Over the last two weeks, over 350 communists gathered in Switzerland for two ‘schools of communism’, organised by the Revolutionary Communist Party (German: RKP. French: PCR), Swiss section of the RCI. 

First, a German-speaking school was held in Bern, and then an international francophone school was held in Geneva, in which comrades from Switzerland, Belgium, France, and Canada took part.

In both cases, the schools demonstrated the enormous thirst for revolutionary theory in the midst of worldwide capitalist crisis, imperialist wars, and revolutions. All participants left inspired, politically armed, and energised to build the forces of communism. 

[These reports were originally published in German and French at kommunismus.ch and communisme.ch]

German-speaking School of Communism 2025 in Bern

Over the weekend of 7-9 November, a total of 218 people from all over German-speaking Switzerland met in Bern to participate in the first of two Marxist autumn schools in 2025, organised by the Revolutionary Communist Party (RKP).

The ‘School of Communism’ in Bern was a cadre school whose aim was to train a new generation of revolutionaries in the ideas of Marxism. It was like an intensive course, where we spent the entire Friday evening and then two full days together sharpening our understanding of Marxist ideas in all their depth and breadth.

Highlight of our growth campaign

Among the 218 participants were 43 individuals who are not yet members of the RKP, but are interested in joining. Many of them were attending such a large event of our party for the first time and were surprised and impressed by the depth of our ideas. Six new comrades decided to join the RKP during the weekend, and we are in close contact with 20 others.

This success is the result of our two-month recruitment campaign this Autumn. With great anticipation, all comrades worked to build towards the School of Communism weeks in advance. We prepared ourselves for the very broad range of topics across 14 different workshops, developed well-thought-out speeches, mobilised for the school weeks in advance, and also put in a great deal of organisational effort to make this weekend the absolute highlight of the last few months.

Europe, centre of the world revolution

On Friday evening, Hamid Alizadeh, a member of the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International and host of the weekly ‘Against the Stream’ podcast, opened the school with a plenary session on ‘Perspectives of World Revolution’ before an expectant audience. He impressively demonstrated how the world is in the midst of a storm that is affecting all levels of our society – the economic, political, and geopolitical, but also the military and cultural.

The ruling class is becoming increasingly entangled in contradictions, and although it is aware of the dangers, it is heading towards the abyss with its eyes wide open, threatening to drag all of humanity with it.

As Hamid aptly described: “They just keep dancing – until the music stops!”

Whether in the form of austerity measures, harsher working conditions, layoffs, or inflation, the parasitic ruling class is playing with our lives and provoking an increasingly sharp reaction from the masses. Hamid explained that Mamdani's election victory in New York is proof that millions of workers are drawing political conclusions and trying to take control of their own lives.

Hamid showed how Europe is being crushed in the struggle between the major imperialist blocs and is being hit hardest economically by the crisis. This will have enormous political consequences. Europe will become the heart of the world revolution in the coming period. Great events are rapidly approaching. The crucial question is whether we revolutionaries are ready for them.

During my time at the school, I came to understand even better that there is no shortage of reasons to hate capitalism today, no shortage of fighting spirit among the oppressed, no shortage of creative potential among people, but only a shortage of revolutionary leadership with the right ideas. A revolutionary leadership of the working class that understands the laws of the world would enable the working class to consciously intervene in history, seize power, and build a society based on socialist principles.

14 workshops

The weekend continued in the same educational and inspiring vein. In 14 different workshops – ranging from an introduction to Marxist economics, to the bourgeois revolution in Switzerland, dialectics, and Goethe's Faust – we deepened our understanding of the Marxist worldview.

Among other things, I attended the workshop ‘Venezuela: Reform or Revolution?’, in which  comrade Sereina drew lessons from Venezuelan history. Twenty-six years ago, a mass movement swept Hugo Chávez into power in Venezuela. Chávez genuinely tried to improve the conditions of the masses. But he wasn't a Marxist and didn't break decisively with capitalism. He nationalised only part of the industry and left the bourgeois state intact. 

Ultimately, this attempt at half a revolution ended in counter-revolution, poverty, and misery for the masses that persists to this day. What Chávez lacked was the resolve and consistency of Marxism and the backing of an experienced cadre party, the core of which must be built up before major events.

All presentations and discussions revealed that we need a vibrant, comprehensive worldview, a fundamentally unique way of thinking that differs from all other superficial explanations.

That is why comrade Jannick explained in the plenary session on dialectics on Saturday evening: “formal logic is sufficient for everyday life, but for more complex relationships and tasks we need a higher, more complex method – the method of dialectics.” Dialectics is a method that enables us to understand the world in all its liveliness and fluidity. Only with this scientific method can we explain how things seemingly suddenly transform into their opposites as a result of their internal contradictions.

We Marxists also have answers to questions about human relationships, the relationship between humanity and nature, the oppression of women, the relationship between good and evil – and last but not least, questions of culture and art. The workshop on Goethe's Faust, introduced by comrade Olivia, demonstrated how much one can learn about our world through works of art.

Thirst for ideas

Perhaps the most outstanding aspect of these three days was the great enthusiasm for the ideas of Marxism among all participants.

For example, one participant, who had been invited to the school by a new member of the RKP and who was visiting the RKP for the first time, said: “I already understand that economics is the basis of everything, but I need to understand it better. I want to delve deeper into your ideas!” Therefore, he bought the new book, What is Marxism?, and now wants to join the party.

This thirst for ideas was also evident in the fact that 97 different books and pamphlets were purchased at our book stall, raising CHF 2,999 (around £2,820). In addition, we raised CHF 9,348 (around £8,800) for party building.

Get organised with the RKP!

Ultimately, we organised this brilliant educational event not only to better understand the world, but also to change it. Therefore, on Sunday evening, Dersu Heri, political secretary of the RKP, drew the political conclusions of this school in the closing plenary session on the question: ‘What strategy for the victory of the revolution?’

The tide of history is moving in our direction. There is enormous discontent in large parts of society. Yet, across the entire left, no one truly believes in the power of the working class. They all take a superficial view of the world situation and are mired in deep pessimism.

But with the Marxist method, we can look beneath the surface and see how momentous political events are being prepared. We revolutionaries cannot replace the power of the masses; only the working class itself can carry out the revolution. Our task as a cadre party is to shorten the painful learning process of the working class.

However, in order to be able to enter into dialogue with the masses in the next period, we must first and foremost grow today and learn to connect with the consciousness of the masses.

In Dersu's words: “Let's build this party as if millions of lives depended on it – because they do!”

French-speaking School of Communism 2025 in Geneva

On the weekend of 22-23 November, the Parti Communiste Révolutionnaire (PCR, Swiss section of the RCI) held its 2025 edition of the International Marxist School (EMI) in Geneva under the title ‘The School of Communism’. The event brought together 140 people from all over French-speaking Switzerland, as well as from France, Belgium, and Quebec. 

Like our German-speaking ‘School of Communism’ in Bern, this school aimed to educate all participants in the revolutionary ideas of Marxism in order to strengthen and develop the focus of communism in Switzerland.

Building the forces of communism!

For the first time, the schools had more than 100 participants from western Switzerland alone, which is a big step forward in building the forces of revolution in the French-speaking part of the country! In addition, among the 140 participants in the school, 40 were not yet members of the PCR. 

This record result did not come out of nowhere: it is the fruit of the considerable work carried out by all PCR members in French-speaking Switzerland this autumn. We prepared ourselves politically by drafting presentations and contributions for the discussions in advance. We mobilised for this school in universities, demonstrations, strikes, etc. 

Our message was clear and powerful: communists must organise and educate themselves urgently, to prepare a party capable of leading the working class to victory. The best place to start is International Marxist School 25!

Following this school, we are in discussion with at least 15 people who are now interested in becoming communists and active builders of the party. 

Against the ‘Epstein class’, for world revolution!

The school opened on Saturday morning with a presentation on perspectives for world revolution by Josh Holroyd, member of the International Secretariat of the RCI and editor of our international theoretical magazine, In Defence of Marxism. He highlighted all the explosive contradictions in the world situation, which are leading the masses to rise up in one country after another, in what has already been dubbed the ‘Gen Z Revolutions’. 

Capitalism in crisis is increasingly revealing the true face of the system and its ruling class: a corrupt, parasitic, and decadent class, concerned only with accumulating profits, and determined to make the working masses bear the brunt of the crisis. 

On this subject, Josh also highlighted a significant consequence of the unfolding Epstein scandal: many American workers now talk about the ‘Epstein class’, which they see as opposed to the majority of the population. Increasingly, the working class is realising that these scandals are not the work of evil individuals, but of the ruling class itself. 

In particular, Josh pointed to the situation in Europe, which is becoming the weakest link of global imperialism. Europe is being crushed in the struggle between the major imperialist blocs, and is hardest hit by the economic crisis. This is the fundamental reason behind the violent austerity attacks we are seeing across Europe, which is igniting the class struggle, as demonstrated by the Bloquons Tout movement in France and the general strike for Palestine in Italy. The idea of ‘us against them’ is gaining ground in people's consciousness and paving the way for much greater social explosions. 

As one contribution to the discussion also pointed out, the same process is taking place in Switzerland. The ruling class finds itself increasingly in a dead end. It is making the working class pay for the crisis, which in turn is outraged and forced to fight back, as illustrated by the incredible strike movement of the Canton de Vaud public workers.

What is lacking in all these countries is a revolutionary leadership that can direct all this class hatred at the seizure of power and the socialist organisation of society. 

Eight sessions

The school continued with eight other discussions dedicated to fundamental problems of Marxist theory, responses to classical capitalist attacks on communism, and the burning issues of our time. From Marxist economics to art, and from Palestine to human nature, the breadth and diversity of the discussions was impressive. 

Participants attended, for example, the presentation ‘Yugoslavia: the revolutionary powder keg of the Balkans’ by comrade Ivan Lampert. In this talk, Ivan discussed the advances that were achieved after the seizure of power by the masses, following the defeat of the Nazis. On the other hand, he discusses the limitations imposed on the planned economy by the parasitism of Tito's bureaucracy, which ultimately led to the restoration of capitalism and the horrors of the Balkan War.

Meanwhile, in ‘How can Palestine be free?’, Benoit Tanguay, a leading member of the Canadian RCP, highlighted the bitter failure of pacifist approaches to freeing Palestine, based on appeals to governments and the UN. He explained that peace in the Arab world would require the overthrow of the Zionist Israeli ruling class and the Arab regimes by the masses of the region themselves. The only permanent solution would be the establishment of a socialist federation of the Middle East. Our role as workers in the West is to fight here, against our own governments and imperialist ruling classes, which enable Israel to perpetuate its genocide. 

The power of the Marxist method

One central idea ran through all the discussions: communists need a clear scientific method to analyse the world and to determine their programme and strategy. Without this, we would be condemned to adopt the viewpoint of one or another faction of the ruling class. This question was addressed explicitly in several workshops, notably in the introduction to Marxist economics, the discussion on human nature, and in our introductory workshop on Marxist philosophy, entitled ‘Dialectics: the most powerful weapon of communists’. It also came up in relation to art during our discussion of Faust, the masterpiece by the German poet Goethe. 

These ideas are the greatest strength of the PCR. It is thanks to them that we can maintain an independent class position. But they are also what most interests the young people and workers who are drawn to our party. This was evident during breaks and meals: you could hear a thousand and one questions being discussed!

From science to the political situation in Sudan, from right-wing populism to the limits of left-wing reformism: the discussions seemed endless. And there was nothing better to fuel them than the literature stand, which sold more than CHF 1,600 (around £1,500) worth of literature, a great success. In addition, CHF 5,000 (around £4,700) worth of donations were raised for the building of the party, a clear testimony of the enthusiasm of the participants. 

Get organised with the PCR!

In his closing remarks, Dersu Heri, political secretary of the PCR, drew the political conclusions of the event: it is not enough to agree with communism and Marxist ideas; we must organise and build a party capable of turning them into a historical force. We have no time to lose in building this party.

With the Marxist method, we can avoid falling into the pessimism that pervades the entire left. We can understand the role we can play in history. 

We cannot make the revolution in place of the masses, but the anger created by the crisis of the system is pushing them in the direction of revolution. The tide of history is beginning to flow in our direction. But in order to dialogue effectively with the masses, we must learn to both connect with their consciousness and strengthen our own forces. 

Reader, that is why we need you! 

Did you miss the International Marxist School? No problem! The school's recordings will soon be available on our YouTube channel. 

Are you organised? A local branch of the PCR is already ready to welcome you and educate you, so that you can start preparing for the revolution right now.