Rob Sewell, editor of Socialist Appeal and author of Chartist Revolution, recently appeared on A People’s History podcast talking about the Chartist movement, alongside John McDonnell, Emma Griffin and Katrina Navickas. The Chartist movement represented the first time the organised working class fixed its eyes on the seizure of power. The Chartists unashamedly fought for radical, socialist changes. Today, the Marxist movement stands on the shoulders of the great Chartist fighters – a revolutionary tradition to which we owe a tremendous debt.

On the weekend, Wellred Books hosted the launch of Alan Woods’ new text, The History of Philosophy: A Marxist Perspective. With about 200 attendees present from across the world, the event was a big success. The great turnout, and a large number of pre-orders for the book, demonstrate a thirst for ideas in this turbulent period. You can watch Alan Woods’ introduction and closing remarks at the launch event here.

It is only a few days until the launch event for The History of Philosophy: a Marxist Perspective by Alan Woods. As marxist.com editor Fred Weston explains in this video, Woods uses the method of historical materialism to analyse the development of human thought down the ages. What is described is a process of development of thought from lower to higher – not in a linear and automatic way but through contradiction and struggle.

Jorge Martin, editor for In Defence of Marxism, appeared on Rupture Radio talking about the Cuban Revolution, the recent protests that have broken out in the country, the imperialist blockade, and the tasks facing revolutionaries. You can listen to the entire thought-provoking discussion here.

One of the many slanders hurled at the Bolsheviks is that they were bloodthirsty intriguers who got their way through violent means. This is a criticism shared both by the hypocritical bourgeois, and elements on the left. These pacifists say that we need peace, love and understanding to counter the brutal repression of capitalism, not violent revolution. But will the ruling class ever really relinquish power without a fight? What is the real Marxist attitude to violence and pacifism? This lecture from our 2020 Marxist University explains. 

In the current period, identity politics are in vogue. Along with the related trend of intersectionality, these ideas stress the importance of self-identification, personal experience, and the various layers of oppression people experience on racial, sexual, gender and other lines. What is the basis for identity politics? Why are they so popular with the youth in particular? And how do they square with the Marxist method of solidarity and class struggle? The following talk from last year's Marxist University deals with all these questions. 

Postmodernism is very popular on university campuses, and has also gained an echo in the workers’ movement. This school of thought denies the very idea of historical progress. It echoes Henry Ford, saying “history is just one damn thing after another”. Scientific truth is also sidelined in favour of a ‘subjective’ emphasis on language, experience and identity. Where do these ideas come from, and what does Marxism have to say about them? For more on this subject, check out our revamped In Defence of Marxism magazine, the latest issue of which is framed around

Bourgeois, liberal and postmodern historians alike tend to reject the Marxist view that history is driven by material laws and processes. Some also reject the idea of progress, saying this is merely a point of view. They say that history is basically random, punctuated by exceptional individuals on whom the fate of human society turns. But why is it that similar conditions result in similar events, outcomes and characters reoccurring across history? And has there really been no progress between stone tools and spacecraft? This talk from our 2020 International Marxist University demonstrates and defends the method of Marxist historical materialism.

The freeing of the American slaves was accomplished by the mass action and heroism of the slaves themselves, hundreds of thousands of whom risked their lives by fleeing to join the Union Army, sabotage the Southern economy, and radicalise public opinion in the North in favour of abolition. The fourth episode of our US comrades' series on the American Civil War will deal with the Emancipation Proclamation up to the end of the conflict. 

The United States was founded in the cauldron of a revolutionary war against British rule between 1775 and 1783. Almost a century later, in 1861, the country was plunged into a bloody civil war, which Marxists see as the second American Revolution. This podcast, created by our US comrades at Socialist Revolution, explores this dramatic chapter in world history from a Marxist perspective.

The American Civil War was one of the bloodiest conflicts of its age, resulting in over a million deaths. Not merely a war, this was a ruthless and relentless revolutionary clash. In the third episode of our US comrades' podcast, they address the actual events of the conflict. 

The second episode of our US comrades' Civil War miniseries takes a closer look at the Constitutional foundations of the crisis that led up to the war, the economics of slavery, the abolitionists, the political scene at the time, and provides a brief timeline of events leading up to secession and the war itself.

The United States was founded in the cauldron of a revolutionary war against British rule between 1775 and 1783. Almost a century later, in 1861, the country was plunged into a bloody civil war, which Marxists see as the second American Revolution. This first instalment of a miniseries on the American Civil War lays out the basic theoretical foundations for understanding these titanic events.

The philosophical trend of postmodernism – and its many offshoots – above all serves the ruling class by helping confuse and demoralise the youth. Its aim is to divert them away from Marxism and revolution. Although its originators have long ceased to be fashionable in universities, its many off–shoots and variations continue to dominate in academia today. Its influence is even felt in the labour movement wherever we find identity politics present. In this talk from the Philosophy Day School hosted by the British comrades of the International Marxist Tendency,

Dialectics of Nature is one of Engels’ greatest works. With his masterful grasp of dialectics, Engels pre-empted scientific discoveries like the equivalence of matter and energy and the role of labour in the development of modern humans. This talk from our 2020 International Marxist University explains that modern science serves as a continuing validation of the Marxist method of dialectical materialism, revealing a world in a constant state of motion, flux and revolution.