Archive - Iskra

The ‘Grab’ Economy: Did We Ever Need It? And Who Pays for It?

Digital platforms have created jobs and economic activities but at the expense of youth — those who drive and ride for platforms, and their economic…

Apr 22 •

October 2024

Why I Study the Russian Revolution

A not-so-short self-indulgent article about my obsession with this period of history (and workers democracy).

Oct 28, 2024 •

June 2024

Fuel Subsidy Rationalisation and the Spectre of Sellers' Inflation

How Sellers' Inflation and the need to recoup lost profits due to COVID will impact the fuel subsidy rationalisation rollout and overall price hikes…

Jun 10, 2024 •

February 2024

Epilogue to Malaysia’s ‘Incomplete’ Revolution

My reflections on my piece on class coalitions in Malaysian development post-May 2018, and on the incoherence of class politics in Malaysia.

Feb 27, 2024 •

Capital in Malaysia #5 Defining ‘Safe’ Sectors of the Malaysian Economy

Explaining the link between these 'safe' sectors of conglomerate capital and its relationship to the state and indirectly, politics.

Feb 12, 2024 •

November 2023

Capital in Malaysia #4: Conglomerate Capital vs Crony Capital vs State Capital

Disentangling the complex web of Malaysia’s political economy by delineating the forms of capital favoured by the state and political and economic elite

Nov 2, 2023 •

August 2023

Capital in Malaysia #3: Investments and Profits, Do They Matter Under Malaysia’s Political Capitalism?

A bit of exposition on profits and investment before diving into looking at the sectors that conglomerate capital thrive in.

Aug 27, 2023 •

July 2023

Capital in Malaysia #2: What is Political Capitalism, and Why?

I work through the definition of political capitalism and contextualise it to Malaysia, making the case for it as a distinct category of analysis that…

Jul 5, 2023 •

June 2023

Capital in Malaysia #1: Capital, Politics and Political Capitalism

This first article will outline what the series hopes to address over the the next issues, namely developing concepts of conglomerate capital and…

Jun 16, 2023 •

October 2022

The Economics of Winning Malaysian Elections and Party Machinery

Understanding political culture and its economic lubricant as crucial structural obstacles to positive change, particularly through electoralism and…

Oct 29, 2022 •

August 2022

The Short History of the #Lawan Protests: A Left Perspective

Understanding the political and social significance of the #Lawan protests, what we can learn from it and how it could have been different.

Aug 6, 2022 •

February 2022

Violence, Colonialism and Possible Histories

Commentary on The Rise of Fascism in Malaya (1971) by Partai Rakyat Malaya

Feb 5, 2022 •

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