N°  4  March 2000 Sommario (in italian) Aldo Tortorella DEMOCRATIC COLLAPSE   Commercialistion of politics, manipulation of information and real power transfered to uncontrollable seats, facts from which emerge a modern crisis in democracy. Even Liberals such as Dahrendorf can see it, but a large part of the Italian Left has stopped thinking about this reality, and what is more it participates in the crisis with new majority laws. Rossana Rossanda MILITANT OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY   Giuseppe Chiarante A DIFFICULT THAW   Vittorio Rieser PLIABLE WORDS   There are some key terms used by all in trade union debates, although meanings are sometimes different and contradictory, thus leading to confusion, and are often in the nature of propaganda. The exact content of these words needs to be re-established, and above all, they need to be decifered with reference to real experiences through which they have assumed changeable meanings.   The Teachers' Movements   Scipione Semeraro SCHOOLS UNDER EXAMINATION   The teachers movement is not corporate and does not defend the current state of the school system. It clashes with the government line which deals with the crisis by privatising the state school system. Such a move is a poor imitation of the US model which reduces its capacity on both a cultural and professional level.   Claudio Sabattini A BATTLE FOR FREEDOM   Gianni Ferrara MAJORITY FUNDAMENTALISM   Riccardo Bellofiore REAL STRENGTH AND SPECULATIVE `BUBBLES'   Bruno Cartosio AMERICA: THE TRADE UNION RETURNS   James O'Connor USA AFTER SEATTLE: INTERNET IS NOT ENOUGH   News, potential and unresolved problems among the American movements that met up in Seattle. No one can maintain a consistent position without political organisation and cultural debate. Everyone unites to battle a common enemy, but then they are all pushed back into their own little corner. Alexandre Bilous PCF: A PARTY ON THE MOVE   Giampaolo Caselli, Gabriele Pastrello RUSSIA: CONTINUITY ON U-TURN?   Tariq Ali THE BIG DISPLACEMENT   Giorgio Nebbia THE MANY COLOURS OF THE GREENS   Ritanna Armeni PRECARIOUS LIVES   Renzo Testi CO-OPERATIVES AND GLOBALIZATION   Luigi Cavallaro CENSORED THEME OF THE PLAN   Roberto Musacchio ENVIRONMENT: WE ARE NOT 'BEHIND`   This summary has links to the Italian titles and where possible, with the version in its original language