ABCs of Marxism

Submitted by cathy n on 25 March, 2020 - 4:21
marxism and capitalism

A page bringing together reading and other materials related to the ABCs of Marxism series of online meetings. To be updated soon. See here for a list of introductory articles from Workers' Liberty on key issues.

Session 1. What is the United Front?
The idea of a "united front" was developed among the revolutionary Marxists who grouped together after the Russian revolution of 1917. It was developed further by Marxists such as Trotsky, often in opposition to Communist Parties were which stripped of revolutionary politics after Stalin's counter-revolution in the USSR.

Notes on the United Front - summary of lead-off
Download here.

Basic reading:
How German workers wrote the United Front.
United Front against Hitler

Further reading:
Letter to a Social Democratic worker

Session 2. Marxists and the Labour Party (Weds 1 April)
The AWL has long argued for Marxists to intervene in the Labour Party to politically shape it, despite many obstacles of organisation and ideology, particularly during the Blair years. What is the basis for that argument, and how has the Corbyn period reshaped the Labour Party to make it an instrument for socialist organising? What are the limitations of the Corbyn project? And what does the prospect of a Starmer-led Labour Party mean for class struggles ahead?

Reading:
The Labour Party in Pespective (1996)
Organise Labour's Newcomers (2015)
A left opposition to Starmer

Session 3. What is Stalinism? (Weds 8 April)
Stalinism is a live political current in the labour movement today, and a reactionary one. This session will discuss how best to understand it and its historical coordinates.

Reading:
Is Stalinism still a live force?

Session 4. Nationalism and the National Question (Weds 15 April)
Democracy is more than individual rights because people are more than individuals. They identify themselves as part of a community and, in the modern world, as part of a nation. From this reality stems the idea of "the right of nations to self determination". But nations also conquer and oppress other nations. And borders divide nations and peoples. Ultimately socialists want to abolish national divisions. How has the revolutionary Marxist tradition has approached the national question.

Reading
Socialists and the national question.
The case of Catalonia.
Civil ware in ex-Yugoslavia.
Nationalism and the national question


Watch the playlist of introductory speeches from the ABCs of Marxism (some recorded only) below. Click in the top right of the video, for the contents of the playlist, and to watch other ones. See Workers' Liberty's channel for other playlists and videos. See upcoming meetings.

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