Workers' Liberty

[This is part of a polemic about the Stalinist PDP led army coup in Afghanistan, in April 1978, with "J-J" (Jack Conrad/John Bridge/John Chamberlain) of the Weekly Worker Group "CPGB").

Peter Thomas is a Marxist writer and author of The Gramscian Moment. He gave a presentation about his research into the thought of Antonio Gramsci at Workers' Liberty's Ideas for Freedom winter event, 28-29 November 2009.

Over the past decade or so, John Bellamy Foster has been one of the principal architects of the revival of Marxist ecology, arguing that the relationship between nature and human society is best conce

Over the past decade or so, John Bellamy Foster has been one of the principal architects of the revival of Marxist ecology, arguing that the relationship between nature and human society is best conce

In his 1844 Manuscripts, Marx criticised 'crude communism':

One of the results of the current financial and economic crisis is that the ideas of the economist John Maynard Keynes have been pulled of dusty library shelves and are now being peddled as a possible

Between 50 and 60% cent of the population identify as ‘working class’. Despite the term ‘working class’ vanishing completely from the language of the Labour Party, the proportion claiming this now-unspoken identity has been fairly stable since the 1950s.

To be working class is to be at one pole of a pair. The other pole is the capitalist class.

“I can see the bright green strip of grass beneath the wall, and the clear blue sky above the wall, and sunlight everywhere. Life is beautiful. Let the future generations cleanse it of all evil, oppression and violence and enjoy it to the full.”
Leon Trotsky, April 1940

By Sean Matgamna
Introduction
Watching the accelerating political and moral degeneration of the Stalinised “Communist International" in the mid-1930s, Leon Trotsky entitled one of his commentaries “Is There No End To The Fall?" Had he been forced to observe the contemporary “revolutionary left" during the Balkans war of April-May 1999 he might have addressed the same incredulous and bitter question to a large proportion of those who name themselves “Trotskyists".

The magazine New International, in 1950, advertises a series of "wire-recordings for socialist education". They include a recording of a debate between Max Shachtman and Frederick von Hayek, on socialism vs capitalism, in February 1950.

By Paul Hampton

“The attempt of the bourgeoisie during its internecine conflict to oblige humanity to divide up into only two camps is motivated by a desire to prohibit the proletariat from having its own independent ideas.

By Max Shachtman

The 1917 revolution was one of the greatest democratic moments in history.

by Albert Glotzer
Many of the core activists of today’s left had their thinking shaped by the dramatic struggles of 1979-84, or of the late 1960s and early 70s — times when capitalism seemed to be in intractable crisis, and mass working-class action to change society was a prospect near at hand.

Recently, Network Rail chief executive John Armitt received a total bonus package of more than £200,000; his deputy, Iain Coucher, more than £179,000; the other two executive directors £133,937. And that's just the bonuses! Last year, Network Rail's four most senior executives shared £1.1m in bonuses. Armitt got over £350,000, on top of his £500,000 salary. NR, a so-called 'not-for-profit' company, has just reported a pre-tax profit of £1billion.

Review of Paul Burkett, 2006, Marxism and Ecological Economics, Amsterdam: Brill

The conventional wisdom among Greens is that, so far as environmental struggles go, the organised labour movement is only occasionally an ally and often an opponent. Most ecologists dismiss Marxism as having little to offer today’s environmental concerns such as climate change.

Click on "read more" to download the whole pamphlet as pdf, or to read it section-by-section online.

Workers' Liberty 17, January 1994, is a special issue on Socialism and Democracy.

Appendices to the Workers' Liberty pamphlet, with texts by James P Cannon, Max Shachtman, V I Lenin, and Hal Draper on socialism, democracy, and the Russian Revolution of 1917; and articles by John Bl

Debate between then Labour Party leader Michael Foot, and John O'Mahony, in 1982 on socialism and democracy, with a 1994 introduction.

By James P Cannon. This is an extract from Cannon's reply to a criticism of his court evidence in 1941.

Comrade Munis [1] is dissatisfied with our assertions at the trial that “we submit to the majority”.

By James P Cannon, from Socialism on Trial, 1941. This is an extract from Cannon's evidence in the court where, during World War 2, he and other American Trotskyists and trade unionists were put on trial and jailed for hindering the US war effort.

THE FATE OF THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY.

When, after Korniloff’s adventure, the paramount parties on the Soviets made an attempt to make amends for their previous attitude of indulgence towards the counter-revolutionary bourgeoisie, they demanded the speedy convocation of the Constituent Assembly.

Lenin called for the "dictatorship of the proletariat" as a great expansion of democracy.

The Russian revolution was the most important event of the 20th century.

The malaise of bourgeois democracy in Britain is now a subject of much discussion and concern. The discussion on democracy, early in 1982, between Michael Foot, then leader of the Labour Party, and Socialist Organiser, a forerunner of AWL, may help readers form a clearer picture of the issues beyond small-scale financial corruption.