Issue 48 of In Defence of Marxism magazine – the quarterly theoretical journal of the Revolutionary Communist International – is out now! Alan Woods’ editorial, which we republish, takes up the central question of whether we can truly know and understand the world around us, which is a theme throughout this issue.

One of the outstanding achievements of the Soviet planned economy was its space programme, which took man (and dog) to space for the first time. Only socialism can wrest space travel from the billionaires, and take humanity to the stars.

The Enlightenment was an enormous conquest for human thought which was characterised by intellectual honesty and bold materialism. In this episode, Ben Curry will explain the value these ideas hold for Communists today.