Marxist Voice

Six years after the beginnings of the Black Lives Matter movement, the death of George Floyd in the USA has sparked an international movement against racism and police violence. The repression and injustices experienced by BAME communities day-in, day-out was captured by the last words of George Floyd and Eric Garner: “I can’t breathe!”

The protests against institutional racism have spread like wildfire to Britain, with militant demonstrations insisting that ‘the UK is not innocent’. But the question facing activists now is: how do we channel this incredible energy and potential power into real, lasting change?

In this session, Hamid Alizadeh explains why the struggle against racism must be fought on a class basis – by uniting workers and youth into a mass movement capable of overthrowing capitalism: a system that has oppression, violence, and exploitation built into its very fabric.

Labour’s election defeat last year, followed by a sharp shift to the right in the party under Keir Starmer, has opened up a period of introspection and questioning on the Left. Many are asking: what now?

Into this context, self-appointed advisors to the movement have been quick to put forward their own ‘new’ prescriptions.

One such idea – put forward by Paul Mason and other ‘left’ commentators – is that ‘values’ now form the fundamental dividing line in British politics, as opposed to class interests. This is a picture similar to the so-called ‘culture war’ fought between conservative Republicans and ‘progressive’ Democrats.

In reality, however, this argument only mirrors the Labour right wing’s own insistence that reactionary anti-immigrant and nationalist rhetoric is the only way to win back former strongholds in the North and the Midlands.

As Joe Attard of Socialist Appeal explains in this session, these snake oil remedies offer nothing to the Left and the working class in Britain, or anywhere else. What is needed in this period of capitalist crisis and political instability is class politics, with a fighting lead from a militant labour movement.

In this talk from the International Marxist University, Ben Gliniecki - a leading activist of Socialist Appeal - discusses the Marxist morality and the question of whether Marxists should aspire to be pacifists. Visit podcast.marxist.com for the full recordings.

One of the many slanders hurled at the Bolsheviks is that they were bloodthirsty intriguers who got their way through violent means. This is a criticism shared both by the hypocritical bourgeois, and elements on the left. These pacifists say that we need peace, love and understanding to counter the brutal repression of capitalism, not violent revolution.

But will the ruling class ever really relinquish power without a fight? What is the real Marxist attitude to violence and pacifism?

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To celebrate Engels' 200th birthday, we are republishing this talk from 2014, in which Rob Sewell discusses Engels' life and ideas - and in particular his outstanding contributions to Marxist theory.

The greatest birthday present we can offer Engels is to learn from his legacy: to continue the struggle for socialism and build the forces of Marxism today.

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28 November this year marks the 200th anniversary of Engels’ birth. To commemorate this, Adam Booth discusses the vital role that Friedrich Engels played in developing the revolutionary ideas of Marxism.

Alongside Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels was one of the founding fathers of ‘scientific socialism’. Though often considered as playing second fiddle to Marx, there can be no doubt of Engels’ extensive and outstanding contribution to Marxist theory. His collaboration with Marx was far from one-sided.

The life of Friedrich Engels contains a wealth of vital lessons for those looking to continue the fight for socialism today. The greatest birthday present we can offer Engels on this bicentenary, therefore, is to learn from the incredible legacy of his life and writings, and to apply his revolutionary ideas in building the forces of Marxism worldwide.

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In this talk from the International Marxist University, Yola Kipcak - a leading activist of Der Funke, the Austrian section of the IMT - provides a Marxist analysis of Queer Theory. Visit podcast.marxist.com for the full recordings.

Marxism defends the unity of peoples across all gender and sexual lines in the fight against the oppressive capitalist system. But Queer Theory holds that our gender and sexual identities are a fiction produced by discourses and oppressive power in society: a learned performance.

What does this idea mean for the liberation struggle? Is Queer Theory compatible with Marxism? This discussion tackles these issues.

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In this talk from the recent International Marxist University, Alex Grant - a leading member of Fightback, the Canadian section of the IMT - analyses the role of religion in society. Visit podcast.marxist.com for the full recordings.

One of Marx’s best-known quotes is “religion is the opium of the people”, but that is not the end of the question. Marxism rejects all forms of superstition. Religion plays a profoundly reactionary role in society.

But it cannot be overcome by argument alone. We must instead dismantle its social basis: the class system itself, which causes such misery and hardship that many people can only cope through the promise of an eternal reward after death. With the creation of a just and decent existence on earth, religion would serve no purpose.

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The revolutionary traditions of the British working class are glossed over by the establishment. One such tradition is that of the Chartists. Decades before the formation of the TUC, the British working class dramatically entered onto the stage of history, threatening the ruling class with a mass insurrectionary movement and a general strike.

In the process, the Chartists succeeded in building the political party of the working class in history, which drew the support of the young Marx and Engels.

In this session, Rob Sewell presents his new book, Chartist Revolution, which delves into this radical episode in British history. He analyses the moment when the working class began to flex its muscles and demand key political rights, such as the right to vote, and how revolutionary conclusions were forced in the struggle itself.

In this we find a tremendous legacy. We stand on the shoulders of giants. It is only by rediscovering our revolutionary past that we can learn the lessons that will serve to educate and inspire all those who wish to change the world.

In this talk from the International Marxist University, Hamid Alizadeh - a leading activist of the International Marxist Tendency - explains the problems with postcolonialism and combats the view that Marxism is 'eurocentric'.

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Marxists are often accused of ‘Eurocentrism’ and ‘class reductionism’ (particularly in academic circles) when we argue for the struggle of workers of all races and nations against capitalism. It is said our emphasis on international working-class solidarity ignores the experience of people from the former colonial world, who must ‘decolonise’ their minds of Western-imposed ideas (Marxism included), and fight their own battles for liberation.

But what is the best way forward for oppressed peoples throughout the world? This talk will explore these debates from a Marxist perspective.

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Fred Weston, editor for marxist.com, discusses the most polarised US election in living memory. Biden's victory is no cause for celebration for workers and youth. Donald Trump and his supporters are not going away anytime soon.

With little genuine enthusiasm for Joe Biden, the highest number of people in a century turned out to essentially vote either for or against Donald Trump. It appears as if Biden has narrowly scraped through to take the presidency, in an election that has thoroughly exposed the rottenness of US ‘democracy’.

What this entire experience shows is the need for the working class to form its own political party. Although the choice at the election was ultimately between two shades of the right wing, an enormous layer is looking towards the left, as evidenced by the mass support for Bernie Sanders (before he capitulated to Biden).

It is therefore the urgent task of the labour movement to set about building a mass working-class, socialist party. Only this can cut across the reactionary politics of both the Republicans and Democrats, and offer a way out of the nightmare of capitalism.

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