A s we were preparing this issue
of Socialist Resistance, young people in the Spanish State erupted onto the political stage with their massive demonstrations and camps in the central squares of 57 cities and towns across the land: the most positive and dramatic development in European politics. They built on the energy and enthusiasm of young people in Portugal in March but were able to build an ongoing movement rather than an extremely impressive one-off mobilisation. They were inspired by the struggles and especially the victories of the Arab Spring to try to create many Tahrir Squares. Solidarity actions also took place in Britain - in Edinburgh, Brighton, Bristol, Manchester and London at least - and in many other European countries. In Britain young people from Spain were at the core of these mobilisations but other activists were drawn in. After being sustained for almost four weeks, the camps themselves have now come to an end. A day of action has been called for June 19 which will hopefully bring people back into public space once The movement's programme is quite underdeveloped - hard hitting in its criticism of the existing system, graphically and imaginatively describing the problem in slogans such as "We are not merchandise in the hands of the bankers and politicians" but not very concrete about what alternative they want to see. This weakness is not unique to the movement in the Spanish State - the anti-globalisation movement has generally been better at spelling out what it is against that what it is for - because there is more unity about what we oppose than what our vision of the future might look like. But unless we have the space to imagine and dream - to debate out those alternatives - we won't build and sustain the movement that we need against the bosses and bankers and the politicians who prop them up. The movement in the Spanish State is particularly interesting in highlighting the question of democracy. Socialist Resistance thinks that the issue of democracy is one that is often wrongly deprioritised by much of the left. We think socialists need to reclaim this word and redefine it for ourselves - not give it up as a weapon to be used by our rulers against Democracy should not be understood as meaning passively voting for MPs or other representatives on an infrequent basis to go off and do what they will in our name, often in contradiction to the promises made when they stood for election. It needs to be about how we create and shape our own organisations: trade unions, campaigns and political parties - and develop methods to hold those who represent us fully accountable and It needs to challenge the fundamental idea that those whose labour creates wealth should have less say in what is produced and under what conditions than those who cream off that wealth to fill their own Issues of democracy are central to the Tories' onslaught. In this issue of the magazine we look at the question of how the Tories victory in the AV referendum is compounding their reactionary defence of the House of Lords; and at the role of the monarchy, as the jubilee pantomime for next year is announced. We also examine the attempt to foist elected mayors onto every major city in the country through the Localism Bill. The biggest test for the movement in Britain over the weeks and months ahead will be the size and militancy of the strike action we are able to deliver on June 30. But these dynamics will be strengthened not weakened by our contesting for political space more consistently. Our opponents don't fight with one hand tied behind them and neither should we! http://internationalviewpoint.org/spip. php?article921&var_