Marx’s Capital: Chapter 4-11 – Exploitation, wages, and profits
In part three from our “Capital in a Day” series, Natasha Sorrell – a teacher in Sheffield – discusses where profits come from within capitalism: the unpaid labour of the working class.
Marxist theory
Marxist theory is our sharpest weapon in the class struggle. Here, you can find our most recent theoretical articles. For historical articles, click here
You can also visit our education hub to find a selection of articles, books, talks and reading guides.
Marx’s Capital: Chapters 2-3 – Money
In this video from our recent “Capital in a Day” event, Ben Gliniecki discusses the origins, societal role, and future of money.
Marx’s Capital: Chapter 1 – Commodities and the Labour Theory of Value
In this first of a series of videos from Socialist Appeal’s recent “Capital in Day” event – held to celebrate the 150th anniversary of volume one of Karl Marx’s Capital – James Kilby discusses the concept of the commodity.
Myths of marxism: can we fight for women’s liberation and socialism at the same time?
In this latest video from the Marxist Student Federation’s Myths of Marxism series, Lilly from the Sheffield Marxists explains the causes behind sexism and women’s oppression and discusses how the fight for the liberation and emancipation of women is linked to the fight for socialism.
The role of the state and social democracy
This month marks the 100th anniversary of the writing of Lenin’s great work The State and Revolution, written in the midst of the Russian Revolution to prepare the working class for taking power. To mark this important anniversary we reproduce here key extracts from an introduction of a new edition of this pamphlet, written by Alan Woods.
Students and workers celebrate 150 years of “Capital”
On Saturday 16th September, over 80 students, workers, and activists from across the country gathered for “Capital in a Day”: an event hosted by Socialist Appeal and the Marxist Student Federation to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publication of Karl Marx’s Capital. The day’s event demonstrated the importance of theory and the relevance of Marx’s ideas in this epoch of capitalist crisis.
Once again – Why Marxists should be in the Labour Party
Rob Sewell provides another contribution on the debate about the way forward for the unions and the Left in the fight against the Blairites, the Tories, and the cuts. The position of Socialist Appeal is clear: all forces on the Left should get organised, support Corbyn, and fight to transform the Labour Party into a genuinely socialist party.
Myths of Marxism: Will we lose our individuality under communism?
Marxists are commonly accused of wishing to crush individuality, wanting to enforce homogeneity and put everyone into the same grey, uniform box. In this video from our “Myths of Marxism” series, Kevin Chang dispells this misconception, arguing that it is in fact the profit system that restricts each and every individual from fulfilling their full potential.
Myths of Marxism: is international socialist revolution realistic?
So-called “pragmatists” often say that it is unrealistic to struggle for socialism. Even if we had a successful revolution in Britain, for example, it is clear that an island of socialism could not survive in a sea of capitalism. But is it realistic to expect revolution to spread internationally?
Myths of Marxism: hasn’t socialism been tried and failed?
The crimes of Stalin and Mao are frequently held up to demonstrate the apparent failure of socialism and communism; to invalidate the ideas of Marxism. But what failed in the Soviet Union and China, as Maciej of the Swansea Marxists explains in this latest video from the Myths of Marxism series, was not socialism or communism, but a bureaucratically controlled society – a caricature of Marxism.
The life and ideas of Leon Trotsky
77 years ago, on 20th August 1940, Leon Trotsky – the great Marxist, international socialist, and Russian revolutionary – was struck down by a Stalinist agent in his home in Mexico. He died the following day. To commemorate Trotsky’s life and ideas, we republish this article by Alan Woods, originally written in January 2000.
Marxism or anarchism? – part four
We publish here the fourth part in a series by Alan Woods looking at the theoretical differences between Marxism and anarchism. In this fourth and final part, Alan discusses the question of revolutionary violence and looks at the inspiring example of the Russian Revolution as historical proof of the need for a workers’ state.