Marxist Audio Archive

Most textbooks and documentaries would like us to believe that all historical progress is the product of ‘Great Men and Women’ with ‘Great Ideas’, in which the masses are merely the passive recipients of charismatic, determined, and resolute individuals. Marxism is opposed to this unscientific approach.

Many academic critics attempt to paint Marxism as being rigid and mechanical, accusing the theories of scientific socialism of being ‘economically deterministic’. Yet Marx never denied the importance of human agency in determining the course of history. Indeed, ‘history’, Marx stressed, is not some mystical force. There is no ‘destiny’ or ‘fate’.

History is made by people. But we need to uncover the dialectical relationship between the individual (the subjective) and the great forces (the objective) that govern the movement of society and see the individual’s role in its historical context.

This presentation, given by Holly Quilty, was recorded live in Montreal on April 10, 2026.

Recommended readings:

Adam Booth - The individual and the Marxist view of history

Rob Sewell - The Decisive Role of the Individual in History

G.V. Plekhanov - On the Role of the Individual in History

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As the crisis of capitalism deepens, millions of people are looking for a way out. This has caused many on the left to look to the ideas of mutual aid. But what is mutual aid, and can it help us end capitalism?

In this video, Josie Seaton (from the Central Committee of the RCP) explains the Marxist approach to mutual aid, its historical role, and what we can do today in to build a force that will truly end capitalism.

This presentation was recorded live in Toronto on April 10, 2026.
Recommended readings:
A communist critique of mutual aid

Base-Building or Bolshevism?

The class, the party and the leadership: How to organize revolution

FAQ: Marxism, Bolshevism, and Mutual Aid

Communism or Mutual Aid? (Booklet)

Referenced texts:Nechayev's The Revolutionary Catechism

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Canada is often painted as a calm country of polite compromise. Confederation is presented as the bright, hopeful moment when this friendly land of peace, order, and good government was born.

The real history is very different. Confederation was a rotten deal for the majority of people, achieved through the putting down of revolutions, the genocide of Indigenous peoples, and underpinned by ruthless oppression of francophones.

In this presentation from the 2026 Montreal Marxist Winter School, Marco La Grotta (member of the RCP Executive Committee) exposes the reality of confederation, which allows us to understand the crises facing Canada today.

This presentation was recorded on February 14, 2026.

Suggested readings:

• Why would Alberta separate?
• What is behind Trump’s threat to annex Canada?
• How to abolish the monarchy
• Why John A. Macdonald needed to fall

Note: This presentation has been edited to remove translation. Additionally, the sound for his presentation was corrupted, and had to be salvaged from the camera audio. Please excuse the poor audio quality.

The Venezuelan Revolution and the unprecedented upsurge of the Venezuelan people in the early 2000s was one of the most inspiring events in recent history. The oppressed masses, rallying behind Hugo Chávez, waged a heroic struggle against imperialism. They carried out vast land seizures and nationalizations, and showed that it is possible for workers to run their workplaces without bosses.

But the revolution did not unseat the Venezuelan oligarchy. And now the country is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis—a fact that right-wingers and reactionaries love to point to as an example of “why socialism never works”. These events illustrate a vital lesson that all revolutionaries must grasp: a revolution cannot stop half-way.

In this presentation from the 2026 Montreal Marxist Winter School, Marcus Katryniuk (member of the RCP Executive Committee) explains the revolution, and what communists today can learn from it.

This presentation was recorded on February 14, 2026.
Suggested readings:
The Venezuelan Revolution: A Marxist Perspective

Permanent Revolution in Latin America (Buy the book)

Five years on: revolutionary legacy of Hugo Chavez

Trump’s escalation in the Caribbean – US imperialism attempts to reassert control over its ‘backyard’

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In 2012, Quebec students went on a months-long strike to reverse a planned 75 per cent tuition increase. At its height, hundreds of thousands of students refused to attend class, making it one of the largest movements in Canada’s history. It ended with the fall of the provincial government and the cancellation of the tuition hike. Quebec students had fought and won.

Today, post-secondary education is being cut to the bone. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has announced that student funding to help pay for tuition will be changed from being mostly grants to mostly loans—plunging students deeper into debt. Similar cuts have been announced, or are being threatened, in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and B.C.

Given all of this, it’s no surprise that Quebec 2012 is being discussed in English Canada like never before. People want to know how this movement was built, and why was it able to win.

Julien Arseneau explains the lessons of the Quebec 2012 Student Strike movement - how it was able to beat the tuition hikes, how the movement could've gone further, and what's needed today.

This presentation was recorded live in Toronto on March 27, 2026.

Interested in reading more? Check out our new book Lessons from the 2012 Quebec Student Strike, available here!

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The rich are killing the planet. Millions of students and youth have taken to the streets worldwide to confront this existential threat. Millions have concluded that the crisis cannot be solved without a radical break with the capitalist system. Communists call for exactly this—an end to capitalism and for building a communist society of superabundance.

At the same time, many people, even self-described socialists, argue that the environmental crisis can only be addressed by reducing our consumption in order to produce less – that the solution is a “degrowth” of the economy.

What do communists propose to do to solve the climate crisis? Is a reduction in the standards of living of the working class necessary? Are degrowth and socialism actually compatible?

In this presentation from the 2026 Montreal Marxist Winter School, Josie Seaton (member of the RCP Central Committee) explains the Marxist solution to the climate crisis.

This presentation was recorded on February 14, 2026.

Suggested Readings:

Climate chaos: capitalism to blame

Communism versus ‘degrowth’: How to combat the climate crisis

Who is to blame for climate change: ‘consumerism’ or capitalism?

The Part played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man

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As Carney said in his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, “We know the old order is not coming back. We shouldn’t mourn it.” The Munich Security Conference this year also echoed this, stating: “more than 80 years after construction began, the US-led post-1945 international order is now under destruction.”

But what new order will take its place? And what place will Canada take in it?

In this presentation, Joel Bergman (from the Executive Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party) lays out the political perspectives for the coming year, and how revolutionaries can fight for a new world.

Recorded on March 21, 2026, at a meeting of the Central Committee of the RCP.

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Trotsky’s theory of permanent revolution is one of the most important—and most misunderstood—ideas in the theoretical arsenal of Marxism.

Drawing on the experience of the 1905 Russian Revolution, Trotsky explained that the capitalists in undeveloped or colonized countries could not play a progressive role; they would be a barrier in the fight for agrarian reform, parliamentary democracy, and national independence. The leadership of the revolutions in these countries would thus fall to the working class.

This perspective was brilliantly confirmed in 1917, when the Bolsheviks led the proletariat of undeveloped Russia to power, creating the world's first workers’ state. But this is not just the perspective of a century ago. With billions labouring under imperialist exploitation, it’s more relevant than ever.

In this presentation from the 2026 Montreal Marxist Winter School, Joel Bergman (member of the RCP Executive Committee and host of The Class Line) explains the theory of permanent revolution, how its distortion has led to disaster, and why it is vital that revolutionaries understand it today.

This presentation was recorded on February 14, 2026.
Note: translation has been edited out for clarity.

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New left-wing figures like Zohran Mamdani in New York and Zarah Sultana in the UK are generating tremendous enthusiasm. These self-described socialists denounce capitalism and billionaires and propose bold reforms to alleviate the immediate problems of workers.These reforms can appear more realistic or practical than the messy business of revolution.

Yet all over the world, capitalism is in an existential crisis. Far from granting reforms, the ruling class is ruthlessly clawing back reforms that were won in the past.So can we really reform our way to socialism? Is revolution necessary? And if so, is there any use fighting for reforms within capitalism? Finally, what should be the attitude of Communists towards these reformist figures?

In this presentation from the 2026 Montreal Marxist Winter School, Josh Holroyd (member of the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International, editor of In Defence of Marxism magazine) explains the shortcomings of reform-ism, how Marxists approach reforms, and how we can fight for a successful socialist revolution.

This presentation was recorded on February 15, 2026.

Note: translation has been edited out for clarity.

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As U.S. imperialism once again circles Iran with the threat of intervention, those who oppose Washington’s reach often mistake the Islamic Republic for an anti-imperialist ally. This perception is rooted in the regime’s origins in the revolution of 1979. To understand the republic’s true character, however, communists must seriously study this history and draw the correct lessons.

In 1979, in one of the most inspiring revolutionary episodes of the post-war era, the hated Shah was ousted by a spontaneous mass movement that seized control of society without a pre-existing program or leadership. Yet, due to the disastrous policies of Stalinism, the revolution was betrayed in the true sense of the word; power was handed back to the ruling class, represented no longer by the monarchy, but by the supposedly "anti-imperialist" clergy.

This historic tragedy offers vital lessons for revolutionaries today, highlighting the necessity of a revolutionary party, the true nature of the fight against imperialism, and the enduring relevance of the theory of permanent revolution.

Recommended readings:
Thirty years since the Iranian Revolution

The Iranian Revolution

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