricane Michael and the others – on his boat. “If I lose that, I don’t have anything,” Tooke said. Michael, a Category 5 storm, all but destroyed one town, fractured thousands of homes and businesses and caused some $US25 billion in damage when it struck the Florida Panhandle in 2018.


Charles Starling, a lineman with Team Fishel, is pelted with rain as he walks by a row of electrical line trucks stage in a field in The Villages, Florida, in preparation for damage from Hurricane Helene. CREDIT:AP

Many, though, were heeding the mandatory evacuation orders that stretched from the Panhandle south along the Gulf Coast in low-lying areas around Tallahassee, Gainesville, Cedar Key, Lake City, Tampa and Sarasota.

Among them were Cindy Waymon and her husband, who went to a shelter in Tallahassee after securing their home and packing medications, snacks and drinks. They wanted to stay safe given the magnitude of the storm, she said.



“This is the first time we’ve actually come to a shelter, because of the complexities of the storm and the uncertainties,” she said.


A petrol station employee wraps fuel pumps ahead of Hurricane Helene.CREDIT:AP

Federal authorities staged search-and-rescue teams as the weather service forecast storm surges of up to six metres and warned they could be particularly “catastrophic and unsurvivable” in Apalachee Bay.

“Please, please, please take any evacuation orders seriously!” the office said, describing the surge scenario as “a nightmare”.

This stretch of Florida known as the Forgotten Coast has been largely spared by the widespread condo development and commercialisation that dominates so many of Florida’s beach communities. The region is loved for its natural wonders – the vast stretches of salt marshes, tidal pools and barrier islands.



“You live down here, you run the risk of losing everything to a bad storm,” said Anthony Godwin, who lives about 800 metres from the water in the coastal town of Panacea, as he stopped for gas before heading west toward his sister’s house in Pensacola.

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School districts and multiple universities ca classes. Airports in Tampa, Tallahassee and Clearwater were closed, while cancellations were widespread elsewhere in Florida and beyond.

While Helene will likely weaken as it moves inland, damaging winds and heavy rain were expected to extend to the southern Appalachian Mountains, where landslides were possible, forecasters said. Tennessee was among the states expected to get drenched.

Helene had swamped parts of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday, flooding streets and toppling trees as it passed offshore and brushed the resort city of Cancun. In western Cuba, Helene knocked out power to more than 200,000 homes and businesses as it brushed past the island.


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Areas 160km north of the Georgia-Florida line expected hurricane conditions. The state opened its parks to evacuees and their pets, including horses. Overnight curfews were imposed in many cities and counties in south Georgia.

“This is one of the biggest storms we’ve ever had,” said Georgia Governor Brian Kemp.

For Atlanta, Helene could be the worst strike on a major Southern inland city in 35 years, said University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd.

Helene is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year because of record-warm ocean temperatures.


AP

‘Please don’t eat my cat’: Trump’s fake claim of Haitians eating pets mocked in viral video


Supporters of Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, accompanied by cats, attend a watch party for the US Presidential debate between Harris and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at El Jefe, a cat cafe, in Tucson, Arizona, on September 10, 2024. — AFP pic

Friday, 27 Sep 2024 1:43 PM MYT

PARIS, Sept 27 — A pet-loving part-time musician is fast becoming a global star by gently poking fun at Donald Trump for suggesting that Haitian immigrants are making a meal of America’s cats and dogs.

“Eating the cats”, a parody song by The Kiffness which sets to music Trump’s extraordinary claims during the US presidential debate that migrants in Ohio “are eating the dogs, eating the cats”, has been viewed more than 8.7 million times on YouTube alone in 12 days.

“People of Springfield please don’t eat my cat,” pleads the South African singer, whose real name is David Scott. “Why would you do that?/ Eat something else.”

He then helpfully holds up a card suggesting a range of other mostly veggie options, including broccoli, avocados, and poached eggs.

The singer, who has been slowly building a following for his feel-good songs about pets and children — because “they tend to unite people” — has seen his popularity soar since he got his singing claws into Trump.

Although he insists he is not attacking anybody, just giving some cat- and dog-friendly dietary advice.

“I think music has a powerful way of taking away negative energy and polarising feelings, especially with someone like Donald Trump, who is such a polarising figure,” he told AFP before his band gave a concert in Paris.

Not trying to hurt anyone

“I want my music to unite people. And I think that’s why I moved towards music that included animals. Because animals unite people,” said the 36-year-old from Cape Town.

The video, which has been watched by millions more on social media, shows Trump’s rival Kamala Harris reacting to his widely-derided claims during their debate earlier this month. A couple of cats and dogs also chip in with vocals, and equally incredulous looks.

Scott said all the earnings from the song are going to help pets and stray cats and dogs in Springfield, with more than $20,000 already raised.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he told AFP. “The interest has been overwhelming from both sides, from Democrats, from Republicans.”

He said the song was not “laughing at the situation, it’s saying that you can rise above it... and just see the humour in things,” said the musician, who describes himself on X as a “Christian, husband, father (and) part-time musician”.

Springfield’s mayor, police and Ohio’s Republican governor have all said there is no evidence to back up Trump’s claims that Haitian migrants were eating the city’s pets.

But that has not stopped his running mate JD Vance — an Ohio senator — from doubling down on the claims, despite being widely mocked.

“My constituents are telling me firsthand that they’re seeing these things,” an unapologetic Vance told CNN.

This prompted Haitian groups in Springfield to file charges against Trump and Vance Wednesday over the threats to their community since the pair amplified the false online rumours. 

— AFP

'Please don't eat my cat': Trump parody

 song goes viral

Fanny LATTACH
Thu, September 26, 2024 

Please don't eat my cat: South African musician David Scott, aka The Kiffness (GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT) (GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP/AFP)

A pet-loving part-time musician is fast becoming a global star by gently poking fun at Donald Trump for suggesting that Haitian immigrants are making a meal of America's cats and dogs.

"Eating the cats", a parody song by The Kiffness which sets to music Trump's extraordinary claims during the US presidential debate that migrants in Ohio "are eating the dogs, eating the cats", has been viewed more than 8.7 million times on YouTube alone in 12 days.

"People of Springfield please don't eat my cat," pleads the South African singer, whose real name is David Scott. "Why would you do that?/ Eat something else."

He then helpfully holds up a card suggesting a range of other mostly veggie options, including broccoli, avocados and poached eggs.

The singer, who has been slowly building a following for his feel-good songs about pets and children -- because "they tend to unite people" -- has seen his popularity soar since he got his singing claws into Trump.

Although he insists he is not attacking anybody, just giving some cat- and dog-friendly dietary advice.

"I think music has a powerful way of taking away negative energy and polarising feelings, especially with someone like Donald Trump, who is such a polarising figure," he told AFP before his band gave a concert in Paris.

- Not trying to hurt anyone -

"I want my music to unite people. And I think that's why I moved towards music that included animals. Because animals unite people," said the 36-year-old from Cape Town.

The video, which has been watched by millions more on social media, shows Trump's rival Kamala Harris reacting to his widely-derided claims during their debate earlier this month. A couple of cats and dogs also chip in with vocals, and equally incredulous looks.

Scott said all the earnings from the song are going to help pets and stray cats and dogs in Springfield, with more than $20,000 already raised.

"I've never seen anything like it," he told AFP. "The interest has been overwhelming from both sides, from Democrats, from Republicans."

He said the song was not "laughing at the situation, it's saying that you can rise above it... and just see the humour in things," said the musician, who describes himself on X as a "Christian, husband, father (and) part-time musician".

Springfield's mayor, police and Ohio's Republican governor have all said there is no evidence to back up Trump's claims that Haitian migrants were eating the city's pets.

But that has not stopped his running mate JD Vance -- an Ohio senator -- from doubling down on the claims, despite being widely mocked.

"My constituents are telling me firsthand that they're seeing these things," an unapologetic Vance told CNN.

This prompted Haitian groups in Springfield to file charges against Trump and Vance Wednesday over the threats to their community since the pair amplified the false online rumours.

Haitian President’s giant jug sip and spill at UN speech triggers cruel memes; video goes viral

By Aditi Srivastava
Sep 27, 2024 

Haitian officials express concern over Trump's comments. President Leblanc Fils seeks support for peacekeeping efforts amid a humanitarian crisis.


Haitian President Edgard Leblanc Fils became the unexpected star of the internet after a silly mishap during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly. While trying to make a sincere call for countries to come together and support a peacekeeping effort for his country, the president tried to take a drink from a huge water jug —but ended up spilling it everywhere. The moment captured on video, quickly went viral, triggering a wave of cruel memes online.

Pic- X

Video of Haitian president at UN Assembly goes viral

Haiti's transitional president made a passionate call for "global solidarity" during his address at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday. He also supported the Biden team's push for a formal U.N. peacekeeping mission to tackle the big problems in his country, like gang violence resulting in mass migration and more.

However during the session, while he was answering a question, he decided to grab the whole jug of water to drink from instead of pouring it into a glass. This led to him spilling water all over his hands and clothes before he quickly put the jug down. While a simple human slip-up, the incident became meme fodder for amused netizens.

Take a look at the video here:




'Thirsty Haitian drinks straight out of a water pitcher during his UN General Assembly speech," one social media user remarked, taking a brutal swipe. "Don't they have cups in Haiti?" another chimed in. "Never in my life have I seen someone try to drink directly from a tall water pitcher... until now," a third commented. "Can you please give this man a towel? He just washed his face," added another.
However, a few came to the leader's defense, saying, "Awkward for him, but what's the problem if it’s reserved for him? I often drink from a gallon water jug throughout the day. Someone was probably messing with him and didn’t deliver glasses." Another added, "Stop with those jokes, it's brutal and bad, come on.”

Haitian President addresses Trump's claims

Haitian officials addressed the controversial remarks made by Donald Trump regarding Haitian immigrants allegedly eating pets, such as cats and dogs, in Springfield, Ohio. They voiced their worries that these statements could lead to serious consequences for Haitians living in the U.S. and around the world. Trump's comments, which gained massive attention and trended globally for days, came during a presidential debate on September 10 with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and have since drawn widespread criticism and concern.

“I would like to extend a brotherly greeting to all friends of Haiti that have shown solidarity towards the migrants from our country — and in particular those living in Springfield, Ohio,” the Haitian president added in his statement during the speech.
Haitian leader demands reparations while seeking global aid

Edgard Leblanc Fils, the leader of Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council, said that since it's the first Black country to stand on its own, Haiti is really struggling because of deep-rooted injustices from the past that have stopped its growth and put a lot of pressure on its citizens. “We demand recognition of the moral and historic debt and the implementation of justice,” he declared according to the Miami Herald. He recognized the issues that have come up with past U.N. peacekeeping efforts, like claims of sexual abuse and the spread of cholera after the 2010 earthquake.


Edgard Leblanc Fils highlighted the ongoing crisis in Haiti, which has been described by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres as a major humanitarian disaster. He criticised the escalating gang violence and the mistreatment of children in the country, emphasizing that these issues constitute severe violations of human rights.

Reviewing Socialist Register 2024

Seth Sandronsky

 September 27, 2024
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Cover art for the book A New Global Geometry? Socialist Register 2024

The essays in A New Global Geometry? Socialist Register 2024, an annual publication, unpack a wide range of anti-capitalist analyses on past and current political and social contradictions and relations. The contributors’ field of inquiry ranges from China to Germany, India, Japan, Latin America, Turkey and the US. 

The volume under review maps global capitalism’s ebbs and flows during and after the years between the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, James Meadway’s essay is titled “The first crisis of the Anthropocene: the world economy since Covid.” 

An overarching theme in this volume maps the changing factors and forces around Uncle Sam’s role atop the global system. What are the meanings of American leadership in a world system evolving from unipolar order to one that is multipolar?

Jerome Klassen and Ingo Schmidt weigh in on the US political economy in an era where the global balance of power is shifting away from Wall Street and Washington. Klassen in part fleshes out Pres. Biden’s pursuit of “armed primacy,” with the proxy war against Russia, in the context of the US rise to power after World War 2. 

How do strategies for a socialist transition connect with the aforementioned evolution of the global system of nation-states? The end of history that Fukuyama opined about after the fall of the former Soviet Union and finality of capitalism forevermore has given way to ongoing chaos and uncertainty amid the existential crises of eco-collapse and escalatory wars. 

What are the meanings of counterrevolutionary dangers such as thermonuclear war? A useful starting point is John Bellamy Foster’s essay “The US quest for nuclear primacy: the counterforce doctrine and the ideology of moral asymmetry.”

Consider rise of the Chinese economy. A “digital tech war” between China and the US, its history and global context, is the special focus of Tanner Mireles, situating the dynamics of this rivalry in and out of the American Empire.  

Achin Vanaik looks at the “nationalist character of the ruling elite” of India concerning its domestic and foreign policies in the era of Modi’s BJP Party. We hear and see echoes of former Pres. Trump’s sowing of division and fear, neofascism’s playbook as late-stage global capitalism careens from one flashpoint of conflict to the next. 

Ken C. Kawashima explores the pre-war and post-war social ruptures and structures in Japan. His essay “Japan’s ‘new pre-war’: five dislocations of its historical development” begins with a materialist analysis of the nation’s development as a capitalist society facing off with European and North American power, beginning in the 19th century. 

Thomas Sablowski traces the role of Germany in global capitalism. He begins with “the German economy’s fragile foundations and internal transformations,” and wraps up with socialist alternatives to rising neofascist tendencies, or the global virus of Trumpism that has gained strength from the spread of neoliberalism since the fSU imploded. 

Alan Cafruny and Vassilis K. Fouskas’ essay “Europe, the world economy and new imperial grossraums” takes up in part the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on global capitalism. The authors analyze how this war and its impacts on energy prices and supplies shape the formation and dissolution of capital accumulation and industrial production. 

As the Biden-Harris White House arms and supports the Israeli genocide in Gaza, now expanding to Lebanon, the contradictory role of Turkey in those operations and the proxy US war against Russia, looms large. Eren Duzgun and Cam Cemgil help us to understand what is happening and why in terms of the perils and promises of an existing social order containing the seeds of a potentially equitable economy and society.   

Claudio Katz disentangles a region that has been and remains, though contested, a source of labor exploitation and resource extraction for American capital. In “The new geopolitical scene in Latin America,” he analyzes the meanings of China’s challenges to US power in the region, and integrates that with the class forces from below whose struggles for justice prefigure a peaceful and sustainable future. 

Lindsey German disentangles British militarism amid capitalist competition between China and the US. This rivalry includes America’s proxy war with Russia. Global military spending is spiking as the ecology worsens and a nuclear exchange threatens, endangering human sustainability on the planet. 

Birgit Mahnkopf’s essay “From globalization to geopolitics—a way back, not forward” wraps up SR 2024. She contrasts partly the current order and battle for hegemony between China and the US with global capitalism before World War 1. We know this global war preceded a depression decade that spawned the Second World War, the largest loss of life in a war ever, with the specter of WW3 hanging over humanity’s head like a sword of Damocles now.

The late Leo Panitch, author, activist and university professor, assisted in the planning of Socialist Register 2024. He also contributed to this annual volume for decades as an editor and writer.

Seth Sandronsky is a Sacramento journalist and member of the freelancers unit of the Pacific Media Workers Guild. Email sethsandronsky@gmail.com