Quarterly Review

Winter 2018-9

Insights, articles and book reviews from across Europe on contemporary themes for Trade Unions and Workers

ERIS Quarterly MagazineABOUT ERIS

ERIS was established in 1989, by trade unions in the south and south-west to provide a European Research and Information Service in and for Trade Unions and the labour movement in the region.

ERIS activity includes;

Organising 10 meetings a year with speakers from across Europe

Providing monthly information bulletins to affiliates and supporting organisations

Compiling and circulating a quarterly magazine

Encouraging research and information exchanges between workers in Europe

Its membership is comprised of individual trade unionists, Trade Union branches and regions and other labour movement supporter organisations.

Co-operating with other organisations on Solidarity projects

ERIS receives income from membership fees, donations and work commissioned by Trade Unions and organisations interested in improving working peoples work and their wider economic, social and environmental well-being.

About the ERIS Quarterly Bulletin

The ERIS Quarterly Bulletin is being produced to provide Trade Unionists and fellow travellers with information that will help them make sense of the pressures and opportunities working people face in Europe.

ERIS recognises the dangers and challenges of the dangerous anti-democratic movements and ideologies that underpin and finance populist and neo-liberal propaganda. Labour Movements have been the bastion of tolerant open democracies in the world and ERIS will use this bulletin, its meetings, research, information exchanges and other activities to continue to pursue European wide labour movement collaboration.

The contributions have been reviewed by the editors and original submissions may be subject to very minor editorial alterations, but are largely the views of the contributor. Contributors are drawn from across Europe and will have given talks or supported ERIS meetings, events and research. ERIS is not endorsing any individual article. The editorial Board will oversee the general content, direction and source of contributions.

Editorial Board

Tim Brooks, Bryan Hulley, Rob Martin, Bob Lanning, Janet Wall

Editors

John Merritt and Basil Bye

ContentsPage 2 About ERIS, our activities and the Quarterly Bulletin

Page 3 Contents

Page 4 The continuing importance of ERIS since the EU Referendum vote and the future for European workers and Trade Unions

Page 5 Macron: The impact on Trade Unions and workers in France. From a talk by Fabrice Guyon, CGT (French TUC)

Page 11 Germany’s Alternative fur Deutschland. Is Populism The Future For Politics? By Stefan Pfeiffer (NRW Regional Government Economic Adviser)

Page 14 Spain is different? The emerging political landscape in Spain. By Oscar Areana (International Officer CCOO)

Page 18 - 19 Book ReviewsBehold America. A History of America First and the American

Dream – Sarah Churchwell. Review by Rob Martin

Rule Britannia. Brexit and the End of Empire – Danny Dorling and Sally Tomlinson. Review by Rob Martin

Street Fighting Years An Autobiography of the Sixties. Tariq Ali Review by John Merritt

Germany’s hidden crisis: Social Decline in the Heart of Europe. Oliver Nachtwey. Review by Basil Bye

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The continuing importance of ERIS since the EU Referendum voteFollowing the result of the Referendum on 23rd June 2016, and now facing the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, ERIS is as necessary as ever. In support of our unions defending and advancing the interests of their members we will:

Monitor the long period of negotiation to exit the EU; Co-operate with European colleagues to maintain and develop standards of worker pro-

tection; Meet and learn lessons from unions in the European Economic Area, eg. Norway; As the UK continues to be a valued member of the European TUC ERIS will continue with

exchanges of people and information; As the UK continues its membership of NATO ERIS will continue to develop links with

unions in the defence industry, both private and public (MOD); UK membership of European Works’ Councils continues, so ERIS will continue to support

UK unions’ EWC representatives; Multi-national companies will continue within the EU and ERIS will support union ex-

changes in these companies; ERIS will research and co-operate with Solidarity Economy organisations; including pub-

lic services in promoting worker participation and economic, social and environmental sustainability across Europe

Cheaper and nastier treaties, eg. TTIP, continue to undermine workers’ interests. ERIS will continue to support opposition to such treaties;

A UK Conservative Government will continue to work for a smaller state opening our public services to multi-national companies. ERIS will work with unions in European wide opposition to the attacks on public services;

ERIS will support the development of a trade union plan of action to influence negoti-ations and the creation of a democratic Europe.

ERIS remains committed to working with trade unions in the UK and in Europe to defend workers’ rights here and abroad and to fight for a social Europe that will protect all workers and their families, irrespective of ethnic origin, nationality or work location.

ERIS and the future for European workers and Trade Unions

ERIS will continue to work with comrades and friends from the European Trade Union and La-bour movement. We recognise the dangers of the hostile environment that has been growing in European conservative forces alongside liberal free market advocacy. Neither is good for the people of Europe or the world, and we will continue to work to counter these dangerous trends calling on Trade Unions and Trade Unionists to support us with the research needed to support a progressive and internationalist agenda of Solidarity and Fairness.

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Macron: The impact on Trade Unions and workers in FranceFrom a talk by Fabrice Guyon, CGT (French TUC) to ERIS January 2019Hello, dear colleagues, and thank you for inviting the FNME-CGT to take part in your discussions. On behalf of the CGT, I would like to wish you a happy New Year and all the best for 2019.I won't be speaking to you today in English because my English is only just good enough for me to buy a beer in a pub!I'm afraid this will slow down the proceedings a bit. But with the help of my interpreter, John-Pierre Paternoster, we'll do our best to make this presentation and the debate as interesting as possible.The subject you proposed - "Is Macron a threat to the trade union movement?" - has proved to be very topical and coincides with current discussions in the CGT, especially after the so-called "Yellow Vest" events in France that you have heard about.Today I will be presenting various points for consideration, not absolute truths. It lies with each of us to look at them critically and form our own opinion. I'm going to talk to you about how we see these points at the CGT. My presentation will include:

A brief historical overview; The general context of the trade union movement in the Western world and

Europe, and how Emmanuel Macron's government has approached it; The possible consequences of such policies.

First, the historical overview:This brief historical recap will help us understand the difference between our societies with regard to trade unionism. We have different histories and it is important to understand that what seems normal for a French person can seem strange for a British person, and vice versa. This is only natural, given our histories.Following the Industrial Revolution, which began here in Great Britain then spread across the continent, there was a global movement to set up workers' organisations. Here again, the British people led the way. The CGT was created in 1895. At the time, it was the only union in France. The other French trade unions were formed later through successive breakaways. We don't have any organisation comparable to the TUC. Instead, there are several completely independent confederations, the four main ones being the CFDT, the CGT, the CFE-CGC and FO. France has a low rate of union membership.Returning now to the CGT, the "revolutionary trade union model" was first presented at the congress in Amiens in 1906. This model reflects a lack of confidence in, and desire for independence from, the State, employers and the political parties. The CGT

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saw its role as twofold: defending employees' demands, but also crafting ideas for changing society (and ridding it of capitalism). The resulting model was primarily concerned with industrial disputes and direct action (the latter was not delegated to the political parties). In France, the trade union movement was broken up into numerous unions. So-called "revolutionary" trade unionism, though not in the majority, was nevertheless a dominant culture. The unions either drew inspiration from it or broke away from it.In France, generally speaking, the government's handling of industrial disputes over the last quarter of a century has been designed not to give ground. When two million workers march along a route authorised by government representatives and shepherded by stewards, it no longer worries those in power. But when 300,000 Yellow Vests take to the streets, the government is afraid. It doesn't know how to manage this crisis and has yielded on several points. The Yellow Vests have successfully overcome three challenges facing protesters:

They have mobilised support (through the social networks); They have maintained their action over time; They have forced those in power to give ground.

That has made us think, in the CGT, because we don't manage to do that anymore.After the Yellow Vests' first protests, the French trade unions reacted in customary fashion. To name just two of the main French trade unions:

The CFDT, which has always claimed to prefer discussion and inclusion in the circle of power, proposed a meeting to hammer out policy decisions. However, the government was completely impervious at the time and flatly turned down the initiative;

The CGT called for a day of protest, which was completely ignored by the government and the media, probably because it didn't result in any of the destruction or rioting that is so prized by the media!

These tactics do not worry the government. They belong to the past and are criticised by part of the population, which also associates trade unions, like political parties, with the circles of power in which they have lost all faith. On the political front, the alternation of conservative right-wing parties and the democratic socialism embodied by the Socialist Party gives the impression of the same policies, which ignore citizens and are content to manage the economy.So, that was a brief history and a very schematic explanation of our differences. I'll move on now to the CGT's view of the laws brought in by Emmanuel Macron and their impact on the trade union movement.First of all, Emmanuel Macron is not a mere continuation of what came before: he embodies the dominant order, but is far more self-assured than his predecessors. The

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Yellow Vests are also a backlash against his pride and his failure to acknowledge the hardships experienced by the working classes. But we will come back to that later.Macron had never been elected before he won the presidential elections. He is a technocrat with a background in merchant banking. He established a government of experts more than politicians. His actions reflect a total disregard for intermediary organisations such as the unions.Macron came to power with no previous experience of a system that is criticised by a majority of French people, namely the constant alternation between a conservative right wing and social democracy.However, the beginning of his term was marked by the abolition of the wealth tax on stock market assets, which was a favour to thank the merchant banks and those who supported him (also with financial support) for his accession to the position of president of France. He implemented a policy from which the majority of the population feels excluded.The dominant order sees trade unionism as an institution destined to play the role of regulator in the field assigned to it. Trade unions are confined to regulating industrial relations within the bounds of the means, rules or standards defined. Proposals and negotiations must take precedence over force.Incidentally, Margaret Thatcher was something of a forerunner in Europe. In the UK, there is no need to legislate to impose a minimum service, since it has become very difficult to conduct disputes that disrupt work.In Europe, Jacques Delors, French Socialist Party member and president of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995, launched the movement for a turnkey social model to be applied in each of the States, including the Southern States such as France. The move was accomplished more or less quickly, depending on the country.To achieve this, European governments used the same methods:

Neutralise class-struggle trade unionism. This meant bringing in restrictive measures on strikes, bringing trade union action or even trade unionists under judicial control, crafting a regulation designed to change power relationships into relationships defined by labour law, and obliging trade unions to work within a defined framework;

Eliminate the ideal of a social model (since 1989, there has been no threat of a counter-model);

In Europe, "European social dialogue" was imposed on all States as a turnkey model throughout Europe.

Among other things, these tools made it possible to attack public services and bring everything possible into the market system, without considering whether the market system is the most appropriate or whether public management is the most efficient.

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Emmanuel Macron deduced from this that trade unionism had been so effectively incorporated into the capitalist society that it was no longer a threat or obstacle, and that he could now diminish its influence even further. To achieve this, he intends to:

Reduce their scope, their effectiveness (by reducing the number of hours of union representation), the number of mandates, their importance (by limiting their influence and by imposing on trade unionists certain methods and a framework for social dialogue);

Have trade unionists undergo training by the dominant order. The aim here is to turn the main union leaders into individuals who identify with the system, leaving only those who have hours of union delegation;

Have trade unionists' work evaluated by the dominant order. This will secure their individual loyalty by giving job promotions to the trade unionists most in line with the system.

Whatever the type of social dialogue, similar labour market reforms are being implemented throughout Europe: in the United Kingdom since the early 1980s, in the Eastern European countries in the 1990s, in Germany under the Schröder government and since the 2008 financial crisis in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium and France. The result of these liberal reforms has been to bring workers from different countries into competition with each other for the sake of competitiveness.In France, Emmanuel Macron is stepping up the labour market reform begun by his two predecessors and applying the European social model. Last year, the president Emmanuel Macron took an axe to the social dialogue reform by bringing in what is known in France as the "Macron Ordinances", which are laws passed without prior parliamentary debate. Here are a few examples:

Numerous negotiation topics have been referred back to the level of the individual business;

The employee representative bodies have been merged, effectively reducing the number of elected representatives and the hours allocated for union representation;

The Health, Safety and Working Conditions Committee, which gave employee representatives an effective counter-power, has been abolished;

In businesses with fewer than 50 employees (i.e. 96% of businesses in France), a representative will be able to conclude a collective agreement without having been mandated to do so by a trade union organisation;

It is now possible to hold a referendum in an individual business, effectively bypassing the unions. There is considerable risk of pressure being placed on individuals in an effort to impose the desired results of such a vote;

There is a move afoot to bring employee representatives into the sphere of power through:

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o Training in industrial dialogue by organisations that serve employers' interests;

o The "appraisal" of unionists' competencies by managers! Both of these planned initiatives for union members set out to shift the

focus from a commitment to values to a career move handled by management.

Emmanuel Macron has announced a reform of the pension system for 2019.But he is also attacking public services with a reform that privatises the SNCF, France's national state-owned railway company, despite a massive, unified protest movement by railway workers.I myself work for the French energy utility EDF. Emmanuel Macron's government is said to be preparing to change EDF's structure and finish privatising the vital electricity sector, against the backdrop of the transition to low-carbon energy.However, Emmanuel Macron has forgotten that there might be one small snag in his plans, namely the people! The principle that sovereignty lies with the people rather than an elected representative has been one of the fundamental principles underpinning democracy in France since the French Revolution and in particular the "social contract" defined by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In France, this stems from our history: the State is heavily involved in the social and economic field. For example, trade unionism wasn't accepted in businesses until 1968.The European turnkey model that I described earlier was applied with a view to weakening the trade unions. But, at the same time, the State has not finished transferring and decentralising the social model in businesses. As a result, negotiations on social issues are not completely decentralised. Their liberal principles have not been carried through to their logical conclusion. When a need arises or when things are going badly, the first impulse is still to call on the French government to step in!France's history is dotted with regular spikes of heated action.From abroad, onlookers get the impression that France is in the grip of chaos and upheaval, and that struggle is in France's DNA. This is also a result of the media coverage, heightened by the government, which traditionally tries to dramatise the situation to discredit the protests.The European turnkey model is being rolled out nonetheless in France. Around 4,000 agreements are signed every year, a majority of them by the CGT!So, in reply to your question "Is Macron a threat to the trade union movement?", the CGT's unequivocal answer is YES. Emmanuel Macron is a threat to the brand of trade unionism defended by the CGT: independent and striving for negotiation and struggle.

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But what is the outlook for us?The recognised danger is that it will become a brand of trade unionism composed of experts who are evaluated by their employers, whose career development hinges on their conduct being in line with the guidelines laid down by the government and companies' HR managers. A brand of trade unionism that supports the institutions, from which it will obtain practically nothing more until it stops inspiring the slightest anxiety.A brand of trade unionism whose purpose is to maintain social order on behalf of the political, economic and employer powers.These threats can prompt movements such as the Yellow Vests. This movement is a conglomeration of frustrations. It was sparked by an increase in taxes on diesel fuel, but soon crystallised other subjects of discontent. It reflects the revolt of the people at the bottom of the ladder against the arrogance of those at the top, those in power. It could be described as a movement that distrusts any form of structure and is wary of political parties and trade unions, which it associates with those in power. And yet, the demands of this very disparate movement are largely social: it has set out to combat social and fiscal injustice, as can be seen in its demand to reinstate France's wealth tax. At the same time, this citizens' revolt raises a multitude of questions for us, as trade unionists, because the majority of Yellow Vests are impervious to the unions.Discrediting the unions, as Emmanuel Macron does, will only widen the gap between the unions and the reality of workers' everyday experience. It is setting the stage for movements to emerge in the workplace that are no longer led by the unions but directly by workers such as the Yellow Vests.Fellow unionists, we need a utopia. The depoliticisation of workers' organisations tends to assimilate us and institutionalise us within a capitalist model whose very essence is unjust. We must not be confined to the role of limiting the impacts of capitalism: the sole recourse would then be populisms!On the whole, the principles at work in Western economies consistently place workers in competition with one another. Our international trade union relations must help us eventually counteract this. The Western world is going through a deep crisis, from the far-right's accession to power in Brazil to Donald Trump's USA. Brexit, the Yellow Vests and the rise of populist movements are sending shock waves throughout Europe. These events also signal the construction of a Europe based solely on free trade. But that particular Europe is one that leaves people, citizens and workers by the wayside. The people of Europe will no longer put up with being trodden under foot in the name of competitiveness. And even where populist governments are at work, in Hungary, for example, the country is the scene of widespread protests against overtime laws considered tantamount to slavery.There are huge challenges ahead. Climate change, for example, and its inevitable consequences, such as climate disasters, water shortages, agricultural crises and so

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on, will spark tensions or even conflicts, as well as climate refugees. This Europe is not enough: we must also think of the people's Europe.By taking little steps and sharing our experiences, we can make progress. Your invitation to speak to you here today is a fine example of this cooperation. Let's take action together wherever we can for workers' interests. Let's continue to exchange ideas and work with our diversity. One concrete example that I would like to salute is the work under way between the various UK unions and their members on the EDF European Works Council, in partnership with the CGT. We have held a number of meetings in London and Paris to support the common interests of workers in a large multinational in the UK and France. So, let's resist any temptation to turn in on ourselves. Let's focus instead on transforming the liberal model, which generates profits for a few at the expense of the many workers who create the wealth: those workers that we trade unionists are standing up for in our countries. On behalf of the CGT, thank you very much for your invitation. Mr Chairman, fellow speakers, I wish you very profitable discussions.END

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Germany’s Alternative fur Deutschland. Is Populism The Future For Politics?

By Stefan Pfeiffer (NRW Regional Government Economic Adviser) from a talk to ERIS February 2019

The programmatic development of the AfD.

Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) has changed in its short history, both in its programme and personnel. The phenomenon of new, right wing populist parties in many European countries has been growing in recent years and Germany has been no exception, although AfD developed later than similar parties across Europe.

2013 – 2014.

The AfD was founded in April 2013. It originated in the context of the euro crisis and originally its echelons were dominated by former industrialists, conservative academics and newspaper publishers. Its main policies were to criticise euro rescue plans and financial aid for Greece. AfD emerged as an “anti-euro” party, opposed rescue programmes for heavily indebted EU countries and called instead for their exit from the euro.At this stage immigration still played a secondary role. Economic policy positions were similar to those of the liberal FDP but AfD’s conservative stance on socio-political issues placed them to the right of the CDU/CSU parties.

In public and political discourse the party was accused from the outset of being right-wing populist. In fact, in accordancewith the core elements of populism, the AfD propagated themselves as the representatives of “common sense,” under the slogan “courage to truth.” They categorised the “old parties” as a political establishment that had “lost the link to the population”.

2015-2019.

Right-wing populist tendencies in the developing AfD were expressed in statements of culturally-devaluing propaganda relating to immigration, the past political activities of individual party members in right-wing parties and dealings with the Pegida civil movement in the former East Germany. These matters also contained great potential for future conflict inside the party. This became clear in the context of the refugee movements in the summer of 2015, as evidenced by a stronger focus in the AfD programme on immigration.

The months’ long dispute in the party culminated in the summer of 2015 with the exit of a large part of the neo-liberal wing and of their leader Bernd Lucke. Incorporated in to the party at this time was the “Wutburger”, (Pegida movement in Dresden) and the “Emotionalisation of resentiments”, (Resentment Party). AfD concentrated on a Eurosceptic narrative in the East of border crime and xenophobia, mobilising fear with

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repeated comments like “There is nothing for the municipal infrastructure and social security but there is for Greece and the refugees” and Chancellor Merkel wants “to enable all migrants worldwide to have access to Germany”.

Effects of the AfD on politics and society in Germany.

AfD currently attracts followers especially from among former non-voters and supporters of right-wing parties. However, it also competes for votes from parties of the Left, like the SPD and De Linke, and those on the Right like CDU and CSU. Paradoxically, AfD is most successful with its anti-refugee rhetoric where foreigners are the lowest. For example, in its heartland, 4.1 million people live in Saxony, including 178,000 foreigners, (4.4%). In Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia the proportion of foreigners is just over 12% and 15%.

Yet, because of AfD, the entire political climate has shifted to the Right. Although in moderation, the CDU and SPD have run after the AfD since 2015. The CSU, in government nationally and in Bavaria, is doing it now on a large scale and is even using the language of the far right populists.

In 2017 -18 the CSU entered a permanent power struggle with Chancellor Merkel over asylum seekers, her opposition to the policies of Viktor Orban in Hungary and on other matter connected with immigration. Conflict over the political course of the CDU, with Merkel remaining Chancellor for now but relinquishing the Chair of the CDU, and the almost wipe-out of SPD influence in the Coalition Government, demonstrates the influence of AfD on national politics.

So far AfD has lived on national protest. They are the “we are against party”. Their economic and social political prescriptions are, if they exist at all, either radically neo-liberal or racist.

Research over many years has shown that around 15% of the population has a right-wing extremist attitude and that the number of people with a world view open to racist opinion is even higher. AfD is the first party in Germany to succeed in serving right-wing extremist attitudes and exploiting further potential.

On the other hand, more than 70% of Germans state they would “by no means “vote AfD.

In addition, studies show a major discrepancy between what people identify as the country’s “biggest problem” and their own everyday lives of insecure working conditions and the elimination of social infrastructure. The media and federal politicians are giving insufficient attention to this “citizens’ agenda”, which creates a feeling of disadvantage amongst the electorate.

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The central narratives of the populists are much less strong with voters than is usually assumed. When people describe political priorities in their own words Islamisation, Euro scepticism or the emphasis on national identity hardly play a role. On the contrary, Europe is seen more as part of the solution to issues than as the problem.

In this respect right-wing extremist parties systematically try to exaggerate issues of immigration and refugees. At the same time they seek to turn the understanding of issues such as social justice and social security, solidarity and freedom on their heads. An example of this is on the subject of wealth distribution. Not from the top to the bottom but from “foreigners” to “inlanders”.

A majority of people fear that future generations will suffer more than them and many are afraid that they will be worse off in the future themselves. From this sense of insecurity, fears and loss of control a feeling of powerlessness and resignation arises. People doubt whether it will ever be possible to make the growing wealth of the rich minority socially usable. In this uncertainty nationalists can plant their own concepts of redistribution. They do not want to redistribute wealth and incomes from rich to poor, from top to bottom, but from “foreigners” to “domestic”.

Clear Door and Open Edge.

But right-wing populism is not only a threat to the party system and parliamentary democracy. It also puts pressure on trade unions. With democracy and trade unions under threat from right-wing populist aggression what should we do?

1). The dignity of man is inviolable. Our solidarity applies to all people, regardless of their origin, gender or skin colour.

2). “Close the Borders” is the right-wing answer. Designing and regulating migration at European and national level should be our answer. But that is exhausting and controversial to carry out.

3). The inclusion of migrants and their integration into the labour market, together with a distribution system that addresses the life situations and needs of the majority of people, providing proper social security and a good social infrastructure, should be the answer.

4).Clear edge and open door: clear edge stands for clarity and a confrontation against those who carry a right-wing populist narrative. Open door is for a positive operation of all democratic movements to show solidarity with those under attack.

5). European history in the first half of the 20th Century is the history of the excesses of violence, murder and the displacement of peoples. One of the most important, if not the most important, deeper reason for this nationalism as a European disease was, as Hannah Arendt said, “the conquest of the state by the nation”, and the consequent

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curse of mixing the two. The disease of nationalism is obviously contagious. Only when we learn from history can we avoid a repetition.

END

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Spain is different? The emerging political landscape in Spain

By Oscar Areana (International Officer CCOO) During the 60s and in the midst of Franco's dictatorship, the Minister of Information and Tourism (and later founder of Alianza Popular, now Partido Popular), Manuel Fraga, promoted a motto to push up the tourism that would remain for posterity: "Spain is different".

In theory that slogan was aimed at improving the vision that foreign tourists had of Spain. That happy and autarchic Arcadia (understand the sarcasm) that was the Francoist Spain needed nevertheless foreign tourism and its foreign exchange. And they needed, therefore, to try to influence that negative image that the country had.

Spain, however, has always been a place of acid and immediate humor. So people quickly saw the potential of that slogan to explain with irony the Spanish political situation as opposed to the rest of democratic Western Europe.

More than half a century later the "Spain is different" motto has survived its creator, as effective as the first day. At least to explain the political differences between Spain and the rest of the EU. Not all differences, but some very important.

On December 2, regional elections took place in Andalusia. For the first time since the Transition, a political party clearly located on the far right obtained representation in a parliamentary chamber. And it did it by getting a not inconsiderable figure of 12 seats, with nearly 400.000 votes1.

It is the fifth and last party with parliamentary representation in Andalusia, to qualify those figures. And it has no representation in the Spanish Cortes Generales. What is really important is to understand that the emerging presence of this party, even as a minority party, has changed the political times and the discourse of the Spanish right, meaning Partido Popular and Ciudadanos. But let's go in parts.

Perhaps the most immediate of the VOX slogans sounds slightly: Spain, or the Spaniards, first2. It is a message traced to “America First”, the motto with which the most conservative wing of Republicans and Trump's populism assaulted the White House. It is not different from what we hear in other EU states, maybe it is simply being cloned.

1 https://resultados.elpais.com/elecciones/2018/autonomicas/01/index.html2 https://elpais.com/politica/2018/12/08/actualidad/1544293762_396114.html https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20181204/453328535661/elecciones-andaluzas-votante- vox-derecha.html

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If we break down this more generic message we will find three narrative axes: territoriality, xenophobia and machismo / male chauvinism. The three items intimately related in the VOX ideology.

Regarding territoriality (understood as the defense of Spanish unity), the Spanish political context is deeply marked by what is happening in Catalonia. In fact, the call for elections announced by President Sanchez on Friday, February 153, finds its most recent cause in the rejection of the Catalan independence parties to the project of general budgets of the state. Sanchez needed that support, or the accounts could not be approved, and without budgets the socialist government was injured. Obviously, it is not the only reason and we cannot fall into excessive simplicity. But the relationship is undeniable, in reality and in the media, generators of opinion as never in this situation.

That announcement comes just five days after a demonstration called for between PP, C's and VOX4. A demonstration called under the umbrella of a manifesto agreed between the three political groups and that accused President Sanchez of "betrayal" by having accepted "the 21 demands of secessionism." If the dispute over the "ownership" of the Spanish flag is fierce and not exactly new among these three formations, the most radical position is that of VOX, which has directly spoken of "Reconquista"5. In fact they picked it up on their official Twitter account, "the Reconquista will begin in Andalusian lands", adorned with an embarrassing video of its secretary general, Santiago Abascal, advancing mounted on horseback towards Andalusia, like the Catholic King ... or a Francoist general.

But the term "Reconquista" also refers immediately to other issues not only territorial. If VOX's speech has been characterized by something especially during the campaign in the Andalusian elections, it has been because of the messages of xenophobic and Islamophobic hatred. And it is not a discourse without concretions. At the time of negotiating a possible support of the far right-wing party to the Andalusian PP for the formation of the government, one of the points directly included the expulsion of 52.000 “illegal immigrants” who, according to them, reside in Andalusia6. VOX has picked up in Spain the speech that other extreme right-wing forces have made in the EU (or that was also heard as background music in the Brexit). A discourse that reaches out to the popular classes and that has not been sufficiently answered by the 3 https://www.eldiario.es/politica/calendario-electoral-dibuja-elecciones-generales_0_867913618.html4 https://elpais.com/politica/2019/02/10/actualidad/1549795974_651696.html5 https://www.publico.es/politica/ultraderecha-vox-rescata-viejo-concepto-reconquista.html. The term "Reconquista" refers to the historical period of 800 years in which Christian and Islamic kingdoms dispute the Iberian Peninsula, and which ends with the conquest of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada by the Catholic Monarchs in 1492. Obviously, it is the term used by the Christian victors.6 https://www.eldiario.es/politica/Vox-inmigrantes-situacion-irregular-Andalucia_0_854965250.html

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democratic forces. A silence (in the best of cases) particularly sound in the case of PP and C's.

Nor is it essentially new. Bauman perfectly explained the rise of the xenophobic extreme right ideology by the Aesop's fable of hares. The hares, pursued by the wild creatures of the forest (or so they felt), fled with the firm idea of finding their end in a pond. The frogs that were in that pond threw themselves in terror in the water, upon seeing them arrive. Then one of the hares turned to his companions and said "sisters, brothers, do not hurry, the suffering of others is greater than ours". The moral is that those dispossessed hares found other animals in a worse situation. And from that perspective, better as hares than as frogs ... VOX has managed to make that discourse in the popular classes, by making them feel that they must defend what is left to them from the migrants. We insist, it is not a new discourse, we can see it in other places of Europe. It is just a dangerous speech.

But the rancid and Francoist National-Catholicism that evokes the term "Reconquista" does not end with the rejection of dialogue with Catalonia, nor with the hatred of the migrant. It fits perfectly with the hetero-patriarcal reaction that is taking place in Spain. VOX also raises the banner of ultraconservative reaction against feminism, which is neither new nor socially exclusive of VOX. But in the same way that in the previous point VOX is the one that abandons in a more forceful way the rhetoric to make very concrete proposals. Thus, they have tried to condition the formation of the Andalusian government to the elimination of measures "imposed" by what they call "gender ideology"7. Translated so that the people of the 21st century understand it, what they refer to is to eliminate the framework of aid and financing of actions against gender violence. Other measures to move towards equality are in danger too. Some as concrete as taking abortion out of public health and abolishing the law. And, by the way, as a first step to rush against the Organic Law of effective Equality between women and men.

Hence, "Spain, for Spanish men (not Spanish women!)". But if a positioning of this kind is regrettable in the 21st century, it is astonishing how it has dragged to the same quagmire to Pablo Casado, the PP leader. The debate on the regulation of abortion, a debate that was got over even for many of the leaders of his party, is today one of the most used issues of his harassment of the socialist government. He has expressed support for abandoning the current 2010 law, to return to a 1985 law, which certainly clearly shows the willingness to start the time machine to return to the past. But it's not even the most serious thing he said. In a recent interview8, the popular leader said verbatim "if we want to finance pensions and health we should think about how to

7 https://www.elplural.com/autonomias/andalucia/vox-no-apoyara-a-pp-y-cs-si-financian-la-ideologia-de-genero_2088711028 https://elpais.com/sociedad/2019/02/07/actualidad/1549537328_965105.html

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have more children and not abort them". Beyond the debates about how to finance the welfare state of a country, which is not the place, an idea clearly slides. An idea which, by the way, is quite similar to another expressed by Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, "we need more Hungarian children"9. He was full of promises about aid and benefits to ask Hungarian women to "not surrender to immigration." For both of them this is the goal: to return women to an instrumental, reproductive and completely secondary role in our society, eliminating a large part of their rights at a stroke.

We were referring to this when we said that, beyond the figures, the real danger of VOX has been the change in the narrative of the right wing parties. The hardening of discourses in these three areas has been frightening. In addition to the example of Casado's words regarding abortion, we might remember those pronounced about Catalonia. "The agenda we are seeing in Catalonia is that of ETA"10. Something that has deserved the answer even of Consuelo Ordóñez, president of COVITE and sister of the councilor assassinated by ETA Gregorio Ordóñez, asking him "not to use the victims to campaign"11.

Little more to add to underscore the seriousness of what is happening in Spanish politics today. When the European Union talks about this "sanitary cord" to isolate the extreme right, something very different is happening in Spain. In VOX has found accommodation that speech that never left, but that was remained agglutinated and controlled by other sensitivities within PP. A PP weakened now by the successive scandals, expelled from the government by a motion of censure and with greater competition among its traditional electorate. A PP that has finally chosen to follow a part of that narrative of a party that is not even present in the Congress. And as in Andalusia, a PP that sends winks to the far right in his crazy race to take over the Moncloa12.

Does anyone really imagine, at least today, Angela Merkel and her CDU could spread a red carpet to give a role as a government, or as a decision maker, to AfD in Germany?

That is why, 60 years later, the "Spain is different" slogan of the Francoist minister continues in force...

9 https://www.eldiario.es/theguardian/presidente-Hungria-mujeres-rendirse-inmigracion_0_866863834.html10 https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20190207/46278771062/pablo-casado-agenda-catalunya-eta-corrupcion-pp.html11 https://www.publico.es/politica/pablo-casado-consuelo-ordonez-carga-casado-utilizar-victimas-eta-campana.html. COVITE is a Victims of Terrorism Collective.12 The “Palacio de la Moncloa” is the headquarter of the Presidency of the Government of Spain and official residence of the President of the Government.

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Book Reviews

Behold America. A History of America First and the American Dream – Sarah Churchwell.

This excellent book, by an American academic living and working in the UK, is essential reading for anyone interested in US politics of the 20th and 21st centuries, especially those wanting to understand how the country elected Donald Trump as its forty-fifth president. This is a history of two catchphrases, of their origins and their contradictory values, and of the people who used them. It concentrates on the first four decades of the last century and ends with an epilogue that brings the reader right up to date with a conclusion that claims ideas of opportunity, justice and democracy for all are retreating before what she terms “the rising tide of domestic fascism”.

Rob Martin: March 2019.

Rule Britannia. Brexit and the End of Empire – Danny Dorling and Sally Tomlinson.

This study of Brexit argues that the referendum result was the last gasp of the old empire working its way out of the British psyche. Fuelled by a misplaced nostalgia the result was driven by a lack of knowledge of Britain’s imperial history, by a profound anxiety about Britain’s status today and by a deeply unrealistic vision of our future. It is well written and an easy, enjoyable read, given its depressing subject matter. The book carefully analyses the referendum result and forensically exposes the racism, ideology and narrow self interest behind the Leave campaign. However, it ends on an overly optimistic note, suggesting Brexit could be a reality check the country needs to come to terms with who we are, what we are worth and where we have come from. That aside, the book is a fine appraisal of how we got into such a dismal mess and who is to blame for the disaster facing us, whatever shade of Brexit we end up with.

Rob Martin. February 2019

Street Fighting Years An Autobiography of the Sixties

by Tariq Ali

The books first chapters explore Tariq’s reflections on his early years in Punjab (then British India and to become Pakistan) and his development as a Socialist. His Grandfather was a Muslim Prime Minster of Punjab, his mother became a Communist in the 1940’s and his father was sympathetic though not a member. Under threat at home by the military dictatorship as a young adult, he was persuaded to come to Britain by his parents and was accepted to study Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University.

In the book he reports on his interaction with Malcolm X, Bertrand Russell, Marlon Brando, Henry Kissinger, and Mick Jagger, Prague spring activists and many others involved in peace, radical and left wing political activity during the 1960’s. Also, he recalls his participation and response to

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various Student and political protests that symbolised the 1960’s progressive movements, from Paris, to Prague, from London to Detroit. This was while he was at Oxford and after often through his role as a leading figure in the Anti Vietnam War movement and as President of the Oxford Union.

The book, written in 1988 and a new edition of 2018, which includes the famous interview conducted by Tariq Ali and Robin Blackburn with John Lennon and Yoko Ono In 1971, is prefaced by introductions which continue to view these activities in a very positive light in distinction to many who lost their belief and passion for the creation of egalitarian, liberating socialism.

By John Merritt February 2019

Germany’s hidden crisis: Social Decline in the Heart of Europe

By Oliver Nachtwey

A fascinating book which presents a very different view of Germany – once the paragon of success and political stability – it is no so today.

We are presented with the crisis of capitalism as lived in Germany. A Germany where downward mobility, precariousness and polarisation have grown over the last decades.

This is a must read - a book that highlights the dark side of the economic wealth of Western countries.

Basil Bye. February 2019

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