Progress, Decline, and the Marxist View of History

This recording is from the World School of Communism 2026, an international event translated into many languages in real time.

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Hunger, war, inequality – in politics, the press and in popular culture, talk of decline is everywhere. Is this just the latest chapter in a story as old as civilisation itself?

For centuries, historians and philosophers have tried to explain the rise and fall of civilisations, and answer the question: ‘Can we speak of progress in history?’ It was Marx and Engels who finally gave a truly scientific answer to this question, and broke through the dead end reached by the thinkers of their day.

In this talk, Josh Holroyd will set out the fundamental principles of historical materialism – the Marxist view of history – which looks at history as a dialectical process, driven not by the ideas of ‘great men’ but by the development of the productive forces and the class struggle.

To understand this process, and our own role in it, is the most urgent task of our time.

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