Michael Calderbank

Labour and the cuts: beyond the ‘dented shield’ January 2013
The scale of coalition cuts means the very future of local public services is in jeopardy. Michael Calderbank asks whether Labour councillors can do more than offer verbal protest and practical acquiescence

Radicals at the table – Natalie Bennett interview December 2012
Natalie Bennett, the new Green Party leader, speaks to Andrew Bowman and Michael Calderbank

One Nation, or, Ed Miliband’s Utopia October 2012
Why are Labour now claiming to speak in the "one nation" tradition of 19th Century Tory PM Benjamin Disraeli? Michael Calderbank reflects

Shedcasting in Surbiton September 2012
Michael Calderbank visits the suburban garden of radio broadcaster and DJ Mark Coles, an unlikely location for an internet-based radio show

Northern soul: Socialism with a Northern Accent September 2012
Socialism with a Northern Accent, by Paul Salveson. reviewed by Michael Calderbank

Atos sponsors the Paralympics? It’s enough to make you scream August 2012
The role played by disabled groups, far from being one of passive victims, is exemplary for collective resistance, writes Michael Calderbank

What if loyalty hadn’t drained Ken of his maverick energy? May 2012
Michael Calderbank examines the reasons behind Ken Livingstone's defeat in the London mayoral elections

Audio: May elections – Jenny Jones interview April 2012
Jenny Jones, the Green Party candidate for London mayor, speaks to Red Pepper's Tim Hunt and Michael Calderbank

Neither Hattersley nor Miliband: why today’s left must ‘re-think’ differently February 2012
Does Labour Old or New have what it takes to ‘re-think’ the project of social democracy? asks Michael Calderbank

Bashing the fash January 2012
An extended interview with Red Action activists on how they fought the fascists - literally

Pensions: Keep united and step up the fight January 2012
Michael Calderbank reports from PCS Left Unity's organising conference on the pensions fight.

Police and the student protests November 2011
Overkill or deliberate misinformation? Either way it looks they are starting to worry...

Tribune RIP? October 2011
Michael Calderbank on the threat to a long-standing fixture of British left publishing

Explanation not excuses October 2011
It’s not just the looters that need to be brought to justice, writes Michael Calderbank

In the revolutionary warm-stream September 2011
Michael Calderbank reviews Magical Marxism: subversive politics and the Imagination, by Andy Merrifield

Reconstructing Marx July 2011
Michael Calderbank reviews Why Marx was Right by Terry Eagleton

The ladder of escape June 2011
Michael Calderbank considers utopian dreaming and political engagement in the Joan Miró exhibition at Tate Modern

Back to ‘normal’? April 2011
Extraordinary displays of resistance are only the beginning, says Michael Calderbank

‘Don’t blame us, guv!’ Can councillors resist the cuts? February 2011
Do councillors have no choice but to deliver the cuts hammer blow, or can they fight back? Michael Calderbank investigates

Netroots UK: New wine into old bottles? January 2011
Michael Calderbank on the challenges ahead for the online left.

A new kind of angry brigade August 2010
The coalition could be making a massive mistake if it believes that resistance will be confined to an isolated rump of beleaguered union activists and 'usual suspect' protesters, writes Michael Calderbank

Fierce urgency July 2010
Beyond the Tipping Point? Director: Stefan Skrimshire ‘That it goes on like this is the catastrophe,’ the German critic Walter Benjamin once wrote, a comment all the more prescient given that our present lifestyles threaten to change the climate beyond the point of reversability. This film is not about the climate science behind the suggestion [...]

After the deluge June 2010
With BNP councillors wiped out on Barking council, Michael Calderbank considers the local Labour party's chances of keeping them out for good

Not flocks or herds January 2010
‘To inherit a government,’ wrote Tom Paine in Rights of Man, ‘is to inherit the people, as if they were flocks and herds.’ Paine was referring to the evils of hereditary succession, but the remark seems apt with David Cameron expecting to be handed power by default. Our political system means that – whichever party [...]

The inner Other December 2009
Michael Calderbank reviews Angels of Anarchy, a major exhibition of women surrealists at Manchester City Art Gallery

Editorial: A new political space August 2009
Michael Calderbank, one of Red Pepper's new co-editors, on the need for greater democracy and accountability