Marx and Engels did not develop their ideas – the ideas of scientific socialism – in a vacuum. Rather, their theoretical conclusions were a synthesis of the most advanced ideas of their time. This included the revolutionary kernel contained within Hegel’s dialectical philosophy; the bold visions of the French socialists; and the scientific approach of the ‘classical’ economists – including, first and foremost, figures like Adam Smith and David Ricardo in Britain.

Marx’s magnum opus, Capital, was in many respects a reply to his bourgeois economic predecessors; a critique of ‘political economy’, as the science of economics was known at the time. Many of the key, foundational ideas and axioms within this work were first expounded by Smith and Ricardo – most notably, the labour theory of value, which Marx took up and developed as the basis for his analysis of the capitalist mode of production.

In this talk, Adam Booth – co-author of Understanding Marx’s Capital – explores the pre-history and evolution of Marx’s economic thought; discusses the ideas of his economic predecessors, including their limits and contradictions; and explains the fundamentals of Marxist economic theory, which has never been more relevant and necessary, in this time of deepening capitalist crisis.

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“The most mature revolutionary situation without a revolutionary party of due stature and without correct leadership is the same as a knife without a blade.”

These words of wisdom from Leon Trotsky apply a hundredfold in the current period of unprecedented capitalist crisis. We have an historic duty to lay the foundations of a world party of communist revolution, capable of navigating the stormy seas of war, revolution and counter-revolution.

For this, we need to maintain our firm emphasis on Marxist theory: the only tool capable of explaining the tumultuous state of politics. We also need to find a road to the advanced layers of workers and youth, who are witnessing their futures sacrificed on the altar of capital.

Since our founding congress in 2024, our international has taken huge strides forward by following this approach. We have extended our influence in every corner of the planet! We have a presence in around 60 countries and our analysis reaches hundreds of thousands of class fighters through our articles, podcasts and social media activity.

This session led by Ben Curry will give an overview of the development of the RCI, laying out the main objectives and priorities facing our comrades in the coming period.

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The victory of the Resistance against Nazi-fascism in Yugoslavia was undoubtedly one of the most important revolutionary outcomes of the Second World War. The partisans, led by Tito, were propelled into power by the heroic uprising of the Balkan masses against the joint occupation by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. Capitalism in the Balkans, except for Greece, was overthrown.

The establishment of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia represented a gigantic step forward for the masses in the Balkans. Tito and the Yugoslav party emerged as the most prominent Communist Party outside of the Soviet Union. However, in 1948 Stalin’s Cominform expelled Tito and the Yugoslav party, to the dismay and surprise of the Yugoslav communists and of large layers of the communist movement. The so-called Stalin-Tito clash precipitated the Stalinist movement in the first crisis after the USSR’s triumphal victory over Nazi-fascism.

But what was Yugoslavia? Why did Stalin and Tito clash? What did this conflict reveal about the nature of Stalinism and the constellation of deformed workers’ states arising from the Second World War? These will all be answered by leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International, Francesco Merli.

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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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The Age of Enlightenment was a high point in human thought. Today we are in the midst of an ideological struggle against the irrationality of capitalism, and here we as Marxists stand as defenders of the very essence of the Enlightenment. But not only that. This exceptional chapter in human history is a treasure trove from which we can arm ourselves in the struggle for a communist society.

To introduce this topic, we will have Rasmus Jeppesen from the Revolutionært Kommunistisk Parti (RKP) in Denmark.

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he wave of racist attacks in Britain, the growing support for parties like the AfD in Germany or National Rally in France, the whirlwind of chaos following Trump coming back to office – all this has many asking: are we heading toward fascism? This talk will look at the rise of fascism to power in the 1920’s and 1930’s, to answer the questions: what is fascism? How do we fight the right wing? And where is the world heading?

These questions will be answered by Ylva Vinberg, a leading member of the RKP in Sweden.

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A new era is opening in cosmology, brought to us by powerful instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope and the DESI instrument. These technological marvels are extending a piercing view deeper and with more precision than we have ever had access to before into our awesome, expansive, infinite universe.

And as our horizons extend, the old cosmology – that of the Big Bang which has reigned as the consensus since its invention by a Belgian priest-astronomer a century ago – is ever more clearly a theory in crisis.

Why are we discussing this at The School of Communism? Because the working class needs a philosophy. It needs a party armed with an independent worldview, a scientific worldview, if it is to challenge the ruling class for supremacy.

How we conduct science, how we look upon the cosmos and our relationship to the cosmos – these are profound philosophical questions. And today, the old cosmological views – which are bound up with idealistic philosophical prejudices that even find their way into the sciences during this epoch of capitalist decay – those views are in crisis. A revolution is being prepared as the Big Bang is being tested and found wanting.

In this talk given by Ben Curry – a leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International – we will look back at the philosophy of science, how revolutionary materialists look upon the cosmos, the laws of scientific progress, and how educated men and women, if they do not have their own conscious philosophy, are not immune from the philosophical moods and prejudices that hold sway over society.

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In May of 1936, the Popular Front won the French general elections. A wave of strikes erupted in the weeks following the election. During what was at that time the most massive general strike of French history, French workers won huge concessions from the ruling class, including the 40 hour weeks and – for the first time – paid vacations !

These events have become a myth amongst the French Left and workers movement, linked to victory and progress in the minds of many Left activists and radical workers. But, as communist revolutionaries, our duty is not to commemorate but to understand the reality of this process, which all the reformists leaderships since 1936 made their best effort to hide and distort.

We need to understand what really was the Popular front? Why did it ultimately collapse? What was the significance of the strikes of May and June 1936? Why were most of their conquests quickly contested and destroyed? Why did this historic period of mobilisation of the French working class ended with the instauration of a bonapartist dictatorship under Marshall Petain? And, most importantly, what lessons can these events offer to all those who want to overthrow capitalism today?

These questions will all be answered by Jules Legendre, leading member of the Parti Communiste Révolutionnaire (PCR) in France.

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The US imperialist attack on January 3 has brought Venezuela back to the limelight. For many years, the Bolivarian revolution was a source of inspiration for millions of workers, peasants, and youth across Latin America and beyond. Hugo Chavez was an outstanding revolutionary figure who wanted to use the country’s oil wealth to improve the living conditions of ordinary Venezuelans, and drew the conclusion that this could only be achieved by moving towards socialism.

Chavez and his movement faced the wrath of the capitalist oligarchy and imperialism. They organised a military coup in April 2002, a two-month national lockout, and sabotage of the oil industry to crush the revolution. Time and again, they were defeated by the direct participation of the masses through mass demonstrations, revolutionary organisation, factory occupations, and workers’ control.

However, the Venezuelan revolution was never completed. Eventually, the gains were squandered and betrayed under the leadership of Nicolas Maduro. In this talk by Jorge Martin (leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International), we will discuss a full balance-sheet of the Bolivarian revolution, the role played by Hugo Chavez, the shortcomings of the process, and how it came to an end, as well as the participation of the International Marxist Tendency (now RCI). There are crucial lessons to be learned.

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For 250 years, the American Revolution has inspired millions around the world. Nonetheless, some argue that it was little more than a power struggle between two groups of white property owners. Superficially, there is some truth to this. However, as historical materialists, our task is to delve beneath the surface. We must unravel the inner contradictions, fundamental processes, economic transformations, and class struggles that ultimately motivated and drove the revolution.

Flowing from Trotsky’s definition, it was the decisive entry of the masses onto the stage of history that stamped this process as revolutionary. Whether they were clear about their aims or not, millions of ordinary Americans awoke to political and social consciousness and seized their destiny in an attempt to change society.

In short, what unfolded in Britain’s North American colonies was complex and contradictory. Just as the American Civil War was the country’s Second Revolution, the First Revolution was its first Civil War. It was not purely an anti-colonial war for national liberation, democracy, and republicanism. Nor was it simply a war over land and the expropriation of Indigenous peoples and for the extension of chattel slavery. It was all of this and more—a profound, though incomplete, political and social revolution.

This will all be explained by John Peterson, author of “Revolution and Counterrevolution in America” and “Colossus”, as well as leading member of the Revolutionary Communists of America.

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