Nationwide March for Palestine: Adelaide, Australia

 AFOPA

(Australian Friends of Palestine Association)

Nationwide March for Palestine

Sunday 12th October 2025

2pm Victoria Square

Sunday 28th September 2025: March for Palestine

 A picture of the Free Palestine Rally on the steps of the South Australian Parliament:

There were about 2,000 people who attended the march, which proceeded along North Terrace and down Frome Road to Hindmarsh Square.

The next Nationwide March for Palestine is on Sunday 12th October, 2pm, 2025, Victoria Square, Adelaide.

My book review of Tony Smith's "A Socialism for the Twenty-First Century" (June 2025)

Here's a copy of my book review of Tony Smith's A Socialism for the Twenty-First Century, as published in Marxism and Philosophy Review of Books, October 6th 2025:

Tony Smith

A Socialism for the Twenty-First Century: Towards the ‘Full and Free Development of Every Individual’ 
Brill, Leiden, 2025. 496 pp., USD 195.00 hb  
ISBN 9789004738126

Stephen Darling

 In A Socialism for the Twenty-First Century, Tony Smith argues for “a feasible and superior alternative” (120) to capitalism in the form of republican socialism. At its core, republicanism rests on two principles: self-governance and freedom from domination (4–8). For Smith, these principles express an explicitly anti-authoritarian stance, summed up in the formulation “self-governance without domination” (24). The result is a vision of socialism that is clearly anti-authoritarian—unlike the state-socialist models of the former USSR or present-day China. 

 From the outset, Smith aims to develop a model that goes beyond historical instances of “really existing socialism.” Because those experiences shaped both popular perceptions and rejections of socialism—captured in Thatcher’s “There Is No Alternative” (TINA) and Hayek’s “road to serfdom”—Smith’s republican socialism corrects the misconception that socialism entails an authoritarian state that curtails individual freedom. 

 The book is divided into two parts. In the first, drawing on Marx’s critique of political economy and his own analysis of contemporary global capitalism, Smith argues that capitalism should be abolished and replaced with a socialist alternative. In the second, based on Marx’s “assertion principle”—that “the full and free development of every individual [should form its] ruling principle” (121)—Smith outlines a socialism that goes beyond “self governance without domination” and “production for social needs” to secure “human flourishing” (24). Overall, he aims to formulate a conception of socialism that “would count as a world-historical advance” (120) over capitalism. 

 Smith sets himself a momentous task. Whether he ultimately succeeds is another question. But the project is worth pursuing. Contrary to the Thatcherite line, there appears to be no alternative to socialism given the current state of capitalism, marked by world poverty, staggering concentrations of wealth, uneven development, and severe environmental destruction. 

 Smith frames his intervention around several concerns (Ch. 1). First, liberal-democratic republicanism has failed to provide either an adequate theoretical framework for comprehending capitalism or a coherent response to its social pathologies (2–3). Second, social republicanism has not offered viable alternatives that overcome these problems. Finally, he seeks to contribute to the Marxist debate about how a “republican socialist framework might actually work” (22) in practice. The “last word” on socialism has not been written; his aim is to advance it. 

 Smith’s model draws on Marx’s critique of political economy (Ch. 2) and a critical analysis of contemporary global capitalism (Ch. 3), which together provide theoretical and empirical grounds for a socialist alternative. Capitalism rests on a capital/wage-labour relation that is inherently oppressive and exploitative. It is driven by structural imperatives—valorisation and accumulation—rooted in “generalised commodity production and exchange” (50–51, 43 65). These generate predictable harms: overaccumulation and financial crises, uneven development, and ecological destruction (65–75). It is not enough to mitigate the effects, as liberal-democratic republicanism proposes (34–43). One must abolish the features that produce them: the capital/wage-labour relation, core property and production relations, and capital itself. That in turn requires abolishing the market system that sustains capital. On Smith’s reading, social republicanism fails here because it leaves markets intact. We must abolish not only capitalists but capital (14–18). 

 Market socialists might agree with the critique of capitalism but insist that abolishing capitalists is sufficient. Smith replies that without abolishing capital and markets, cooperatives will still be subordinated to accumulation and valorisation. Instead of producing for social needs, they will compete to meet the needs of capital. Genuine self-governance without domination requires eliminating the market form itself. 

 Turning to the present, Smith argues that capitalism has reached its “historical limits” (79) as a dynamic system. Historically, competition tied technological and economic dynamism; innovation brought productivity gains, lower prices, and broad improvements in material well-being (32). Today, however, many regions possess “reasonably effective national innovation systems” (83). Rapid diffusion of innovations erodes surplus profits (84–85), reducing incentives to invest and weakening the link between technological and economic dynamism (85). Accumulation continues, but increasingly through other strategies, including a neoliberal “war on labour” (92–112). Since the 1970s, the system has moved from a “golden age” to a “global slump,” with persistent overaccumulation crises (88–92). Capitalism persists, Smith argues, but is no longer a viable economic system. 

 The decisive test, however, is whether a superior and feasible socialist model can be specified (Ch. 4–11). Smith begins from Marx’s normative principle: “the full and free development of every individual forms the ruling principle” (122). This demands universal emancipation from domination and exploitation—master/slave, landlord/serf, and capital/wage-labour— and explicitly aims at human flourishing (121–126). Smith treats this principle as the Lakatosian “hard core” of a “socialist constitution” (122–123). 

 Grounding his model here, Smith underscores Marx’s non-authoritarian commitments. As William Clare Roberts argues in Marx’s Inferno (14), Marx can be read as a radical republican rather than a Platonic authoritarian. Smith’s framework helps dispel the caricature of Marx as inherently authoritarian. 

 Within the legal frame of a socialist constitution, Smith articulates core action-guiding principles (Ch. 4). The “free” and the “full” are inseparable: individuals fully develop only if they are simultaneously free to do so (121). “Free development” means collective self governance without domination, and the ability to choose the kind of life one wishes to live (126–150, 158). “Full development” requires production for social needs across three dimensions: community needs (infrastructure, parks, hospitals), common basic needs (food, shelter, clothing), and particular needs (a violin for a musician; a computer for a writer) so that talents can be developed (121, 150–158, 473). He also adds two “solidarity constraints”—investment and environmental—to ensure equity and sustainability (159–161). In sum, the society is “a solidarity society based on self-governance without domination and social production for social needs” (395). 

 Principles alone are insufficient; they must be realised institutionally (24, 120). Here Smith argues for feasibility (Ch. 5–11). Following Marx’s distinction between the “realm of necessity” and the “realm of freedom” (24–27, 433, 460–461)—understood as the socially necessary labour required to reproduce society over time, and the expansion of free time as necessary labour declines—he sketches the model’s architecture. Individuals work cooperatively and freely in non-privately owned Workers’ or Production Collectives to produce social goods for social needs (202, 475). Money does not function as a general equivalent, and there are no retained earnings (Ch. 7). Production is coordinated by “indicative planning,” as in post-WWII Europe, not by Soviet-style central planning (194 196). 

 Collectives operate within a network of self-governed institutions: a Democratic Assembly, Community Associations and Activist Groups, (National) Sector Agencies, Local Research Centres, Local Social Investment Centres, a Judicial System, Local Producer Review Boards, Local Community Agencies, and local branches of an (International) Social Transaction Centre (251). Smith develops the model at the local level (Chs. 5–6) and then scales it to regional, national, and international levels (Chs. 8–9). There is no “socialism in one country”: historical experience suggests socialism requires global integration. 

 Smith closes the architecture by returning to “free time.” Human flourishing depends on reducing necessary labour so that people have expanding leisure to pursue their own ends— including, if they wish, doing nothing. The model thus combines institutional feasibility with a distinct account of the good. 

 Overall, Smith’s model is grounded in real institutions rather than utopian abstraction. Many components transform familiar capitalist institutions—banking and finance into local social investment centres and international transaction centres, for example—reoriented toward social needs and run on principles of self-governance without domination. Judicial systems and research centres are similarly repurposed. The model also retains and redirects technologies developed under capitalism (such as the internet). It proceeds from an analysis of capitalism’s property and production relations and structural tendencies. In this sense, Smith builds from what exists rather than “out of nothing.” 

 Smith addresses standard objections about incentives and efficiency (Ch. 10) and ends with a programmatic discussion of transition—how to get from here to there (Ch. 12). On efficiency, he notes that capitalism may remain unmatched at lowering costs and prices, but argues that efficiency in a socialist framework should be assessed by whether production for social needs secures human flourishing—an aim capitalism does not set for itself. 

 Finally, the model excludes capitalists and, more importantly, is not based on generalised commodity production and exchange. Without that market form, capital cannot re-emerge to dominate via accumulation and valorisation. This is crucial to claiming an advance over market socialism and, ultimately, over capitalism. 

 In the end, Smith offers a significant and path-breaking contribution to the socialist project. The book will interest Marxists working on alternatives to capitalism and philosophers of varied persuasions concerned with the kinds of institutions that best enable human flourishing.

Australia's Nationwide Pro-Palestinian March

 Here's a photo of pro-Palestinian protesters standing outside Parliament House in Adelaide, South Australia, last Sunday (24th August 2025). We were part of an Australian Nationwide March for Palestine. There were about 15,000 of us. Across the nation there were about 300,000 people marching for Palestine. Sydney and Melbourne each had about 100,000 people while in Brisbane there were about 50,000 people. Thirty-nine regions of the country were involved.

'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!'

Next Nationwide March for Palestine

 Three Sundays ago nationwide marches for Palestine in Australia were held. The biggest was in Sydney where organisers say there were about 300,000 people marching, in the rain! Here in Adelaide there were about 3,000 people marching. Even though we were way smaller than Sydney's march, we were nonetheless vocal! This is the next date for a nationwide march for Palestine.

AFOPA

(Australian Friends of Palestine Association)

Nationwide March for Palestine

Sunday 24^th August 2025

2pm Victoria Square

Anyone who lives in Adelaide, please come to this march. And for those who live elsewhere in Australia please go to those marches. Palestinians have a right to live in their own homeland, free from domination. 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!'

Tony Smith's book: "A Socialism for the Twenty-First Century" (A Press Relief)

 I'm presently writing a book review of Tony Smith's A Socialism for the Twenty-First Century, for Marx & Philosophy. It should be published sometime in late September 2025.

The central thesis of Smith's book is that there is a 'feasible and superior alternative' to capitalism. It's called republican socialism. It's a society in which people work collectively together in units of production (workers co-operatives, if you like) within a system that's based on 'production for social needs'. It's also a system in which people govern themselves without domination from others ('self-governance without domination' is how Smith puts it in his book).

The underlying goal of this model of socialism is to enable 'human flourishing' in the way that's captured by Marx's 'ruling principle' of society, namely, 'the free and full development of every individual'. For this to happen, then the right sort of 'institutional frameworks' and 'social practices' must first be put in place; otherwise it's all 'pure phantasy', as Smith says. If such a society is ever actually constructed (which of course depends on many other contingencies, like especially there being no human annihilation from an all-out global nuclear war or the climate crisis hasn't become so great that it makes life on this planet unviable), then as far as Smith is concerned it 'would count as a world historical advance' over capitalism. This is principally because the latter is a system which not only lacks self-governance without  domination (given the social structural nature of the capital/wage labour relation), but is one which also lacks production for social needs (given the nature of the underlying imperative of capitalism in terms of capital accumulation, which is about the endless drive of profit-making on an ever-expanding scale). It's a system, in short, which does not allow 'human flourishing'.

If anyone takes the socialist project of developing a real alternative to capitalism seriously, then it's hard to overlook Smith's powerful case for republican socialism. It will convince you that models of market socialism, for instance, don't go far enough; that's because these models, while they get rid of capitalists, they don't get rid of the capital imperative. For Smith, republican socialism is a type of society in which there are not just no capitalists but also no capital itself! 

Here's a basic overview of Tony Smith's book.

After initially laying out in Chapter 1 the nine main theses of his book and discussing what republicanism is as a political philosophy and the strengths and weaknesses of its five main forms, Smith then develops his socialist republican model as follows. Firstly, in Chapters 2 and 3, Smith presents reasons for developing a socialist alternative to capitalism via Marx’s critique of political economy and his own critical analysis of contemporary capitalism. Then, in Chapter 4, he lays out the essential principles of a socialist constitution based on Marx’s ‘ruling principle’ of society, which is about ‘the free and full development of every individual’ (121). Importantly, for Smith, this ‘ruling principle’ of Marx’s is what guides him in his construction of a republican socialist model of society. Next, in Chapters 5 to11, Smith lays out in great, systematic detail his model of republican socialism, as well as defending it. In doing so, Smith goes from a socialist republican model developed at the ‘local’ level (Chapters 5 and 6) through to one at the ‘regional’ (Chapter 8), then at the ‘national’, and finally at the ‘international’ level (Chapters 9 and 10). Smith calls what he’s doing here a ‘scaled up’ approach. In the process, Smith clarifies in Chapter 7 how his model of republican socialism isn’t just another form of ‘market socialism’ via his important discussion of the role of ‘money’ in a socialist society. Also, in Chapter 10, Smith responds to two major concerns about a socialist model of society, namely, questions about i) incentives and ii) efficiencies. (It’s worth noting that as Smith develops his model of republican socialism, he does so within the framework of Marx’s two concepts of the ‘realm of necessity’ and the ‘realm of freedom’. So, Chapters 5 through to 10 constitute the ‘realm of necessity’ within his model of republican socialism, while Chapter 11 constitutes its ‘realm of freedom’.) Finally, after all this, Smith, in Chapter 12, not only reviews his book but also concludes it on a positive note about how ‘we get there from here’ (487), that is, to a republican socialist society from contemporary capitalism.

The Real Function of the Aid Distribution Centres in Gaza According to a Recent Harvard Report

 

More on the Harvard Report

 

Update on the Genocide in Gaza

 Here's an update on the Israeli genocide in Gaza:

"Harvard-linked study finds Israel ‘disappeared’ nearly 400,000 Palestinians in Gaza, half of them children: Report The study by a Ben Gurion University professor uses data-driven analysis and spatial mapping to highlight a severe decline in Gaza’s population since October 2023" https://thecradle.co/articles-id/31546

'Truly, I live in dark times!' (Bertolt Brecht)