The latest statement on the National Question from the International Socialists, CWI section in Scotland - Good on Scotland, good on Marxist approach to the National Question
Trade Unions in the epoch of imperialist decay - an unfinished article by Trotsky found on his desk when he was murdered by a Stalinist agent in Mexico in August 1940. Goes to the heart of the role of the union bureaucracy in propping up capitalism
The Lost Revolution by Fernando D'Alessandro. The Fascists were able to rise to power because the workers had faced a terrible defeat during the struggles of 1920. This article explains why that movement went down to defeat and draws the lessons for today.
Written by Leon Trotsky in the wake of the German Revolution of 1923. Trotsky discusses this defeat and the role played by Stalin and the Communist International. Draws similarites between their mistakes and those make by Zinoviev and Kamenev in the weeks prior to the Russian Revolution in October 1917
How many times has a boss told a shop steward or union rep that if they ask for too big a wage increase then prices will go up? Former Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson claimed in the 1960s that: "One man's wage increase is another man's price rise". This is still a common cry from bosses world-wide.
When the national minimum wage was brought in, Britain's bosses again argued that wage rises cause inflation. If the minimum wage was at too high a level, they said, workers would be priced out of jobs, prices would rise and economic meltdown could follow.
Some trade union leaders stressed that a minimum wage had been introduced in other countries - sometimes at a higher level - without this economic Armageddon happening. This was a correct argument but it did not really explain why wage increases do not cause inflation.
If workers want the best arguments to expose the bosses and show that they can demand larger pay rises than are offered without causing economic chaos, then look no further than these two pamphlets from Karl Marx written in the 19th century.
Alan Woods explains the desperate last battle of Lenin who, as he was dying, warned of Stalin and bureaucratic degeneration. Includes key quotes from Lenin's Testament
Probably Lenin's most important work. In April 1917 Lenin returned to Russia and turned around his Bolshevik Party's line from one of loyal opposition to the Provisional Government to one of fighting for power
Leon Trotsky explains the complex relationship between economic boom/slump and the level of political struggle. As vital a point to understand today as it ever was.
The republishing of Social Reform or Revolution is most opportune at a time when the current leadership of the workers' movement internationally have shifted sharply to the right. Rosa Luxemburg's classic should be read by all young socialists
This book by British SP's Hannah Sell argues the case for socialism. Why are you and other readers interested in such a book? Why are growing numbers of people considering becoming socialists?
It is clearly not because socialism is widely publicised. None of the major political parties are socialist, socialism does not feature on the national curriculum in schools, and the TV is not packed with programs arguing in favor of it. And yet, it clearly isn't. Ideas traditionally associated with the left are increasingly popular.
In a Mori poll in 2001, for example, 72% of people supported the re-nationalisation of the railway system, despite none of the major political parties arguing for it.
100 years ago, on July 30 1903, the second Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party began in Brussels. This congress saw the historic division between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. By Per-Åke Westerlund, Rättvisepartiet Socialisterna (CWI Sweden)
sp writes "FIFTY years ago this month one million East German workers rose up against that country's Stalinist dictatorship. ROGER SHRIVES looks back on how Berlin's working class attempted a political revolution.
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sp writes "Northern Ireland: Beyond the Troubles by Peter Hadden, Secretary Northern Ireland SP. 1994. Excellent on Northern Ireland history, how Marxists take up the National Question, and a programme for a divided working class
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sp writes "History of the Russian Revolution by Leon Trotsky. Key read for all new socialists, skip the first few chapters if it gets too hard and read them at the end. Probably the most inspiring and useful book in the armoury of Marxism"
sp writes "10 Days that Shook the World by John Reed, the US journalist who was in Russia during 1917. Short, uplifting and surprisingly incisive report of the greatest event in world history. Lenin recommended that this book be given to every politically active worker in Russia."
sp writes "Marxism opposes Terrorism - articles by Leon Trotsky and Peter Taaffe. Vital for all socialists to be clear on these issues in today's world."
sp writes "France 1968 Month of Revolution - Lessons of the General Strike by Clare Doyle, CWI. Excellent chapter on the four conditions required for revolution "
sp writes "Lessons of Chile by Jorge Martinez. Brilliant on the Allende government, its mistakes and the 1973 Pinochet coup. Practical example of dangers of reformism."