SpartTalk

Mansa is joined by Comrade Elizabeth to discuss how the bulk of the international Marxist left failed the test posed by the US bombing of Iran. Instead of taking a clear and simple stand in defense of an oppressed country under attack by imperialism, most tendencies, including within Iran, either shouted revolution and class war, equated Iran with Israel and the US, or chanted pacifist slogans that drew no line against their own bourgeoisies... yet they all carry on convinced that they did the right thing. The state of the Marxist left is dire and there is an urgent need to debate the failures of this episode in order to prepare for the looming chaos as US imperialism becomes increasingly belligerent. 

*Note - I mistakenly refer to Harold Daggett, leader of the ILA, as someone who said nothing about the war. In fact, he was for the war and congratulated Trump on the strikes against Iran. See his statement here: https://gcaptain.com/ila-president-lauds-trumps-iran-strike-in-unprecedented-union-endorsement-of-military-action/ 

This discussion is based on our article titled "Iran under attack: Marxists who failed the test" https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/2025-iran-left

Read our initial statement on the war here: https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/2025-iran 

Follow us on X @SpartacistICL or Mansa on insta @punjabibolshevik

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Mansa is back with Vincent for round two of our discussion on the current world situation and the task of communists. In this episode we dive into the fundamental difference between a Marxist versus a gradualist understanding of how change happens. While a bit theoretical, this has profound implications for concrete political work. Listen to the episode to find out how and why!

The main document on which this discussion is based can be found here: https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/70/screws

Follow us on X @SpartacistICL, @VincentD_10, or Mansa on insta @punjabibolshevik, and as always, feel free to get in touch with your points or raging disagreements.

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Mansa is joined by Brianna from New York to discuss what most leftists in the Anglosphere are talking about: the victory of Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic primaries for mayor of NYC. While liberals and many on the left are rejoicing that they've got their man, many workers, especially black and Latino, voted Cuomo. Keeping with what we've been hammering about the huge gap between the working class and the left, Mansa and Brianna dive into what was at stake in this campaign, Mamdani's base and what he represents, and why this is NOT a step forward to NYC or for building a workers party in the US.

We refer to the article "Where is the US going?" which can be read here: https://iclfi.org/pubs/wv/1183/us-tasks

"Zohran won't fix New York: Labor must take the lead" and other articles from the latest issue of Workers Vanguard can be found here: https://iclfi.org/pubs/wv/1185 

Follow Workers Vanguard on X and insta @WorkersVanguard, or Mansa on insta @punjabibolshevik or @SpartTalk on tiktok

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Note: This episode was recorded before Israel and the U.S. bombed Iran.

Join Mansa and Vincent as they break down the key positions of the Spartacists in the current world situation. We will be doing a series of episodes on this - with more on gradualism, Russia/Ukraine, Europe, China, and the tasks of the working class to follow!

The discussion is based in large part on the article called "US imperialism turns the screws!" https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/70/screws

Follow us on X @SpartacistICL, Vincent on X @VincentD_10, Mansa on insta @punjabibolshevik or tiktok @SpartTalk

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Mansa is joined by Lital and Sandra from LA as they report on the situation on the ground following ICE raids and anti-ICE protests. We discuss why the movement is weakening and how to defend immigrants. Short answer: organised labour must come out! But why isn't this happening? We dive into some of the obstacles and also look at some of the problems of the left. Spoiler alert: not ACTING on the principle that an injury to one is an injury to all.

Workers Vanguard statement on LA called "La Raza built Los Angeles - All labor must beat back Trump" https://iclfi.org/pubs/wv/1185/immigrants

On the LA left: Ponte las pilas! https://iclfi.org/pubs/wv/1185/la-left 

Subscribe to get your print issue of Workers Vanguard here: https://iclfi.org/pubs/wv/subscribe

Follow them on X, Insta and YouTube @WorkersVanguard and follow Mansa on Insta @punjabibolshevik

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sparttalk.org | Like the episode and subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on X @SpartacistICL, YouTube @Spartacist, or follow Mansa on Insta @punjabibolshevik

Join Mansa as she discusses Israel's aggression against Iran with Comrade Perrault. How should Marxists, and most importantly, workers, view this war, and what is the correct position? Perrault explains our approach to the war and why a refusal to defend Iran and Palestine can only aid imperialism and Israel and not only undermine the cause of Palestinian liberation, but directly attack workers at home, both in the West and in the Global South.

Read our statement on Iran-Israel: "Workers: Stand with Iran and Palestine!" (available in multiple languages on iclfi.org): https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/2025-iran

Why can't anyone stop Netanyahu? https://iclfi.org/pubs/wv/1183/netanyahu

Marxists and Palestine: 100 years of failure https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/69/palestine

Follow us on X @SpartacistICL and follow Mansa on Insta @punjabibolshevik or get in touch via email: [email protected]

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sparttalk.org | Like the episode and subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on X @SpartacistICL, YouTube @Spartacist, or follow Mansa on Insta @punjabibolshevik

Join Mansa as she sits down with Lital and Edward from our group in the US to discuss the unsolicited greetings they recently sent to the Revolutionary Communists of America. I ask them why they did this, and what the points of difference are. Perhaps a bit of a narrower discussion since it focuses on a group on the left, our discussion nonetheless is defined by what revolutionaries in the US today ought to be doing to fight back against Trump.

If any RCA/RCI members have views or would like to have a discussion or debate, we will be more than happy to oblige!

Read the greetings here: https://iclfi.org/pubs/slus/2025-rca

Where is the U.S. going? https://iclfi.org/pubs/wv/1183/us-tasks

Dear Marxist left, wake up! https://iclfi.org/pubs/wv/1184/dear-left

Open letter to the RCI on united front defense, by Workers Hammer: https://iclfi.org/pubs/wh/2025-rci-pakistan-letter

Read and subscribe to Workers Vanguard, the paper of our comrades in the US, here: https://iclfi.org/pubs/wv

Follow them on X and Insta @workersvanguard and follow Mansa on insta @punjabibolshevik

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sparttalk.org | Like the episode and subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on X @SpartacistICL, YouTube @Spartacist, or follow Mansa on Insta @punjabibolshevik

Mansa is back with Comrade Perrault to discuss the crisis of the left and the tasks of revolutionaries in the changing world situation. We discuss what exactly are the causes and symptoms of this crisis and why left groups who think they've escaped it are deluded; why left organisations ignore each other to their own detriment; the necessity of political clarification in the left; and why the current period calls for defensive struggles, not reckless offensives or abstentionist calls for revolution and socialism. 

The discussion touches on themes in Perrault's presentation to the IEC Plenum of the ICL in April, reprinted in Spartacist: https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/70/crisis-left

US imperialism turns the screws: https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/70/screws

2023 Conference document, The breakdown of US hegemony and the struggle for workers' power: https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/68/breakdown

Follow us on X @SpartacistICL, or Mansa on insta @punjabibolshevik, or get in touch at [email protected]

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sparttalk.org | Like the episode and subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on X @SpartacistICL, YouTube @Spartacist, or follow Mansa on Insta @punjabibolshevik

**Apologies that the audio quality is not the greatest due to the internet connection!

Join Mansa and Comrades Jesse and Dinapolo from Spartacist South Africa who help make sense of Ramaphosa's complete capitulation to Trump, what the collapse of the liberal world order has in store for South Africa,  why the more radical black nationalists like Malema are not geared to wage a serious anti-imperialist struggle, and the outlines of a working-class answer. Comrades also explain what they have been upto on the ground to help advance concrete acts of defending trade union militants through united defence work, an increasingly urgent task as imperialism tightens the screws and the ANC-led government heightens repression.

"The Middle Road is a Road to Hell": https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/70/south-africa 

The theoretical foundation of Spartacist South Africa, "For national liberation and black proletarian power! Trotskyism vs Black Nationalism: Lessons of the anti-apartheid struggle" https://iclfi.org/pubs/aba/1/antiapartheid

Donate to Xolani Xhoza's defence campaign here: https://www.backabuddy.co.za/campaign/defend-xolani-khoza

For the latest from AmaBolsheviki, subscribe to their paper here:  https://iclfi.org/pubs/aba/subscribe

And follow them on Facebook @AmaBolsheviki Amnyama and X @AmaBolsheviki

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sparttalk.org | Like the episode and subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on X @SpartacistICL, YouTube @Spartacist, or follow Mansa on Insta @punjabibolshevik

Mansa is joined by Comrade Kat of the Partisan Defence Committee (PDC), a non-sectarian social and legal defence organisation that is part of building international solidarity to defend pro-Palestine and trade union activists in France. She motivates why the left must unite in common action to build these protests because an injury to one is an injury to all, and explains other ways you can help if you are not able to attend a protest.

**CORRECTION: I stupidly spoke about Rodrigue Petitot thinking this his case was related to the uprising in Kanaki - another French colony - last year, but he is from Martinique as Kat notes. This is resultant from my less than adequate knowledge of the various colonies France still has under its boot. - Mansa

Details:

Protest for Gaël Quirante: 12 June at 12 pm at Tribunal de Paris

Protest in London outside the French embassy: Tuesday 17 June @ 5:30

Protest in NYC outside the French embassy: Wednesday 18 June @ 5:30

Follow @SoutienAnasseK on X for updates on Anasse Kazib's case and details for protest on 18 June in Paris

Flyer for the protest in NYC for people to share, repost, retweet, downloadable here: https://iclfi.org/pubs/slus/2025-pdc-france 

Follow PDC Britain on X @PDCBritain and Insta @partisandefencecommittee

PDC US on X @PartisanDefense and Insta @partisan_defense_committee

Follow us on X @SpartacistICL and Mansa on Insta @punjabibolshevik 

Links to donate:

Go Fund Me for Anasse Kazib of Révolution Permanente: https://www.gofundme.com/f/solidarite-anasse-kazib 

Fundraising for Gaël Quirante of Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste-Révolutionnaires: https://www.helloasso.com/associations/les-ami-e-s-de-sud-poste-92/formulaires/1

Background on the cases:

Anasse Kazib of Révolution Permanente on his repression: https://www.leftvoice.org/our-comrade-anasse-kazib-is-being-persecuted-by-the-french-state-for-a-tweet-in-support-of-palestine/

Details for Gaël Quirante's case (in French): https://x.com/GaelQuirante/status/1923276659123200205 

Get in touch!

sparttalk.org | Like the episode and subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on X @SpartacistICL, YouTube @Spartacist, or follow Mansa on Insta @punjabibolshevik