The theoretical origins of the degeneration of the Fourth - Interview with Ted Grant Ted Grant looks back at his experience in the 1940s and explains why the leaders of the Fourth were incapable of dealing with the situation. He outlines the difficult situation that emerged after the war and how it was necessary “to work out a new perspective”.
Interview with Ted Grant on the Militant On the 40th anniversary of the publication of the first edition of the Militant (October 1964) Fred Weston interviewed Ted Grant, the key theoretician behind the whole project.
How the Militant was Built – and How it was Destroyed Forty years ago this month the Militant was launched. Its subsequent evolution has no parallel in the history of left groups in Britain or internationally. From a miniscule group with no resources, it became the most successful Trotskyist tendency in Britain since the founding of Trotsky’s Left Opposition. Unfortunately the majority of its leadership was to take an ultra-left turn that would eventually destroy it. Rob Sewell, who was part of the opposition to that turn, recounts what happened.
Against bureaucratic centralism The conflict that opened up in the Militant in 1991 eventually led to breaking point. The “Majority”, no longer able to tolerate any form of internal debate, decided to expel the Opposition, starting with Ted Grant, the founder of the Tendency. This act put the final seal on the degeneration of the old Militant. From a healthy, vibrant Marxist Tendency, it had been transformed into a bureaucratic, sectarian and undemocratic outfit. The opposition started to draw a balance sheet of the whole experience and this document is part of that.
The New Turn – A Threat To Forty Years Work When the Majority of the Militant leadership in 1991 pushed for a break with the Labour Party an intense debate opened up within the ranks of the Tendency (see Forty years ago the Militant was launched – How the Militant was Built – and How it was Destroyed). Here we provide the document presented by the Minority which warned against the consequences of such a turn.
Majority Resolution on Walton This is the resolution adopted by the majority of the Militant leadership in 1991 after the Walton by-election. In spite of having received far fewer votes than they had expected (in fact at one stage they even thought they could win), the resolution presents the campaign as a major success. It was supposed to avoid demoralisation of the left. Experience showed that it was the beginning of the decline of the influence of the Militant in Liverpool. (July, 1991)
Minority Resolution Proposed by Ted Grant and Rob Sewell After the debacle of the Walton by-election the minority of the Militant leadership attempted to draw a more sober balance sheet of what had been achieved. (July, 1991)
Gerry Ruddy, General Secretary of the Irish Republican Socialist Party addresses the international Marxist Conference The presence at our Conference of a leading member of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) was an event of historic significance. Although this was not the first time a Republican Socialist had attended an international gathering of the tendency, this was the first time the IRSP decided to send an observer in an official capacity.
Conference of the international Marxist tendency: An historic meeting In the first week of August 2004 a meeting of almost 300 Marxists from 26 countries, including Venezuela and Cuba, met in Spain to discuss the world situation and the tasks of the international revolutionary Marxist tendency. This was for many reasons an historic turning point that registered a qualitative advance of the forces of Marxism on a world scale.
The 10th National Congress of El Militante (M On the 21, 22 and 23 of May, in the building of the Independent Union of Workers of the Autonomous Metropolitan University (Situam), the 10th National Congress of the Marxist Tendency El Militante was held. The numbers in attendance were the biggest of any congress we have held in the past, with more than 160 present over the three days.
History of British Trotskyism This book by Ted Grant is a unique contribution to the history of British Trotskyism. It begins with the debate on Trotskyism in the British Communist Party in 1924 and ends with the break-up of the Revolutionary Communist Party in 1949 and the beginning of more than thirty years of work within the Labour Party. Ted Grant was the founder and political leader of the “Militant Tendency”, which haunted the Labour leadership, and was eventually expelled along with the Militant editorial board in 1983. A postscript by Rob Sewell, who was the national organiser for the Militant throughout the 1980s, brings this unique history up to date.
Historic congress of Pakistan Marxists We have just received an inspiring report of the congress of The Struggle which was the largest congress of any Marxist, communist, or left party ever held in Pakistan. Esteban Volkov (Trotsky's grandson) was present, who also attended the launching of the Urdu language edition of Trotsky's My Life. In addition there is a report on the March 20 antiwar demonstration in Lahore, and the commemoration of Bhagat Singh, a fighter for independence hanged by the British imperialists in 1924.
Summer 2003 In Defence of Marxism international school a huge success The In Defence of Marxism web site is not merely a site where you can find interesting Marxist material. The site is an expression of a political tendency active in many countries. Our aim is to develop a Marxist current within the labour movement of all countries, with the long-term objective of winning the whole of the labour movement and its organisations to the ideas of revolutionary socialism.
The 22nd Congress of The Struggle (the Marxist Tendency in Pakistan) - Giant leap forward for Marxism in Pakistan On Monday and Tuesday (March 24 and 25) the 22nd congress of The Struggle, the Marxist tendency in Pakistan, was held. This year saw the largest attendance ever at the congress. Both in terms of numbers and in composition it was unprecedented with 836 comrades filling the Alhambra Art Centre in the heart of Lahore.
Alan Woods' visit to Argentina a big success As our readers will be aware, comrade Alan Woods, the editor of the In Defence of Marxism web site, was in Argentina for 10 days, from December 1 to 10. The balance sheet of this visit is extraordinarily positive. It has made the ideas and publications of this web site and political tendency better known in Argentina. The main purpose of the visit was to present the Spanish edition of Reason in Revolt (Razon y Revolucion) in Argentina. The interest was so great that all the copies of Reason in Revolt were sold out. In all, over 300 people attended the five different events we organised. And many people left their addresses to be contacted for our future activities....
