Marxist theory is our sharpest weapon in the class struggle. Here, you can find our most recent theoretical and historical articles. For news and analysis, click here.
You can also visit our education hub to find a selection of articles, books, talks and reading guides.
The Paris Commune put to the test the different currents inside the
First International. Its subsequent defeat created an atmosphere where
all kinds of demoralised elements thrived. Intrigue was on the order of
the day. This led to a questioning of centralised leadership, of the
very role of the leadership. Marx and Engels answered all this fully.
It is fashionable to portray Marxism
as the source of authoritarianism. This accusation is raised repeatedly
by anarchists, reformists and all kinds of opportunists. Bakunin was
one of the more famous exponents of such accusations. But the truth is
concrete and the historical facts reveal that those same elements who
raise a hue and cry about authoritarianism are themselves the worst
bureaucrats and authoritarians… where they manage to rule the roost.
Monopolisation of big
business is endemic to the capitalist system. Big business has become
wealthier and more powerful today than ever before.The revolving doors between government and industry has ensured the
continued domination of big business over parliament and state. Capitalist economists constantly argue that
privately run industry driven by pursuit of profit is the best way for
an economy to function. But, even a cursory look at the world around us
tells a very different story. Far from being efficient, capitalism is
riddled with contradictions and crisis. You could write multiple
volumes, as Karl Marx did, on the inadequacies of capitalism, but here,
in this limited space, we shall deal with just a few.
In the society in which we currently
find ourselves, class society, a small minority of the population holds
ownership and control over industry, banks and all major means for
producing wealth. Because we, the workers, do not get to enjoy this
wealth, although we create it, our lives are reduced to working for
wages that disappear when we pay the bills. How does the ruling class
keep us putting up with such a lifestyle? One way is the fact that the
ruling class’s ideology permeates contemporary culture and dominates
the media.
Over the last 40 years we have had two periods of Tory rule; one was
Thatcher and Major’s period in office from 1979 to 1997. But there was
another period between 1970 and February 1974 when Ted Heath was
installed in Downing Street. The Tory attempts to attack the working
class and attack the workers’ organisations rebounded badly then.
Should Labour lose the next election, it’s clear that an incoming Tory
government would be a government of crisis. An industrial and, at a
later stage, a political response to their attacks from the working
class would be on the cards.
Marxists have
long since been conscious of the nature of the state, its industrious defence
of the capitalist class, and its prejudice against working people. But much of
the public are unaware of just how incestuous the capitalists and governments
really are. Read part two of Will Roche’s study of monopoly capitalism.
1980 saw the steelworkers become one of the first group of workers to
take on the new Thatcher Tory government, which had been elected in
1979. A union member involved at the time looks back at the action
which marked the start of the new decade.
The history of the Russian Revolution is intimately associated with the names of Lenin and Trotsky, its two great leaders. They attracted all the praise and they bore all the hatred. The reason for this is not difficult to understand. The October Russian Revolution, led by the Bolshevik Party, was the greatest event in history. For the first time, the workers and peasant took power into their hands, swept aside the landlords and capitalists, and proceeded to organise a democratic workers’ Soviet Republic.
The authority of the new Soviet government rested upon a congress of soviets (workers’ committees) elected from factories and barracks.
Many of us know that the origins of Christianity have nothing to do with silent nights or wise men. So what are its true origins? John Pickard looks at the reality of how this religion came about.
There has
been no levelling off of the global economy, as economists predicted. Although
industrialisation has expanded to lesser-developed countries, it has generally
been along lines determined by global corporations based in advanced capitalist
countries. From colonialism, we have moved into the age of multinational
corporate domination. Will Roche looks at the rise of monopoly capitalism.
Today we mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall by publishing an article from the current edition of Socialist Appeal which analyses why the events of 1989 have not had the outcome which the West expected. You can also download an audio file on the subject by clicking here .
November marks
the 150th anniversary of the publication of Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. This book revolutionised
thinking about the living world because for the first time it provided an
explanation for the evolution of species, something that was long suspected by
scientists. Darwin’s
simple idea – change by natural selection
– is arguably the single most important foundation-stone upon which all modern
biology is based. The Origin of Species was
a triumph of the materialist world outlook, even if Darwin himself didn’t quite
put it that way, and for that reason its publication was celebrated by Marx and
Engels.