The question of how the US working class will create a party of its own—a class-independent, mass socialist party—has been a foremost concern of Marxists since the earliest beginnings of the movement, both in the US and around the world. Reactionaries have long pointed to the lack of a working-class party as an indication of “American exceptionalism” and the weakness of the class struggle in the land of McCarthy. Meanwhile, revolutionaries have tirelessly maintained that a mass workers’ party is an objective historical step that must be achieved in order for the US working class to fight back effectively and reverse decades of lost ground in the class struggle.

In this talk from the 2023 Montreal Marxist Winter School, Tom Trottier, editor of Socialist Revolution, discusses the struggle for a workers' party in the USA.

The history of Bolshevism has many vital lessons for today’s revolutionaries – particularly regarding the origins of the revolutionary party that led the masses to victory in Russia. At the second congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1903, the famous split between the majority (Bolsheviks) and minority (Mensheviks) took place. Many myths and distortion surround this split. It is often wrongly alleged the Mensheviks stood for a ‘democratic’ and ‘decentralized’ party, in opposition to Lenin’s ‘ultra-centralist’ and ‘authoritarian’ tendencies. In reality, this split on organizational questions was an anticipation of future political differences, which will lead the Mensheviks to betray the revolution.

This talk was given by Fightback editor Alex Grant at the 2023 Montreal Marxist Winter School. 

This week, Joel and Julien Arseneau of La Riposte socialiste discuss why a revolutionary party is necessary for the overthrow of capitalism. 

Links:

"The class, the party and the leadership: How to organize revolution"/"Classe, parti et direction : comment organiser une révolution" by Julien Arseneau

Register for the Montreal Marxist Winter School 2023

At the 2022 NYC Marxist School, Alex Grant of Fightback provided a brief history and background on the USSR, what it achieved, why it was hated by the capitalist world, and looked at the difference between genuine Bolshevism and Stalinism.

This week, Joel and Alex discuss the coming recession, and what it means for class struggle in Canada.

The articles mentioned in the podcast can be found here: 

https://www.marxist.ca/article/explaining-the-coming-crisis-of-capitalism

https://www.marxist.ca/article/canada-before-and-after-coronavirus

https://www.marxist.ca/article/fightbacks-perspectives-2021-the-coming-storm-and-the-tasks-of-the-marxists

You can sign up for the Marxist Winter School here: 

www.marxist.ca/school

The Oka crisis is one of the most significant episodes in modern Canadian history. For months, all eyes in the country were pulled to a small Quebec town where a group of Indigenous activists lead an armed blockade against a golf course expansion that threatened ancestral lands. This standoff sparked a wave of protest across Canada and left behind a spirit of militancy that the Indigenous movement continues to draw from today. In this talk from summer 2022, comrade Marcus discusses the lessons of the Oka crisis.

For the first time, Canadian workers have forced the repeal of back-to-work legislation. The inspiring struggle of the 55,000 Ontario education workers has achieved an important partial victory, and sets a precedent for workers across Canada. When workers unite and fight, they win!

In this talk, Fightback editor Alex Grant discusses the historic outcome of this struggle and the way forward.

On November 5, in the midst of a rising strike movement of education workers, Fightback met to discuss the perspective for the class struggle in Canada. In this talk Joel Bergman explains how we got here and where the crisis of capitalism is leading.

In an attack on the entire labour movement, the Ontario government has tabled back-to-work legislation against Ontario workers before the strike has even started, and is using the notwithstanding clause to push through this unconstitutional attack.

This week, Joel is joined by custodian and organizer with the CUPE 4400 Rank-and-File Group, Hermes Azam, to talk about what needs to happen for the labour movement to fight back against this attack. 

This week, Joel is joined by Adam Booth from Socialist Appeal to talk about the fall of Liz Truss, the death of the queen, and class struggle in the U.K.